PhD students in the GSMHS are required to submit a thesis proposal within the first six months of registration as a PhD student. This course supports students in developing a strong PhD thesis proposal by focusing on both the structure and process of proposal writing, ultimately leading to a successful submission.

• Identify the research problem with a sound research question
• Define general and specific objectives
• Develop an appropriate methodology to investigate the research question by addressing the objectives and underlying hypotheses
• Understand the emphasis on ethical research conduct and the timeline to submit a proposal to the relevant committee(s)
• Write and revise more confidently in English

Through individual document review with the instructor, students will be able to:

• Receive detailed feedback twice on their own proposal drafts
• Complete the thesis proposal within the first six months of their program
• Prepare a five-slide summary of their thesis project

PhD students in the first year of their PhD and registered to the GSMHS.

Maximum 12 participants per course.

Dr. Carol Leininger (MPH Biostatistics, PhD Rhetoric and Professional Communication) has worked in drug and medical device development in Switzerland, France, Japan, and the USA. She has an MPH in Biostatistics and a PhD in Rhetoric and Professional Communication. She has been teaching this course since 2019.

Dr. Anja Matthiä coordinates the GSMHS. Having found her pleasure in writing again, she wants to pass on her experience, as well as tips about academic writing to PhD researchers. 

• Three in-class sessions (~105 min each)
• One presentation session – students presents their proposal in 5 slides/5 minutes (~90 min session)
• Independent work on students’ own proposal between sessions (~ 20-25 hr)
• One face-to-face online individual review session between student and lecturer after lecturer review of student’s advanced proposal draft (45-60 min)

1 ECTS, learning contract required