Doctoral Degrees
Workshops help students get to grips with the basics of research
As postgraduate degrees become increasingly essential to career advancement, more individuals look to a doctoral degree as a valuable addition to their resume.
For many students, however, the research aspect of a doctoral degree can be an unfamiliar and confusing undertaking, and some educational organisations have created workshops to help these students take their first solid steps in the research process.
Rebecca Lui, senior manager of APMI Kaplan, Kaplan's higher education division, said that senior managers and professionals in the business and education sectors saw the importance of advancing their professional development through further education.
'With the experience from conducting research in doctoral studies, these practitioners will then be able to evolve into academic thinkers,' she said.
Ms Lui said that APMI Kaplan often came across students with big ideas and world-changing visions, but who lacked the know-how to manage the time frame, resources and theories needed to support their research. In response to the needs of these students, they created a workshop five years ago that 'helped the applicants stay focused and narrow down their research in order to make it executable', said Ms Lui.
Named the Doctoral Research Outline Writing Workshop, it is run as a large event open to all interested parties. To be held on May9 from 7pm to 8.30pm in room504, Tower1 at the Admiralty Centre, the workshop will help participants formulate their research interest outline (RIO). This was a 500-word outline delineating the research that the student would undertake for their doctoral level studies.
Ms Lui said a well-thought-out RIO helped set a solid ground for future development of an executable research proposal, which enabled students to 'explore the relevant academic literature as well as collect and analyse data with a critical perspective', a skill necessary for the successful completion of a doctorate degree.
