Writing your thesis! How do you approach this?

We asked Annelies Falk, graduation supervisor and founder of the graduation lab the most frequently asked questions about writing a thesis. In the graduation lab, Annelies helps long-term students graduate, partly by helping them finish their theses. She shares her best tips.

How do I choose a topic that’s worthwhile for me and my internship or client?

According to Annelies, it all starts with a cup of coffee. Just chatting with a lecturer, co-student, client, or internship representative. Bouncing ideas off someone can really help. First examine where your own interests lie, then talk with your client and work from there. Make sure you reflect too. Maybe you’ve done an interesting assignment in the past that you can build on.

What should I watch out for when conducting research? This varies quite a lot between study programmes. But in general, you need to make sure your research questions are clear. Because: how can you do research if you’re not exactly sure what you’re looking for? Keep your target group in mind and keep talking to experts and those with experience. And research doesn’t mean you need to sit with your nose in books the whole day...

How much time do I need to spend on my thesis? You should spend most of your time on the research, as writing your thesis is only part of that process. But that writing is a huge amount of work. So start by drawing up an “outline” that defines the chapter layout and what you want to say in them. That will help you fit your research into your thesis.

How can I stick to my plan?

Make sure you don’t take on too much in one go. Don’t work more than five hours a day on your thesis. According to Annelies, if you work intensively on your thesis for five hours a day, you’ll easily hand in your thesis on time. Setting interim deadlines for yourself can help too. Set these on Fridays, for example, so you can enjoy a wellearned rest at the weekend. Reward yourself when you’ve finished something, too. Even if it’s just one chapter.

Language use

Annelies notices that students often find it hard to express things on paper, while they can explain it to her. It is perfectly fine to explain it as you would in the pub after a beer. Just in your own language. That’s how to start. You can always take out any errors later or rewrite sentences.

It can sometimes be difficult to get focused feedback. So make sure you’re asking clear questions: what do you want to know? And the rule applies here too: you only get out what you put in. If you put effort and time into your thesis, someone else will do that for you too.

At some point, maybe more than once, you’ll be extremely frustrated and you’ll not be able to see a way forward with your thesis. That’s unavoidable, unfortunately, but it’s not the end of the world. Make sure that your thesis keeps “developing”. Keep asking questions, keep trying things out and above all, don’t let your thesis come to a standstill. That only makes it more difficult to get started again. OK and here it is again, I swear: drink. coffee. Talk to someone. A fresh approach sometimes works wonders.