Writing and defending a PhD

Writing and defending a PhD

Delivery institution

Collège Doctoral de l’Université de Montpellier

Instructor(s):

Sebastien Balme

Start date

7 December 2026

End date

8 December 2026

Study field

CHARM priority field

Study level

Study load, ECTS

Short description

The general aim of the course is to give PhD students the keys to writing their thesis and defending it.
After defining the aims and difficulties of writing and defending a thesis, we will define and try out the stages involved in producing a manuscript and defending it.
We will identify good practice in writing the classic thesis and the thesis on article.
Half a day of the training will be devoted to identifying AI tools for writing and the associated good practices.

Full description

Session 1 : Prepare the manuscript writing and the defense
It will be presented to PhD students the functions of a thesis and the difficulties. This part will aim to explain what is expected to PhD students.
Then it will be detailed the different stages of preparations. Particular attention will be paid to the formulation of goals, scientific questions and hypotheses which are the keystones of the scientific approach.
Then the methods based on mind map will be proposed to structuring content. This part will be the subject of practical exercises.

Session 2 : Optimize the writing of the thesis manuscript
At first, the different stages of the writing will be identified: the outline, the writing steps, and the organization of references. Each of these sections will then be detailed. We will take care to discuss them in the case of “classical” and “article” thesis. In a second step, the retro-planning and good writing practices will be discussed.
Finally, information on plagiarism will be given.

Session 3: Using A.I. tools in thesis writing
This session is dedicated to the use of AI in thesis writing and the problems associated with it. First, several tools for optimising the writing process will be presented. Then, by means of tests, participants will be invited to reflect on the advantages and limitations of these tools, so that they can then use them in a sensible and relevant way when writing their thesis manuscript.

Session 4 : PhD defense
This part will be discussed following the writing. At first will be given and detailed the different parts of the phD defense as well as the good practices of the use of the slides.
Then, we will give the different steps of training as well as elements to prepare the discussion

Learning outcomes

After the course, the attendees will gain skills to optimize the writing and the defense of PhD thesis.

Course requirements

Being a PhD student

Places available

5

Planned educational activities and teaching methods:

This course will be interactive. The PhD students will be invited to have reflexive practice to stimulate the exchanges. Several training of formulation (research goal, scientific question and hypothesis) and mind-mapping will be done. The training also includes videos.

Course code

4.13

Language

Assessment method

No evaluation

Final certification

Transcript of records

Attendance certificate

Modality

Learning management System in use

Contact hours per week for the student:

13

Specific regular weekly teaching day/time

Time zone