Pre PhD courses

Pre PhD courses

SKILL offers potential South African PhD candidates an intensive 2 week course on writing a good PhD proposal. These courses will be provided by Exactica and will take place at various universities throughout the country in various disciplines.

Prospective PhD students

As part of the SKILL-programme, PhD training courses will be offered with the aim to boost the number of potential PhDs in South Africa. Courses will be organised by Exactica, a South African organisation specialised in thesis and dissertation solutions.

Exactica will provide tailor-made coursework specifically aimed and geared towards excellent South African master’s students who are nearly graduated or South African working professionals who want to combine their work with preparing and pursuing a PhD. In this way a number of selected potential PhD students will be provided with the skills and competencies to commence and pursue PhD studies.

The programme is open to students of South African universities who have completed a Masters degree. From the pool of applicants a total of 75 candidates per year (2010-2014) will be selected to take part in the programme. These will be divided into 3 groups of 25 students each, according to broader subject areas. Candidates from all disciplines are invited to apply.

The courses themselves, including all materials, are fully funded and free to successful applicants, but please note that travel and accommodation expenses, if necessary, are the responsibility of the participants.

The pre-PhD programme

The programme will consist of two contact sessions of one week each, held approximately two months apart. The content of the programme will be provided by various experts in their fields.

The first contact session is intended to ensure that participants fully understand what is required to succeed in their PhD studies, and have the necessary skills and knowledge to draft a preliminary proposal. Participants will:

• learn about the mutual responsibilities of supervisors and students 
• follow an adapted version of Exactica's Thesis and Dissertation workshop 
• learn how to effectively search for secondary literature and primary sources 
• learn how to reference and use referencing software.
• At the end of the first contact session participants will have the knowledge to successfully undertake their preliminary primary and secondary research, to identify and select possible topics and problems, and be able to evaluate potential methods. They will then have two months to draft a short preliminary proposal, which will be further elaborated during and after the second contact week.

The second contact session is intended to provide candidates with the detailed skills necessary to transform their preliminary proposal into a fully articulated proposal ready for submission. This session will cover: 

• how to write a comprehensive literature review 
• research methods 
• research ethics 
• the principles of good academic writing
  Participants will also have the opportunity to work on the structure and content of their proposals in small groups in conjunction with their mentors and peers.

After the second contact session participants will be expected to finalise their proposals. During this phase, various specialists will be available to support candidates.

All participants will be provided with: 

• course materials, including the required books 
• access to an academic library 
• an academic mentor during the programme 
• the opportunity to consult with an academic writing specialist 
• the opportunity to consult with a statistician 
• In addition, a professional academic editor will be contracted to edit the completed proposals for style and language, ensuring that the document is ready for submission.

After completion, a number of the best candidates will be invited to the Netherlands to interact with Dutch academics.


For more information as well as the application form, please see Exactica's website.
 

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The pre-PhD programme

The programme will consist of two contact sessions of one week each, held approximately two months apart. The content of the programme will be provided by various experts in their fields.

The first contact session is intended to ensure that participants fully understand what is required to succeed in their PhD studies, and have the necessary skills and knowledge to draft a preliminary proposal. Participants will:

• learn about the mutual responsibilities of supervisors and students 
• follow an adapted version of Exactica's Thesis and Dissertation workshop 
• learn how to effectively search for secondary literature and primary sources 
• learn how to reference and use referencing software.

At the end of the first contact session participants will have the knowledge to successfully undertake their preliminary primary and secondary research, to identify and select possible topics and problems, and be able to evaluate potential methods. They will then have two months to draft a short preliminary proposal, which will be further elaborated during and after the second contact week.

The second contact session is intended to provide candidates with the detailed skills necessary to transform their preliminary proposal into a fully articulated proposal ready for submission. This session will cover:

• how to write a comprehensive literature review 
• research methods 
• research ethics 
• the principles of good academic writing

Participants will also have the opportunity to work on the structure and content of their proposals in small groups in conjunction with their mentors and peers.

After the second contact session participants will be expected to finalise their proposals. During this phase, various specialists will be available to support candidates.

All participants will be provided with: 

• course materials, including the required books 
• access to an academic library 
• an academic mentor during the programme 
• the opportunity to consult with an academic writing specialist 
• the opportunity to consult with a statistician 
• In addition, a professional academic editor will be contracted to edit the completed proposals for style and language, ensuring that the document is ready for submission.

After completion, a number of the best candidates will be invited to the Netherlands to interact with Dutch academics.


For more information as well as the application form, please see Exactica's website.