Academic Dissertations in the News

Over the past decade, Ryan Shapiro has become a leading freedom of information activist, unearthing tens of thousands of once-secret documents. His work focuses on how the government infiltrates and monitors political movements, in particular those for animal and environmental rights.

Today, he has around 700 Freedom of Information Act requests before the FBI, seeking around 350,000 documents. That tenacity has led the Justice Department to call him the "most prolific" requester there is — in one year, two requests per day. It has also led the FBI to claim his dissertation research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology would "irreparably damage national security." Shapiro discusses his methodology in obtaining government documents through FOIA requests, and the details that have emerged therein about the crackdown on animal rights activists. Read more at http://www.democracynow.org/2014/3/25/why_did_the_fbi_label_ryan

A vast database of dissertations is making available texts that would otherwise remain buried in desk drawers or dead hard drives. We have finally developed the tools to make it live forever, not buried in desk drawers or dead hard drives, but accessible, available; and sometimes that means putting it out by unscrupulous or anonymous means. If you have it, set it free.

Read more at http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/apr/06/database-dissertations-text-live-forever

These National Science Foundation grants provide partial support of doctoral dissertation research for improvement beyond the already existing project. Allowed are costs for doctoral candidates to participate in scientific meetings, to conduct research in specialized facilities or field settings, and to expand an existing body of dissertation research. Full Proposal Deadline Date: October 9, 2014

Read more at http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=5234&org=NSF

Many of the recent calls to reform humanities graduate education have focused on shortening the time to degree, offering more professional opportunities, and legitimizing alternatives to the traditional research model. I would like to imagine one such alternative: the 20-year dissertation.

Read more at https://chronicle.com/article/Welcome-to-the-20-Year/143223/

A woman seeking to review the doctoral dissertation of the Fox Chapel Area School District superintendent will have to wait before learning if the document falls within Pennsylvania's Right to Know law.

Read more at http://www.post-gazette.com/neighborhoods-north/2013/10/10/Judge-to-decide-whether-dissertation-falls-under-Right-to-Know-Law/stories/201310100279

For the past five years international journal, Science, has been conducting  ‘Dance Your Phd’ contest  for researchers  across the world to see which scientists can best explain their research  work through interpretive dance.

Read more at HindustanTimes.com

I spent every night until four in the morning on my dissertation, until I came to the point when I could not write another word, not even the next letter. I went to bed. Eight o’clock the next morning I was up writing again.” -Abraham Pais, physicist

Read more at ScienceBlogs.com

To help aspiring graduates, Björn Gustavii has published a book (Cambridge U Press) designed to offer practical guidance and advice. His book is designed for those following both what he calls the ‘Scandinavian’ model, in which an overall summary is followed by research papers bound in a single volume and the ‘sandwich’ model, in which published research papers appear as chapters between a general introduction and a general discussion.

Read more at http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/2013/07/doctoral-dissertation-research-publications-gustavii

How many pages should it be? How long are other people's theses? Short answer: it varies. And by more than you may realize.

Read more at http://io9.com/how-long-is-the-average-phd-dissertation-785483128

The American Historical Association has published a new policy statement that "strongly encourages" graduate programs and university libraries to allow new Ph.D.'s to extend embargoes on their dissertations in digital form for as many as six years.

Read more at http://chronicle.com/article/Scholarly-Group-Seeks-Up-to/140515/