First aid offered to ailing theses

An internet discussion group is helping students to deal with their languishing dissertations.

The Dead Thesis Society offers online support for those who find themselves among the 50 per cent of students who abandon their theses.

It brings together graduates and postgraduates who swap advice on everything from confronting aloof advisors to chipping away at writer's block.

For founder Frank Elgar, the site helps to counter the isolation felt by students who are working on their thesis, but no longer have the university environment to keep them stimulated.

y have moved away and feel estranged from their departments," said Mr Elgar, a psychology student at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, who is writing a doctoral thesis.

The website has become an international meeting place for students known as ABDs (all but dissertation). ABDs will email their problem, which will be looked at by another student who will then give advice on how to get through it.

The site's existence has highlighted another important issue: completion times for PhD student theses have doubled in the past 30 years, from six to 11 years, according to statistics culled by the Canadian Association of Graduate Schools.

Brad Wuethrick, chair of the Canadian Graduate Council, says this is due mainly to the fact that many have to work full-time to fund their studies. "If all students were funded adequately, then the trend for longer graduate programmes would probably taper off," he said.

Details: http:///is2.dal.ca/dts