Why, What, Who, and How?
Why a Doctoral Dissertation Boot Camp?
Completing a dissertation is a priority for doctoral students, although finding focused writing time can often be a challenge. Despite its importance, the dissertation is frequently neglected amid all the obligations and distractions of everyday life. A Dissertation Boot Camp is a chance to step away from those distractions to focus exclusively on dissertation writing for three days.
What is a Dissertation Boot Camp?
The GCAC’s Dissertation Boot Camp is a program that offers structure and guidance for three full days of writing and writing-related activities. You’ll be required to set aside other demands on your time for these three days, giving you the opportunity to make significant progress on your writing. Each day of the camp includes structured blocks of writing time as well as opportunities to learn process-related strategies for building momentum in your writing that will last beyond our time together.
Note that the Dissertation Boot Camp will not teach you what a dissertation is, nor will it offer instruction about sentence-level writing principles. Instead, the Camp’s instructional content will focus on how to sustain writing focus and motivation over the course of a long, complex writing project.
What is a Hybrid Dissertation Boot Camp?
The boot camp will be offered in two formats simultaneously: in-person and online synchronous. In order to create a consistent community of supportive writers, you will be asked to commit to one of these formats for the full three days. The in-person boot camp will be held on the St. George campus; the virtual format will be conducted synchronously over Zoom.
Who is eligible to enrol in the Dissertation Boot Camp?
In order to sign up for the Dissertation Boot Camp, you must meet the following conditions:
- You are actively engaged in writing a doctoral dissertation in any department at U of T; the dissertation boot camp is not open to Master’s students.
- You are finished with course work, qualifying exams, and primary research and/or data collection; the boot camp is designed for writing, not further reading and research.
How does the Dissertation Boot Camp work?
Each day will run from 9:30 am to 4:30 pm and will feature a schedule that includes instructor presentations, uninterrupted writing time, and group discussions. See below for a sample daily schedule.
For in-person participants: Each in-person participant is asked to pay $20 (twenty dollars) to defray the cost of coffee and light snacks (lunch excluded!). Please bring the cash with you on the first day. In-person enrolment is limited to 20 PhD candidates, and eligible applicants will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis.
For virtual participants: There is no cost for virtual attendance. Virtual enrolment is limited to 25 PhD candidates, and eligible applicants will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis.
How to Register
To apply for a place, please fill out this form by end-of-day Monday, June 9, 2025: https://forms.office.com/r/VxixREPr4m.
Questions about the Hybrid Dissertation Boot Camp should be sent to Prof. Fiona Coll: fiona.coll@utoronto.ca
In order to participate, you must be available to attend either in-person or online for the full three days, without exception.
Subscribe to our Listserv to receive weekly notifications on GCAC offerings, including future boot camps. To subscribe to the list, send an email to listserv@listserv.utoronto.ca (upper or lower case is acceptable). In the BODY of the message, type a command of the form:
subscribe gcac-l firstname lastname
Sample daily schedule (subject to adjustment based on group preferences):
9:30 – 10:00: Brief lecture and guided warm-up/goal-setting exercises
10:00 – 11:45: Writing time
11:45 – 12:00: Check-in on morning writing & planning for the afternoon
12:00 – 1:00: Lunch Break
1:00 – 2:30: Writing time
2:30 – 3:00: Stretch break and small-group discussions
3:00 – 4:00: Writing Time
4:00 – 4:15: Guided exercises to prepare for your next writing session
4:15 – 4:30: Closing Discussion Time
Writing in the company of others can be an excellent way to stay focused and combat isolation. Join the GCAC’s Dissertation Boot Camp to discover the benefits of developing your dissertation-writing practice in an intentional, informed, and socially engaged way.