20th Australasian Conference on Information Systems

Doctoral Consortium

Doctoral Consortium Faculty Members

Writing workshop faculty

Doctoral Consortium Committee

Important Doctoral Consortium Dates

Objectives of the Consortium

The Doctoral Consortium will provide students with an opportunity to:

• Present their research work in a relaxed and supportive environment
• Receive feedback and suggestions from peers and experienced faculty
• Gain an overview of the breadth and depth of IS research
• Obtain insight into directions for IS research taken by other doctoral candidates
• Discuss concerns about research, supervision, the job market, and other issues
• Network with peers and future colleagues
• Hear from others with experience in supervising doctoral students and provide an opportunity to discuss issues and raise concerns.

Doctoral Consortium Program

Monday 30 November 2009 – Doctoral Consortium Dinner

Tuesday 1 December 2009 – Doctoral Consortium

The Doctoral Consortium dinner sponsored by the Australian Council of Professors and Heads of Information Systems (ACPHIS) will be held in the Monday evening 30th November, 2009. The dinner is free of charge (main meal and 1 drink) for Consortium attendees and invited Doctoral Consortium faculty.

Costs

The Consortium is sponsored by Monash University and the Australian Council of Heads and Professors of Information Systems (ACPHIS). There is no charge for the consortium. Lunch and morning and afternoon teas will be provided during the Consortium. Though the Consortium will provide no financial support for accommodation or travel expenses, low-cost accommodation is available.

Eligibility

PhD students who are currently working on their dissertation/thesis in Information Systems are eligible for nomination.  The ideal Consortium candidates should have successfully defended their dissertation/thesis proposal before December 2009, although they need not have defended their proposal at the time of nomination.  Candidates should therefore have chosen their theoretical approach, developed their methodology, and started their empirical work, but should at the time of the Consortium have at least 6-12 months work remaining before expected completion.
The number of participants in the Doctoral Consortium will be limited.  Selection for the Consortium will be based on the quality of the submission, the contribution the student may make to the Consortium, and the potential benefit of the Consortium to the student’s research. 

Doctoral Consortium Template

The written submission should not exceed 1000 words, formatted as follows:

• Times New Roman or equivalent font
• 11- or 12-point font
• Double-spaced (not 1.5)
• 1 inch margins all around
• 8.5 x 11 inch paper (or A4)
• Pages must be numbered

This limit does NOT include tables, figures, or references. Tables and figures cab be embedded in the text. References should appear last.
Three appendices of no more than one page each may be added, at the discretion of the student and the person nominating her or him. (These appendices must also follow the formatting guidelines outlined above.) The first appendix would be a summary of any findings the student may have as of 30 September, 2009. The second appendix would be an estimate of what still needs to be done to complete the dissertation as of 30 September, 2009.  Third appendix would be a copy of the planned presentation for the Speed thesis competition.

Presentations

Each student will be given 3 minutes to explain what their research is about, the outcomes of their research, and why it is important. By challenging yourself to give an engaging and dynamic response to dreaded questions such as ‘what was your thesis on again?’ or ‘what exactly have you been researching?’ or ‘is your research important and relevant to anything?’ you will improve your communication skills, both oral and written, which are key attributes for all PhD graduates.

Prizes will be awarded by the Doc Consortium Committee for Speed thesis competition winners at the lunch time. Winners will receive a certificate and prize money. The overall winner of the competition will receive $500 and a trophy, second place $300 and third place $200.

ACIS 2009 Doctoral Consortium SPEED THESIS competition

Date:         Tuesday 1 December 2009
Time:         Presentations to commence from 9.15am
Venue:      Caulfield Campus, Monash University

Submissions close: 24 November 2009

Eligible entries: The Speed Thesis Competition is open to all PhD students who have registered to attend the ACIS 2009 Doctoral Consortium participants.

Speed thesis competition submissions:
Doctoral Consortium applicants should prepare up to three slides for their presentation and submit to Dr Bruce Campbell at brucec@it.uts.edu.au

Presentation guidelines: no more than 3 minutes. In the 3 minutes you need to explain what your research is about, the outcomes of your research, and why it is important. In the Speed Thesis Competition Final, the three finalists will present again to the entire group for 3 minutes, followed by 5 minutes of Q&A.

Presentation outcomes: By challenging yourself to give an engaging and dynamic response to dreaded questions such as ‘what was your thesis on again?’ or ‘what exactly have you been researching?’ or ‘is your research important and relevant to anything?’ you will improve your communication skills, both oral and written, which are key attributes for all PhD graduates.

Audience participation
Audience participation is encouraged from fellow research students, supervisors and researchers (an open forum is encouraged).

SPEED THESIS competition presentation program
The final program, with student names and paper titles will be published on the ACIS2009 website on 25 November 2009.

Examination of Presentations for Prizes

Prizes

Prizes will be awarded by the Doctoral Consortium Committee for Speed Thesis Competition and winners will receive a certificate and prize money. The overall winner of the competition will receive $500 and a trophy, second place $300 and third place $200.

Judging

The Judges will score 3 areas out of 10 (see below):

• Language:
  Appropriate to an intelligent but non-specialist audience?
  Score / 10      


• Oratory:
  Is the talk engaging, dynamic, and compelling, making us want to know more?
  Score / 10
  


• Creativity:
  Has the presentation been inventive in a way that helped the audience understand the research?
  Score / 10

Prizes Process:

• Students will be informed that in what group they will be presenting by 25 November 2009.
• All students will be in the room for peers’ pitches.
• A clock with a timer will be set and the student will be asked to stop after 3 minutes.
• Judges will call students by name to the lectern one by one.
• Judges will be provided with a list of students in their group, a copy of each presentation and a standard form for examination. All judges will mark the students out of 10 in each category.
• The scores will be tallied after all the students have presented their pitches.
• Judges from each group will identify one winner.
• In the Speed Thesis Competition Final, the three finalists will present again to the entire group for 3 minutes, followed by 5 minutes of Q&A.
• The overall winners of the competition and two runner-ups will be selected from the Final and the winners presented with a prize.