I am nearing the end of my Ph.D. I have completed all the deliverables presented in my research proposal. The next step in this journey is to make a Synopsis report and submit that to the department to consider accepting my Ph.D. work.
A synopsis report intends to enable the student review committee(SRC) to judge whether a prima facie case exists for accepting the proposed Ph.D. thesis for the award of the Ph.D. degree.
Before submitting the synopsis report, I have to make a Pre-Synopsis Seminar, in which I have to highlight the significant milestones achieved during the tenure of Ph.D. Once this process is completed successfully, the SRC is dissolved, and I will have four months to submit my final Ph.D. thesis for review. Here are a few guidelines and the resulting structure of the report that I have found on the internet.
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Abstract: The synopsis report is intended for the SRC. Thus, its abstract should also be written so that it briefly summarizes the report to help SRC evaluate the work.
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Introduction: This section should give an introduction to the work. Discuss the start of the art and its limitation and present the organization of the report.
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Hypothesis/Problem Statement: This section must clearly state the problem statement of the thesis.
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Aims and Objectives: This section should discuss the research’s primary objectives.
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Summary of the Research Work: This will be the most detailed section of the report and should clearly and concisely present the work carried out during the last four years. It should also state how the research work completes the objectives promised during the research proposal.
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Conclusions: Summarise your research findings and state how your work has advanced the field. Also, present the significant outcomes of the research work.
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Proposed Contents of the Thesis: This section briefly outlines the final thesis. It acts as a blueprint for writing the thesis. In this section, you should give a chapter-wise discussion of the content that you wish to present in that chapter.
- Chapter 1: What will be its title? What will you discuss in this chapter?
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List of Publications: These are the outcomes of your work. Refer to all the work you have published during the tenure of your Ph.D.
- Papers in Refereed Journals
- National and International Conference Proceedings
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Bibliography
Prefrably the synopsis report should not be more than 20 pages. Remember it is just a summary not a detailed thesis.
You can get my latex template for the preparation of the synopsis here.