Thesis Sharing

Written by Andy Teo/Edited by the College of Management

“An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest” - Benjamin Franklin. Hearing your feedback on wanting to learn more on how to prepare your thesis, the Student Association of the International Programs organized an inaugural Thesis Sharing event, inviting our award-winning and outstanding thesis alumnus to share more on their experience on thesis preparation. 

The event was held on 3 December 2021, filled with 14 inquisitive students who were eager to learn. Split into 4 different parts, the event started with the sharing from our 3 distinguished alumni, with each covering a different topic. The sharing was followed by a panel discussion to address all the burning questions that our students had, before concluding with a networking session between the alumnus and the current IBMBA and GHRM MBA students. 

Kicking off the sharing, our first guest speaker, Nguyen Tuan Duong, a current Ph.D. candidate in Business Administration (NSYSU) and a previous graduate of MBA in International Business (NSYSU), and the recipient of the “Outstanding Thesis Paper Award” awarded by the  College of Management, National Taiwan University, covered the topic on “Seeking Inspiration for the Thesis Topic”. He provided a metaphoric guide, using the universe, galaxy, and stars, to describe how we should define and pinpoint the topic for our thesis. He also shared some of the search engines that the students could consider when researching their thesis topic such as Google Scholar, ScienceDirect, ProQuest, etc. 

Following Tuan Duong’s sharing, Sabina Ou, a graduate of NSYSU Dual-Degree program reading MBA in International Business (Nottingham Trent University) and MBA with specialization in Global Human Resource Management, (NSYSU), who received A+ ratings from the professors at both schools, shared her “Journey to A+ Published Thesis”. She provided an overview of her thesis timeline and recommended the students to consider spending more time on researching and reading articles related to the thesis topic. 

Mayya Achyldurdyyeva, a Ph.D. candidate in Graduate Institute of Human Resource Management (NSYSU) and a graduate of MBA with specialization in Global Human Resource Management, (NSYSU), and the recipient of a long list of awards for her thesis including the “Outstanding Paper Award in Organizational Behavior Division'' awarded by the Taiwan Academy of Management, took the centre stage and talked about “A Thesis That You Can Use in Your Career / Research''. Mayya’s sharing covered a wide variety of topics ranging from how we should choose our thesis advisor, the difference between an industry and academic thesis, and how we could participate in thesis competitions. 

The sharing was followed by a panel discussion, addressing the questions that the participants raised throughout the event. The panel discussion was facilitated through a digital platform, PigeonHole, where students can submit any questions that pop up in their minds during the guest speakers’ sharing. Participants are actively engaged in the event and more than 15 questions were raised during the discussion.

Concluding the event, the alumnus and the participants chatted over some light refreshments during the networking segment.

Overall, it was a successful event that provided valuable insights to the attendees on how they could better prepare themselves when they start on their thesis.