FOR MASTER'S AND DOCTORAL STUDENTS
Writing a thesis isn't about talent — it's a sequence of moves you can learn.
Where you're stuck isn't where the problem is
“I can't start writing my literature review.”
→
The reading is done, but no research gap has been derived from it; there's no claim to write toward.
“My supervisor says it's too descriptive.”
→
The studies have been summarised, but the tensions between them haven't been drawn out.
“I can't pin down my research question.”
→
Until the gap in the literature is identified, the question has nothing to answer.
“I'm stuck on my interview guide.”
→
The question isn't yet clear enough to generate one.
Problems that look entirely different are usually reflections of the same missing piece — and that missing piece always sits one step before the point where you feel stuck.
SEMINAR SERIES
The Dissertation Roadmap for the Social Sciences:
From Topic to Research Design
The series consists of nine sessions in two blocks. We work through, in order, the decisions you need to make before you start collecting data for your thesis: turning your topic into a research question, searching and writing the literature, and building your theoretical framework and research design. Alongside these, we work on how to plan and write chapters and paragraphs, and how to use other people’s work correctly in your own writing.
Small groups (5-8 people), online, live
Who is it for? Master’s and PhD students in the social sciences, whether you are about to start your thesis proposal, are in the middle of writing it, or have already had it approved.
Block 1 — From Foundations to Draft
M1 The DNA of Social Research
M2 Research Proposal and Thesis Structure
M3 Rapid Literature Recon
M4 From Topic to Research Question
M5 Writing the Literature Review
M6 Academic Writing Clinic
Block 2 — From Theory to Design
M7 Theory and Causality
M8 Research Design Map
M9 Sampling and Data Collection Logic
Block 1 participants join directly. Others join after a short placement conversation.
Students I've worked with
Dr. Ebru not only supported me through the entire process but even prepared lectures which taught me how to properly conduct academic research to write a thesis. […] One of my examiners even remarked that it was the best thesis he had read so far.
Esme M., Master's (Japan)
This service has been a life saver, giving me a clear direction and actionable items on how to improve my dissertation when I felt I was in the dark. It is like having a second professor when yours is not there. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Ayşe Y., PhD (UK)
Over time, she showed me how to write articles on my own. I was really struggling with academic writing. During my PhD, she guided me patiently and in detail through every stage of my thesis — research methods, developing hypotheses, reviewing the literature.
Melda Y., PhD (Turkey)
ONE-TO-ONE THESIS & DISSERTATION COACHING
In-depth guidance, tailored to you
One-to-one coaching supports you as you work on your own thesis — and you can start right away. The aim is twofold: to develop your skills in academic research and writing, and to help you build steady working and writing habits through effective stress and time management.
What is Thesis Coaching?
One-to-one work that develops the research and writing skills you need to write a good thesis, within the principles of academic integrity.
Guidance to help you manage the process effectively, structure your project well and get past internal and external obstacles more easily.
What it isn't
Thesis coaching is not a thesis-writing service.
A thesis coach never writes text on a student's behalf, under any circumstances.
A thesis coach does not take on the role of supervisor or examiner; the final decision on every matter rests with the student and their supervisor.
ABOUT
I completed my master's degree at Boğaziçi University and my PhD in the Department of Political Science at the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, USA). I then taught political science and research methods at every level from undergraduate to doctoral, supervised master's and doctoral theses, and served on numerous thesis committees.
Along the way I saw one thing again and again. Although methods courses aim to teach research theory and practice together, they tend to pass on the techniques of research more than its logic. Which decision comes before which, how a literature review is synthesised and organised, why particular methodological choices need to be made — moves like these usually remain tacit. So however well-read students are in their own field, they either don't know where to start their research, or can't move forward once they have.
That observation is what led me to thesis coaching after leaving institutional academia. I began by coaching a large number of qualitative and quantitative thesis projects with a UK-based company, then founded Dissertation Roadmap to offer students more systematic guidance through the thesis-writing process.
Ebru Altınoğlu, PhD
SEMINARS
Join the waitlist for the English cohort
The Dissertation Roadmap seminar series currently runs in Turkish. English cohorts open in early 2027. Leave your details and I'll let you know as soon as enrolment opens.
No commitment — just one email when enrolment opens.
Nine sessions - Live online - Cohorts of 8