‫החוג ללקויות למידה‬ Department of Learning Disabilities

Faculty of Education

‫נוהל אישור הצעת דוקטורט בחוג ללקויות למידה‬

The procedure: 1) A short pre-proposal, approved by the designated thesis mentor, will be submitted by the

candidate immediately upon submitting a request for enrollment into the PhD program. 2) The pre-proposal will be read by at least 2 members of the departmental PhD committee (other

department members can be consulted too). The PhD committee’s head will provide a short written notice of acceptance to the department administrator or, if the pre-proposal is found insufficient, the PhD committee’s head will ask the mentor to consider a revision. 3) Guidelines for the pre-proposal: a.

The pre-proposal is to be brief: i.

A clear and concise statement of the study aim and rational (justification of the proposed research question);

ii. A brief statement of the scientific background - the context for the proposed (1-2

pages); iii. A brief statement of the general methodology and methods that may be used to

address the research question. iv. Up to 10 references are allowed. v.

Total number of pages (not including references): 4.

b. In the case of an applicant for the direct doctoral thesis program (one year into

MA/MSc): i.

The methodology section would be required to be much more detailed. ii. A full proposal, including some preliminary-pilot results, must be submitted

within 3 months of the pre-proposal. Note: the required preliminary results are needed to provide proof of feasibility (a limited pilot study). If a field study is proposed only a local pilot on methodological issues will be required. A full PhD thesis proposal is required to be submitted within 1 year of the acceptance into the PhD program. 4)

43-3231484 :‫ פקס‬,43-3234383 :‫ טל‬,4313343 ‫ מיקוד‬,‫ חיפה‬,‫ הר הכרמל‬,911 ‫ שדרות אבא חושי‬,‫אוניברסיטת חיפה‬ University of Haifa, 199 Aba-Hushi Avenue, Mount Carmel, Haifa, 3498838, Israel, Fax. 04-824-9353

‫החוג ללקויות למידה‬ Department of Learning Disabilities

Faculty of Education

The full PhD thesis proposal will include the following:

5) a.

A clear and concise statement of the study aims and rational (justification of the proposed research program) (1 page);

b. A presentation of the scientific background - the context for the proposed (up to 7 printed

pages, 1.5 line -spacing, I2pt font); c. A clear and concise statement of the study questions and working hypotheses (1 page); d. .A full description of the general methodology, the specific methods and design and logic of each

experiment proposed to address the research questions (but not less than 4 pages, 1.5 linespacing, 12pt font). e.

Preliminary-pilot data (proof of feasibility, validation of methodology) must be included in the proposal (at the end of the methods section) as an appendix.

f.

Rule of thumb: number of references not less than 25.

g. Total number of pages (not including references, tables, figures) not to exceed 15.

The PhD proposal review process:

6) a.

Each PhD thesis proposal will be sent out for review by 2-3 readers, at least one of which must be from a different academic institution (within the country or abroad). i.

The names of 3-4 potential reviewers — including the relevant expertise of each person will be suggested by the mentor.

ii.

The PhD committee can decide whether to approach some or all of these potential reviewers or chose others.

iii. The reviewers will be asked to provide a written review OR if they prefer will be asked to a

reviewers meeting which will take place within 3 month of their acceptance of the requestof- review letter. b. If one or more of the reviewers do not respond within 3 months of the review request (after

agreeing to review the proposal): i. An ad-hoc PhD review committee will be established. Members: A faculty member of the

departmental PhD committee or a faculty member of the LD department with relevant 43-3231484 :‫ פקס‬,43-3234383 :‫ טל‬,4313343 ‫ מיקוד‬,‫ חיפה‬,‫ הר הכרמל‬,911 ‫ שדרות אבא חושי‬,‫אוניברסיטת חיפה‬ University of Haifa, 199 Aba-Hushi Avenue, Mount Carmel, Haifa, 3498838, Israel, Fax. 04-824-9353

‫החוג ללקויות למידה‬ Department of Learning Disabilities

Faculty of Education

expertise, an additional faculty member of the LD department; at least one reviewer from outside the department for Learning Disabilities (preferably, from a different academic institute), the PhD student's mentor/s. ii. The proposal will be presented to the ad-hoc committee by the student (45 minutes) and an

open discussion of constructive suggestions for changes and modifications will follow. A majority vote will decide approval of the proposal. The departmental PhD committee will finalize the acceptance of the full proposal and will advise changing or modifying the proposal as required. The departmental PhD committee will accept the final proposal consulting with all members of the ad- hoc committee. iii. The date (2-3 alternatives) for the ad-hoc committee meeting will be set upon the

submission of the proposal to the secretariat ( ~ 3 4 ‫ ־‬month interval) and the student will be asked to prepare the presentation for that date. c. All students submitting PhD proposals (irrespective of whether reviewers have returned a timely

answer (and thus the proposal is approved) or if an ad-hoc committee was set up) will be required to present their proposals and a research report in the Ph.D. seminar at two time points: i.

~3-6 months after the proposal submission (in addition to, and preferably after, the ad-hoc committee meeting).

ii. ~ 2 years into the approved PhD research program.

These presentations will be open to all other departmental PhD students and all department members. The mentor/s' presence is required. The presentations will also be open to all faculty members of the university with interest in the field.

43-3231484 :‫ פקס‬,43-3234383 :‫ טל‬,4313343 ‫ מיקוד‬,‫ חיפה‬,‫ הר הכרמל‬,911 ‫ שדרות אבא חושי‬,‫אוניברסיטת חיפה‬ University of Haifa, 199 Aba-Hushi Avenue, Mount Carmel, Haifa, 3498838, Israel, Fax. 04-824-9353