Short, Short Version, an opportunity for recent PhDs

Spent what seems like months writing your dissertation only to have almost no one read it? We’re trying to change that with a new opportunity for recent PhDs we’re calling the Short, Short Version.

The goal of the Short, Short Version is to summarize your dissertation and what you want people to know about in 1,000 words or less!

Sound interesting? Send your submission to us at [email protected].

General Guidelines for the Short, Short Version

While we want to give you as much freedom as possible, here are some general guidelines for who is eligible to participate and how to craft your piece

  • Anyone who has defended their dissertation within the past two years in a DBER field is welcome to contribute. (DBER fields include but are not limited to physics education research, biology education research, chemistry education research, engineering education research, geoscience education research, computer science education research, math education, STEM education research.)
  • Pieces should be no more than 1,000 words (about a five minute read)
  • Pieces should be written for an informed, but not expert audience. Think of someone in a 200/2000 level course.
  • As such, if you need to use technical terms, make sure to define them.
  • When thinking about the key points, consider addressing the following questions: what problem does your dissertation address, why does that problem matter, what is the answer to that problem/what progress did you make in solving the problem, what else is there to do regarding the problem?
  • Feel free to include your personal voice and write your piece as a personal narrative. It doesn’t (and probably shouldn’t) be written like a formal research paper.
  • Don’t forget to include images! A figure or two that summarizes your key results can be helpful for readers.
  • Once you are happy with your piece, send it to us at [email protected] with the subject Short, Short Version submission. We’ll read through your piece and provide edits. Once we’re both happy with how it looks and reads, we’ll publish it on PERbites!