This Friday, I am eagerly anticipating the opportunity to meet with law students at a seminar organized by ELSA.
During the seminar, I will be discussing how I provide guidance to my students in the realm of dissertations. I am aware that many third-year law students are currently in the process of selecting a dissertation topic, so I will commence by addressing the initial step of topic exploration. I will emphasize that selecting a dissertation topic should not be a solitary endeavor; rather, it should be accompanied by a quest to address a gap in knowledge. It is essential that students actively contribute to filling this knowledge gap. Mere selection of a topic and regurgitating existing knowledge is discouraged, as it amounts to simplistic reporting.
Furthermore, I will provide a brief overview of how to approach the dissertation itself, guiding students through the process from the initial literature review to formulating a research question, selecting an appropriate methodology, creating a structured table of contents, and ultimately reaching the conclusion where the research question must be addressed. I will have the privilege of being joined by Rebekah Borg, a fifth-year law student whom I had the pleasure of assisting as a tutor during the development of her outstanding dissertation titled “Should Article 70 of the Development Planning Law be revised?”