university of edinburgh dissertation festival

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Dissertations and research projects

General advice and resources to support you throughout your research-based dissertation or project.

This is a general resource to help you with the basics of organising and writing a research-based dissertation or project.  The Go further section at the end includes advice on work-based dissertations and signposts other resources.

You should consult your course or programme information, including online sources, and project supervisor or programme director for subject-specific guidance.

Dissertations and research projects are an opportunity to focus on particular question, and plan and undertake your own research to explore it further.  Many students really enjoy being an independent researcher and becoming the expert on their work.  The format varies depending on the disciplinary context, subject area, your research questions and the project.  You may be reviewing the literature, analysing a novel, developing and testing a new method or doing a work-based project.  However there are some common factors:

• They are an independent piece of work.  You will be working under supervision to some extent and may be collaborating with others, but ultimately you are submitting a piece of independent thought and writing.
• They tend to have a large word count.  This is to allow you to do sufficient in-depth analysis and discussion of the topic.
• They require a large investment of time, thought and energy throughout the process.  As a significant body of academic work, you need to maintain effort whilst reading, researching, thinking, writing and redrafting it.

Choosing your dissertation or project

Whether you are choosing your dissertation from a selection of topics or you are proposing your own, there are a range of factors to consider.  For example:

• What is the starting point for your work, i.e. previous or related research?
• How feasible is your project / proposal?
• Do you have enough time and resources to complete it?
• Will it be of an appropriate academic level?

A key questions to ask is “How interested am I in this topic?”  You will be working on your dissertation or project for some time, so having a genuine interest in the topic will help to keep you motivated.  If you have any questions specific to your topic or project, you should ask your supervisor, programme director or another member of staff who teaches you.

Planning your dissertation or research project

A research-based dissertation or project is a large piece of work requiring a high level of critical analysis.  To achieve this you will have to allow time, not just for the researching phase, but also for the writing and editing stages.  You will need to give yourself plenty of time to:

• Read around your topic and undertake background research;
• Digest and think about what you are learning and writing;
• Complete experiments, fieldwork, interviews or project placements;
• Analyse data, findings or results, and interpret them;
• Think about and decide on your conclusions.

Taking a project management approach to your dissertation or research project might be a more effective way to successfully complete it.  The Time management page has tips and tools for organising your time.

Time management webpage and tools

The dissertation and project planner can be used to think about the different stages and help give you an overall view of the process.  There are some general points and questions to act as prompts, spaces you can add your own notes in and some useful tips and resources.

Dissertation and project planner (pdf)                     Dissertation and project planner (rtf)

Writing your dissertation

You should not underestimate the time that should be allocated to writing your dissertation.  Writing will involve planning, background research, drafting, redrafting, and proof-reading and editing.

First draft : Your first draft is about getting words on the page.  For example, it may sketch out your first thoughts, arguments and potential structure.  You can review these and use them to check: are you focussed on the right topics and questions?  Is your structure and line of thought sensible?  This is also a good time to set up your format requirements (e.g. page layouts, references).

Redrafts : Redrafting is where you expand and refine your ideas and argument.  You may also find that as you are writing the direction of your argument changes; for example this could be due to your literature research producing new avenues of thought or your experiments turning up unexpected results.  This is a good time to review the focus of your initial question, and whether your arguments or conclusions are still sensible.

Final draft(s) : Your final draft(s) is where you cast a critical eye over your work and assess how effective it is in communicating your argument and conclusions - does it answer the question?  You should also check that your presentation, spelling and grammar are appropriate and polished, all your references are included, and your are following the appropriate format guidance.

It is a good idea to take a break between writing and reviewing your work.  Try to leave at least a day between writing before you pick it up again, the longer the better.  This allows you to look at your work with an analytical eye, looking for ways to improve.  Imagine you are reading your work as someone who is not so familiar with the topic: would a reader be able to follow and understand your argument?  Do your ideas link?  Have you signposted on from one section to the next?  Remember also to look back at your question/title, does your dissertation address it?  Does it follow a logical structure?

To check the flow of your argument or line of reasoning you can test pieces of your text using set criteria.  To help revise and restructure your text you can make a reverse outline.  Both of these techniques are available on our Editing and proofreading page.

Editing and proofreading

Producing a professional document

Information Services provide information and guidance about how to produce a thesis or dissertation using Microsoft Word.

Producing a thesis or dissertation using Microsoft Word (EASE log in required)

Thesis Hub: Producing your thesis or dissertation in Word

Choosing a reference manager

A referencing management tool can help you to collect and organise and your source material to produce a bibliography or reference list.

Referencing and reference management

Data Mindfulness

As part of your research you will produce and use research data in a variety of forms from quantitative and/or qualitative research.  This may be data you generate yourself or obtained from other researchers, data repositories or public records.  You need to make choices about what you use, handle your data correctly and document all of this process.

The University’s Research Data Service helps staff and students be effective with their research data before, during and after their project.   They have created an introductory handbook on Data Mindfulness for taught students writing a dissertation.  This handbook is accompanied by a set of short videos.  Together these cover topics including what data is, how to store it, file organisation and dealing with your data after your hand-in.  There is advice in the handbook on working with sensitive data and issues such as privacy, confidentiality and disclosure.

Data Mindfulness handbook

Data Mindfulness videos

Work-based dissertations

Many courses and programmes, particularly at Postgraduate level, offer the opportunity to carry out a work-based dissertation.  These opportunities vary between Schools and Programmes but will typically involve students tackling a research question identified by an organisation such as a business, a public sector organisation or a charity.  A work based dissertation project can be invaluable for your employability and for career development.

If you are interested in carrying out a work-based dissertation you may need to start planning earlier than you would for a more traditional academic dissertation.  If your Programme offers this opportunity, you will be given this information at the start of Semester 1.  If you would like to source and set up a dissertation project with an external organisation yourself, you will need to speak with your Programme Director or Course Organiser first.

You can draw on resources developed by the Making the Most of Masters project.

Making the Most of Masters

Work-based projects – advice for students

There are a variety of study guides available on dissertation and project writing.  Books aimed at postgraduate students can also be useful for undergraduates.  Our IAD Resource List has a selection available in University libraries.

Study Skills Guides

Academic Support Librarians

Helping you get the best from the library, its collections, resources and services.

Category Archives: Dissertation Festival

Dissertation festival from the student perspective.

Dissertation . A word that scares and confuses many students, including me. It seems like a difficult and mysterious concept that most of us must deal with at some point on our academic journey. I have been wondering for a long time if there is any way I can make the whole experience of writing it at least a bit easier and less scary. I must admit that this year’s dissertation festival has provided me with a lot of tools and information to do just that.

During the dissertation festival, I attended three sessions: Introduction to reference managers, Improve your research skills with SAGE Research Methods, and DataLiteracy for Beginners . They were all very informative, both for students currently writing their dissertation, but also for students like me, who are only beginning to think about their dissertation now.

The first event was an overview of four reference managers. I really enjoyed the fact that the presentation did not only cover one reference manager but as many as four. This gave me a chance to get a feel of all of them and choose my favourite one (which, I must admit, has got to be EndNote). The second event covered SAGE Research Methods database, which I was not aware of before, yet I found it to be a very useful resource. The last event I attended emphasized the importance of critical thinking while dealing with various kinds of information, especially the statistics part of it.

I enjoyed all the events a lot! The only thing I would change about these, would it be their form. I prefer to attend in-person events, especially after covid ‘trauma’ that we have all experienced – it would be nice to see all the presenters and attendees offline. But well, one cannot have everything, maybe next time!

Overall, I recommend every student to attend the next edition of the dissertation festival, whether they are in their fourth, third or second year. All events provided me with great tools that I will not only use while writing my dissertation but also other coursework.

Zofia Matuszczyk Communications Officer Intern

Dissertation Festival: Exploring library resources for dissertations in gender studies

Beginning your search with Subject Guides  

Throughout my time as both a Digital Engagement Intern within Library & University Collections and an undergraduate student, I’ve become aware of just how valuable the virtual Subject Guides are for beginning your research, whatever your field of study. The Gender Studies Subject Guide provides access to databases, journals, periodicals, bibliographies and so much more, as well as initiatives and research projects conducted at the university.  

Going beyond DiscoverEd  

Of course, DiscoverEd is a fantastic tool for navigating the rich resources available through the university, and this event was a great reminder than you can improve the scope of your searches further through Boolean operators and considering the terminology you use. Although the terms we use around gender and sexuality have progressed, it’s worth recognising archaic terms, particularly when accessing historical databases. This event also highlighted the new Yewno service which allows you to build visual maps through cross-referencing keyword searches across library databases. All you need to do to access it is log-in via your institution and there are lots of handy instructional videos to help you get started!  

Accessing the Centre for Research Collections  

The second half of the event discussed some of the collections held by the university, including the Lothian Health Service Archive which contains a wealth of health-related material. A key takeaway for me was in recognising the multidisciplinary nature of Gender Studies and how much material is available in other historical archives and databases. I was a bit daunted about accessing the Centre for Research Collections at first but having a clear idea of what you’re looking for and using the support materials available online will help you get the most of it the rich resources within them.  

Whatever your topic, the Dissertation Festival has a wide range of online events which will help you get the most out of the resources available to you.  

Tristan Craig   Digital Engagement Intern (Equity, Diversity and Inclusion)  

A guide to subject guides

Image by ijmaki on Pixabay

One of the key parts of our role as librarians is to help staff and students find the things they need to complete their work. One way in which we do this is to create subject guides, which are like mini websites which collate all kinds of useful links and information we think will be helpful to those working and studying at the University.

You can find a full list of the subject guides we’ve made here , but some of our most popular during 2020-2021 have been the guides for Law , Business , East Asian Studies , English Literature and Engineering . As you’ll see from this list we have guides dedicated to each School and sometimes very specific guides which deal with subjects within those schools.

However we’ve also created guides which we believe are helpful resources for all students in any subject. For example our Exam and Revision guide is aimed at any student looking for top tips and news on the help that’s available from the library and university services to help make their studying more successful.

A screen capture of the Exams and Revision subject guide

Our Dissertation Festival guide contains loads of useful resources for students based on the events that took place in our recent Dissertation Festival (March 2021). Check it out if you’re looking for advice on how to get started with your dissertation research, or are interested in finding out more about some of the collections available from our library suppliers. Just like a face-to-face event you can also pick up your Festival Bag from this page, jam-packed with videos, information and helpful tips. You’ll hear more about the Dissertation Festival from one of our student interns in the coming weeks so watch this space!

Over the summer we’re working on guides relating to Disability and Open Resources which will be published in the coming months.

Did you know we take requests? If you think that there’s a previously untapped topic we should make a guide for, please let us know by leaving a comment on this post or emailing your Academic Support Librarian using the links on this page . We’d love to hear from you!

SarahLouise McDonald, Academic Support Librarian

Dissertation Festival Blog: Engineering Village resources for dissertations

Introduction

The day has finally arrived, the end of my Dissertation Festival Blog series. To recap, the Library’s Dissertation Festival is a collaborative effort from the Library, Digital Skills department and Institute of Academic Development (IAD). They united to host a series of virtual sessions spanning over two weeks to provide students with the knowledge and resources required to make the most out of their dissertations. The Festival is a fantastic opportunity to learn tips and tricks to help you write, reference and uncover what support is available to you at the University. In this blog series, I review sessions I have attended and share my thoughts.

The Session

For my final event, I went subject-specific, as I attended “Engineering Village resources for dissertations” hosted by a staff member from Elsevier.  The session began with an explanation of Engineering Village and how it can help with your dissertation. To summarise, Engineering Village is a powerful search platform that provides access to multiple engineering literature databases. These reliable sources range from journals to conference proceedings and trade publications to press articles. It is essentially a one-stop-shop for all things engineering literature. If you are confused about how you could have missed such a powerful platform, don’t worry – you may already be aware of some of the databases found within Engineering Village; these include Knovel, Compendex and Inspec!

During the session, short tutorials of Knovel, Compendex and Inspec were given with their key features highlighted. I found Knovel to be most interesting as the database provides you with the opportunity to search materials’ properties, pulling this numeric data from handbooks, manuals, and databanks so you can access what you need quickly. It also allows you to search for equations and contains tools such as a unit converter and interactive graphs to aid your research.

Screenshot from Knovel website taken to illustrate the Material Property Search feature

Both Compendex and Inspec are comprehensive bibliographic databases of engineering research covering engineering and applied sciences. Compendex is more holistic and is the broadest, most complete engineering database in the world. On the other hand, Inspec provides engineering research information on physics, electrical engineering and electronics, computers and control, production engineering, information technology, and more. Using Engineering Village, you can search both databases simultaneously, ensuring you are getting the most relevant and up to date information.

Thoughts and Conclusion

The session was highly informative and helped me understand how to use the unique search features and specialised Engineering Village tools to improve my research productivity.  I believe Engineering Village is a resource relevant to all STEM students or students whose work requires reliable scientific data. For dissertation use, the database can have a range of applications, so it is well worth further inspection. You can directly access Knovel, Compendex and Inspec from the University Library Databases page!

Thank you for reading this blog, and I hope you enjoyed it. Unfortunately, a recorded version of the session is not available, so you have to wait until the next Dissertation Festival to see the event live! However, you can access other Dissertation Festival recordings from a dedicated playlist HERE and read previous blogs in the series HERE and HERE .

Dissertation Festival Blog: How to use the library remotely for your dissertation

It’s time for the second blog! These dissertation festival blogs are an opportunity for me to share my thoughts on the Dissertation Festival Events I have attended. For those who don’t know, the Library’s Dissertation Festival is a collaborative effort from the Library, Digital Skills department and Institute of Academic Development (IAD). They have shared a series of virtual events to provide students with the knowledge and resources to make the most out of their dissertations or theses.  To find out more about the festival, click HERE , and you can see my previous blog HERE .

Hopefully, you should all be aware of the University Library and its associated buildings. Something you may not be conscious of are all the online and offline resources they have on offer. I must admit, even I (a student intern within the Library and University Collections department) am not 100% sure what “RaB” means or that you could easily filter your results on DiscoverEd (see the image below). I learned that and more in the “How to use the Library remotely for your dissertation” event.

How to limit search options on DiscoverEd

The session began by covering the basics of accessing resources. For online materials, that meant a comprehensive tutorial on how to search on DiscoverEd and a discussion as to why you may need to use the University’s VPN to obtain specific resources. Print was a little bit trickier to communicate (understandably), but directions were given to regularly check the Library Services Update page for the latest information in response to Government Guidelines.

For finding resources about a particular research area, Library Databases are a great place to go. They can give you a window into the literature you are interested in and contain specialist resources produced by experts. If you are unsure what you are looking for, the Library has made searching easier as you can browse databases based on by subject or as a complete A-Z list!

Now, I am sure at this point you are wondering what is “RaB”? During the session, I learned that if the Library doesn’t have the book you require, or it is only available as a print version, you can … Request a Book (RaB). It is such an excellent service that I am sure be beneficial for anyone, not only those completing their dissertation. Another valuable service feature offered by the Library are Inter-Library Loans (ILLs) which enable you to request digital copies of articles and book chapters from other libraries!

If I were to summarise this session in just one saying, it would be “It’s never too late to teach an old dog new tricks”. During the event, I was pleasantly surprised by all the new knowledge I gained, especially about DiscoverEd – a service I have been regularly using over the past 4 years! I was also reminded about other fantastic resources and features supported by the Library, which would help you with your dissertation, thesis, and even general studies!

If you are interested in the session and want to check it out, you can find it HERE !

Thanks for checking out the blog, see you at the next one.

Dissertation Festival Blog: So… what is a systematic review?

Welcome to the first of three blogs, where I document my Dissertation Festival Experience. For those who don’t know, the Library’s Dissertation Festival is a collaborative effort from the  Library, Digital Skills department and Institute of Academic Development (IAD). They have come together to host a series of virtual sessions spanning over two weeks, providing students with the knowledge and resources to make the most out of their dissertations. Think Tomorrowland, Glastonbury and Coachella but online, free and hosted by the University of Edinburgh. So not quite the same. However, the Dissertation Festival is a fantastic opportunity to learn tips and tricks to help you w rite , reference  and uncover what support is available to you at the University.   

The first Dissertation Festival  session   I  participated in  was titled “ What is a Systematic Review dissertation like? ”.   I decided to attend  because  I  was interested in finding out  how systematic reviews  (SR)  differed from other dissertation types.  Luckily , this was  th orough ly covered within the presentation .   After the first 5 minutes of the event, I was able to explain that the goal of a systematic review ;  to answer a specific question  in a topic area using reproducible review princip les .     

Slide from Dissertation Festival used to help illustrate where different review approaches sit

Other key points of the session include “The supporting principles of a SR” which highlighted the need for a pre-defined and detailed methodology. This was an important  topic for  me as I am typically more of a ‘go-with-the-flow type person  when writing pieces of work. However, now knowing the aims of an SR , I am  confident that is not the best strategy. Instead,  you  should  develop a clear plan (in advance), have an inclusion criterion for s tudies you are  considering, find ways to avoid bias  and document all your  SR   activities.  

I would recommend this session for those who are just about to carry out a dissertation  or thesis  and don’t know where to start. T he presentation is designed to help you gain a basic level of understanding  a  SR and  what it  e ntails . For all , you indecisive people  out there  or those who  don’t know  what  research method   to use , the pros and cons list shown in the presentation can help you evaluate if this is the right research method for you! Throughout the session, there were lots of valuable pieces of advice and information given. There were also signposts for further knowledge items to help you further your understanding in your own time.  

If you are interested in the session and want to check it out , you can find it HERE ! Thanks for checking out the blog.  

PPLS Skills Centre

Planning for success in your postgraduate programme.

During Welcome Week, we will (twice) be holding a workshop for PGT students that will help you get off to the right start this year. You’ll learn about the resources that are available during your degree and acquire skills you’ll need to manage your workload.  You can sign up by following these links:

Sept 13 (10:00-14:00) Sept 16 (12:30-16:30)

We’ll start by introducing people from the School of PPLS and the Institute for Academic Development who are there to help you succeed.  Next comes a look at how to use academic software to organise your notes and papers.  After that, we’ll use modified Gantt charts to budget your allocated learning and teaching hours so that you won’t run into trouble at the end of the semester.  Finally, we will split into smaller groups by subject area for discussions with PhD tutors. 

Speakers include Dr Alistair Isaac (School PG Director), Abby Pooley (Senior Student Leader; Psychology PhD student), Dr Jenna Mann (IAD Academic Developer), Dr Lucia Michielin (EFI Digital Skills Training Manager), Dr James Donaldson (PPLS Skills Centre Manager), and members of the PPLS Postgraduate Office .

Lunch (and a snack) will be provided.

UG1 students eligible for 2 bookings per semester

Until today, first-year undergraduates have had one appointment per semester. We’re pleased to announce that this limit has been raised to two appointments per semester. UG2-4 and PG students can continue to book two appointments per month.

It’s not too late for the Dissertation Festival

The UoE Library’s Dissertation Festival (7-18 March 2022) is currently underway. You can find a list of upcoming events (e.g., managing complex documents) at the link as well as a set of recordings of events that have already been held (e.g. referencing, literature reviews).

Peer proofreading through EUSA

Great news: EUSA is arranging peer proofreading again. The service is back until 29 July 2022 (except for a break from 25 March 2022 until 25 April 2022). You can bring in one piece of text (<=2000 words) per semester. This service is completely complementary to what we do at the Skills Centre, so I’d suggest booking both services if you can use the help.

Intermediate Python and Learn-What-You-Like

Alisdair Tullo will be holding several new programming courses from later this month. If you’re interested, please see the links below:

Intermediate Python

• For those who have completed a Python course for beginners or written a Python program for themselves before
• Looks at a range of topics such as text analysis, plotting, and working with numerical and tabular data
• Wednesdays (9:00-10:50) starting 26th January in Lister Center 1.16
• Details and booking: https://edin.ac/32fKXwq

Computer Programming Learn-What-You-Like

• For tutor-supported self-study
• Choose from a range of suggestions or find your own programming materials to study. We’ll be there when you need help!
• Recommendations are available for everyone from complete beginners to experienced programmers.
• Fridays (9:00-10:50) starting 28th January in Appleton Tower 4.02
• Details and booking: https://edin.ac/3IjhNvw

Intro to Python on Gather (4 weeks)

Alisdair Tullo will be running an online computer programming course this semester. It aims to take complete beginners through their first steps in computer programming. It will use the Python programming language with Turtle graphics for visual feedback.

The course will be held in the PPLS Gather space (gather.town). A link and password will be sent to you a few days before the course starts, so please keep those safe.

If you are interested, sign up for one of these sessions. Each will continue on a weekly basis for four weeks.

Mondays (14:10 — 15:00) Starts 27-Sept-2021.

Wednesdays (14:10 — 15:00) Starts 29-Sept-2021.

Thursdays (13:10 — 14:00) Starts 30-Sept-2021.

Digital Skills Festival Recordings

Back in May 2021, the University of Edinburgh held its first Digital Skills Festival. There were a number of presentations and workshops that would be of interest to students and researchers in PPLS (e.g., Library Bitesize, Managing Your References, etc.).

For those who missed out, there’s good news: many of these events were recorded for posterity. Visit https://digitalskillsfestival.ed.ac.uk/recordings-and-resources/ to see what’s available.

Have you got past the first stage in programming? Do you want to improve? Consider attending Alisdair Tullo ‘s Code Dojo on 18 August 2021 (13:30-16:30) (click to sign up). You’ll work in teams to solve coding challenges. The default language is Python, but you can agree to work in another language with your teammates. The event will be hosted in Microsoft Teams (a link will be sent to everyone who registers).

Experiment Repository

Alisdair Tullo has put together a collection of code that you might find useful for your research projects. It covers E-Prime, OpenSesame/OSWeb, Python (including PsychoPy), Java and JavaScript. Links to this and many more coding resources can be found in “ Data Collection and Coding ” on SharePoint.

First-year writing appointments

The PPLS Skills Centre has a new offering for first-year undergraduates. Traditionally, we’ve been focused on helping students in years 2 and up, but in 2021/22 we will provide one writing appointment per semester to students taking our first-year courses as well. You can use your appointment to discuss any essay you are writing for the following courses:

• Introduction to Cognitive Science
• Linguistics and English Language 1A
• Morality and Value
• Philosophy of Science 1
• Psychology 1A
• Greats: From Plato to the Enlightenment
• Linguistics and English Language 1B
• Psychology 1B

We won’t proofread your work or help you with content. Rather, our goal is to help you communicate more effectively. We will let you know if parts of your writing are confusing for your readers and will work with you on finding ways to make things better. For more information, please see “1-on-1 appointments” at https://uoe.sharepoint.com/sites/PPLSLearningResources .

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Moray House Library

The Library holds the University's education, sport and recreation collections, containing literature covering:

• English language teaching
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More information may be found on the Moray House Library webpage .

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Find your course reading lists via Resource Lists. Type in your course code or keywords from the course title, or your lecturer's name.

Please note that not all courses at the University use Resource Lists. 

Sport & Physical Education e-books

A collection of over 150 e-books and 200 videos from the Human Kinetics Library core collection.

Exam Papers

Exam Papers Online provides access to the collected degree examination papers of the University from 2004 onwards. They may be used by students as a study aid only.

• Exam Papers Online

Key databases for Sport & Physical Education

• SPORTDiscus with full text Includes coverage of sport,recreation, exercise physiology, sports medicine, coaching, physical fitness, the psychology, history and sociology of sport, training, and conditioning.
• Sports Medicine and Education Index Indexes physical education literature, including peer-reviewed journals, report literature, conference proceedings, trade magazines, patents, articles from the popular press and other publications.
• CAB Abstracts Includes coverage of human health, human nutrition, leisure and tourism.
• Other databases for Sport & Physical Education

Referencing and Reference Management

Our guide to referencing and reference management includes information on a range of resources resources to help you get your references right and avoid plagiarism.

Referencing and reference management

Review management software

For systematic reviews, there are online tools that can help with the screening and reviewing processes.

Covidence provides free account creation for up to 500 records. Instead, make use of the University of Edinburgh's subscription to load your records (more than 500 if that is what you have) for de-duplication* and screening.

Covidence is a web-based tool and reviewers can work on the same set of records.

Covidence’s University of Edinburgh sign-up page

• register using your University of Edinburgh email address.

Webinar schedule on the Covidence Knowledgebase page - scroll down

More about Covidence

Plus the Covidence Academy for:

• Guides on key steps in the systematic review process.
• Step by step video tutorials to get the best out of the Covidence platform.

Rayyan is a freely available systematic review tool from Qatar Computing Research Institute.

Rayyan QCRI

*always do a manual check after any system of automatic de-duplication.

Academic Support Librarian

Introduction to literature searching for your dissertation

The link below takes you to of a recording of a live session for students in the College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences (CAHSS) which looks at developing a search strategy, resources available from the Library to help you search the literature and how to manage your search results. Delivered as part of the Library's Dissertation Festival (March, 2021).

• Dissertation Festival: Introduction to literature searching for your dissertation

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Book Publishing Workshop with Edinburgh University Press (Dissertation and Thesis Festival)

Related media.

Library Matters: news from ECA Library

Dissertation festival, autumn dissertation festival: 31 october – 4 november 2022.

Dissertation Festival : Monday 7 March – Friday 18 March 2022

• Do you want to find out more about the library resources available to support your dissertation question?
• Are you interested in learning how to manage the bibliographic and research data you’ve found?

Join us for two weeks of online events and find out what the Library can do for you to help you succeed with your dissertation.

• Make your dissertation something special : find out about our fantastic collections of digital primary sources
• Discover the full range of digital resources that you can access via the University
• Take the first steps to learn new skills in managing your bibliographic references and your research data

Live session times don’t suit you? Dissertation Festival sessions are complemented by the modules in the new LibSmart II online course which can be undertaken at any time to build your knowledge and skills in the library landscape for your dissertation research. For more information, see http://www.ed.ac.uk/is/LibSmart Find out more at : www.ed.ac.uk/is/dissertation-festival

Dissertation Festival 2021: 25th – 29th October

UPDATE: our Dissertation Festival week took place from 25th – 29th October 2021. You can access recordings from the programme of online events at the Dissertation Festival webpage

                Our next Dissertation Festival will take place in March 2022.

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BW grad's musical 'Dusk' shines bright at Edinburgh Fringe Festival

• Alyson Hand
• 28 March 2024

From BW classrooms to the largest theater festival in the world, Daniel Ruffing's original "Twilight" parody prepares to return to Scotland after a sold-out debut.

Baldwin Wallace University arts management & entrepreneurship graduate Daniel Ruffing '21 saw his original "Twilight" parody musical "Dusk: A Bite-Size Love Story" become an international sensation at the 2023 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Now, he and his "insanely talented co-writer Morgan Kennedy" are busy preparing to return to Edinburgh Fringe later this year.

Cultivating his craft at BW

During his time at BW, Ruffing honed his skills as a composer and marketer. As he put it, "I had a concert of my works performed by students in my junior year called 'He's Lost His Marbles' and had two concerts at the prestigious Feinstein's/54 Below venue in New York City showcasing music performed by BW music theatre majors." 

Ruffing's online songs, including a viral series for YouTuber Jenna Marbles that she featured on her channel, further established his reputation as a talented young composer.

Moving to a bigger stage

Ruffing shared, "Because of all of that, I was asked to write the music for a 'Twilight' parody musical called 'Dusk: A Bite-Size Love Story,' which had a workshop in Erie, Pennsylvania, earlier this year and a world premiere at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe."

Utilizing his BW arts management experience, Ruffing built a huge Instagram and TikTok following for the show @dusk_musical. "I have been running the TikTok account for the musical, too, using my arts management skills to get over 50,000 followers and weekly viral videos on the account."

Sell-out smash success

"All of this led to marketing the show for Edinburgh Fringe, resulting in us completely selling out all of our performances and then having to add new dates/times that also immediately sold out," Ruffing reports. "We were told that this is INCREDIBLY rare for a first-time Fringe production."

Major publications like Playbill covered the show's runaway success , and the production was nominated for both the 2023 OffFest Award for Musicals and the 2023 BroadwayWorld UK/West End Award for Best New Production of a Musical.

Ruffing told Playbill, "It's always been a huge dream of mine to perform at Edinburgh Fringe. Two of my favorite shows, 'Six' and 'Fleabag,' got their starts at the festival … Fringe is a great place to test out material and have the opportunity to get your work in front of amazing audiences and incredible producers and reviewers, so it was a natural next step in our development process!"

What's next?

During the Fringe run, Ruffing and the cast were able to capture the performance on film to create a pro-shot movie version as well as record an official cast album.

The film was picked up for digital run at the 2024 Adelaide Fringe festival in Australia and can be purchased at duskmusical.vhx.tv .

Looking ahead, Ruffing shared, "I am very excited to announce that we will be returning to Edinburgh Fringe this year with a new version of 'Dusk' as well as to preview a new musical in development."

Mentorship that mattered

Looking back, Ruffing credits BW for providing "invaluable experience in all aspects of producing and promoting shows" through the arts management program and mentors like Bryan Bowser and Sean Murphy .

He also says his semester studying abroad at York St. John University in England influenced his decision to pursue a master's degree there after graduating from BW.

The distinct blend of creative and business skills Ruffing developed allowed this young alumnus to make a big splash right out of college with his debut musical.

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