Third session of the workshop "Writing a thesis in partnership with LATTS" (Monday, May 10, 2021, 4:00–6:00 p.m.)

This session will focus on "Producing, mobilizing, and publishing data in the context of partnership theses" and more broadly concerns any field research approach.

The management of data produced during a partnership thesis is a major concern. In particular, it raises the issue of intellectual property, which is shared between the funding organization and the doctoral student. The use of this data is generally governed by the collaboration agreement, based on often standard clauses defined in advance. However, as with any contractual arrangement, these clauses do not cover all possible scenarios, and the use of the knowledge produced is subject to ongoing negotiations with the organization (managers, colleagues, respondents, etc.), raising multiple issues of creation, appropriation, and promotion in scientific and professional settings (management of certain sensitive or confidential information, freedom of publication and communication, etc.).

This session will focus on how the information collected during the thesis work is managed and used between the partner organization and the doctoral student. First, we will address issues relating to the regulatory framework and its requirements in terms of ethics, integrity, and personal data management (GDPR, etc.). Next, questions relating to methodology and research approach will be discussed: how does producing scientific data in the context of a partnership thesis differ? What is the distinction between the data produced by the doctoral student as part of their research and that produced by/for the company? How can the advantages of a partnership-based thesis be best exploited (use of immersion and participant observation, which are sometimes much easier with this type of arrangement)? How can we manage the special relationship that can develop between the doctoral student and the host organization (sometimes a feeling of "betraying" colleagues by using the data, "mental load," a sense of responsibility towards the company)? How can we "negotiate" a publication as part of a thesis?

Again, these questions are certainly not specific to so-called partnership theses. Indeed, at LATTS at least, it is rare for doctoral students, who most often work on contemporary subjects, not to also ask themselves the question of how to use the data produced in the context of their research. How do these doctoral students deal with this issue? Do they feel equipped to deal with it? What can they learn from the experience of their colleagues who are writing a thesis in partnership?

 

 


Publiée le 10 May 2021