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A candidate who has written a thesis for their doctorate or Master’s must submit an abstract of these texts in their World Bank Group YPP application. How, then, should you write your abstract for the WBG YPP?
First of all, you should know that it is not mandatory to send these documents for Master’s or Doctoral degrees which did not require a dissertation or thesis in the first place. In these situations, the absence of these documents will not affect your eligibility.
Submission of these abstracts assists the World Bank Group YPP selection team to better understand the candidate’s academic and professional profile. The topic of the research investigated, how it relates to international development, and the theoretical approach for the development used – all of these will be analyzed.
Therefore, writing clear abstracts, with the fundamental elements of the thesis or dissertation, is of great importance to increase your chances of success in the selection process.
In this article, we will guide you through the process of writing an excellent thesis or dissertation abstract, as it is a very important part of your application. It’s just a small sample of your essential guide on the World Bank Group YPP. Get a copy now!
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What should be in my abstract?
In order to have a quality abstract, you should insert some fundamental characteristics in it, including:
- The document’s key elements: The researcher should provide readers with the most useful information about the work, avoiding contents that require detailed explanations, which cannot be provided within the abstract;
- Relevant information should be presented at the beginning: the research problem and the project’s objectives should come first, in order to maintain a coherent line of thought, but there are no compulsory requirements regarding content order. Highlighting the results of the research is of equal importance, since, in addition to representing the researcher’s main foci, they indicate the project’s contribution to the scientific field;
- Clarity and objectivity are required when exhibiting ideas: the aim is to facilitate readers’ immediate comprehension. Confusing elements, long phrases and terms, which are difficult to understand, should be avoided; and,
- Information that is not presented in the document should not be included: although this may seem obvious, many researchers overlook this aspect and sometimes insert elements that are not addressed during the work.
It should be noted that every scientific field or subject can have a significant influence on the elements considered in an abstract.
Therefore, there is some flexibility in the abstract’s format. However, there are elements, which are common to the majority of abstracts, and these are presented in the following table:
| Research problem or question | What central question forms the basis of the research? Which situation-problem does the work propose to solve? It is important for the problem to be as clear and well-defined as possible, and can be resolved using the resources available to the researcher. |
| Objectives | The general and specific objectives are outlined here. The general aim is directly related to the research problem and seeks to solve it. In contrast, the specifics represent a set of defined actions, which contribute to achieving this. |
| Justification | What were the reasons that encouraged the development of the research? The project’s academic and social relevance should be presented. This functions as a type of defense by the author, guaranteeing the project’s importance to the scientific field. |
| Method | This shows which scientific techniques were used to attain the research results, i.e. which models were the basis for the collection and interpretation of the project data. Thus, the methodology represents the researcher’s efforts to solve the proposed problem (whether through bibliographical review, document analysis, case studies and discourse or content analysis, among other methods). |
| Results | The research findings are presented here. Depending on the area, the information may be extremely technical, while other models may contain more general and qualitative explanations of what was found by using the methodology. Summarizing research results is essential, in order to satisfy the readers’ expectations. |
| Conclusions | The conclusion evaluates whether the project was able to answer or solve the situation- problem constructed, and also contains the research limitations. |
| Implications | Lastly, a description may be given of how the research results complement existing knowledge and whether it generates changes in current practices or theories, or otherwise. This part can also indicate new questions arising from the studies, which may be addressed in future research. |
How should I revise my abstract for WBG YPP?
Here, we will provide with some final observations on preparing and sending abstracts to the World Bank Group YPP. But before we get into that, did you know that we have an application service precisely to helping you with your application documents?
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Now to those final tips:
- The summary of your Thesis or Dissertation must contain 500 words;
- Only candidates for a World Bank placement must send a summary;
- The abstracts of your Master’s thesis and/or doctorate dissertation should be in the same file (if applicable). The system will request the file at a specific link;
- The file must be in .doc, .docx or pdf format and each file a maximum size of 5MB;
- The summaries should be sent when completing the online form. Therefore, it is important that they are finalized when applying;
- The summaries must be written in English (no other language is accepted);
- The files must not be password protected and the contents must be searchable. This is because the committee may use plagiarism detection software. Therefore, take great care that there is no plagiarism in your abstracts, even if it is in a small section. In other words, be sure that your abstracts are 100% original;
- Carefully review the text’s spelling, grammar and coherence;
- There is no defined length for the abstracts. However, make sure that each one is no longer than two pages;
- Have a good understanding of the World Bank Group’s mission and public policy model which guides its activities. From there, make it clear how your research aligns with the way that the Bank operates, its mission and its approach to international development; and,
- Make it clear how the questions researched in your thesis and/or dissertation are related or applicable to international development.
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