gantt chart phd template

A PhD timeline for finishing quickly [Free Gantt Download]

Navigating the labyrinthine journey of a PhD program is no small feat.

From the day you step into your graduate program as a bright-eyed doctoral student, you’re immediately thrust into a complex weave of coursework, research, and milestones.

By the second year, you’ve transitioned from coursework to research, laying the groundwork for your dissertation—a pivotal component in your scholarly endeavour. 

Come the third year, you face the critical oral examination, a hurdle that could make or break years of hard work.

But how does one streamline this multifaceted journey? The answer lies in a well-planned PhD timeline.

This blog serves as an invaluable guide for any PhD student looking to complete their doctoral studies efficiently, walking you through each milestone from coursework to graduation.

How to Begin with the PhD Timeline Planning?

Planning your PhD timeline is an essential first step in your PhD program.

Success in any PhD program depends, to a large extent, on effective time management and keeping track of progress through a thoughtfully crafted PhD timeline. 

Start with outlining all your major requirements:

• coursework,
• dissertation,
• and the expected time needed for each task.

I also highly recommend factoring in failure time – give yourself a little bit of wiggle room for when things, invariably – go wrong. 

It’s crucial to remain realistic about the time you can commit daily or weekly while keeping long-term goals in mind.

Regular check-ins on your PhD timeline and supervisor will help you stay on track and allow you to adapt if necessary.

Adjustments may be needed as you progress through your PhD program, but having a timeline as a guide can make the journey less daunting and more achievable. 

Elements to include in a 3-year PhD timeline

The initial stage in this timeline typically involves coursework, often lasting one year, where the student engrosses themselves in advanced study in their chosen field.

Once the coursework is done (USA PhDs), they focus on proposing, conducting, and presenting their initial research.

By the end of the second year, most students should have a clear direction for their dissertation, a core component of the PhD process.

In this third and final year of the PhD timeline, the student focuses primarily on completing their dissertation, which involves collecting data, analyzing results, and organizing their research into a substantial, original, and cohesive document that contributes to contemporary knowledge in their field.

Regular reviews and modifications of the PhD timeline may also be necessary to accommodate various unpredictable circumstances, thus making this timeline both a guide and a flexible workplan.

It is a significant tool in successfully navigating the maze of becoming a PhD holder. 

Create Your PhD Timeline for a 3 year completion

Creating a timeline for a 3-year PhD program requires careful planning, as you’ll have multiple milestones and tasks to complete.

This timeline may vary depending on your specific field, institution, or country, but here is a general outline you can use as a starting point:

Free Gantt chart excel template

Here is a free template you can modify for your own research:

Example Gantt chart for a USA PhD

Here are some common steps involved in completing a PhD, which I’ll use to create the Gantt chart:

• Orientation and Coursework (Semester 1) : Familiarization with the university, department, and coursework.
• Coursework (Semester 2) : Continued coursework and possible teaching/research assistantships.
• Select Advisor and Research Topic : Usually done towards the end of the first year or the beginning of the second year.
• Preliminary Research : Initial research and literature review.
• Complete Coursework (Semester 3) : Wrap up any remaining required courses.
• Research Proposal : Develop a full research proposal including methodology.
• Qualifying Exams : Exams to transition from a Ph.D. student to a Ph.D. candidate.
• Begin Research : Start of actual research based on the approved proposal.
• Conduct Research : Data collection, experiments, and analysis.
• Intermediate Review : A review to assess the progress of the research.
• Write Papers : Start writing papers and possibly publishing in journals.
• Finalize Research : Final experiments and data analysis.
• Write Dissertation : Writing the actual Ph.D. dissertation.
• Dissertation Defense : Defending the dissertation before the committee.
• Graduation : Completing all requirements and graduating.

Example Gantt chart for a UK, European and Australian PhD

For Ph.D. programs outside the United States, especially in Europe and some other parts of the world, students often go straight into research without the need for coursework. Here are some common steps for such programs:

• Orientation : Familiarization with the university and department.
• Select Advisor and Research Topic : Usually done at the beginning of the program.

Wrapping up

The journey to earning a PhD is complex and demanding, filled with academic milestones from coursework to research to dissertation writing.

The key to a smooth and efficient doctoral journey lies in well-planned time management—a structured PhD timeline.

This blog serves as an invaluable guide, offering detailed tips for planning out each academic year in both U.S. and international PhD programs. It emphasizes the importance of starting with an outline of major requirements and factoring in “failure time” for unforeseen challenges.

For those looking to navigate their PhD journey in three years or beyond, having a flexible but comprehensive timeline can be the compass that guides them successfully through the academic labyrinth.

Whether you’re just starting out or already deep into your research, the principles and strategies outlined here can help streamline your path to that coveted doctoral hood.

Dr Andrew Stapleton has a Masters and PhD in Chemistry from the UK and Australia. He has many years of research experience and has worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow and Associate at a number of Universities. Although having secured funding for his own research, he left academia to help others with his YouTube channel all about the inner workings of academia and how to make it work for you.

Thank you for visiting Academia Insider.

We are here to help you navigate Academia as painlessly as possible. We are supported by our readers and by visiting you are helping us earn a small amount through ads and affiliate revenue - Thank you!

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5 Types of GANTT Charts for PhD

“GANTT chart is so crucial for PhDs. It helps them to divide, manage and arrange their PhD goals. Universities seek one from every student. So what are those 5 types of PhD GANTT charts that every PhDs need? Let’s find out.”  

A doctorate is the highest academic honor that every graduate is willing to achieve. Unfortunately, only some can manage to go for it. The journey of PhD is full of hurdles and hassles that students are often unaware about.    

It’s more an honor and thus difficult to achieve too but not impossible, certainly. Scholars often get stuck, fail and eventually drop their PhD, because of the lack of a single basic thing– planning. Every PhD is similar– Everyone has to do research, that’s it. 

However, it’s so true that doing research in some fields– like life science and biology or any other STEM subject – is quite hard and lengthy. But the sheer process is the same. Students fail because they fail to structurize their work. 

So how can we greatly succeed in our PhD endeavor? The answer is simple— by planning your work– not in mind, on paper actually in your daily life, for a year and the entire tenure of PhD. That looks nearly impossible, right?  

Planning your entire PhD, research work and writing assignments aren’t that difficult. Using a GANTT chart or preparing your own, you can manage all the stuff easily. You can design your goals and track them for your entire PhD. 

In this article, I’m gonna explain 5 types of PhD GANTT charts that every PhD student should know about.  

Stay tuned. 

5 Types of GANTT chart for PhD

36 months gantt chart for phd , phd gantt chart for research , gantt chart for thesis writing , gantt chart for daily schedule, progressive research chart.

Every scholar must have a 36-months (3-year) GANTT chart for their PhD. And let me tell you that universities also ask for one. So you must have it. Usually, the ideal PhD duration is 3 years, though students can ask for an extension. 

Along with their research project, universities ask to submit a fully planned GANTT chart for 3 years. In this planner, you have to enlist all your goals, research work, objectives and progress you would make each month. 

You have to decide and draw how much time you would give to each assignment/task. And accordingly, you have to work. Major goals in this chart would be

• Course work
• Pre-research work
• Research work
• Post-research work 
• Thesis writing 
• Research paper writing 
• Thesis submission. 

Each goal has an individual task too— For instance, during the pre-research phase one has to prepare their PhD research title, synopsis, and research project and send them for approval. I have enlisted all goals, individual tasks and time required to achieve each in this GANTT template. Download it. 

Preparing this chart will help you to monitor, assist and track your PhD progress in a real-time manner. Keep in note that this is a kind of goal-achiever chart, mark each goal as “complete” you achieve.  

Research has been such a crucial parameter in PhD. Every research starts with sample collection and ends with data collection. The stepwise process of PhD research included many other important steps. 

One trait of research is ‘uncertainty’. Research is a highly unpredictable process, no one, literally– no one can predict the results and define the time frame. However, you have to make a time frame for your research. 

Put simply, you have to allot time to every research goal, which certainly increases the probability of maximizing your chances of success. So what should be the process here? 

Divide your research process into steps (our previous article will help with this). Understand the importance of each research goal and accordingly allot time. For example, 6 months for sample collection or 3 months for validation, etc. 

Then go to the GANTT chart planner and prepare a chart for a research goal against the time required. You can also add other elements like real-time monitoring, color code and progress graph. That’s totally up to you. 

Here I have one for you. Please visit it and download it. 

This PhD research planner template would increase your chances of success. 

Yet another crucial goal of any PhD is thesis writing, and it should progress simultaneously with your research. Meaning, you should have to write in your free time during/while you do lab research.   

PhD thesis is a mountainous task of writing 200 pages– structured and organized assignment. Common thesis parts are– the introduction, review of literature, methodology, results and discussion, interpretation and references. 

Besides many other things are also included in the thesis, to know more read this article— How to Write a PhD thesis?

As we aforesaid, research is an uncertain process but not writing. You can manage and control your PhD writing assignments by only preparing a single GANTT chart. Note that writing for PhD takes a huge proportion of your time. 

So planning for writing a thesis is crucial too. Prepare a chart for thesis writing goals against the time required– For instance, 2 months for introduction, 7 months for review of the literature and so on. 

 Give each writing goal a different color and monitor the progress. Check out this GANTT chart for more detail. 

What is the ultimate goal of any research scholar? To achieve the PhD degree, right? No. it’s to achieve the PhD degree in a given time. I.e. in three years. Hence, to complete such a huge task in a given time frame you have to manage things at a micro-level. 

Zero-date planning and micro-management help you to get success in a quick time. Now, you may wonder how it’s possible. The simple answer is by planning every day, 365 days of the year 1,095 days of the entire tenure. 

My ultimate advice to every PhD student who wishes to succeed in their research is to prepare and manage your daily schedule. The importance of a daily schedule and how to manage it is explained in our previous article, here it is— What should be a daily routine for PhD Students? Our proven checklist .

Plan your day on an excel sheet in the form of a GANTT chart. Try hard to follow it every day and you would see magical results in the long run. Daily planning (using this simple GANTT chart) helps every one of our PhD research students. 

Prepare your daily schedule– activities you are doing, want to do and you have to do, give it a specific time and stamp it in the form of a chart. The fun part is you can use different colors to track your activities. 

For example, Read if fails to achieve a goal or green for achieved goals. Take a quick look at one of my student’s GANTT daily charts.  

Every PhD should have a progressive research chart there on their PhD. You have to lead it and apply to monitor how much progress you have done in your semester or in a year. It’s progressive means you have to update your goals, otherwise, it will consider it as “failed”  and mark it as unachieved. 

I plan to prepare one progressive and real-time chart, when you set a start and end date, it starts the tik-tik toward a deadline. I will update it later in this article. 

Wrapping up

After reading all these, you wonder if it’s difficult to prepare all this stuff and manage. Let me tell you that you do not need to waste your time on such things. Just focus on your research. We already have “ready-to-use templates” in a single place. 

Please visit this page to access a single or all GANTT chart. You can use it. I hope you like this article. Please share it and don’t forget to check out our templates. 

Dr. Tushar Chauhan is a Scientist, Blogger and Scientific-writer. He has completed PhD in Genetics. Dr. Chauhan is a PhD coach and tutor.

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How to Create and Use a Gantt Chart for PhD Studies

A Gantt chart is a common tool used in the project management field. It is used for schedule planning of a project and its tasks and activities. It shows the tasks, their start and end dates, and the duration needed to complete them.

A PhD is a project and may last from as few as three years to as long as six years depending on the university and department a student is enrolled in.

In order to successfully complete a PhD program, one needs to plan when each of the tasks will be completed from the word go. A Gantt chart is very useful in doing this.

A PhD student can create one comprehensive Gantt chart or several smaller Gantt charts for each of the major deliverables.

This article discusses a Gantt chart for a general PhD program that has both coursework and dissertation components.

Benefits of a Gantt chart for planning PhD studies

Steps involved in creating a gantt chart for phd studies, how to effectively use the phd gantt chart, final thoughts on the phd gantt chart.

Creating a Gantt chart at the beginning of PhD studies has the following benefits:

• It is easy to create. A student can use the traditional pen-and-paper method or existing digital tools or softwares to create a Gantt chart.
• It is easy to read. The visual presentation of the Gantt chart makes it easy for the student to read and know what is expected of him at any point in time.
• A Gantt chart makes it easy to monitor progress of PhD studies. The user can choose to use different colors for tasks that have already been completed, tasks that are close to completion, and tasks that require more time and effort to complete.
• It forms the basis for monthly, weekly, and daily planning of the PhD studies. Depending on how detailed a student wants to go in terms of planning, the Gantt chart comes in handy when writing out the monthly, weekly and even daily plans.

Step 1: List all the deliverables expected of your PhD program. In this example, the PhD program has the following requirements:

• Coursework, divided into 4 modules each lasting 2 weeks. All 4 modules need to be completed within the first year of study.
• A comprehensive written exam at the end of the fourth module.
• An oral exam once a student passes the written exam.
• Submission of a concept note.
• Submission of a research proposal once a student passes the oral exam.
• Writing a business management case study.
• Three journal papers.
• At least two conference papers.
• A dissertation.

Step 2: For each of the requirements listed above, note the start and end dates. For the above example, the PhD program lasts a minimum of 3 years and a maximum of 6 years. Assuming the minimum of 3 years (beginning January 2021), the activities’ start and end dates are as follows:

Step 3: Using the above information, create the Gantt chart using Microsoft Word, Powerpoint or Excel.

The following are useful resources for creating a Gantt chart using:

• Microsoft Powerpoint: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wp0vr6OkW8Y
• Microsoft Excel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00s5efQWrgU&t=10s
• Microsoft Word: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F90RdA5X4G0

The Gantt chart created from the above data is shown below. The chart was created using Microsoft Powerpoint.

Step 4: Once the Gantt chart is complete, print it out and hang it on the wall of your study room/area. This serves as a constant reminder of the tasks that need to be done at any point in time, as well as of the progress that has been made so far.

The greatest strength in using the Gantt chart for PhD studies lies in its ability to help one plan ahead. Using the Gantt chart above as an example, the user can plan as follows:

• At the beginning of every month, look at what is required of you. For instance, the student above needs to complete module one of the coursework and at the same time start working on proposal writing.

The student can plan for module one in advance by going through the course structure and expected readings, and reading in advance before the start of the module so that he is able to follow and understand what is being taught. If there are pre- and post-module exams, the student can also prepare for them in advance.

Preliminary tasks for proposal writing can include: discussing your proposed topic with your supervisor, and searching for and quick review of literature to identify the gap that your topic will be addressing. All these can be done in the first month before the actual proposal writing starts.

• The Gantt chart can help you identify the skills that are required for the successful completion of your dissertation. For instance, the student above is expected to write a Business Management case study by June of year 2.

If the student does not have case study writing skills, he can start looking for courses that teach case study writing and complete them way before the deadline for the case study. Same case for skills such as preparing and writing a journal paper, writing a conference paper, data analysis using softwares such as Stata, SPSS, NVivo etc.

• The Gantt chart can help you plan for academic-related events such as conferences.

In the example provided above, the student is expected to attend two scientific conferences (in November of year 2 and March of year 3) and make presentations.

The student can start looking for conferences related to his field that are held during the proposed times and mark the key dates and requirements of the conferences (for instance, abstract submission deadlines, abstract submission guidelines, registration deadlines etc).

• The Gantt chart can help you create monthly and weekly plans for longer tasks such as proposal writing.

In the above sample Gantt chart, proposal writing and defense spans a period of 15 months. By March of the second year, the student is expected to defend his proposal. This may seem like such a long period of time but in reality it is not. This is because it is not the only task that the student will undertake during this period. As a result, it is easier to focus on the tasks at hand and forget about the tasks that seem to have adequate time.

Proposal writing is a daunting task and requires constant reading and updating. To ensure that the student submits his proposal in time, he can create monthly and weekly plans for the task. An example of monthly planning for the proposal writing is provided in the table below:

The monthly plan is based on assumptions, for instance, that the supervisor will review the document within the scheduled timeframe. This may or may not hold, depending on the supervisor.

It is therefore important to allow ample time for such factors that are out of your own control in order to ensure that the task is completed by the deadline.

The monthly plans can further be broken down into weekly (and even daily) plans, for instance:

• Number of papers to read per week (day).
• Number of words to write per week (day).
• How many citations and bibliographies to insert (update) every week (day).
• Number of additional articles to search and add to your library each week etc.

Each of these tasks contributes to the overall proposal writing and make the task completion easier and faster than waiting for the last few months to do it all at once.

A PhD is a medium- to long-term project depending on how long it takes to finish. It therefore requires effective and careful planning from the start of the program to ensure that each deliverable is completed within the stipulated time. The Gantt chart is an easy-to-create, and easy-to-use planning tool that can be used by all PhD students. Not only does it save the student time but it also gives him peace of mind knowing the progress of each and every task required.

Grace Njeri-Otieno

Grace Njeri-Otieno is a Kenyan, a wife, a mom, and currently a PhD student, among many other balls she juggles. She holds a Bachelors' and Masters' degrees in Economics and has more than 7 years' experience with an INGO. She was inspired to start this site so as to share the lessons learned throughout her PhD journey with other PhD students. Her vision for this site is "to become a go-to resource center for PhD students in all their spheres of learning."

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How to develop an awesome PhD timeline step-by-step

A successful PhD journey begins with a solid plan that includes a PhD timeline . A thought-through and well-designed PhD timeline requires some time but can be accomplished in a few simple steps.

Why a clear PhD research timeline matters

A PhD timeline breaks down the daunting task of doing a PhD into an actionable plan with tasks and milestones along the way.

Even if not everything will go as planned (which is normal and no problem!), a PhD timeline can give PhD students peace of mind. A good plan, worked out in a PhD timeline, helps them to structure their time, communicate their goals and work toward specific targets.

Step 1: Decide what to include in your PhD timeline

PhD timelines should be as diverse as PhD research projects: What you decide to include in your timeline should fit to your situation, goals and your programmes’ requirements.

Step 2: Discuss your provisional PhD timeline with your supervisor/s

Proactively creating your PhD timeline is a good step as a PhD student. However, you should share your thoughts and ideas with your PhD supervisor/s and get their input.

Not only will this discussion help you to finalise your PhD timeline. It will also help you to get clarity on your supervisor/s’ expectations!

Step 3: Design your PhD timeline

A well-designed PhD timeline is not just pretty for the eyes, but it makes it much easier to have a good overview of all plans and milestones ahead.

Yet, it would be wrong to argue that there is a one-size-fits all solution to designing a perfect PhD timeline.

Step 4: Regularly update your PhD timeline

A PhD timeline is there to keep you on track and to showcase the milestones that you reached in your journey so far. However, while it is good to have a solid plan, the future is impossible to predict.

Your PhD timeline should be a living document or chart. Update it regularly!

Successful PhD students remain flexible and don’t panic as soon as something does not work out as planned.

So, use your PhD timeline to regularly reflect on your progress and your current situation. Update your PhD timeline when needed, to prioritise tasks and set more concrete and achievable goals for the upcoming months.

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My PhD journey in a Gantt chart incl. Open Science practices

Plan and monitor your PhD with a Gantt chart and include all of your activities in implementing Open Science practices to ensure efficiency and societal impact of your research work and efforts.

This Gantt chart provides you with an example and template plan for your Ph.D. from thesis proposal writing to the thesis defense.

Live spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1mcOWgD1GQq294E8rBM_WQHz38ipUxFoa4unbaigONkw/

Start with planning your Holidays and annual leave - as this gets usually neglected and difficult to catch up on as your thesis progresses. The row for unforeseen absences from work will be empty to start with, but you will likely fill some cells as you progress, and Life happens. Having this section in the chart allows you to adjust your timeline accordingly. In your weekly calendar, also highlight public holidays of the country you work and live in and perhaps also your home country’s holidays, in case you want to plan for leave during that time to visit family and friends.

The ‘ Thesis ’ components range from proposal writing, preregistration, data management, thesis writing, and finally to defense. For a more detailed breakdown, add the explicit projects and experiments/studies with their respective workflow steps. In doing so, you will have a more realistic image of the time you have available to juggle two or more experiments and projects at a time during your thesis.

In the ‘ Events ’ section, you can list and map conferences you would like to attend, research and field visits, bar camps, retreats, and other work-related happenings.

Under ‘ Publications ’ goes everything you can make available to the public and/or other researchers under open publishing practices - Open Access, openly licensed, and as restricted as necessary or feasible. Manuscripts can be published both as so-called ‘preprint articles’ and if need be submitted to a journal. Choose the journal based on the scope of your work matching the journal’s scope of research fields and topics and if it has reasonably priced publishing fees (aka APC = article processing charges) if any. Preregistrations, research manuscripts (preprints), datasets, posters, presentations, images a.o. can all be published on field-/region-specific or generalist cross-disciplinary open repositories. Methods and protocols can equally be shared in public repositories or at https://www.protocols.io/ .

Finally, also add any coursework you participate in within the scope of your Ph.D.

In case of any questions about your available courses, contact us at https://calendly.com/access2perspectives/free-exploratory-session

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Planning the timeline and progress of your doctoral dissertation (or Masters/undergraduate thesis)

One of my PhD students lamented this week with me that she had a lot to juggle (taking children to and from schools and to and from activities, etc.) and that she needed a strategy to make her research move forward. I had been planning to write this blog post for a while, since this is the one question I get asked the most by doctoral students (“ how do I plan my unstructured time over the summer ” being the other one).

Do you have one like this but for dissertations? From how to pick your topic to how to plan your chapters or something similar? 🙂 — Mariana Miguélez (@Scherezadda) March 27, 2018

I had to rush to get this blog post done because my student is 2 years away from the deadline her university has imposed for her thesis defence, which is why I sat down with her last night to show her how I do things. I have two other PhD students at exactly the same stage (2 years to defense) so I figured I might as well finish this blog post.

While I’ve suggested that people read one (or more) of the books that I’ve digested myself (check my Writing a Doctoral Dissertation page), one of the main things I teach my students is how to apply backcasting techniques to develop a project plan . I was trained as a project manager, and I worked in that capacity for a number of years, so I understand exactly the kind of work that needs to be done to develop good project plans.

There are a few resources for students, which I mentioned on Twitter earlier today (October 5th, 2018), many of which are listed in the thread that will appear if you click anywhere on the tweet shown below. Thanks to everyone who responded to my query, though I think many of them were professors describing their own process, which is not the same as having a doctoral dissertation (ONE GOAL) to finish in X number of years. My students are doing theirs in the 3 papers’ model, which is a bit closer to the day-to-day life of a professor, but still, the trajectory is quite different. Anyhow, here are some recommendations (click on the tweet to expand the entire thread).

Everyone: one of my PhD students today asked me how to plan her day/week/month/time table. Can you tweet me your process before I tweet/thread mine? Thanks! (I'm off to dinner because I've already written 460 words). — Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) October 3, 2018

The core planning strategy I would thus recommend doctoral, masters and undergraduate students is to engage in a combination of Gantt Chart Design and project backcasting techniques .

The Gantt chart is a technique I learned in graduate school when I took project management courses. This is a hypothetical Gantt chart for my doctoral student, covering about 15 months.

What I suggested to her was to use backcasting techniques to plan backwards from her goal (PhD thesis defense) to intermediate goals. This post explains how I backcast a project https://t.co/wAmyejeoa0 since her dissertation is a 3-papers one, I suggested she uses that model. — Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) October 5, 2018

For Gantt Chart templates, you can see Dr. Emma Sheppard’s here.

Project planning for research students https://t.co/ku7shfB5uL excellent template by @DrESheppard which may be of interest to students from undergrad, Masters and PhD levels. pic.twitter.com/ujQVlYocH7 — Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) September 3, 2018

Here is another resource that you can use to create Gantt Charts.

To do Gantt charts you can use Excel or Microsoft Project (which is how I learned to do them), or Visio (which has been bought by the evil company and is now Microsoft Visio). I liked this detailed approach that uses connectors between milestones and tasks https://t.co/xVjNmM1q7c — Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) October 5, 2018

Hugh Kearns and Maria Gardiner have lots of resources on their site, and have published books on this as well.

I just realised @ithinkwell and @ithinkwellHugh have excellent FREE templates on their website https://t.co/Q859jNiM6Q for PhD students to plan their trajectories, etc. #PhDChat (thanks, Maria and Hugh!) — Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) October 5, 2018

Dr. Patrick Dunleavy’s book “ Authoring a PhD ” is incredible and really does help students who are planning their PhD process. I recommend it to my own doctoral students.

And of course I would be remiss if I forgot to recommend Dr. Ellie Mackin Roberts (my coauthor for a forthcoming book on research planning) and her website. Ellie has A TON of downloadable printables for you to plan your own research. She is fantastic.

Both for doctoral students AND for post-PhD folks, my coauthor Dr. @EllieMackin has an entire website for research planning https://t.co/unXMqmaf2Z she offers FREE downloadable printable templates that you can use to plan your own research. — Dr Raul Pacheco-Vega (@raulpacheco) October 5, 2018

In the end, the process I recommended to my students and that I do myself is – set a target defense date and then work backwards and plan tasks, activities, and intermediate goals. For example, I have asked my students to plan submission dates for their 3 papers (to be sent to journals) and then schedule fieldwork and data analysis accordingly. This process has worked well, and I hope my description of the process will help my students and others!

In a subsequent blog post I’ll describe how to go from long-term goals (submit paper X by Y date) to daily tasks. That blog post will definitely apply to doctoral students and post-PhD folks.

If you liked this blog post, you may also be interested in my Resources for Graduate Students page, and on my reading notes of books I’ve read on how to do a doctoral degree.

You can share this blog post on the following social networks by clicking on their icon.

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Planning your dissertation can feel like time has sprouted wings and taken off without you. Fear not, for the trusty companion of the dissertation, Gantt Chart is here to rescue you from the chaos of research, writing tasks, and impending deadlines. 

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In this article, we will explore the world of Gantt charts, demystify their purpose, and explore how to create a Gantt Chart. You can find here a dissertation Gantt chart guide with steps for creating the chart, a template and tips to help you create your own chart.

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What is dissertation gantt chart.

“A Gantt chart for dissertation is a visual representation of the tasks and milestones in completing a dissertation. It is a useful tool for planning and tracking your progress and can help you to stay on track and avoid procrastination.”

The Gantt Chart provides a dissertation timeline and guiding light amidst the foggy labyrinth of academic pursuits. It's a visual representation of the researcher or student project's timeline, providing a clear picture of the tasks that need to conquer. Remember, Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither will any dissertation be. But with a well-crafted Gantt chart, a researcher breaks down their work into manageable chunks and tackles them systematically.

Creating a Dissertation Gantt Chart: Steps to Follow

Here are the steps on how to create a dissertation Gantt chart;

• Conduct a literature review on the topic of social media and teenagers.
• Collect data on how teenagers use social media.
• Analyze the data and write a report on your findings.
• Write your dissertation.
• Estimate the time it will take to complete each task. This will help you to create a realistic timeline for your dissertation. Be sure to factor in time for unexpected delays, such as data collection taking longer than expected or having to revise your dissertation after your advisor provides feedback.
• Create a Gantt chart. There are many different software programs that you can use to create a Gantt chart, like Google Sheets, WPS sheets and more. Once you have created your chart, you can add the tasks, their estimated time frames, and any other relevant information.
• Track your progress. As you make progress on your dissertation, be sure to update your Gantt chart to reflect your progress. This will help you to stay on track and identify any areas where you might be falling behind.
• Adjust your plan as needed. Things don't always go according to plan, so it's important to be flexible and adjust your plan as needed. For example, if you find that you are spending more time on one task than you expected, you might need to adjust the time frame for other tasks.

Using a dissertation Gantt chart is a helpful way to stay on track and avoid procrastination. It also helps you to identify areas where you can improve your efficiency. 

Here are a few things you don't have to worry about; 

Not being afraid to change your Gantt chart as needed

Don't forget to add important comment in case of delay or over time 

Neglecting unwanted commitments

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Dissertation Gantt Chart Template

Here is a Gantt chart template for dissertation that help researchers and student to craft their own chart to achieve their goals. 

This template is general that doesn’t stick to any research. Also, every dissertation or research report has its time to completion. The dissertations for graduation, master's, and PhD are often required to be completed in a different timeframe, with a different research style and methodology. Here is an example of PhD Gantt Chart ;

This Gantt chart provides a high-level overview of the dissertation timeline involved in a PhD program. It is important to break down your program into smaller, more manageable tasks. This will make it easier to track your progress and make adjustments to your timeline as needed.

It is also important to build in some buffer time between tasks. This will allow for unexpected delays, such as difficulty finding sources, equipment failure, or illness.

Finally, be sure to track your progress and make adjustments to your Gantt chart as needed. This will help you stay on track and avoid falling behind.

Additional Tips for Dissertation Gantt Chart 

Here are some additional tips for using a dissertation Gantt chart:

• Use a software program to create your Gantt chart. There are many different software programs that you can use to create a Gantt chart. Some popular options include Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets, and Trello.
• Make your Gantt chart visual. Use colors, fonts, and symbols to make your Gantt chart easy to read and understand.
• Share your Gantt chart with others. This can help you to stay accountable and get feedback from others.
• Don't be afraid to adjust your Gantt chart as needed. Things don't always go according to plan, so it's important to be flexible and adjust your Gantt chart as needed.

Conclusion 

A Gantt chart is an indispensable tool, akin to a trusty compass guiding you through uncharted waters. It helps you break down your work into manageable chunks, consider dependencies, and maintain flexibility. By embracing the power of this visual aid, you'll be able to navigate the daunting dissertation journey with confidence. So, let the Dissertation Gantt Chart be your co-pilot, ensuring that time flies not in vain but in harmony with your research and writing goals.

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Project Management resource for PhD students and supervisors

2018 Nov 27 | Resource , Soft Skills | 0

This article is not only a blog post but also a resource linking to other good blog posts and to free downloadable templates of project management tools for PhD students and supervisors .

To create this resource I asked around me and on Twitter if people had good references. I got a few nice ones, but actually I got many suggestions about self-organization and time management. It then appears to me that we tend to mix up what project management is versus time management, and even for me today it’s still not 100% clear.

In this research and student-supervisor relationship context, I would like to suggest the following:

• time management is a personal skills : you manage your own time, you decide what to do Tuesday at 10 AM, maybe you agree to meet with someone at this time, but ultimately you’re the one who decides when for example you want to have lunch or coffee (at least I hope you can). This also means that, to some extent, it doesn’t matter if your time management style does not align perfectly with your colleagues. Again, I wrote to some extent .
• on the other hand, for project management and in this context, there are at least two persons involved: the student and the supervisor. In my views, project management is as much about planning and conducting a project as about finding a compatible way for two persons to work together . Project management is a team skill.

Therefore, what I’ve been looking for are references to help both PhD students and supervisors to first understand what the underlying principles of project management are, and secondly to get an overview of different tools available to help them work together.

Below you will find interesting blog posts, whenever possible I selected those giving concrete advice on how to implement project management in research, and I also looked for free ready-to-use templates .

Click on each drop-down item below to see the content.

1. Understand the underlying principles of project management for researchers

Project management for scientists - blog post.

by Stanley E. Portny and Jim Austin in 2002 on the Sciencemag website

meant toward supervisors

This article tries to define what project management is, argues that it can be applied to research and introduce the principles for how to do so:

“Projects can be large or small, planned and tracked formally or informally, and defined by a legal contract or an informal agreement.”

“Project management allows–indeed, insists–that the components of a project be constantly revised as new information arises.”

How Project Management Techniques Can Improve Research - blog post

by Donna Kridelbaugh in 2017 on the website labmanager.com

“research project management as a subdiscipline that can provide the tools and resources for researchers to better organize projects, but with flexibility in the planning process to evolve with the project as needed”

“Creating a road map to guide successful project implementation create a culture of shared ownership toward research goals and open communication throughout the project life cycle.”

A PhD as a project - blog posts

from Fiona Saunders on her website and on the Thesis Whisperer website in 2013

meant toward PhD students

Introduction from the Thesis Whisperer : “Fiona Saunders is a Senior Lecturer in the Management of Engineering Projects at The University of Manchester and a part-time PhD student. Her research interests are in the management of projects in safety-critical industries. Prior to academia, Fiona enjoyed a successful 15 year industry career in project management.”

In the article first part :

“It strikes me that, at least in the early days, most PhDs are akin to “Lost in the Fog” projects .”

She recommends to “Have a plan – even it only stretches out over the next six months and changes frequently”

In the second part:

“Having a documented PhD scope can help guard against a loss of focus, or drift in what the aims and objectives of the PhD are.”

“The third and final lesson from project management that is highly relevant to a PhD is the importance of communication .”

“One of the hardest lessons for new PhD students to learn is that the PhD is your project as such you are the project manager and you must take responsibility for managing the various communication channels on the project.”

The Smart Way to Manage a Large Research Project - blog post

by Eva Lantsoght in 2013 on the nextscientist website

Tips on project management and also to manage data and files. Plus the article acts as a resource with an extensive list of tools to help you get organized.

“Planning consists of the following subtasks:

• Identifying the tasks that need to be carried out.
• Splitting the main tasks into their respective subtasks.
• Considering how much time each task takes.
• Determining which tasks run simultaneously.
• Assess the consequences if a task takes more time.
• Allow some air to breathe

Making the Right Moves - book - PDF

the book subtitle is: A Practical Guide to Scientific Management for Postdocs and New Faculty

meant toward postdocs and new faculty as the subtitle says

“Based on workshops co-sponsored by the Burroughs Wellcome Fund and HHMI, this book is a collection of practical advice and experiences from seasoned biomedical investigators and includes chapters on laboratory leadership, getting funded, project management, and teaching and course design.”

2. Get to know different project management techniques and tools

• Gantt chart

Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

Kanban board.

Each tool has its pros and cons. Therefore, one could combine them on different levels. For example, to visualize a complete PhD timeline I would recommend Gantt charts . To make this timeline, using WBS and SMART goals will help break down the project into smaller achievable tasks . Then to implement work and to track the progress throughout the project, one could use the Agile principles and use a shared Kanban board .

I don’t pretend that this resource is complete, there is surely much more which I don’t know about. Nevertheless, this was done to the best of my knowledge and it includes the project management tools which I’ve seen the most often in academia.

Gantt charts:

Academiac - blog posts and template.

With my complete unbiased objectivity, I think that my 2 articles about Gantt charts with a free downloadable template are the best ones to explain how to use these charts for a PhD project =)

In the first article,  Are Gantt charts useful for PhD students? , I introduce what Gantt charts are and what are the drawbacks to keep in mind (i.e. lack of flexibility).

Templates by the I think well coaching team

on the website ithinkwell.com.au by Maria Gardiner and Hugh Kearns

Different templates and ready-to-use tools both for PhD students and for supervisors . For PhD students they have thesis planners and forms for different time scales, from a 3-year PhD to 6 months to a week to a one day plan .

I highly recommend supervisors and students to look at other materials which are available on their website like:

• YourSupervisoryPracticeSelfAssessment.pdf
• CareerPlanningDiscussion.pdf
• ExpectationsOfResearchSupervision.pdf

Online planner to create a PhD road map

By Jeanine de Bruin and Brigitte Hertz

This is a tool where you can drag and drop pictograms onto a 4-year calendar to create a road map for your PhD. They have signs for things like writing, conferences, meeting, holidays, risk analysis, etc.

Templates for different PhD length by the University of Adelaide

This university seems to require doctoral students to draw a thesis road map as a Gantt chart. Nicely they provide templates for different PhD length, from 3-year up to 6-year-long program :

PERT charts

It happens that I don’t know much about PERT charts but I’ve seen it mentioned in many references (often together with Gantt charts) so I thought it would be good to put it here.

PERT charts - articles and templates

PERT means Program Evaluation Review Technique.

Like a Gantt chart there is the idea to draw a diagram for a project but instead of horizontal bars here it uses boxes and arrows. Again each technique has its pros and cons, have a look at these two articles to try to understand the differences between Gantt charts and PERT charts:

• difference-gantt-chart-pert-chart
• advantages-of-pert-charts-vs-gantt-charts

Here a template to see how to use PERT charts for a PhD thesis .

In this extensive article , they suggest a formula to calculate an estimate of how long a task might take:

• “For each task, give three time estimates in days: the most optimistic completion time (O), the normal/most likely time (M), and the pessimistic time (P).
• Calculate expected time (TE) using the formula (O + 4*M + P) ÷ 6 = TE.”

Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) - articles and templates

It is often recommended to first break a PhD project into small tasks and make a Work Breakdown Structure before making a Gantt chart or PERT chart.

An introduction and templates for WBS from the University of Washington

“The Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) organizes and defines the scope of the project, breaking it into manageable tasks.”

Definition, templates and examples on the website workbreakdownstructure.com .

SMART goals

Smart goals - blog posts.

A 1 page document subtitled For use with the Doctoral Student Yearly Reviews from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute:

“SMART goals are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-bounded objectives.”

It provides a quick introduction and some examples.

An article entitled ‘Understanding SMART Objectives’ – for Your Project Proposals

“SMART objectives are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-related.”

Briefly the Agile method is to define a concrete goal (like SMART goals) to reach in a short period (typically <1 month), to work hard and focus toward this goal (as a sprint), then to analyze results and define a new goal for the next short period. In particular, it promotes communication and forces to regularly get feedback from stakeholders.

Be an Agile Academic - blog post

by coach Katy Peplin on her website katypeplin.com in 2017

An introduction to Agile and how she implemented the methodology in her PhD studies.

“I’ve isolated a few key concepts that really challenged how I thought about my work and helped me build systems to move quickly and efficiently through the dissertation process .”

“In Agile systems, being adaptive is a core value that underpins so many of the actual day to day practices.”

A drawback of Agile

One potential drawback is that it doesn’t force people to look at longer time goals and that consequently one might lose sense of the bigger picture . From a video by Fiona Saunders

In my PhD studies, setting up short time goals like performing experiments x, y and z for the coming month was not the difficult part. What I missed was a sense of longer time goals and the big picture. This is why for me using Gantt charts to create a PhD timeline and promote communication between students and supervisors seems like the most important project management tool to implement.

However, we do need to consider the two scales: the project long-term goals/big picture, and the short-term goals which make the project move forward step by step. Therefore, using Agile and SMART goals in combination with a PhD Gantt chart does sound like a great way to grasp hold on both scale .

The Agile Approach with Doctoral Dissertation Supervision - Publication & model

Tengberg L.G.W., 2015

I haven’t read it whole but this paper seems interesting . In figure 1, the author suggests a model for the doctoral dissertation:

In a Kanban board one creates different columns where tasks are placed depending on their status. The simplest way is with 3 columns To Do , Doing , Done but, of course, you can adapt this to your needs and I will even recommend having columns like Waiting For , or Someday/Maybe Ideas .

When you search for tips on how to create Kanban boards, it’s likely that you’ll be suggested the online tool Trello. I also use Trello a lot and love it, but there are other software available, also paper and pen is always a good way to start!

Live a PhD life less disorganised with Trello - blog post

by a PhD student in 2015

“I’m an academic always looking for ways to manage my work and writing more effectively. I’m also in the thick of my PhD . For both of these I can recommend a very intuitive (and free!) web-based project management tool called Trello.”

“I then invited my supervisors (one of whom insists she is a technophobe) to access the Trello board, and waited to see what would happen next.

Using Trello in academia - blog post

by Christian Bettstetter in 2016

“I lead a team of 10–15 scientists and a nonprofit company. Over the past 15 years, I used various methods and tools to manage projects, keep track of the scientific work of doctoral students and postdocs, recruit dozens of people, and organize my own tasks in research, teaching, and administration.”

“I use group boards for all research projects and for some other processes with at least two persons involved, such as managing job applications.”

Progress tracking tool for managing PhD students - StackExchange

In 2016 a supervisor asked on StackExchange for “ Progress tracking tool for managing PhD students ”

“I am looking for good options for tools to manage my PhD students, in terms of seeing that they are on track in working out their PhD theses (…) So some basic features would be:

• Collaborative software (preference of hosted on a server)
• Task lists with deadlines
• Timeline progression”

More ideas on StackExchange

More ideas of software and project management tools for researchers on StackExchange discussions:

• What are some of the task planning tools people use in academia
• What are some good project management tools for academics
• Project management techniques applied to research
• Project management and research

Take-home message:

There is not 1 and unique way to manage a project, everyone finds its own way, adapts it to the persons involved in the project and even makes its practice evolve with time. So the take-home message would be like Katy Peplin wrote in her article about Agile : “Google a lot of things and borrow what works for you!”.

I hope you find in this resource a list of relevant materials for you to figure out your own project management way :) I also highly recommend you to attend a project management or leadership workshop. If you’re in Switzerland 🇨🇭, make sure to check out the CUSO transversal program with whom I first learned about project management .

And if you’re looking for more solutions to help you communicate with your student or with your supervisor, have a look at my checklist to clarify students and supervisors long term expectations .

Do you like resources? I do! Have a look at the Resource menu up the page, I have been writing about social media for PhD students, YouTube , Instagram and Twitter , and also some specific resources for Switzerland ! From my experience, social media is one of the best ways to learn about subjects like project management and time management in academia!

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Gantt Chart Templates

16 free gantt chart templates (excel, powerpoint, word).

If you’ve got experience in project management, you’ve probably heard of a Gantt chart. In the early 20th century, Henry Gantt developed the Gantt chart to help with organizing project data by showing accomplished work in comparison to anticipated activity.

Gantt charts are an essential tool used to arrange project tasks on a visual timeline. This makes it simple for project, program, and portfolio managers to sketch out project plans and major milestones. Gantt charts are used for a variety of other things, including resource management, scheduling, tracking, and planning.

Table of Contents

• 1 Gantt Chart Templates
• 2 What is a Gantt Chart Template
• 3 How is a Gantt Chart Used
• 4 Gantt Chart Samples
• 5 What is a Gantt Chart Used For
• 7 How To Create Your Own Gantt Chart Templates
• 8 What to Include in Your Gantt Chart
• 9 Gantt Chart Examples
• 10 When Should You Use a Gantt Chart Template
• 11 How To Create an Excel Gantt Chart Template
• 12 How to Create a Gantt Chart in Google Sheets
• 13 How to Create a Gantt Chart template in Word
• 14 Conclusion

Since its creation in the early 1910s Gantt charts have been used for over a century. In this article, we’ll explain how a robust Gantt chart tool functions and why so many project teams employ them.

What is a Gantt Chart Template

A Gantt chart template is a graphic representation of activities that aid project managers in keeping track of development.

These charts show a series of horizontal lines that demonstrate the quantity of work or production that is completed within a specific time frame. These horizontal bars that include timelines and tasks are also known as Gantt bars. This is due to their similarity to a stacked bar chart.

A Gantt chart template displays the task’s start and end dates, dependencies, scheduling, deadlines, percentage of the task that has been completed in each stage, and the task owner.

After tasks have been specified using a work breakdown structure, Gantt charts are often used throughout projects, programs, and portfolios to represent anticipated activity against the time it takes to complete the activity.

You can use a simple Gantt chart template to assign tasks to each member of the team, establish time limits, automatically calculate costs, and keep track of progress in real-time.

The best attribute of a Gantt chart is that it can be used in conjunction with a different project plan template like a Kanban board, real-time project dashboards, timesheets, and tools for team collaboration.

When there is a big team and numerous stakeholders, a visual representation of the timeline of a project is helpful to keep work on schedule. Gantt chart templates make it easy to quickly assess and track project progress.

Some of the key benefits of a Gantt chart template:

• Gives a visual representation of the entire project including project milestones.
• Provides a clear critical path of the project schedule and deadlines for each milestone.
• Links relationships and dependencies among different activities.
• Provides a clear project timeline, phases, and other tasks.

Gantt chart integration in other project management tools provides managers with insights into team workloads, as well as existing and future availability, enabling more precise scheduling.

How is a Gantt Chart Used

The idea of a Gantt chart template is to list the jobs that need to be done and the order in which the task list needs to be completed. This will assist you in finding specific tasks that can be completed simultaneously or one after the other.

Combining this with the project’s resources will allow you to examine the relationship between the project’s scope (size and timeline), cost (amount of resources), and time frame (getting the job done). The project manager can observe how modifying the overall project scope or adding more resources would affect the deadline.

Project managers also need to be aware of all the individual tasks necessary to accomplish the project, an estimation of how long each task will take, and which activities are interdependent.

Compiling this data aids a project manager in concentrating on the crucial elements and attempting to define a reasonable timeline for completion.

Gantt Chart Samples

What is a Gantt Chart Used For

A Gantt chart template is useful for visualizing the numerous tasks and projects that are carried out concurrently inside an organization along with their current status.

Management often uses them to plan and schedule these projects to distribute resources efficiently. They are also used to ensure that higher-priority tasks and projects are completed before lower-priority ones.

Any sector or field can use the Gantt chart because it is such a versatile project management tool for determining deadlines and job dependencies.

Here are a few ways in which Gantt charts are used in different scenarios: 

• Project management: Gantt chart gathers the data that project managers use to produce a visual timeline that displays all of a project plan’s components in one location. Project managers can schedule projects, allocate resources, establish costs, and include a sales process timeline in their Gantt chart template.
• Construction: To plan the many phases of a construction project, such as initiation, pre-construction, and procurement, general contractors, project owners, and construction project managers utilize Gantt chart templates. However, they can also be applied on a smaller scale to organize routine chores within the construction industry.
• Software development: Gantt chart templates are used by software engineering teams to build project roadmaps. This is crucial for task management when creating new products. This can be done using a Gantt chart template by simply plotting software development tasks on a timeline as if it were a project plan.

Pros and Cons of a Gantt Chart Template

Gantt carts are used in a variety of different areas and ultimately help teams set a project schedule. These projects can be made with the aid of project management tools like Microsoft Project Microsoft PowerPoint, SharePoint, and Excel as well as specialized software applications.

While Gantt charts are used in a variety of different professions, they do still have their pros and cons.

• It can be used to track progress and allocate resources.
• Identifies potential delays within the project’s timeline .
• Provides a clear, visual depiction of the plan that is generally widely understood and reasonably simple to build.
• Serves as a communication tool for employees, making it easier to manage projects.
• They don’t display dependencies on their own.
• The size of a timetable that can be read and understood has a limit.
• These charts are not adaptable to change readily as a result of advancement or a shift in scope.
• Gantt charts are also prone to errors.

How To Create Your Own Gantt Chart Templates

Before setting up your first Gantt chart template, you’ll need to consider every aspect of the project and divide it into smaller, more manageable parts. Once you’ve done that, assign each part to an individual or group of people and allocate the necessary resources.

Determine task relationships and the order in which each job should be completed, indicating the anticipated length of time for the entire project and its various dependent tasks and subtasks.

A Gantt chart template will indicate task dependencies (how one task links to another) as well as the tasks in a specific sequence.

That said, below is a simple breakdown of the first steps you’ll need to take:

• Determine the approximate duration of each task.
• Choose the sequence in which the various tasks should be finished.
• Find places where you lack resources.
• Find tasks on your timeline view that will take too long to complete.
• Find out where the schedule can be improved or where any task’s due date can be changed.
• Make a decision and distribute your resources.
• Consider the dangers and issues you might face and have an alternative plan in case something goes wrong.

What to Include in Your Gantt Chart

Let’s dissect the fundamental components of a Gantt chart template so you can see how they work in a project plan:

• List of tasks: Divided into groups and subgroups, tasks run down a vertical axis on the left side of the Gantt chart to defining project activity.
• Time frame : Displays months, weeks, days, and years in a horizontal bar across the top of the Gantt chart, representing how long the project is expected to take.
• Timeline: On an Excel Gantt chart template, this is the vertical line that displays the date at which you complete tasks and their due dates.
• Bars: On the right side of the Gantt chart in most programs, horizontal markers or bars indicate tasks, display status, duration, and start and end dates.
• Milestones: You can use symbols to identify and mark significant occasions, dates, choices, and outputs.
• Dependencies: Tasks that need to be completed in a specific order are connected by light gray lines or arrows.
• Movement : Shows how far along the task is and may do so by using a percentage or bar shading.
• Resourcing allocated : identifies the individual or group in charge of finishing a task, along with the resources and materials needed to complete the job.

Gantt Chart Examples

When Should You Use a Gantt Chart Template

When your project demands more preparation than a simple to-do list can provide, a Gantt chart template can help you along the project management process.

Here are a few tell-tale signs that you’ll need a Gantt chart template to manage projects and finish the job to the best of your team’s ability.

• Your task duration is tight and you need to keep track of your team’s progress.
• The project involves several individuals or groups that require precise coordination.
• A supervisor, client, or team member requests a visual breakdown of the project’s progress.
• If your project has even a small amount of complexity. This includes tasks that must be completed in a certain order.
• You must control the workloads of your team members that are busy on many projects at once.
• You know the project timelines and approximately how long each task should or might take.

How To Create an Excel Gantt Chart Template

We all love Microsoft Excel as it can be a useful tool for virtually everything, from tracking large projects to using it as a basic calculator.

Project managers need Gantt charts as one of their primary tools. However, if you are a newbie or only require this type of chart for one project, you can save money by creating a free Gantt chart Excel template rather than paying for pricey Gantt chart template software.

Because Microsoft Excel doesn’t have a built-in Gantt chart tool, creating one in Excel requires a bit of effort. Here is a brief description of how to create a free template.

• Construct a project table To list your project tasks, create a table with four columns. To do this, highlight the rows and columns you want in your table, then go to Home> Table> Format as a table. Add a formula to determine each task’s length by deducting the end date from the start date.
• Construct a stacked bar chart With the information from your project table, create a typically stacked bar chart. First, select the data you want in your bar chart, then click on the Insert tab in the ribbon. Once Excel has created your bar graph, you can give it a project title.
• Modify Data in Your Excel File To edit the axis labels, right-click your stacked bar chart and choose “Edit” from the insert menu that appears under “Select Data”. You can then order your data by categories.
• Format Your Excel Gantt Chart template You must structure this stacked bar chart to display the task bars of a Gantt view if you want to convert it into a Gantt chart template timeline.

To format your Excel Gantt chart template, you can:

• Change the Gantt bars’ color, shape, or pattern by clicking on the paint bucket icon.
• Alter the Gantt bars using a style from the dropdown menu.
• Make a different kind of Gantt bar.
• Insert more text into your Gantt chart template.
• Alter the height and width.

How to Create a Gantt Chart in Google Sheets

Gantt charts in Google Sheets provide you with the projects and the period taken to complete them. It’s usually used as a bar chart that breaks down a project, task, or event and even the time it takes to achieve them.

Creating an online Gantt chart template in Google Sheets is helpful when you make a Gantt chart for a business or team project. To create a Gantt chart template in google sheets:

• Open a new blank spreadsheet in your browser.
• Create a table by clicking Insert>Table and insert a heading.
• Next, you’ll need to enter a value for tasks, a start and end date, and any other relevant key points.
• Once all your data is in place, highlight it and click Insert>Chart template
• Choose the stacked Bar Chart and customize the chart with the menu on the right.

How to Create a Gantt Chart template in Word

Creating a Gantt chart in Word is similar to doing it in google sheets. The first thing you need to do when creating a Gantt chart software in Microsoft Word is open a new document and change the page to landscape.

You can then enter all the necessary data like the project type, tasks needing to be completed, and start and end dates of the project. Once you’ve gathered all your data, enter the data into a stacked bar graph.

You can customize your graph to fit your preferences by right-clicking on the graph and clicking “edit chart”. You can adjust colors, gaps between the horizontal axis and bars, or their display order. It’s important to play around until you find the settings that are right for you.

Creating a simple Gantt chart template doesn’t have to be difficult. With the simple steps above, you can set up your schedule to keep your project phases on track.

To better manage the tasks involved in completing your project, we advise creating your free Gantt chart template to make your life easier.

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• How it works

Dissertation Gantt Chart – A Visual Way to Track your Dissertation Progress

Published by Ellie Cross at January 26th, 2023 , Revised On July 9, 2024

A dissertation Gantt chart is an essential tool for any student completing a doctoral degree. The chart helps you to organise and track your progress, ensuring that you complete your dissertation on time and with the required quality. 

The Chart Includes the Following Key Elements: 

• Title of the Dissertation
• Target Date for Completion
• Estimated Time to Complete (ETC)
• Actual Time to Complete (ACT)
• Changes Made to ETC or ACT from the Original Plan
• Summary of Major Accomplishments or Difficulties encountered during the project

Features of Gantt Chart 

The following are the key features of a dissertation Gantt Chart:

• It has a timeline that shows the progress of the project.
• It contains tasks and deadlines for each phase of the project.
• It allows you to track resources and costs associated with the project.
• It provides an overview of how much work remains to be done in each project phase.
• It can help you to make informed decisions about when to take specific actions on the project.

How to Create a Custom Dissertation Gantt Chart?

When writing a dissertation , it is important to keep track of the progress and deadlines. One way to do this is to create a Gantt Chart. This guide will show you how to make a Gantt Chart for your dissertation. 

• Decide what tasks need to be completed and when they need to be completed. The goal is to have everything on the chart in order by the deadline.
• Start by creating a table or graph to represent your project’s timeline. This will help you to easily see where tasks are located and how much time they will take.
• Next, add in each task’s duration (in hours and minutes), as well as the associated resources that will be needed for completion (e.g., research materials, software).
• Finally, allocate specific days and times for each step of your project based on the information in your timeline table. This will help you stay organised and on track!
• Assign each task a colour based on its importance. For example, green tasks should take less than an hour, and blue tasks should take more than an hour but at most two hours.

Gantt Chart Templates

There are many different Gantt Chart templates available online, so choosing one that best suits your needs is important.

Some popular templates include the Pareto chart and the Venn diagram. Both of these charts offer a variety of options for customisation, so you can create charts that look exactly the way you want them to. Additionally, both charts can easily be converted into graphs using GraphPad Prism.

If simplicity is key, then the line graph may be a better option. This chart offers minimal customisation options but allows you to clearly see trends and patterns in your data.

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The Importance of the Gantt Chart

Gantt charts are valuable as a student, and even if you are a university graduate, they can help you. Along with making good grades, as recommended by the university, you have to strive to take full advantage of the use of your projects. Brainstorming with your classmates can be a productive way to accomplish this objective. You need to use Gantt charts for your projects for several reasons.

It Helps Provide a Visual Outlook 

A Gantt chart helps you handle your workflow by providing a detailed graphical representation. Gantt charts allow you to see all the tasks that must be completed, the amount of time needed, and task overlap. This will allow you to keep better track of goals and deadlines, which will be useful in ensuring you are on time to complete everything.

Solve Challenges Easily

A Gantt chart allows you to determine even better how to avoid issues and get the job done faster. You can see the result of the tasks that have been completed if you want to perceive the resources rightly to make the project run smoothly and quickly.

Evaluate Time

Effective task planning with the Gantt chart will help you organise and finish the projects efficiently. In addition, it will make it easier to see the actions you must complete before beginning others.

Ease of Communication

The Gantt chart will help you keep your group and sponsors notified of the modifications to your timetable. That’s why it’s crucial to have a regular update if your schedule changes. This means you can even use and provide available resources effectively.

Oversee a Project

The Gantt chart is crucial to the success of a project because that is how it assists in directing its activities through scheduling, assigning, and monitoring tasks. The horizontal chart makes it easy to see the projects’ progressions. You also always get to know what’s happening within any ongoing tasks.

Ease your Brain’s Memory

Gantt charts can help you reclaim your mind space by easing the selection of content you need to remember. Then, all you have to do is focus on accomplishing and acting on your current priorities. Team members can also see the course of the project’s tasks.

Reduces Cost

A Gantt chart is beneficial if you want to cut down on costs. Equipped with this, you can appreciate the tasks that have been carried out and stay up to date on what needs to be completed. As a result, you will remember essential deadlines and thus save more money on expenses.

The Benefits of Using a Dissertation Gantt Chart

No one knows the feeling of sitting in front of a blank whiteboard, trying to figure out how to write a dissertation . The process can seem daunting and overwhelming, but using a Gantt Chart can make the entire process much easier.  

A Gantt Chart is simply a chart that helps you plan and track your tasks. It can be used for any project but is especially helpful when writing a dissertation. You can track your progress by breaking down your work into specific dates and tasks. 

You will be able to see exactly where you are in progress. A Gantt Chart can provide a visual representation of your progress, which can help motivate you to complete your work on time.

Do you lack time and want someone to write your dissertation for you? Do you want to save money on your dissertation? Are you looking for someone to help with the grant chart process? Check out ResearchProspect! They can help you find the perfect person to create your dissertation.

 You can trust these professionals to deliver top-notch work. Moreover, they offer affordable rates and a range of customisation options. So if you’re looking for an affordable and reliable writing service, look no further than ResearchProspect.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is dissertation gantt chart.

A dissertation Gantt Chart is a visual timeline or project management tool that outlines key research tasks, deadlines, and dependencies to help plan, track, and manage the progress of a dissertation project efficiently.

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The Research Whisperer

Just like the thesis whisperer – but with more money, how to make a simple gantt chart.

In every grant application, I want to see a simple visual guide (a Gantt chart ) that shows what you are planning to do. It is the perfect time to plan your project clearly. It shows the assessors that you have thought about your research in detail and, if it is done well, it can serve as a great, convincing overview of the project.

Clearly, these charts are hard to do. If they were easy, more people would do them, right?

Here are five steps to create a simple guide to your research project.

1. List your activities

Make a list of everything that you plan to do in the project. Take your methodology and turn it into a step-by-step plan. Have you said that you will interview 50 people? Write it on your list.  Are you performing statistical analysis on your sample?  Write it down.

Check it against your budget. Everything listed in the budget should also be listed on your uber-list? Have you asked for a Thingatron? Note down that you will need to buy it, install it, commission it… What about travel? Write down each trip separately.

2. Estimate the time required

For each item on your list, estimate how long it will take you to do that thing. How long are you going to be in the field? How long will it take to employ a research assistant? Realistically, how many interviews can you do in a day? When will people be available?

Initial meeting: about 3 weeks to find a time. Desk audit: 4 months. Draft key elements: about 1 week each. Testing: about 1 week each, but can start organising as soon as first element is drafted. Write up: 2 months. Final report: no time, really – just need to find a time to meet.

Generally, I use weeks to estimate time. Anything that takes less than a week I round off to a week. Small tasks like that will generally disappear from the list when we consolidate (see Step 4). Then I group things together into months for the actual plan.

3. Put activities in order

What is the first thing that you are going to do?  What will you do next? What will you do after that?

In the comments, Adrian Masters provided some great questions to help with this stage: What do I need to do by when? What do I need from others & when? How do I check that I am still on track?

One by one, put everything in order. Make a note of any dependencies; that is, situations where you can’t do one thing until another is started or finished. If the research assistant is going to do all the interviews, then the interviews can’t start until the research assistant is hired.

Where possible, you should eliminate as many as possible dependencies. For example, if you can’t find a decent research assistant, you will do the fieldwork yourself (but that might mean that work will be delayed until you finish teaching). It isn’t a necessary step to getting your time-line in order, but it is good project management practice.

In the comments, Amy Lamborg pointed out that you might want to work backwards . If you have a fixed end date, you might want to “…build back towards the project start date, then jiggle everything until it fits !” If you want an example of this, have a look at the post “ Work backwards “. It is about writing an application, but the principle of starting with the fixed end date and working backwards still applies.

4. Chunk it up

Now that you have an ordered list, and you know how long everything will take, you need to reduce the list without losing any specificity. At the same time, if you are combining tasks, you might want to add a bit of time as a contingency measure.

Meet with partners: 3 weeks. Review data protection regimes: 4 months. Draft three key elements: 3 months. Test three key elements: 3 months, with some overlap. Analyse test results and report: 3 months.

How you divide up your time depends on your project. If it is only one year long, you might list items by month. If your project is three years long, then you might list items by quarter. If you are planning over five years, you might break it down to six-month periods.

5. Draw me a picture

If you use project management software to manage your project, and you are comfortable with it, then use it to produce a summary of your project, too.

Most project management software (e.g. like Microsoft Project) will allow you to group activities into summary items. Chunk your tasks into major headings, then change the time interval to your months, quarters, half-years, or whatever you have chosen to use.

Or you can just draw it up with word-processing software (which is what I always do), spreadsheet software, or even hand-draw it.

Frankly, I don’t care – as long as it ends up in your application!

Also in the ‘simple grant’ series:

• How to write a simple research methods section .
• How to make a simple research budget .

Share this:

62 comments.

This is useful. I’m writing my first SERIOUS research proposal for my PhD. Obviously not something I’ve ever done before so all advice is greedily welcome.

My best advice – write something quickly and then get someone else to look at it. I’m a big fan of quick iterations to get started.

Your readers might be interested in Tom’s Planner ( http://www.tomsplanner.com ). It’s a very easy tool to help you create a schedule or project plan (and there is a free version). On our blog we have a bunch of guest blogs about planning your thesis or dissertation with a template and example to help you get started.

The free version is a farce you cannot print, export or do anything but view it online. So don’t waste time with this product it is not a real proof of concept.

Sometimes, when the chunks are too big, you end up failing to understand what’s in those chunks, then your estimate ends up WAY off when you realize the extra work you didn’t consider might go into a give task.

That looks like a useful technique for getting the right information together for a Gantt. I’d be interested in any techniques for step 5. It’s something I’ve done recently as part of my first year PhD report and I wrote about how I produced my Gantt chart here: http://phdtools.blogspot.com/2011/08/creating-gantt-charts.html

I can’t imagine many people use MS project to manage their entire PhD (I could be wrong?) therefore it seems a bit excessive to use it just for a Gantt chart. Equally I find Excel plots look a bit naff and it’s difficult to show linkages between items.

“I’m not looking for a tool to perform PERT or CPM or do resource levelling for me.”

Absolutely! I just want to plug in my info and get a simple image out. How hard is that?

I’m not a big fan of big-iron project management tools either. More time seems to go into managing the information than getting actual work done.

I do think that most group projects that are going to last twelve months or more could do with a simple project management tool, though. I’m a bit of a fan of Basecamp , even if it doesn’t draw Gantt charts.

Of course, everybody has to understand the tool and want to use it, which is a different matter.

Thanks for the post.

I’m currently trying my hand at project management software, but I seem to find it easier to simply write down stuff in a piece of paper before committing it to electronic format. Anybody else has the same issue?

Absolutely, Carlos. As someone who has managed a big project that included spending a lot of time wrangling MS Project, I’m a big fan of just scribbling it down on paper and then mocking it up in MS Word.

[…] How do you create a Gantt chart?  The best advice we have seen is at the useful Research Whisperer blog, where they list 5 steps to creating your very own Gantt Chart in the post ‘How to make a simple Gantt chart’.  […]

Excellent introduction to project planning. I’ve seen recent examples of project managers jumping into MS Project without this level of thinking, with predictable results.

Questions that should help (and which you would need to answer anyway when asked by seeking funding or approval) include: What do I need to do by when? What do I need from others & when? How do I check that I am still on track?

Build those answers into the simple paper approach above, and you’ll have covered the critical project basics (activities, resources, dependencies, scheduling, milestones and checkpoints)

Like Liked by 1 person

Thanks, Adrian.

I liked your questions so much, I added them into the original post. 🙂

An Excel bar chart is pretty much all you need to create a Gantt chart. Unless of course you intend to explore resourcing and costs.

Your info really helped me by doing my D.T ( Design Technology) homework. Thank You 🙂 Eirene Masri From Jordan, Amman

Thanks for your comment. It made me smile. 🙂

I haven’t been to Jordan for a very long time, but I had a great time when I was there.

[…] that you are going to do?  What will you do next? What will you do after that? In the comments, Adrian Masters provided some great questions to help with this […]

Thanks for this particular piece of ‘whisper’… I was in a dire need of a ‘quickie’ method to make a simple Gantt Chart. 😀

Cheers, Yan London

No worries, Yan. Happy to help.

[…] Jonathan. “How to make a simple Gantt Chart” The Research Whisperer. 13 September […]

I have just gone through.Iam also planning to undertake a phd programme and would want to recieve guild as i make progress using gantt Chart

Reblogged this on Queer Fear: Alternative Gothic Literary and Visual Cultures and commented: Stumbled across this useful piece on the use of Gantt charts in research projects. I realise this may seem rather common knowledge to scientists but as a Arts and Humanities-based person I found it gave useful insights for new researchers.

Thanks, Hanoconnor.

I suspect that there are plenty of science people who don’t get any formal training in this, either.

good job. very helpful

[…] Read More At: https://theresearchwhisperer.wordpress.com/2011/09/13/gantt-chart/ […]

This is my first time using a Gantt chart in research paper.. hmm. thanks for the info. 🙂

Gantt charts are really useful. Thanks for posting this information about gantt charts. This is a very informative post and very helpful, too.

Thanks Jonathan. I have just completed my first Gantt chart for my Doctorate in Health. I was beginning to get a bit jumpy about some of the very involved instructions I had found previously so your ‘idiots guide’ was really helpful.

No worries, Ade.

Happy to help. Good luck with your doctorate.

I have been using a Gantt chart to plan and track my doctorate since I began last year. It’s just an Excel spreadsheet but suits my purposes, very simple. One thing I’ve found useful us to mark all the highlighted cells bright blue initially, for ‘future action’. Each week, I update that week’s column to green (completed) or red (overdue). This gives me good feedback not only about where I need to change the priorities on my current ‘to do’ list, but is a very satisfying display of how much I’ve already done.

I love Excel, postgradpanda. I reckon that seeing the blue change to green would be very satisfying.

Thanks for this.

[…] https://theresearchwhisperer.wordpress.com/2011/09/13/gantt-chart/ […]

Thanks for this. It helped me alot for doing our work schedule in research for short allotted time.

Ohh Thank God Jonathan for that!! you have no idea how much you saved my life.. I was having a real hard time planning my first ever research proposal Loved it alot.. Looking forward for much guidance along the path!!!

Sruti… (From a far far away land.. INDIA)!! 🙂

Thanks, Sruti

Happy to help.

Sruti was right. It’s very helpful to me as well. Saves me a lot of trouble. Keep it up Jonathan.

No worries, Paul

Are you a commercial representative for Ganttic, or did you link to them because you like them? Just wondering.

[…] published a short article about doing research in academia. Some of their articles are mundane (How to make a simple Gantt chart), whereas others are more esoteric (Hashing it over) and heartfelt (Academic […]

[…] out your timeline and your budget. Working up a Gantt chart for your project will force you to think about how long different phases of the project will take. This is important […]

list any six elements that go into the format of a research report?

Hi abukamara

I don’t have a set list. It depends who your audience is, and what sort of report you are writing.

I’m usually helping people to write grant applications, where the format is set by the funding agency. They make it pretty simple, really – they generally tell you exactly what they want.

[…] logframe analysis is well worth reading, while the Research Whisperer explains how to make a simple Gantt chart. And Mind Tools overviews a range of project scheduling tools as does this from MIT. Over at […]

[…] take you three or maybe three-and-a-half years. However, PhDs in my area rarely follow the sort of gantt chart anybody approving funding, ethics clearance or candidature milestones might approve. A tangent I […]

[…] How to make a simple Gantt chart – Jonathan O’Donnell. […]

Jonathan, i suppose that you should try more intuitive service) My experience in project management tells me there are a lot of comlicated tools such as MS Project. After years of searching and trying (Wrike, Liquid Planner, Smartsheet) i start using GanttPRO, especially because of its simplicity and high visibility. So try GanttPRO to facilitate workflow.

[…] O’Donnell, J 2011, How to make a simple Gantt chart, The Research Whisperer, weblog, 13 September, viewed 23 April 2017, < https://theresearchwhisperer.wordpress.com/2011/09/13/gantt-chart/&gt ;. […]

[…] research design is important. Following the steps outlined in O’Donnell’s (2011) blog How to make a simple Gantt Chart, I constructed this graph and a risk matrix to ensure that my time was used efficiently. […]

[…] Other tips on Gantt charts, including how to make one manually: https://theresearchwhisperer.wordpress.com/2011/09/13/gantt-chart […]

Thanks Jonathan! I am a grant writer, and your post is a great reminder that I should probably make a timeline visually appealing, like your hand-made Gantt. I’m going to do it!

I wanted to point out that for a grant funded project (which often has a specified end date by which the money must be spent), I often find myself making a timeline backwards. That is, I start creating the timeline from the specified end date, and then ask myself the questions that Adrian Masters posed: What do I need to do by when? What do I need from others & when? I build back towards the project start date, then jiggle everything until it fits!

BTW, did you know that in your text descriptions of the example timeline, the time is in weeks, but in your Gantt chart the time is in months? I have a feeling that you really meant for these to match….

Like Liked by 2 people

Thanks, Amy

This article has been viewed over 150,000 times, and you are the first person to point out the weeks / months issue. I’ve fixed it now (although it is a bit of a bodge).

I agree with the backwards process, so much so that I wrote a post about it: Work backwards . It is about the grant writing process, but the principle is the same.

This particular instance was one of those rare times when I truly didn’t have an end date, and could work out the actual time the project would take (surprise – it took longer).

I’ve added a bit into the post about working backwards. Thanks for that.

Proofreading touchdown? You just made my day! Thanks for this, and for Research Whisperer in general. I am probably not really your intended audience, but I get a lot of value from all the posts. You-all do good work!

[…] Research Whisperer. (2016). How to Make a Simple Gannt Chart.[online] Available at: https://theresearchwhisperer.wordpress.com/2011/09/13/gantt-chart/ [Accessed 14 Mar. […]

[…] O’Donnell, J 2011, ‘How to make a simple Gantt chart’, The Research Whisperer, 13 September, viewed 13 April 2018, < https://theresearchwhisperer.wordpress.com/2011/09/13/gantt-chart/&gt ;. […]

[…] you know how to make a simple Gantt […]

[…] How to make a simple Gantt chart: This article provides steps on making a Gantt chart (generally, not specific for PhD). […]

[…] “How to Make a Simple Gantt Chart,” by Jonathan O’Donnell on The Research Whisperer […]

[…] analysis of all their blog search terms. His analysis  showed lots of people were looking for how to make a simple Gantt Chart. Jonathan’s excellent analysis left me wondering: what do readers think is ‘high value […]

If your university has the Microsoft suite of programs Viso (I think it is called) is easy to learn the basic functions to make a Gantt and the nice thing is that when you change a date the program moves the bars for you so fewer errors 🙂 winning.

Thanks, Wendy. Good advice.

[…] complex, messy, and not as linear as suggested by the timeline of activities we outline in project Gantt charts. During my doctorate, there were twists and turns as I made decisions around which literature to […]

[…] webinars should I register for? What about grants? Reading groups? Mentoring? How exactly does a research GANTT chart work (or does it)? How can I get research and writing done without sacrificing my entire summer on […]

[…] my various projects. This method was originally inspired by two academic Gantt chart enthusiasts (one, two). However, I found that the traditional way of setting up a gantt chart (with the projects on […]

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Let these customizable Gantt chart templates help your business see into the future. This staple of project planning just got easier to outline with templates where all you need to do is bring your parameters and yourself to get started. A Gantt chart is the ideal tool to coordinate groups of people and simultaneous goals and keep all aspects of a plan moving when they're supposed to. With these easy-to-use templates, your Gantt chart can be as colorful and as detailed as your organized heart desires. Make sure everything's going smoothly for your grand opening by know exactly what you have to do and when you have to do it. Or, add a compelling visual to a presentation by laying out the various elements of your project in a comprehensive yet comprehendible way. Dive into timelines and deliverables and let the planning stage of your project be the easy part—a Gantt chart is your business's new best friend.

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PhD timeline [classic]

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