Welcome to Dissertation Demystified!

An Ethical, Affordable, and Empowering Coaching Community

Dissertation Demystified was created to provide doctoral candidates with a comprehensive support ecosystem that is lacking in so many programs. While non-traditional, online, and hybrid doctoral programs provide a much-needed space for professionals to conduct impactful research, most suffer from the absence of a rigorous support system that mentors candidates in developing the research and academic skills necessary to write a dissertation.

When you reach the dissertation stage, you enter a completely different paradigm—one centered on original research and knowledge creation. Unlike the coursework phase which is guided by syllabi, learning outcomes, and clear grading criteria, the dissertation phase is an iterative and fluid process that requires you to independently navigate topic development, selecting an optimal research design, proposal/prospectus approval, IRB, data collection, analysis, and defense preparation.

Although many programs have designed detailed dissertation handbooks, templates, rubrics, and checklists, they often fail to be effective in guiding you in "how" to do write your dissertation and conduct your study. This combined with a supervision model in which chair and committee members act more as administrative gatekeepers means that the doctoral candidates feel alienated and lacking a sense of scholarly community and support.

This is where Dissertation Demystified comes in. Informed by over 15 years of academic and research consulting experience, we’ve built an ethical, affordable, and empowering support ecosystem that complements and supplements the resources provided by universities. As a member of Dissertation Demystified, you have exclusive access to four pillars of support designed to help you develop every aspect of your dissertation, allowing you to finish faster with less stress, less revisions, and even less tuition.

Our Four Pillars of Support

Pillar 1: Free Resources

Twice-Monthly Dissertation Masterclasses

Hosted by the creator of Dissertation Demystified, Ryan Kotowski, all doctoral candidates are invited to join our free, twice-monthly Dissertation Masterclasses. Each masterclass session is structured as follows:

A brief talk on a spotlight topic relating to the dissertation process, such as topic development, research design, and navigating chair/committee feedback.
A writing workshop in which participants set a micro-goal and work with fellow participants and Ryan to achieve that goal.

You will leave each masterclass session with a newfound perspective on the dissertation process and tangible progress. Doctoral candidates at any phase of the dissertation process are invited to join!

Click here to sign up for our next Dissertation Masterclass on Thursday, October 2nd, 2025 at 7:00 PM Eastern. Be sure to connect with Ryan on LinkedIn for regular posts and insights on the dissertation process.

One-on-One Consultation and Dissertation Feedback Report

We also offer free 20-minute consultations to all doctoral candidates. In your session, you’ll meet one-on-one with Ryan to discuss your progress and any challenges you have experienced. After the session, Ryan will prepare a personalized dissertation feedback report outlining areas for improvement, recommendations to move your study forward, and thoughts on how you will benefit from membership in Dissertation Demystified.

This no-cost consultation is a fantastic way to gain expert insight and clarity on your dissertation at any phase of the process. Click here to schedule your consultation with Ryan today!

Member-Exclusive Resources

Pillar 2: 12-Module Course

Our 12-Module course is where doctoral candidates finally get the “how” of doing a dissertation. Each module breaks down a major dissertation milestone into clear, actionable steps.

Using our innovative LAEA (Learn, Apply, Engage, Adapt) Framework, you’ll:

Learn the principles, strategies, and best practices behind each dissertation stage, section, or chapter.
Apply what you’ve learned immediately to your own dissertation with guided activities and resources.
Engage with fellow doctoral candidates and personalized feedback from our PhD coaches to refine and strengthen your work.
Adapt your module work to align with your university's guidelines.

Most doctoral programs only provide you with a litany of handbooks, rubrics, and checklists. These materials are useful for telling you what is required and expected but rarely show you "how" to do it. Our 12-module course fills that support gap by combining step-by-step instruction with real-time feedback and coaching, turning institutional requirements into a clear roadmap and sustained, measurable progress on your dissertation.

Click here to view our module roadmap!

Pillar 3: Access to Our Skool Community

Being a doctoral candidate is often an isolating journey, especially in non-traditional, online, and hybrid programs where classmates disperse and committee interactions are limited. Access to our Skool Community fills that gap by giving you an intellectually-stimulating space to stay connected, motivated, and supported.

In our Skool Community, you will be able to:

Network with fellow doctoral candidates who understand the unique challenges of balancing research with professional and personal commitments.
Engage in lively discussions, resource sharing, and peer feedback to sharpen your ideas and maintain momentum.
Get on-demand guidance from our PhD coaches, so your questions are answered in real time—not weeks later.

This isn’t just another forum. It’s a vibrant, social-media like space designed to give you the scholarly cammeraderie, accountability, and encouragement that most programs can’t provide, transforming the dissertation process from a solitary endeavor into a collaborative and energizing experience.

Take a Sneak Peak into Our Community!

Pillar 4: Weekly Office Hours and Monthly Seminars

Our weekly office hours give you live, real-time access to our PhD coaches via Zoom—no appointment needed. We even offer evening and weekend hours to fit your schedule. You can discuss progress on program modules, feedback from your chair or committee, or any other dissertation-related challenge.

Every month, we also host a suite of seminars led by respected professors and scholars. Topics rotate but include:

Hands-on workshops in qualitative and statistical analysis (using software such as NVivo, SPSS, and R Studio).
Lectures on the ethical use of AI in academia.
Subject-specific talks on emerging research trends in psychology, public health, business, education, and more.

This combination of weekly office hours and monthly seminars provides the ongoing, live support most programs can’t offer, so you’re never left waiting for answers and always moving forward in your dissertation journey.

Want to learn more? Click here to schedule a consultation!

Meet Ryan Kotowski, the creator of Dissertation Demystified

Ryan Kotowski is a dissertation coach and research expert with over 15 years of experience in academia and research consulting. A lifelong Baltimore native from a working-class family of Polish-American longshoremen, Ryan combines deep local roots with an international education from some of the world’s top universities. As a respected linguist, he has published papers and book chapters on morphosyntactic structure and language change.

Ryan began his professional career in academic support—tutoring, placement testing, and disability services—before returning from graduate school in London to teach ESL, linguistics, and French. He then transitioned into full-time dissertation coaching and has also collaborated with top companies to design large language model (LLM) annotation and evaluation projects.

Ryan created Dissertation Demystified for two key reasons:

To counter the rise of predatory “dissertation mills” that pressure doctoral candidates into paying thousands to outsource their work to exploited writers.
To hold non-traditional doctoral education to a higher standard by offering ethical, affordable, and empowering guidance.

Through his mentorship, Dissertation Demystified members learn to design and implement feasible yet impactful studies that advance practice, science, and society.

Outside of dissertation coaching, research consulting, and linguistics, Ryan is a pillar of the Baltimore cultural scene and Polish community. He serves as the Financial Secretary of the Polish National Alliance Council 21 and sits on the board of the National Katyń Memorial Foundation. He’s also a classical music enthusiast, amateur cellist, chef, and mixologist.

Education

Doctor of Philosophy in Theoretical Linguistics - University of Amsterdam

Master of Science in Language Sciences (linguistics and neuroscience) - University College London

Bachelor of Arts in Applied Linguistics - University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Click here to schedule a consultation with Ryan!

Welcome to Dissertation Demystified! An Ethical, Affordable, and Empowering Coaching Community