Free access or individual subscription
Register with an email from a licensed university to have free access to the Idea Puzzle software or with another email to subscribe it individually. The access to the Idea Puzzle software is exclusively online, without installation on the computer, after allowing pop-up windows in your Internet browser.
Introduction to the software
The Idea Puzzle software is a decision-making tool that helps doctoral researchers improve the coherence of a research proposal, article, or thesis in the light of Philosophy of Science (Morais & Brailsford, 2022). It also helps review the strengths and weaknesses of a research project in any field of knowledge (Parente & Ferro, 2016). To date, it has helped design more than 8000 research projects worldwide.
The Idea Puzzle software poses 21 questions, helps answering them, and allows the self-evaluation of each answer in terms of decision-making progress. The help function of the Idea Puzzle software includes instructions, tips, definitions, introductions, bibliography, and examples of research designs that won the Idea Puzzle Prize. The output of the Idea Puzzle software is a research design with 21 answers, an overall score, and a coloured jigsaw puzzle of progress that can be shared in PDF or in Word.
In 2023, the Idea Puzzle software was a finalist of SAGE £15k Concept Grant, from a total of 89 research software tools. The jury considered the theoretical framework of 21 decisions unique and praised the way it helps doctoral researchers design their research:
Daniela Duca, Head of Product Innovation, Sage Publishing, United Kingdom
We love your approach and how the Idea Puzzle software helps students and early career researchers go through the process of developing their research.
Irena White, PhD in Education, Flinders University, Australia
I feel that if I would have known the Idea Puzzle software early in my PhD, I could have saved myself a lot of wasted time and avoided several 'dead ends'. In 2021, I received the Flinders University Vice Chancellor’s Medal for PhD Thesis Excellence.
Leonardo La Rosa, Idea Puzzle Prize Co-Winner 2017, Media Research, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Spain
The Idea Puzzle software helped me shorten the parts of my research project which were overdeveloped such as the literature review and focus my efforts on those which were underdeveloped such as the methodology and sample. After winning the Idea Puzzle Prize, I won an Outstanding Thesis Award at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid.
Pedro Palma, Idea Puzzle Prize Winner 2022, Environment and Sustainability, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Portugal
When delivering the final version of my doctoral thesis, I remembered the Idea Puzzle software again. This tool helped me a lot to think through my research design and awoke my interest in Philosophy of Science. The awareness and knowledge of philosophical assumptions proved crucial to make my research more coherent and robust.
Eve Mägi, Education Policy Analyst, PRAXIS Center for Policy Studies, Estonia
Thank you for introducing us to your Idea Puzzle framework. It is valuable at various points of the project - I wish I would have come across it earlier in my research. Additionally, I found it very impressive how quickly you were able to grasp the frame and details of the participants’ doctoral dissertations while also providing live feedback on the spot.
Antonella Coradduzza, Doctoral Researcher, Clinical and Health Psychology, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain
Thank you sincerely for the training. I found it extremely valuable and meaningful, both academically and personally. It brought me greater clarity regarding the concepts which I am studying, and I especially appreciated the way the training connected philosophy, personal experience, and research work.
Sara Ibrahim, Doctoral Researcher, Strategic Communications, Public Relations & Advertising, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain
Thank you for the extremely insightful workshop. It was exactly what I never knew I needed the most. It is an eye-opening strategy and very different approach to tackling research. Eye opening and mindset changer!