phd thesis read

Open Access Theses and Dissertations

Thursday, April 18, 8:20am (EDT): Searching is temporarily offline. We apologize for the inconvenience and are working to bring searching back up as quickly as possible.

Advanced research and scholarship. Theses and dissertations, free to find, free to use.

Advanced search options

Browse by author name (“Author name starts with…”).

Find ETDs with:

Written in any language English Portuguese French German Spanish Swedish Lithuanian Dutch Italian Chinese Finnish Greek Published in any country US or Canada Argentina Australia Austria Belgium Bolivia Brazil Canada Chile China Colombia Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Germany Greece Hong Kong Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Ireland Italy Japan Latvia Lithuania Malaysia Mexico Netherlands New Zealand Norway Peru Portugal Russia Singapore South Africa South Korea Spain Sweden Switzerland Taiwan Thailand UK US Earliest date Latest date

Sorted by Relevance Author University Date

Only ETDs with Creative Commons licenses

Results per page: 30 60 100

October 3, 2022. OATD is dealing with a number of misbehaved crawlers and robots, and is currently taking some steps to minimize their impact on the system. This may require you to click through some security screen. Our apologies for any inconvenience.

Recent Additions

See all of this week’s new additions.

About OATD.org

OATD.org aims to be the best possible resource for finding open access graduate theses and dissertations published around the world. Metadata (information about the theses) comes from over 1100 colleges, universities, and research institutions . OATD currently indexes 6,948,050 theses and dissertations.

About OATD (our FAQ) .

Visual OATD.org

We’re happy to present several data visualizations to give an overall sense of the OATD.org collection by county of publication, language, and field of study.

You may also want to consult these sites to search for other theses:

• Google Scholar
• NDLTD , the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations. NDLTD provides information and a search engine for electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs), whether they are open access or not.
• Proquest Theses and Dissertations (PQDT), a database of dissertations and theses, whether they were published electronically or in print, and mostly available for purchase. Access to PQDT may be limited; consult your local library for access information.

Stack Exchange Network

Stack Exchange network consists of 183 Q&A communities including Stack Overflow , the largest, most trusted online community for developers to learn, share their knowledge, and build their careers.

Q&A for work

Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search.

What's the point of PhD theses if nobody reads them?

At best, the PhD thesis is read by:

• The examiners
• The supervisor
• The author's parents
• The author's roommate / spouse / fellow students in research group

Or less than 10 people in total. What, then, is the point of writing it? Writing a complete PhD thesis is a time-consuming process, and that time could easily have gone into taking more courses, doing more research, supervising more students, and so on. Of course the PhD student has no choice but to write one, because the programme typically requires it. However that still begs the question as to why the programme requires it in the first place. if the thesis is so useless that so few people read it, what's the point of demanding a thesis as a prerequisite for graduation?

Somewhat related: What is the point of a PhD thesis whose content already exists in published papers? Still, even if there are more readers because a thesis provides a gentle introduction to the field, it seems more sensible to me to just write a monograph and leave out the thesis.

• 86 "less than 10 people" is already generous... I am quite sure my parents will never read more than 200 pages about IT security. Same is true for most friends who will have a look but might not go into detail. I sometimes say: You are in trouble if more than two people read your dissertation. The first two are your examiners, the third one is some unfriendly guy searching for flaws in your thesis... ;-) –  J-Kun Commented Feb 10, 2019 at 10:35
• 84 I question the premise of this question. I have several PhD Theses on my harddrive, all of which I have read, most several times, some of them I re-read regularly. And I am none of the things the OP listed, I am not even an academic. And I have good reasons to believe that e.g. Gilad Bracha's thesis has been read by dozens and Roy Fielding's by hundreds, just to name two. –  Jörg W Mittag Commented Feb 10, 2019 at 11:47
• 77 First, you say "at best", but those words should be "at minimum." There are plenty of world-shaking Ph.D. theses out there. Second, well, heck, you could say the same about almost all published research. I'd bet 90% of scholarly papers could easily be filed under "doesn't matter." –  B. Goddard Commented Feb 10, 2019 at 14:25
• 2 Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat . –  eykanal Commented Feb 12, 2019 at 14:06
• 3 You're assuming the research in the thesis is only found in the thesis. In the sciences, it's common for the thesis to be an aggregation of previously published papers. –  chepner Commented Feb 12, 2019 at 14:19

17 Answers 17

For simplicity, I am going to let your premise that (virtually) nobody reads a PhD thesis stand, even though that's debatable and also a bit field-dependent. There are still a number of reasons for it to exist:

• It's arguably more of a "writing to learn" task anyway. Students don't produce theses for the sake of the thesis, but to learn how to do research and write it up properly in a long, coherent book. Even if no single person outside the committee reads the thesis ever, it was still a good learning experience for the student.
• There is a lot of history around the concept of a doctoral program requiring developing in new thesis (in the original meaning of the word), writing it down in a book (the dissertation), and defending this new thesis against the local learned community. Even though nowadays many fields don't communicate new research ideas through long books anymore, there is still enough historical appeal to the idea that few programs want to get out of it entirely. The entire process of writing and defending the dissertation also has some appeal as a significant milestone event, which nicely demarks the end of an era for the student - he is no longer a student, but a complete member of the academic community.
• In many countries there is a legal angle to this. At least in Europe, a PhD program is usually legally defined to conclude with the production of a doctoral dissertation of some kind.
• In the age of "stapler theses" (which consist of a synopsis and a collection of previously published papers in verbatim), the entire affair is fairly low-cost anyway. My last students rarely spent longer than 2 or 3 months on the actual "thesis writing".

• 22 +1 but I will add that there are places where stapler theses are not allowed, and on the other hand there are places where if you publish papers you don't need to write a separate thesis. –  Kimball Commented Feb 10, 2019 at 14:34
• 5 @xLeitix you are right but the last point is not true, at least in many countries in Europe. In addition to that, it is quite common that the write-up period is unpaid in many universities, as you are not doing research any more. –  DimP Commented Feb 10, 2019 at 14:47
• 12 @Nox a professor who does not encourage publications What?! That sounds almost like an oxymoron to me. –  Thomas Commented Feb 10, 2019 at 21:32
• 13 @Nox You're overgeneralising when referring to "Europe". There are big differences between different European countries as to whether sandwich theses are encouraged, discouraged, or disallowed. –  gerrit Commented Feb 11, 2019 at 7:59
• 8 "2 or 3 months" for a stapler thesis? Those I have seen take less than a week, as they consist of merely writing a 5-10 page blurb in front, and copy-pasting already accepted/appeared papers as chapters. –  Boris Bukh Commented Feb 11, 2019 at 14:42

"No-one ever reads a PhD thesis" is a big assumption, one that I would think says more about what you think a PhD thesis is about, and less about what it actually is about.

I have read many PhD theses in my time. I find them to be a very different resource to papers. Often a PhD thesis is a very good read if you want to get a good overview of a particular field, explained in relatively simple language, and introducing and building up a complex subject relatively from scratch in easily digestible logical blocks, rather than assuming most knowledge is known to the reader.

Similarly, a PhD thesis is also more likely to go into some depth / proofs / exhaustive experiments that are typically omitted from journal publications on account of space and conciseness.

As a bonus, a PhD thesis is far more likely to be accessible to the general public than its respective papers, as the latter typically tend to be behind paywalls, whereas the former is typically accessible on-demand for free from their respective universities.

Finally, if you are lucky, your PhD thesis may form the cornerstone for an entire field, far more than a single paper might.

Having said all that, one factor that skews one's impression of how often theses tend to be read, is that it is still more likely that subsequent authors reading the thesis will cite the relevant papers generated from it instead, since they are more relevant in the context of a citation , therefore giving a wrong impression about how useful PhD theses are when one is exploring the literature in the first place.

• 5 I too question the assumption. I have had two different researchers at two different institutions come to me to confirm that the these they had in hand was actually mine. The reason for the confusion is that the these is in one field and I am working in another field. –  doneal24 Commented Feb 10, 2019 at 18:46
• 5 +1 Also, potential employers may ask to see an electronic copy of the thesis to get an idea of the technical and writing skills of the applicant. This is especially useful when hiring a recent PhD (who may have not yet published extensively from their doctoral research) for a post-doctoral position. ;-) –  Luca Citi Commented Feb 10, 2019 at 21:28
• 35 Can't upvote this enough. Reading a paper on an unfamiliar topic is often horrible -- "this result is proved in [A,B,C]" (which all use different notations and formalism, and are difficult to unify); "the proof is simple and left to the reader" (only simple when you already know how it works); "an introduction can be found in book [X]" (which covers it in passing, in a very different way from the paper). No. A thesis can provide an incredible introduction to a specific subject, if well written, in a way that a paper simply can't or won't. –  Richard Rast Commented Feb 11, 2019 at 2:55
• 5 @RichardRast I can’t help but think you are unfairly comparing well-written theses with poorly written papers. –  JeffE Commented Feb 11, 2019 at 5:43
• 5 It might have been true that very few people read theses when they only existed as a single copy held in the degree-granting institution's library, and were only indexed in that library's card catalog, but they're becoming more and more accessible in our electronic era. I've even had researchers request undergraduate senior theses that they discovered through WorldCat. My social science undergraduates often love dissertations, because as the product of very young researchers they are much more likely to be about topics of interest than the product of more established researchers. –  1006a Commented Feb 11, 2019 at 15:31

The main skill that students should learn during their PhD and demonstrate to graduate is producing, describing, and defending scientific results. Thus, when a PhD student wishes to graduate, they have to present some work that justifies this degree. This work is, broadly speaking, the thesis. Technically speaking, this can just be a bunch of peer-reviewed papers, and cumulative theses (a.k.a. stapler theses) are more or less exactly this, but the student is usually required to write an introduction and conclusion as a framework for their papers.

However, there are many reasons why a student cannot provide these or published papers do not reflect the entire work of the PhD student in question:

• The field may have very long peer-review times, e.g., pure mathematics.
• The field’s publishing and hiring culture favours one big paper in a highly ranked journal comprising everything, e.g., biology.
• Scientific communication in the field mostly happens in form of large monographs (which a thesis can be).
• The PhD work is only a piece in a huge project and is not suitable for being published on its own.
• Some parts of the PhD work have not (yet) been published when the student wishes to graduate.

A thesis gives PhD candidates the opportunity to graduate in these cases. Note that in most of these cases, the writing work spent on the thesis is not wasted on a few readers, because the material will be reused in peer-reviewed papers later¹ or the thesis itself will actually be read by more people. So from a certain point of view, your premise is wrong: The thesis will be read by more people; it’s just not in form of the thesis itself.

This still leaves the point of why PhD students are forced to write an introduction and conclusion to a cumulative thesis, but then:

• This is not a lot of work (I did this in a few weeks).
• It may spur the student to see their work in a broader picture.
• It is the most useful information for the thesis committee. (Depending on how the committee is formed, they clichéically only read the introduction and conclusion.)
• It does train scientific writing on a level not seen in regular papers.

¹ though these are usually not read by that many people either

• 6 "Depending on how the committee is formed, they clichéically only read the introduction and conclusion" . While this is true, every place I've known holds this as a poorly keep secret, rather than an official fact. The committee members are always expected to read the entirety of the work. During a pre-thesis exam, I was told by a committee member that I should leave to annexes a few developments that were only introductory and known in the literature. He complained about having to read them all even though I suggested by email that those parts could be skipped. –  Mefitico Commented Feb 11, 2019 at 11:05

The purpose of a PhD thesis is to demonstrate that the author can do all of the following:

• Organize a large project
• that makes an original contribution to scientific knowledge;
• have the persistence to carry out such a large project;
• know the state-of-the-art in the field well enough to recognize an original contribution;
• have good enough communication skills to explain, diagram, and present the results;
• have the scientific rigor to present the results honestly, without "lying with statistics"; and
• provide valid citations for how the project builds upon existing work in the field.

A typical organization looking to hire a PhD is looking to fill an Associate Professor position or a senior scientific researcher position. The position typically is responsible for organizing a line of scientific research, obtaining funding, and presenting results that are worth the funders' investment.

Several posters on this thread have suggested "stapler theses" be used instead. Such theses do not demonstrate the ability to organize a large project, nor the persistence to carry it out.

• 1 [Stapler theses] theses do not demonstrate the ability to organize a large project, nor the persistence to carry it out. – The format of the thesis has little to do with this. A well-done PhD project having all the aspects you champion should produce a series of coherent papers. This is what demonstrates what you want. Whether they are stapled together (with a proper frame of introduction and conclusion) or rearranged into a monograph makes little difference. Of course there are stapler theses that do not do this and are an incoherent mess, but that also applies to monographs. –  Wrzlprmft ♦ Commented Mar 12, 2020 at 10:44

Until about 100 years ago, the PhD degree did not exist in many advanced academic environments. It postdates, by far, rigorous academic research in any subject. It has become the entry-level qualification for an academic career, I suggest, as a crude mechanism to weed out people who like the idea of an academic career but who lack the basic abilities to prosper in such a career.

Likewise, to be licensed to drive a car one has to take a test. The test does not really relate to generalised ability to drive, but it signals that you can't just sit in a car and drive it.

Some people can drive well, even if they have never taken a test, and some people can be brilliant academics without ever having to write a PhD thesis.

The answer to the question "what is the point of the PhD thesis..." is that writing it is the test you have to pass if you want an academic career. It is a different question to ask why is the PhD a basic requirement for an academic career.

For some research students, those who are not interested in an academic career but who are very interested in their subject, however, the requirement to write a thesis is a kind of realty check on their research. Without the need to write a thesis I could flatter myself that my work is ground-breaking; writing a thesis sets a bar, maybe not very high, that distinguishes reality from vanity.

Please think of the mathematician John Tate's 1950 Princeton thesis on harmonic anaylsis. This single thesis made him world-famous. Thesis is an intellectual start for many academics,a sort of ladder to the higher world of thought and approach.

This question is based on a false premise, namely that nobody ever reads theses. This is a bit of a meme among grad students, but it's just that: A fashionable whinge. It's not actually true.

I've read plenty of theses, occasionally they will have some data that I need, I've even cited them. The biggest reason that I don't do it more is that usually the content of theses in my field is also published in papers, and it's better to use the original report.

In humanities theses are expected to be original works, and often people publish them as books. I've actually read many such books, often without realizing it was a thesis - the topic was just interesting to me. I found the book in a library, where it was bound with a professional cover, so presumably it was published by a real publisher. Not necessarily a best seller, but I'm sure more than 10 people read it. Some people must have even paid for it.

Similarly, many people stick to the topic of their thesis and keep reworking it into books and papers along the same line. In that case people may not have read the thesis, but the writing they did consume has its foundation in the work that went into the thesis.

There are plenty of people who graduate without publishing much. If such a person were applying for a job, certainly being able to look at their thesis would be valuable.

But to ask about readership is to miss the point. The thesis is an exam. Do you complain that writing papers for a class is pointless because only the instructor will read them? The thesis is exactly like an exam. It's your final exam of PhD school. You need to pass to show that you have learned enough to graduate. It might seem absurd to have an exam hundreds of pages long, but then again, big degree, big exam. You're not really required to make it hundreds of pages long, in any case.

• 2 In the humanities, your thesis is basically the draft for your first book. Presumably the book will benefit from a bit of professional editing, and maybe a bit of polishing from a less stressed-out-grad-student point of view. . The theses however will be read by everyone who contemplates hiring you, especially for that important first job, and it will be evaluated in how much work will be necessary to lead to that first book. Remember the publish or perish trope? The theses gives a good hint as to whether you can publish. –  user104070 Commented Feb 15, 2019 at 18:21

Much of the point of the dissertation is to demonstrate that you really understand something, which isn't really a function of journal articles or conference papers. In mathematics, anyway, the best thing about doctoral dissertations (and some master's theses) is that the good ones have thorough reviews of the literature and complete expositions of foundational material. In many cases, it's the only place to find details that are too basic for journals and too specialized for textbooks. So even a dissertation that isn't great from a research standpoint can be extremely useful for its exposition and bibliography.

I would like to offer a different perspective in my field i.e.meteorology and earth sciences. I actually find Ph.d theses very useful. Majority of the theses that I have looked at do contain the software (numerical Fortran routines) that solve a particular problem in atmospheric sciences usually in the appendices. In some universities the thesis is then digitized and placed in a online repository where can it be downloaded. In some cases one can actually search for these Fortran routines and then obtain the searches in a google search. In my field(and related fields) the thesis committee and the thesis advisor make it mandatory to include the software in the appendix. I have seen this in theses originating from the USA as well as from Europe and Asia.

So the cumbersome issue of contacting the author of a peer reviewed research paper and asking him/her for their software is completely eliminated.

Riemann, Gauss, Grothendieck, Serre, Scholze, and various other mathematicians throughout history produced absolutely fantastic doctor thesis that shaped entire fields. Riemann's, for example, marked the beginning of the study of Riemannian Geometry and of Riemann surfaces. In his master's thesis, William Karush delineated the KKT conditions.

• 4 Nowadays, such achievements are far better placed in journal articles than theses. –  Orion Commented Feb 10, 2019 at 22:11
• 3 @orion: why? Journal articles are forced to be too short for some things. A thesis gives the author a lot more flexibility. –  Neil G Commented Feb 15, 2019 at 7:16

This is very field-dependent. In some fields, theses are read.

However, my experience in computer science is that the thesis is pointless, aside from being a degree requirement.

Your premise is optimistic. I am confident that, apart from myself and my advisor, no one has read more than 5% of my PhD thesis. And my advisor probably only read about 15% of it and skimmed the rest (based on the feedback he gave). I remember that, during my defense, one of the committee members had printed out the first ten or so pages of my thesis and was quickly reading the abstract before I started speaking.

My thesis has accrued precisely zero citations in three years, while the papers that went into it have gotten hundreds.

This is a bit disappointing, given that I put some effort into my thesis. I improved and simplified some results and included more detail and exposition than in the corresponding papers. That was a waste of my time.

My experience seems typical for computer science. The culture is that no one reads theses and they are a waste of time. But, again, this may be different in other fields or even in other countries.

The premise is not valid. I have read hundreds of theses and dissertations when conducting research and regularly cite them in my work. One issue is that many theses and dissertations are collected behind various digital walls (Proquest, University repositories, etc) and are not easily viewable in a free and open way on the internet. It surprisingly still takes a library visit or special request to get a hold of them. I personally posted my 2012 dissertation on the web myself and now have a reasonable number of citations to it. I get questions and comments on a regular basis about the document and its contents to this day. Maybe we just need simply make the documents accessible.

EDIT: Just wanted to add that having a goal to write a theses that people do want to read, can also help. Writing with the expectation that no one reads it will likely diminish the quality and attractiveness to readers.

• 5 I agree with much of this. If a PhD student isn't reading theses in their field - and I don't mean just those of their immediate department, their supervisor and so on - then they should ! Why? To learn how to communicate clearly and engagingly in print - and how not to ! External examiners may be excused being tetchy with a thesis that is badly written or disorganized. A PhD award should be proof of one's competence to teach in the overall area of one's research as well as conduct further research in that area. Teaching is about good written communication as well as oral communication. –  Trunk Commented Feb 13, 2019 at 21:13

One aspect of this being overlooked is that often times broader issues in a particular field of study - issues perhaps years down the road - will drive retrospective research into what others have thought or written about in the same field. A research work in one decade might prove to be a foundational, essential work in another. Think of it as a loose analog to lawyers and judges seeking legal precedents, but in a more academic context.

Granted, this may be an exceptional case, and surely there are many PhD dissertations sitting on shelves, untouched since their completion, but I think most dissertation efforts were undertaken with a sincere effort to research something of value; there's really no way of knowing at the time it's written of its relative future worth.

As an example, many years ago, I read a good portion of a PhD dissertation on "tri-state" or "indeterminant-state" computing - but it was written about 40 years ago. Right now, quantum computing explores variations on almost precisely this very concept. That makes the dissertation I read borderline prophetic, as it was literally decades before any notion of quantum computing existed.

At least in my field (physics), the PhD thesis is a pointless ritual that deserves to die. It continues to exist only for historical reasons.

A bunch of answers have quibbled with the statement that nobody reads a PhD thesis. Although I have sometimes read people's theses in my field, I would have preferred it if the relevant work had just been posted on arxiv.org as a series of preprints of papers (as has been the custom in my field since ca. 1998 for anyone who wants their work to actually get read).

Basically what should happen IMO is that all schools should allow a "stapler thesis," i.e., PhD candidates who have published 1 to 3 papers in a field should be allowed to get the degree. One paper would be for the case of a groundbreaking result. Three papers would be more normal.

Usually a thesis contains one or more introductory chapters laying out the theory for a nonspecialist. These are handy if there are one or two members of committee who are not familiar with the candidate's subfield. But it's absurd to go to the trouble of writing all that material just for the benefit of one or two people. If it's really a good intro, better than anything else out there in textbooks or review articles, then it should be publishable as a stand-alone paper in a journal that publishes that sort of thing. In my field, that would be Am J Phys for a short paper, or Rev Mod Phys for something longer. But in most cases the same material has already been covered in a publication such as a textbook, and the thing to do would just be to walk over to the relevant committee member's office and hand them that textbook to browse before they dive into the thesis.

It's possible that the thesis still makes sense in some fields. For instance, a sociology thesis might in effect be a long monograph, and I believe it's still customary for people in sociology to publish monographs (maybe even expected for tenure at some schools?).

• 12 Your opening statement is just false, but it sounds like you had a bad experience with your particular department. IME, most physics PhDs spent time on side projects, developing software, models, techniques, etc. that wouldn't make it into a stapler thesis (which are allowed by departments I've been in). The thesis is an essential resource to future students and faculty as documentation of unpublished, incomplete, or defunct research projects; it's also good to stock with useful figures that didn't fit into final drafts of published work. –  Sam Commented Feb 10, 2019 at 20:03
• 10 I know at least one physics PhD thesis for which one chapter contained a calculation that was not found anywhere else (and which was probably unpublishable by itself, since it simplified known results) and another chapter was an excellent survey of a rather specialized subfield, not duplicating anything in the literature. The other chapters contain results in published papers. This thesis has been cited 27 times, according to Google scholar, more than many papers. –  Peter Shor Commented Feb 10, 2019 at 21:27
• 1 @Sam: "Just false" isn't the same as "something you disagree with." it sounds like you had a bad experience with your particular department. Not true. The thesis is an essential resource to future students and faculty as documentation of unpublished, incomplete, or defunct research projects; it's also good to stock with useful figures that didn't fit into final drafts of published work. This is what internal reports are for. A PhD thesis is supposed to be an original contribution to human knowledge, not documentation of someone's java code. –  user1482 Commented Feb 11, 2019 at 21:53
• 5 @BenCrowell I wasn't sharing an opinion; it is a fact: there are departments for which the thesis is not a "pointless ritual that deserves to die", and it exists for more than "historical reasons". Unpublished research can still be "an original contribution to human knowledge". You may have your own definition of what a PhD thesis is (or should be ), and that's fine, but your statement is false as it applies to academia, the subject of this site. –  Sam Commented Feb 11, 2019 at 22:09

Back up a bit. A PhD thesis is meant to describe research that was explicitly conducted to advance the state knowledge in some relevant manner.

The extent to which it is not read is a failure of some sort to reach that ideal:

• The state of knowledge was not sufficiently advanced.
• The advance is not sufficiently relevant (yet).
• The advance has not been adequately disseminated (yet).

To be clear, failure above refers specifically to the readership size question. There can be other measures of achievement that contribute to the "success" of the PhD thesis: Candidates may have gained

• research skills
• credentials

that will serve them well throughout their career. But make no mistake: A PhD student should strive to make contributions beyond the benefits received. Ideally, the thesis will be read by more than those with only a personal interest in the candidate, whether by cover-to-cover reading or selective consultation for details elaborating on earlier publications of preliminary/intermediate results.

• 3 I think this misses the point of the question. There are ways to contribute to the field other than through a thesis, namely publications. So a thesis not being read does not mean the author didn’t contribute to the field. –  Thomas Commented Feb 10, 2019 at 21:39
• 1 @Thomas, you're welcome to commiserate with OP about the futility of writing PhD dissertations. I, on the other hand, disagree with the premise. I also disagree with both your objection here and your answer , including where you state without evidence that in computer science, no one reads theses and they are a waste of time. Contrary to your objection here, I maintain that successful PhD research will lead to readership beyond the inner circles of the candidate, your unfortunate personal, anecdotal experience notwithstanding. –  kjhughes Commented Feb 10, 2019 at 22:20
• 3 I maintain that successful PhD research will lead to readership beyond the inner circles of the candidate. That is true, but that doesn't mean the thesis will be read. Many theses are redundant in the sense that most of their content also appears in published journal/conference papers. Thus readers have the choice between reading the thesis and reading the paper. I maintain that they almost always opt for the paper, at least in computer science. –  Thomas Commented Feb 11, 2019 at 0:53

The point of hard work is to get good (at something).

People will usually by nature be lazy.

Therefore it is (usually) necessary to find a way to trigger this hard work somehow.

Course requirements and theses and (ultimately) using the fear of "dropping out" are some ways to try and make this hard work happen.

In the hard sciences, I really don't see the value of the exercise. Seems like more benefit from learning to publish and publishing real papers. If anything, it can be the opposite of value as there are people who write a thesis and don't have independent papers. Although maybe sweating the thesis is away to put the weaker students through something (some exercise) before you give them the union card. In some European countries it's actually even explicit that the thesis is just 3 published papers (without even an effort to synthesize them).

However instead of worrying about changing society, my advice is to just deal with the situation. Do your best on papers. And for the thesis just get by (it is pass fail after all). Note that does NOT mean to let obvious errors or typos or poor writing get by. It should still be good professional work product, like a technical reort in government or industry.

• Don't kill yourself on the lit search.
• Don't go learning LATEX if you don't already use it.
• Don't use some super complicated Word template that is hard to manipulate.
• Don't use some complicated drafting or graphing program if not familiar with it already.
• Do fit in unpublished work so it is "somewhere" but don't kill yourself to finish up every thread by doing more experiments. Assuming yu have enough in the main material, the point is just to somewhere put down stuff so not lost to lab group. But don't kill yourself on this...it's a nice to do.
• Same as last bullet but also use opportunity to document any little tricks of methods or apparatus that might help the group. But again...this is a niceness you are doing...not the main point.
• Do get it done fast and get out of there. Try to avoid a lot of editorial criticism.

P.s. I actually do think theses can be useful looking at a field or a research group especially when coming up to speed (or for members of same lab group). Get a feel for what is going on. Some between the lines given. But my impression is still that most people don't know this trick or do it enough. Also, I have definitely seen people omit citing prior work from theses.

• 3 I disagree. One must always learn better Technical writing skills, formatting and grammar skills, graphic , schematic and block diagram skills and make easy to read. Not coincidental duplicates of 10k similar theses. –  Tony Stewart EE75 Commented Feb 10, 2019 at 20:40
• 2 If you want to learn new typing skills do them along the way because it is worthwhile on its own. Not when you are in crunch time finishing up. Have seen a lot of students struggle because they added on new challenges like this, while they were in the midst of producing a big document under some time pressure. Also, despite the very computer bent of this website, there are a vast amount of fields/people who value writing ability (sentences and words and paragraphs and logic and organization) far above typesetting. Just look at the corporate world. LATEX is valued less than writing skill. –  guest Commented Feb 10, 2019 at 20:57
• 2 The major plus of writing a thesis for me was latex practice... –  drjpizzle Commented Feb 15, 2019 at 11:48

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for browse other questions tagged phd thesis ..

• Featured on Meta
• We spent a sprint addressing your requests — here’s how it went
• Upcoming initiatives on Stack Overflow and across the Stack Exchange network...

Hot Network Questions

• Does physical reality exist without an observer?
• Identify this bouncing ball screensaver in DOS
• Breaking down a command to install Ros2
• How to turn a sum into an integral?
• How should I deal with curves in new deck boards during installation?
• An adjective for something peaceful but sad?
• Does the damage from Thunderwave occur before or after the target is moved
• Should I apologise to a professor after a gift authorship attempt, which they refused?
• Interesting structure: --- "If you ever go to sell this place, let me know."
• Is infinity a number?
• Is it a security issue to expose PII on any publically accessible URL?
• Coping with consequences of a dog bite before buying a puppy
• Of "ils" and "elles", which pronoun is, grammatically speaking, used to refer to a group with an overwhelming female majority?
• 80's/90's anime about a mecha made out of bones
• How can I sort all levels except the innermost level?
• 8x8 grid with no unmarked L-pentomino
• Equivalence of first/second choice with naive probability - I don't buy it
• Keyboard Ping Pong
• Can I change a 12 speed eagle cassete to a 9 speed CUES cassete?
• Fantasy book about a woman without magic who is summoned to royal court when her sister dies
• Did any other European leader praise China for its peace initiatives since the outbreak of the Ukraine war?
• Big zeros in block diagonal matrix
• How are GameManagers created in Unity?
• Is it possible with modern-day technology to expand an already built bunker further below without the risk of collapsing the entire bunker?

Librarians/Admins

• EBSCOhost Collection Manager
• EBSCO Experience Manager
• EBSCO Connect
• Start your research
• EBSCO Mobile App

Clinical Decisions Users

• DynaMed Decisions
• Dynamic Health
• Waiting Rooms
• NoveList Blog

EBSCO Open Dissertations

EBSCO Open Dissertations makes electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs) more accessible to researchers worldwide. The free portal is designed to benefit universities and their students and make ETDs more discoverable. 

Increasing Discovery & Usage of ETD Research

EBSCO Open Dissertations is a collaboration between EBSCO and BiblioLabs to increase traffic and discoverability of ETD research. You can join the movement and add your theses and dissertations to the database, making them freely available to researchers everywhere while increasing traffic to your institutional repository. 

EBSCO Open Dissertations extends the work started in 2014, when EBSCO and the H.W. Wilson Foundation created American Doctoral Dissertations which contained indexing from the H.W. Wilson print publication, Doctoral Dissertations Accepted by American Universities, 1933-1955. In 2015, the H.W. Wilson Foundation agreed to support the expansion of the scope of the American Doctoral Dissertations database to include records for dissertations and theses from 1955 to the present.

How Does EBSCO Open Dissertations Work?

Your ETD metadata is harvested via OAI and integrated into EBSCO’s platform, where pointers send traffic to your IR.

EBSCO integrates this data into their current subscriber environments and makes the data available on the open web via opendissertations.org .

You might also be interested in:

Open Access Theses and Dissertations

Direct Link

Study at Cambridge

About the university, research at cambridge.

• Undergraduate courses
• Events and open days
• Fees and finance
• Postgraduate courses
• How to apply
• Postgraduate events
• Fees and funding
• International students
• Continuing education
• Executive and professional education
• Courses in education
• How the University and Colleges work
• Term dates and calendars
• Visiting the University
• Annual reports
• Equality and diversity
• A global university
• Public engagement
• Give to Cambridge
• For Cambridge students
• For our researchers
• Business and enterprise
• Colleges & departments
• Email & phone search
• Museums & collections

• Open Access Resources
• Publishing Open Access overview
• Accepted for Publication: What to do next
• Self-Archiving Policy Guidance overview
• Paying for Gold Open Access overview
• Accessing the University of Cambridge's block grants
• Accessing a Transitional Deal
• Accessing the University's Central Open Access Funding
• Discounts and Offsets
• Open access agreements
• Read & publish journals
• University of Cambridge and Elsevier
• University of Cambridge and Springer Nature
• Funder Open Access Policies overview
• UK Open Access Policies overview
• REF overview
• OA and REF reporting
• Gold open access
• Policy exceptions
• Preprint servers overview
• Preprint server decision tree
• Preprint server-specific advice overview
• Preprint servers which allow accepted manuscripts to be uploaded
• Preprint servers which DO NOT allow accepted manuscripts to be uploaded
• Research Councils
• Wellcome Trust Monograph OA Policy
• Funder requirements for theses
• Other funders' Open Access policies
• Is my journal compliant?
• Open Access Policies for Books
• UKRI Open Access Policy Update
• REF Support overview
• Navigating Symplectic Elements
• Elements metadata requirements for research outputs
• REF Open Access Reports From Elements
• REF Open Access Policy Requirements and Exceptions overview
• Deposit exceptions
• Access exceptions
• Technical exceptions
• Further exceptions
• Preprints metadata requirements for research outputs
• Eligibility definitions for research outputs overview
• Category: Books or parts of books
• Category: Journal articles
• Category: Physical artefacts
• Category: Exhibitions and performances
• Category: Other documents
• Category: Digital artefacts
• Category: Other
• REF Support FAQs
• Theses overview
• Preparing to deposit your thesis in Apollo
• Funder Open Access Requirements
• Guidance for choosing your access levels
• Who owns the copyright in your thesis?
• Advice on sensitive material
• Advice on copyright material
• Advice on redacting material from a thesis
• Submitting the electronic thesis
• Data and your thesis
• Masters theses
• Advice for Doctoral Alumni
• Finding and accessing theses
• University policies & guidance overview
• Cambridge Open Access Publications Policy Framework overview
• Self-Archiving Policy
• Cambridge funding guidelines
• Contact us overview
• The Open Access team
• Open Access
• Publishing Open Access
• Funder Open Access Policies
• REF Support
• University policies & guidance

How do I find a Cambridge thesis?

Ph.D., M.Litt., M.Sc., and Divinity M.Phil. theses approved after 1970 are catalogued in iDiscover, as are M.D. and M.Chir. theses approved after May 2006. Earlier theses are listed in a card catalogue in the Manuscripts Reading Room and are gradually being added to iDiscover.

Since 1 October 2017, all PhD theses are being deposited in electronic form to the University repository  Apollo . Many earlier theses are also in the repository, but if they are not yet in digital form it is possible to request access to these theses. There is more information on how to request a copy of a printed thesis further down this page.

Gaining access to electronic copies of a thesis

The author of a given thesis in Apollo can choose whether their thesis is available to be downloaded, available on request or unavailable. While many of the theses in Apollo are openly available for download, some theses in the repository are not open access because they have either been embargoed by the author or because they are unable to be made openly available for copyright or other reasons.

Requesting a copy of a printed thesis

Researchers can order a copy of an unpublished thesis which was deposited in print form through the Library’s  Digital Content Unit  via the  image request form . Copies of theses may be provided to researchers in accordance with the  law  and in a manner that is common across UK libraries.The law allows us to provide whole copies of unpublished theses to individuals as long as they sign a declaration saying that it is for non-commercial research or private study. The agreement used for access to theses at Cambridge has been drafted using the guidance by the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP).

Theses are not available for borrowing or inter library loan. The copyright of theses remains with the author. The law does not allow us to provide a copy for inclusion in a general library collection or for wider distribution beyond the individual receiving the copy, without the explicit permission of the author or copyright holder. Where someone approaches us asking for a copy for their library or wider distribution, they must obtain the explicit permission of the author or copyright owner.

Please note any periods of access restriction requested by the author apply to both electronic and print copies.

© 2020 Office of Scholarly Communication , University of Cambridge

This project is a joint initiative of Cambridge University Library and the Research Strategy Office .

Follow us on Twitter

Privacy policy

© 2024 University of Cambridge

• Contact the University
• Accessibility
• Freedom of information
• Privacy policy and cookies
• Statement on Modern Slavery
• Terms and conditions
• University A-Z
• Undergraduate
• Postgraduate
• Research news
• About research at Cambridge
• Spotlight on...

Service update: Some parts of the Library’s website will be down for maintenance on July 7.

Secondary menu

• Log in to your Library account
• Hours and Maps
• Connect from Off Campus
• UC Berkeley Home

Search form

Dissertations & theses: home, finding dissertations & theses.

The majority of print dissertations in the UC Berkeley Libraries are from UC Berkeley. The libraries have a nearly complete collection of Berkeley doctoral dissertations (wither online, in print, or both), and a large number of Berkeley master's theses.

UC Berkeley

UC Berkeley PhD Dissertations

Dissertations and Theses (Dissertation Abstracts)     UCB access only  1861-present 

Index and full text of graduate dissertations and theses from North American and European schools and universities, including the University of California, with full text of most doctoral dissertations from UC Berkeley and elsewhere from 1996 forward. Dissertations published prior to 2009 may not include information about the department from which the degree was granted. 

UC Berkeley Master's Theses

UC Berkeley Digital Collections   2011-present

Selected UC Berkeley master's theses freely available online. For theses published prior to 2020, check UC Library Search for print availability (see "At the Library" below). 

UC Berkeley dissertations may also be found in eScholarship , UC's online open access repository.

Please note that it may take time for a dissertation to appear in one of the above online resources. Embargoes and other issues affect the release timing.

At the Library:

Dissertations: From 2012 onwards, dissertations are only available online. See above links.

Master's theses : From 2020 onwards, theses are only available online. See above links. 

To locate older dissertations, master's theses, and master's projects in print, search UC Library Search by keyword, title or author. For publications prior to 2009 you may also include a specific UC Berkeley department in your search:  berkeley dissertations <department name> . 

Examples:  berkeley dissertations electrical engineering computer sciences  berkeley dissertations mechanical engineering

University of California - all campuses

Index and full text of graduate dissertations and theses from North American and European schools and universities, including the University of California.

WorldCatDissertations     UCB access only 

Covers all dissertations and theses cataloged in WorldCat, a catalog of materials owned by libraries worldwide. UC Berkeley faculty, staff, and students may use the interlibrary loan request form  for dissertations found in WorldCatDissertations. 

Worldwide - Open Access

Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (NDLTD)

The Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (NDLTD) is an international organization dedicated to promoting the adoption, creation, use, dissemination, and preservation of electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs).

Open Access Theses and Dissertations (OATD)

An index of over 3.5 million electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs). To the extent possible, the index is limited to records of graduate-level theses that are freely available online.

• Last Updated: Mar 11, 2024 2:47 PM
• URL: https://guides.lib.berkeley.edu/dissertations_theses

• Cambridge Libraries

Physical & Digital Collections

Theses & dissertations: home, access to theses and dissertations from other institutions and from the university of cambridge.

This guide provides information on searching for theses of Cambridge PhDs and for theses of UK universities and universities abroad. 

For information and guidance on depositing your thesis as a cambridge phd, visit the cambridge office of scholarly communication pages on theses here ., this guide gives essential information on how to obtain theses using the british library's ethos service. .

On the last weekend of October, the British Library became the victim of a major cyber-attack. Essential digital services including the BL catalogue, website and online learning resources went dark, with research services like the EThOS collection of more than 600,000 doctoral theses suddenly unavailable. The BL state that they anticipate restoring more services in the next few weeks, but disruption to certain services is now expected to persist for several months. For the latest news on the attack and information on the restoration of services, please follow the BL blog here:  Knowledge Matters blog  and access the LibGuide page here:  British Library Outage Update - Electronic Legal Deposit - LibGuides at University of Cambridge Subject Libraries

A full list of resources for searching theses online is provided by the Cambridge A-Z, available here .

University of Cambridge theses

Finding a cambridge phd thesis online via the institutional repository.

The University's institutional repository, Apollo , holds full-text digital versions of over 11,000 Cambridge PhD theses and is a rapidly growing collection deposited by Cambridge Ph.D. graduates. Theses in Apollo can be browsed via this link . More information on how to access theses by University of Cambridge students can be found on the access to Cambridge theses webpage.   The requirement for impending PhD graduates to deposit a digital version in order to graduate means the repository will be increasing at a rate of approximately 1,000 per year from this source.   About 200 theses are added annually through requests to make theses Open Access or via requests to digitize a thesis in printed format.

Locating and obtaining a copy of a Cambridge PhD thesis (not yet available via the repository)

Theses can be searched in iDiscover .  Guidance on searching for theses in iDiscover can be found here .   Requests for consultation of printed theses, not available online, should be made at the Manuscripts Reading Room (Email:  [email protected] Telephone: +44 (0)1223 333143).   Further information on the University Library's theses, dissertations and prize essays collections can be consulted at this link .

Researchers can order a copy of an unpublished thesis which was deposited in print form either through the Library’s  Digital Content Unit via the image request form , or, if the thesis has been digitised, it may be available in the Apollo repository. Copies of theses may be provided to researchers in accordance with the  law  and in a manner that is common across UK libraries.  The law allows us to provide whole copies of unpublished theses to individuals as long as they sign a declaration saying that it is for non-commercial research or private study.

How to make your thesis available online through Cambridge's institutional repository

Are you a Cambridge alumni and wish to make your Ph.D. thesis available online? You can do this by depositing it in Apollo the University's institutional repository. Click here for further information on how to proceed.    Current Ph.D students at the University of Cambridge can find further information about the requirements to deposit theses on the Office of Scholarly Communication theses webpages.

UK Theses and Dissertations

Electronic copies of Ph.D. theses submitted at over 100 UK universities are obtainable from EThOS , a service set up to provide access to all theses from participating institutions. It achieves this by harvesting e-theses from Institutional Repositories and by digitising print theses as they are ordered by researchers using the system. Over 250,000 theses are already available in this way. Please note that it does not supply theses submitted at the universities of Cambridge or Oxford although they are listed on EThOS.

Registration with EThOS is not required to search for a thesis but is necessary to download or order one unless it is stored in the university repository rather than the British Library (in which case a link to the repository will be displayed). Many theses are available without charge on an Open Access basis but in all other cases, if you are requesting a thesis that has not yet been digitised you will be asked to meet the cost. Once a thesis has been digitised it is available for free download thereafter.

When you order a thesis it will either be immediately available for download or writing to hard copy or it will need to be digitised. If you order a thesis for digitisation, the system will manage the process and you will be informed when the thesis is available for download/preparation to hard copy.

See the Search results section of the  help page for full information on interpreting search results in EThOS.

EThOS is managed by the British Library and can be found at http://ethos.bl.uk . For more information see About EThOS .

World-wide (incl. UK) theses and dissertations

Electronic versions of non-UK theses may be available from the institution at which they were submitted, sometimes on an open access basis from the institutional repository. A good starting point for discovering freely available electronic theses and dissertations beyond the UK is the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (NDLTD) , which facilitates searching across institutions. Information can also usually be found on the library web pages of the relevant institution.

The DART Europe etheses portal lists several thousand full-text theses from a group of European universities.

The University Library subscribes to the ProQuest Dissertations and Theses  (PQDT) database which from August 31 2023 is accessed on the Web of Science platform.  To search this index select it from the Web of Science "Search in" drop-down list of databases (available on the Documents tab on WoS home page)

PQDT includes 2.4 million dissertation and theses citations, representing 700 leading academic institutions worldwide from 1861 to the present day. The database offers full text for most of the dissertations added since 1997 and strong retrospective full text coverage for older graduate works. Each dissertation published since July 1980 includes a 350-word abstract written by the author. Master's theses published since 1988 include 150-word abstracts.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The University Library only subscribes to the abstracting & indexing version of the ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database and NOT the full text version.  A fee is payable for ordering a dissertation from this source.   To obtain the full text of a dissertation as a downloadable PDF you can submit your request via the University Library Inter-Library Loans department (see contact details below). NB this service is only available to full and current members of the University of Cambridge.

Alternatively you can pay yourself for the dissertation PDF on the PQDT platform. Link from Web of Science record display of any thesis to PQDT by clicking on "View Details on ProQuest".  On the "Preview" page you will see an option "Order a copy" top right.  This will allow you to order your own copy from ProQuest directly.

Dissertations and theses submitted at non-UK universities may also be requested on Inter-Library Loan through the Inter-Library Loans department (01223 333039 or 333080, [email protected] )

• Last Updated: Dec 20, 2023 9:47 AM
• URL: https://libguides.cam.ac.uk/theses

© Cambridge University Libraries | Accessibility | Privacy policy | Log into LibApps

• A Guide to Writing a PhD Thesis

Written by Ben Taylor

A PhD thesis is a work of original research all students are requiured to submit in order to succesfully complete their PhD. The thesis details the research that you carried out during the course of your doctoral degree and highlights the outcomes and conclusions reached.

The PhD thesis is the most important part of a doctoral research degree: the culmination of three or four years of full-time work towards producing an original contribution to your academic field.

Your PhD dissertation can therefore seem like quite a daunting possibility, with a hefty word count, the pressure of writing something new and, of course, the prospect of defending it at a viva once you’ve finished.

This page will give you an introduction to what you need to know about the doctoral thesis, with advice on structure, feedback, submission and more.

Pick the right programme for you

There are lots of choices, let us help you to make the right one. Sign up to our weekly newsletter for the latest advice and guidance from our team of experts.

Beginning your PhD thesis

The first stage of your PhD thesis will usually be the literature review . We’ve already written a detailed guide to what the PhD literature review involves , but here’s what you need to know about this stage of your PhD:

• The literature review is a chance for you to display your knowledge and understanding of what’s already been written about your research area – this could consist of papers, articles, books, data and more
• Rather than simply summarising what other scholars have said about your subject, you should aim to assess and analyse their arguments
• The literature review is usually the first task of your PhD – and typically forms the first part or chapter of your dissertation

After finishing your literature review, you’ll move onto the bulk of your doctoral thesis. Of course, you’ll eventually return to the lit review to make sure it’s up-to-date and contains any additional material you may have come across during the course of your research.

PhD thesis research

What sets your PhD thesis apart from previous university work you’ve done is the fact that it should represent an original contribution to academic knowledge . The form that this original contribution takes will largely depend on your discipline.

• Arts and Humanities dissertations usually involve investigating different texts, sources and theoretical frameworks
• Social Sciences are more likely to focus on qualitive or quantitative surveys and case studies
• STEM subjects involve designing, recording and analysing experiments, using their data to prove or disprove a set theory

Depending on the nature of your research, you may ‘write up’ your findings as you go, or leave it until the dedicated ‘writing-up’ period, usually in the third year of your PhD. Whatever your approach, it’s vital to keep detailed notes of your sources and methods – it’ll make your life a lot easier when it comes to using references in your dissertation further down the line.

PhD thesis vs dissertation

It’s common to use the terms ‘thesis’ and ‘dissertation’ interchangeably, but strictly speaking there is a difference in meaning between them:

• Your thesis is your argument. It’s the conclusions you’ve arrived at through surveying existing scholarship in your literature review and combining this with the results of your own original research.
• Your dissertation is the written statement of your thesis. This is where you lay out your findings in a way that systematically demonstrates and proves your conclusion.

Put simply, you submit a dissertation, but it’s the thesis it attempts to prove that will form the basis of your PhD.

What this also means is that the writing up of your dissertation generally follows the formulation of your doctoral thesis (it’s fairly difficult to write up a PhD before you know what you want to say!).

However, it’s normal for universities and academics to use either (or both) terms when describing PhD research – indeed, we use both ‘thesis’ and ‘dissertation’ across our website.

Can I use my Masters research in my PhD thesis?

If you’re studying an MPhil, it’s normal to ‘ upgrade ’ it into a PhD. Find mroe information on our guide.

PhD thesis structure

Having completed your initial literature review and conducted your original research, you’ll move onto the next phase of your doctoral dissertation, beginning to sketch out a plan that your thesis will follow.

The exact structure and make-up of your doctoral thesis will vary between fields, but this is the general template that many dissertations follow:

• Introduction – This sets out the key objectives of your project, why the work is significant and what its original contribution to knowledge is. At this point you may also summarise the remaining chapters, offering an abstract of the argument you will go on to develop.
• Literature review – The introduction will generally lead into a write-up of your literature review. Here you’ll outline the scholarly context for your project. You’ll acknowledge where existing research has shaped your PhD, but emphasise the unique nature of your work.
• Chapters – After you’ve finished introducing your research, you’ll begin the bulk of the dissertation. This will summarise your results and begin explaining the argument you have based on them. Some PhDs will also include specific chapters on methodology and / or a recreation of the data you have developed. Others will develop your argument over a series of stages, drawing on sources and results as relevant.
• Conclusion – The dissertation will end with a final chapter that pulls together the different elements of your argument and the evidence you have provided for it. You’ll restate the significance of your project (and its all-important original contribution to knowledge). You may also take the opportunity to acknowledge the potential for further work or opportunities to apply your findings outside academia.
• Bibliography and appendices – At the end of your thesis, you’ll need to include a full list of the books, articles and data you’ve referenced in a bibliography. You may also need to provide additional information in the form of an appendix.

How long is a PhD thesis?

The length of a PhD thesis varies from subject to subject, but all are far longer than those for undergraduate or Masters degrees. Your university will usually set an upper limit – typically between 70,000 and 100,000 words, with most dissertations coming in at around 80,000 words.

Generally speaking, STEM-based theses will be a little shorter than those in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences.

Different universities (and departments) will have different policies regarding what counts towards the PhD thesis word count, so make sure you’re aware what is expected of you. Check with your supervisor whether references, the bibliography or appendices are included in the word count for your dissertation.

How many chapters should a PhD thesis have?

There’s no hard and fast rule for the numbers of chapters in a PhD thesis, but most will have four or five chapters (in addition to the introduction and conclusion). This is the sort of thing you’ll discuss with your supervisor when planning out your research.

Writing up your PhD thesis

Once you’ve conducted your research and settled upon your thesis, there’s only one thing left to do: get it down on paper. Appropriately enough, this final part of a PhD is often referred to as the ‘ writing up period ’.

This is when you produce the final dissertation, which will be submitted as the basis for your viva voce exam. The nature of this task can vary from PhD to PhD.

In some cases you may already have a large amount of chapter drafts and other material. ‘Writing up’ therefore becomes a process of re-drafting and assembling this work into a final dissertation. This approach is common in Arts and Humanities subjects where PhD students tend to work through stages of a project, writing as they go.

Alternatively, you may have spent most of your PhD collecting and analysing data. If so, you’ll now ‘write up’ your findings and conclusions in order to produce your final dissertation. This approach is more common in STEM subjects, where experiment design and data collection are much more resource intensive.

Whatever process you adopt, you’ll now produce a persuasive and coherent statement of your argument, ready to submit for examination.

PhD thesis feedback

Your supervisor will usually give you feedback on each chapter draft, and then feedback on the overall completed dissertation draft before you submit it for examination. When the thesis is a work-in-progress, their comments will be a chance for them to make sure your research is going in the right direction and for you to ask their advice on anything you’re concerned about. This feedback will normally be given in the form of a supervisory meeting.

Although your PhD supervisor will be happy to give you advice on your work, you shouldn’t expect them to be an editor – it’s not their responsibility to correct grammatical or spelling mistakes, and you should make sure any drafts you submit to them are as error-free as possible. Similarly, they won’t be willing to edit your work down to fit a particular word count.

Finishing your PhD thesis

When you’ve finished the final draft of your doctoral thesis and it’s been approved by your supervisor, you’ll submit it for examination. This is when it’s sent to the examiners who will conduct your viva.

Submitting your thesis involves printing enough copies for your examiners and the university’s repository. Don’t leave this until the last minute – printing multiple copies of a 300-page document is a substantial undertaking and you should always allow enough time to account for any possible glitches or issues with the printing process.

Your viva will usually take place within three months of submitting your thesis. You can find out more in our dedicated guide to the PhD viva . After your viva, your examiners will give you a report that confirms whether or not you need to make any changes to your thesis, with several different potential outcomes:

• Pass – You’ve received your doctoral qualification!
• Minor corrections – These are usually fairly small edits, tweaks and improvements to your thesis, which you’ll be given three months to implement
• Major corrections – For these substantial changes, you may have to rewrite part of your dissertation or complete extra research, with a six-month deadline

Most PhD students will need to fix some corrections with their thesis (hopefully not major ones). It’s very rare for a dissertation to be failed.

Once you’ve made any necessary changes to your thesis, you’ll submit it one last time (usually electronically).

If you have plans to publish all or part of your work, you may want to request an embargo so that it won’t be visible to the public for a certain time. 12 months is a fairly standard time period for this, although you may want to ask for a longer embargo if you know that you want to turn your thesis into a book or monograph.

Take a look at our programme listings and find the perfect PhD for you.

Our postgrad newsletter shares courses, funding news, stories and advice

You may also like....

The PhD is the most common variety of doctorate, but others are awarded in specific disciplines or sometimes particular countries.

Joint PhD programmes involve collaboration between two (or more) different universities. So how does that work? Who can apply? And what are the advantages (and disadvantages) of researching in this way?

Integrated PhD programmes consist of a one-year Masters followed by three years of PhD research. Find out more about what it's like to study an integrated PhD, how to apply and the funding options available.

Thinking of applying for the Doctor of Engineering (EngD)? Our guide covers everything you need to know about the qualification, including costs, applications, programme content, and how it differs from a PhD.

A PhD isn't the only option for postgraduate researchers. Our guides explain professional doctorates, joint degrees and compare other qualification types.

How does the value of an MPhil compare with a PhD, and why might you choose the Masters over the doctorate?

FindAPhD. Copyright 2005-2024 All rights reserved.

Unknown    ( change )

Have you got time to answer some quick questions about PhD study?

Select your nearest city

You haven’t completed your profile yet. To get the most out of FindAPhD, finish your profile and receive these benefits:

• Monthly chance to win one of ten £10 Amazon vouchers ; winners will be notified every month.*
• The latest PhD projects delivered straight to your inbox
• Access to our £6,000 scholarship competition
• Weekly newsletter with funding opportunities, research proposal tips and much more
• Early access to our physical and virtual postgraduate study fairs

Or begin browsing FindAPhD.com

or begin browsing FindAPhD.com

*Offer only available for the duration of your active subscription, and subject to change. You MUST claim your prize within 72 hours, if not we will redraw.

Do you want hassle-free information and advice?

Create your FindAPhD account and sign up to our newsletter:

• Find out about funding opportunities and application tips
• Receive weekly advice, student stories and the latest PhD news
• Hear about our upcoming study fairs
• Save your favourite projects, track enquiries and get personalised subject updates

Create your account

Looking to list your PhD opportunities? Log in here .

• Harvard Library
• Research Guides
• Harvard Graduate School of Design - Frances Loeb Library

Write and Cite

• Theses and Dissertations
• Academic Integrity
• Using Sources and AI
• Academic Writing
• From Research to Writing
• GSD Writing Services
• Grants and Fellowships
• Reading, Notetaking, and Time Management

What is a thesis?

What is a dissertation, getting started, staying on track.

A thesis is a long-term project that you work on over the course of a semester or a year. Theses have a very wide variety of styles and content, so we encourage you to look at prior examples and work closely with faculty to develop yours. 

Before you begin, make sure that you are familiar with the dissertation genre—what it is for and what it looks like.

Generally speaking, a dissertation’s purpose is to prove that you have the expertise necessary to fulfill your doctoral-degree requirements by showing depth of knowledge and independent thinking.

The form of a dissertation may vary by discipline. Be sure to follow the specific guidelines of your department.

• PhD This site directs candidates to the GSAS website about dissertations , with links to checklists,  planning, formatting, acknowledgments, submission, and publishing options. There is also a link to guidelines for the prospectus . Consult with your committee chair about specific requirements and standards for your dissertation.
• DDES This document covers planning, patent filing, submission guidelines, publishing options, formatting guidelines, sample pages, citation guidelines, and a list of common errors to avoid. There is also a link to guidelines for the prospectus .
• Scholarly Pursuits (GSAS) This searchable booklet from Harvard GSAS is a comprehensive guide to writing dissertations, dissertation-fellowship applications, academic journal articles, and academic job documents.

Finding an original topic can be a daunting and overwhelming task. These key concepts can help you focus and save time.

Finding a topic for your thesis or dissertation should start with a research question that excites or at least interests you. A rigorous, engaging, and original project will require continuous curiosity about your topic, about your own thoughts on the topic, and about what other scholars have said on your topic. Avoid getting boxed in by thinking you know what you want to say from the beginning; let your research and your writing evolve as you explore and fine-tune your focus through constant questioning and exploration.

Get a sense of the broader picture before you narrow your focus and attempt to frame an argument. Read, skim, and otherwise familiarize yourself with what other scholars have done in areas related to your proposed topic. Briefly explore topics tangentially related to yours to broaden your perspective and increase your chance of finding a unique angle to pursue.

Critical Reading

Critical reading is the opposite of passive reading. Instead of merely reading for information to absorb, critical reading also involves careful, sustained thinking about what you are reading. This process may include analyzing the author’s motives and assumptions, asking what might be left out of the discussion, considering what you agree with or disagree with in the author’s statements and why you agree or disagree, and exploring connections or contradictions between scholarly arguments. Here is a resource to help hone your critical-reading skills:

http://writing.umn.edu/sws/assets/pdf/quicktips/criticalread.pdf

Conversation

Your thesis or dissertation will incorporate some ideas from other scholars whose work you researched. By reading critically and following your curiosity, you will develop your own ideas and claims, and these contributions are the core of your project. You will also acknowledge the work of scholars who came before you, and you must accurately and fairly attribute this work and define your place within the larger discussion. Make sure that you know how to quote, summarize, paraphrase ,  integrate , and cite secondary sources to avoid plagiarism and to show the depth and breadth of your knowledge.

A thesis is a long-term, large project that involves both research and writing; it is easy to lose focus, motivation, and momentum. Here are suggestions for achieving the result you want in the time you have.

The dissertation is probably the largest project you have undertaken, and a lot of the work is self-directed. The project can feel daunting or even overwhelming unless you break it down into manageable pieces and create a timeline for completing each smaller task. Be realistic but also challenge yourself, and be forgiving of yourself if you miss a self-imposed deadline here and there.

Your program will also have specific deadlines for different requirements, including establishing a committee, submitting a prospectus, completing the dissertation, defending the dissertation, and submitting your work. Consult your department’s website for these dates and incorporate them into the timeline for your work.

Accountability

Sometimes self-imposed deadlines do not feel urgent unless there is accountability to someone beyond yourself. To increase your motivation to complete tasks on schedule, set dates with your committee chair to submit pre-determined pieces of a chapter. You can also arrange with a fellow doctoral student to check on each other’s progress. Research and writing can be lonely, so it is also nice to share that journey with someone and support each other through the process.

Common Pitfalls

The most common challenges for students writing a dissertation are writer’s block, information-overload, and the compulsion to keep researching forever.

There are many strategies for avoiding writer’s block, such as freewriting, outlining, taking a walk, starting in the middle, and creating an ideal work environment for your particular learning style. Pay attention to what helps you and try different things until you find what works.

Efficient researching techniques are essential to avoiding information-overload. Here are a couple of resources about strategies for finding sources and quickly obtaining essential information from them.

https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/subject_specific_writing/writing_in_literature/writing_in_literature_detailed_discussion/reading_criticism.html

https://students.dartmouth.edu/academic-skills/learning-resources/learning-strategies/reading-techniques

Finally, remember that there is always more to learn and your dissertation cannot incorporate everything. Follow your curiosity but also set limits on the scope of your work. It helps to create a folder entitled “future projects” for topics and sources that interest you but that do not fit neatly into the dissertation. Also remember that future scholars will build off of your work, so leave something for them to do.

Browsing through theses and dissertations of the past can help to get a sense of your options and gain inspiration but be careful to use current guidelines and refer to your committee instead of relying on these examples for form or formatting.

DASH Digital Access to Scholarship at Harvard.

HOLLIS Harvard Library’s catalog provides access to ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global .

MIT Architecture has a list of their graduates’ dissertations and theses.

Rhode Island School of Design has a list of their graduates’ dissertations and theses.

University of South Florida has a list of their graduates’ dissertations and theses.

Harvard GSD has a list of projects, including theses and professors’ research.

• << Previous: Reading, Notetaking, and Time Management
• Next: Publishing >>
• Last Updated: Jul 8, 2024 7:31 PM
• URL: https://guides.library.harvard.edu/gsd/write

Harvard University Digital Accessibility Policy

Doctoral Theses

Academic Commons holds the full text of doctoral theses written since 2011 at Columbia and of theses written for a Doctorate of Education at Teachers College since mid 2018. A selection of dissertations from Union Theological Seminary, and from Columbia before 2011, are also available. You can start exploring theses by selecting one of the doctoral programs below.

• Anthropology (126)
• Anthropology and Education (26)
• Applied Anthropology (27)
• Applied Behavior Analysis (80)
• Applied Behavioral Analysis (1)
• Applied Physics (1)
• Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics (131)
• Architecture (37)
• Art History and Archaeology (185)
• Arts and Humanities (135)
• Astronomy (63)
• Behavioral Nutrition (32)
• Biobehavioral Sciences (28)
• Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics (35)
• Biological Sciences (221)
• Biomedical Engineering (230)
• Biomedical Informatics (58)
• Biostatistics (66)
• Business (212)
• Cellular Physiology and Biophysics (22)
• Cellular, Molecular and Biomedical Studies (194)
• Cellular, Molecular, Structural, and Genetic Studies (12)
• Chemical Engineering (118)
• Chemical Physics (36)
• Chemistry (270)
• Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics (119)
• Classical Studies (16)
• Classics (33)
• Clinical Psychology (79)
• Cognitive Studies in Education (92)
• Communication, Media, and Learning Technologies Design (2)
• Communications (44)
• Comparative and International Education (47)
• Computer Science (257)
• Counseling Psychology (65)
• Counseling and Clinical Psychology (4)
• Curriculum and Teaching (94)
• Developmental Psychology (14)
• Earth and Environmental Engineering (89)
• Earth and Environmental Sciences (186)
• East Asian Languages and Cultures (111)
• Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology (65)
• Economics (285)
• Economics and Education (71)
• Education Leadership (17)
• Education Policy (16)
• Electrical Engineering (278)
• English Education (81)
• English and Comparative Literature (183)
• Environmental Health Sciences (49)
• Epidemiology (132)
• French and Romance Philology (50)
• Genetics and Development (66)
• Geological Sciences (1)
• Geology (1)
• Germanic Languages (48)
• Health and Behavior Studies (117)
• History (267)
• History and Education (12)
• Human Development (8)
• Industrial Engineering and Operations Research (135)
• Intellectual Disabilities-Autism (13)
• Interdisciplinary Studies in Education (27)
• International and Transcultural Studies (8)
• Italian (44)
• Kinesiology (16)
• Latin American and Iberian Cultures (58)
• Materials Science and Engineering (35)
• Mathematics (143)
• Mathematics Education (77)
• Mathematics, Science, and Technology (64)
• Measurement and Evaluation (38)
• Mechanical Engineering (151)
• Microbiology, Immunology, and Infection (45)
• Middle East, South Asian and African Studies (1)
• Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies (74)
• Music (145)
• Neurobiology and Behavior (204)
• Neuroscience (4)
• Nursing (81)
• Nutritional and Metabolic Biology (55)
• Ophthalmology (1)
• Organization and Leadership (144)
• Pathobiology and Molecular Medicine (54)
• Pathology and Cell Biology (6)
• Pharmacology and Molecular Signaling (39)
• Philosophy (78)
• Philosophy and Education (43)
• Physical Disabilities (13)
• Physics (219)
• Political Science (224)
• Politics and Education (25)
• Population and Family Health (21)
• Psychology (152)
• Pure Science (1)
• Religion (70)
• School Psychology (51)
• Science Education (69)
• Slavic Languages (26)
• Slavic Languages and Literatures (19)
• Social Work (180)
• Social-Organizational Psychology (42)
• Sociology (94)
• Sociology and Education (19)
• Sociomedical Sciences (77)
• Speech and Language Pathology (28)
• Statistics (106)
• Sustainable Development (60)
• Teaching of Social Studies (28)
• Theatre (29)
• Union Theological Seminary (5)
• Urban Planning (45)

About Us arrow_drop_down expand_more

• News Releases

Our Values arrow_drop_down expand_more

• Diversity & Inclusion
• Accessibility
• Slavery Act Statement

Product Families arrow_drop_down expand_more

Content Solutions expand_more

• Books and Ebooks
• Dissertations
• News & Newspapers
• Primary Sources
• Streaming Video

Products by Subject expand_more

• Health & Medicine
• History & Social Change
• Interdisciplinary
• Science & Technology
• Social Sciences

Popular Products expand_more

Proquest one academic.

• ProQuest One Business
• ProQuest One Education
• ProQuest One Psychology
• ProQuest Black Studies
• Ebooks Offers for Libraries

Library Management expand_more

Discovery services expand_more, resource sharing expand_more, course resource lists expand_more, research management expand_more, mobile solutions expand_more.

• Innovative Mobile

Libraries We Serve expand_more

• Academic Solutions for universities, colleges, and community colleges of all sizes.
• Public Solutions for librarians supporting patrons of public libraries.
• K-12 Solutions for elementary schools, primary schools and high schools.
• Community College Solutions for community colleges, trade schools and two year programs.
• Government Solutions for governmental affairs offices, patent examiners, and grants administrators.
• Corporate Solutions for professionals in the pharmaceutical, legal industries and more.

Solutions For expand_more

• DEI E-Resources
• Print to Electronic
• Reclaiming Your Space
• Library Management
• Library Management – Public Libraries
• Community Engagement
• Content Discovery
• Research Repository
• Digital Preservation
• Resource Sharing
• Document Delivery
• Course Resources

Account Support expand_more

• Setup and Support
• Access Questions
• Renewing a Product
• Paying an Invoice
• Get Usage Data: ProQuest
• Get Usage Data: Alexander Street
• Submitting Dissertations

Idea Exchange

• ProQuest Status Page

Tools & Resources expand_more

• Find a Title List
• Accessibility Documentation
• Open Access

Browse Collections by Subject expand_more

I want to expand_more.

• Start my Research
• Start Text & Data Mining
• Find Research Funding
• Keep up with Research News
• Showcase Research
• See Upcoming Webinars
• Contact Support

I’m Interested In expand_more

• Submitting a Dissertation
• Purchasing a Dissertation
• Assembling Course Materials
• Implementing a Mobile Campus App

Insights expand_more

How text and data mining enables digital literacy in the classroom.

Read about the University of Sydney’s journey to integrate text and data mining (TDM) into its undergraduate courses and incorporate it across disciplines

Meeting Your Needs expand_more

• Graduate Students
• Graduate Administrators

Products & Services expand_more

• ETD Dissemination
• Dissertation & Theses Global
• ETD Dashboard

Resources expand_more

• eLearning Modules
• Expert Advice Articles

Dissertations News expand_more

• Top 25 Most-Accessed Dissertations
• Dissertations Award Winners

Are you a researcher looking for scholarly content? Try searching our platform here...

Language preference

Do you want set this as your default language ?

Connect with ProQuest

Dissertations & theses, proquest: the world leader in dissertation access and dissemination.

Over the last 80 years, ProQuest has built the world’s most comprehensive and renowned dissertations program. ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global (PQDT Global), continues to grow its repository of 5 million graduate works each year, thanks to the continued contribution from the world’s universities, creating an ever-growing resource of emerging research to fuel innovation and new insights.

PQDT Global provides researchers with quality and equitable search results across all institutions, as well as rich citation data that delivers insights into the connections building around the world.

Amplify your Research

Include research with ProQuest to amplify its reach to a vast community of scholars. Submitting is free!

Accelerate your discovery

Subscribe to ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global to accelerate and focus your discovery journey, resulting in more efficient and effective research.

Analyze your Influence

Analyze the influence and impact of your dissertations and theses globally by monitoring retrieval data from the ProQuest Platform.

Have questions? We've gathered these frequently asked questions about ProQuest Dissertations & Theses.

Free online learning support to inspire and guide

ProQuest has developed on-demand instructional resources for students to use in a virtual learning environment. eLearning Companions are available to support the graduate student during their research and writing process as well as the undergraduate student who is developing their information literacy skills.

Access the Learning Modules

Spotlight on Research

Distinguished Dissertation and Thesis Award Winners

ProQuest sponsors our Graduate students and their ambitions. Click to see detailed author profiles and previous winners

Top 25 Dissertations

See what titles and topics are trending around the globe. Each month ProQuest posts the top 25 Most-Accessed Dissertations and Theses across all subjects, based upon total PDF downloads.

Have an idea for ProQuest? Share, vote and get feedback on ideas in our forums.

Subject Indexing Partners Enhancing Discoverability

Related Products

ProQuest Dissertation & Theses Global

ProQuest Dissertation & Theses Global is the world's most comprehensive curated collection of multi-disciplinary dissertations and theses from around the world.

Empower researchers to uncover new connections and make new discoveries using TDM Studio, a new solution for text and data mining (TDM). From the initial idea to the final output, TDM Studio puts the power of text and data mining directly in the researcher’s hands.

ProQuest One Academic brings together four core multi-disciplinary products, allowing access to the world’s largest curated collection of journals, ebooks, dissertations, news and video.

Advice for surviving your PhD dissertation

Tips for each step of researching, writing and refining a PhD dissertation

From initial research and writing to revision, defence and award, the journey to completing a PhD is often described as a marathon. Here, academics offer their insight on each step towards producing an original work of scholarship. Starting with choosing a supervisor and establishing healthy habits, the advice goes on to cover how to structure a PhD dissertation, establish a writing routine, write an abstract, prepare for a viva and beat procrastination when motivation flags.

.css-7qmtvr{overflow:hidden;max-height:108px;text-indent:0px;} Get a head start in the first year of your PhD

Andreï V. Kostyrka

University of Luxembourg

How to start writing your PhD thesis

Strategies for writing a dissertation: write before you’re ‘ready’

Monique Dufour

Virginia Tech

How to navigate the PhD thesis

Luis R. Rojas-Solórzano

Nazarbayev University

How to write a PhD thesis: a step-by-step guide

Kelly Louise Preece

University of Exeter

One thesis, two supports, three months

Mariam Shadan

Dubai Medical College for Girls

How to tackle the PhD dissertation

Dalhousie University

Get your PhD thesis beach ready

John Sinclair

Colorado State University Global

Finding supervision and support

Top tips for choosing a PhD Supervisor

Near East University

Buddy system: creating community through writing

Lena Steveker, Laura Spadon

Individual consultations can help PhD students to complete their studies

Szabolcs Várbíró , Judit Réka Hetthéssy, Marianna Török

Semmelweis University

Transitioning to a PhD: common struggles and how to overcome them

Camille Bou

The London School of Economics and Political Science

Protect your emotional well-being for a happier writing experience

Burcu Totur Dikmen

Why getting a PhD is like building a Lego duck

The University of Edinburgh

Advice for doing a PhD by publication

Why get a PhD by publication (and other career tips)

James Derounian

University of Bolton

Publication-based doctorate: is it for me?

Northumbria University

Advice for supervising a PhD by published works

Alison Brettle

University of Salford

How to write an abstract for a research paper

Ankitha Shetty

Manipal Academy of Higher Education

Read this before you write your abstract

Michael Willis

How to find motivation, keep going and finish your thesis

Practical tips for graduate students undertaking a dissertation

William R. Huckle

Five ways to beat the procrastination monster

Glenn Fosbraey

University of Winchester

Bad news, kids (and academics): the magical motivation fairy doesn’t exist

Hugh Kearns

Flinders University

What is your academic writing temperament?

Rachael Cayley

University of Toronto

How to develop a researcher mindset as a PhD student

Shaif Uddin Ahammed

University of the West of Scotland

Evidence synthesis: what every student (and researcher) should know

Alessio Bellato

University of Southampton

Preparing for the viva or defence of your PhD

‘Augmenting’ the doctoral thesis in preparation for a viva

Edward Mills

How to answer viva questions

Jenny Scoles

Tips for writing a PhD dissertation: FAQs answered

Campus team

Have a language expert improve your writing

Run a free plagiarism check in 10 minutes, generate accurate citations for free.

• Knowledge Base
• Dissertation

Prize-Winning Thesis and Dissertation Examples

Published on September 9, 2022 by Tegan George . Revised on July 18, 2023.

It can be difficult to know where to start when writing your thesis or dissertation . One way to come up with some ideas or maybe even combat writer’s block is to check out previous work done by other students on a similar thesis or dissertation topic to yours.

This article collects a list of undergraduate, master’s, and PhD theses and dissertations that have won prizes for their high-quality research.

Instantly correct all language mistakes in your text

Upload your document to correct all your mistakes in minutes

Table of contents

Award-winning undergraduate theses, award-winning master’s theses, award-winning ph.d. dissertations, other interesting articles.

University : University of Pennsylvania Faculty : History Author : Suchait Kahlon Award : 2021 Hilary Conroy Prize for Best Honors Thesis in World History Title : “Abolition, Africans, and Abstraction: the Influence of the “Noble Savage” on British and French Antislavery Thought, 1787-1807”

University : Columbia University Faculty : History Author : Julien Saint Reiman Award : 2018 Charles A. Beard Senior Thesis Prize Title : “A Starving Man Helping Another Starving Man”: UNRRA, India, and the Genesis of Global Relief, 1943-1947

University: University College London Faculty: Geography Author: Anna Knowles-Smith Award:  2017 Royal Geographical Society Undergraduate Dissertation Prize Title:  Refugees and theatre: an exploration of the basis of self-representation

University: University of Washington Faculty:  Computer Science & Engineering Author: Nick J. Martindell Award: 2014 Best Senior Thesis Award Title:  DCDN: Distributed content delivery for the modern web

Receive feedback on language, structure, and formatting

Professional editors proofread and edit your paper by focusing on:

• Academic style
• Vague sentences
• Style consistency

See an example

University:  University of Edinburgh Faculty:  Informatics Author:  Christopher Sipola Award:  2018 Social Responsibility & Sustainability Dissertation Prize Title:  Summarizing electricity usage with a neural network

University:  University of Ottawa Faculty:  Education Author:  Matthew Brillinger Award:  2017 Commission on Graduate Studies in the Humanities Prize Title:  Educational Park Planning in Berkeley, California, 1965-1968

University:  University of Ottawa Faculty: Social Sciences Author:  Heather Martin Award:  2015 Joseph De Koninck Prize Title:  An Analysis of Sexual Assault Support Services for Women who have a Developmental Disability

University : University of Ottawa Faculty : Physics Author : Guillaume Thekkadath Award : 2017 Commission on Graduate Studies in the Sciences Prize Title : Joint measurements of complementary properties of quantum systems

University:  London School of Economics Faculty: International Development Author: Lajos Kossuth Award:  2016 Winner of the Prize for Best Overall Performance Title:  Shiny Happy People: A study of the effects income relative to a reference group exerts on life satisfaction

University : Stanford University Faculty : English Author : Nathan Wainstein Award : 2021 Alden Prize Title : “Unformed Art: Bad Writing in the Modernist Novel”

University : University of Massachusetts at Amherst Faculty : Molecular and Cellular Biology Author : Nils Pilotte Award : 2021 Byron Prize for Best Ph.D. Dissertation Title : “Improved Molecular Diagnostics for Soil-Transmitted Molecular Diagnostics for Soil-Transmitted Helminths”

University:  Utrecht University Faculty:  Linguistics Author:  Hans Rutger Bosker Award: 2014 AVT/Anéla Dissertation Prize Title:  The processing and evaluation of fluency in native and non-native speech

University: California Institute of Technology Faculty: Physics Author: Michael P. Mendenhall Award: 2015 Dissertation Award in Nuclear Physics Title: Measurement of the neutron beta decay asymmetry using ultracold neutrons

University:  Stanford University Faculty: Management Science and Engineering Author:  Shayan O. Gharan Award:  Doctoral Dissertation Award 2013 Title:   New Rounding Techniques for the Design and Analysis of Approximation Algorithms

University: University of Minnesota Faculty: Chemical Engineering Author: Eric A. Vandre Award:  2014 Andreas Acrivos Dissertation Award in Fluid Dynamics Title: Onset of Dynamics Wetting Failure: The Mechanics of High-speed Fluid Displacement

University: Erasmus University Rotterdam Faculty: Marketing Author: Ezgi Akpinar Award: McKinsey Marketing Dissertation Award 2014 Title: Consumer Information Sharing: Understanding Psychological Drivers of Social Transmission

University: University of Washington Faculty: Computer Science & Engineering Author: Keith N. Snavely Award:  2009 Doctoral Dissertation Award Title: Scene Reconstruction and Visualization from Internet Photo Collections

University:  University of Ottawa Faculty:  Social Work Author:  Susannah Taylor Award: 2018 Joseph De Koninck Prize Title:  Effacing and Obscuring Autonomy: the Effects of Structural Violence on the Transition to Adulthood of Street Involved Youth

If you want to know more about AI for academic writing, AI tools, or research bias, make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples or go directly to our tools!

Research bias

• Survivorship bias
• Self-serving bias
• Availability heuristic
• Halo effect
• Hindsight bias
• Deep learning
• Generative AI
• Machine learning
• Reinforcement learning
• Supervised vs. unsupervised learning

 (AI) Tools

• Grammar Checker
• Paraphrasing Tool
• Text Summarizer
• AI Detector
• Plagiarism Checker
• Citation Generator

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

George, T. (2023, July 18). Prize-Winning Thesis and Dissertation Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved July 8, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/dissertation/examples/

Is this article helpful?

Tegan George

Other students also liked, how to choose a dissertation topic | 8 steps to follow, checklist: writing a dissertation, thesis & dissertation database examples, what is your plagiarism score.

• Preparing to Apply
• How to Apply
• After Applying
• Why Penn State?
• Military and Veteran Students
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Degree Programs
• Academic Dates and Deadlines
• Policies for Students

Theses and Dissertations

• Integrated Undergraduate-Graduate Plans
• Commencement
• Planning Your Finances
• External Funding Opportunities
• Information for Graduate Assistants
• Student Recognition Awards
• Funding FAQ
• Professional Development
• New Students
• From the Dean
• Advising and Mentoring Tips
• Academic Support
• Student Support FAQs
• Addressing Concerns
• Well-Being Resources
• Office of Graduate Educational Equity Programs (OGEEP)
• Graduate School Open House
• Programs and Initiatives
• McNair Scholars Program
• Summer Research Opportunities Program (SROP)
• Resources and Partners
• Office of the Vice Provost for Graduate Education and Dean
• Vision, Mission, and Strategic Plan
• By the Numbers
• Contact the Graduate School
• Resource Library

This dialog contains the full navigation menu for gradschool.psu.edu.

The Graduate School

• Student Support

Information For

• Alumni and Friends
• Veterans and Military Service Members

Helpful Links

• Graduate Education Policies
• Student Teaching Certificate
• Graduate Exhibition
• Three Minute Thesis
• Accelerate to Industry

For Faculty and Staff

• Graduate Council
• Graduate Education Resource Portal

Social Media

Sorry, there are no deadlines results.

• On this Page

As a graduate student, you may need to complete a thesis or dissertation as part of your program's graduation requirements. While theses are common among master’s students and dissertations among doctoral students, this may not apply universally across all programs. We encourage you to reach out to your program adviser to determine the specific requirements for your culminating project.

Office of Theses and Dissertations

The Office of Theses and Dissertations is the unit of the Graduate School responsible for certifying that theses and dissertations have been prepared in accordance with formatting requirements established by the Graduate School, the University Libraries, and the graduate faculty of Penn State. We are here to help you navigate the review and approval process to ensure you are able to graduate on time.

The Thesis and Dissertation Handbook explains Penn State formatting requirements for all master’s theses and doctoral dissertations. It covers the submission process and approval deadlines, the responsibilities of each student, and provides page examples. We highly recommend all students doing theses or dissertations to carefully review the handbook.

Deadlines Calendar

Submission procedure.

Thesis and Dissertation Templates

Tips & Support

Theses and dissertations faqs.

Questions about theses, dissertations, or Graduate School commencement should be directed to the Graduate School Office of Theses and Dissertations (OTD) .

115 Kern Graduate Building University Park, PA 16802

[email protected]

814-865-1795

Among these resources, you can get help from the Graduate Writing Center and the Statistical Counseling Center, notify the University of your intent to graduate, and prepare for Commencement.

Electronic Theses and Dissertations for Graduate School (eTD)

Submit your own work or explore published submissions.

Graduate School Commencement

Learn how to register for commencement, when to order regalia, how to prepare, and more.

Graduate Writing Center

The Graduate Writing Center provides consultation to graduate students in all disciplines and locations.

LaTeX Document Preparation Software

A guide to using LaTeX document preparation software, from the University Libraries.

Multimedia & Printing Center Copying & Binding

Multimedia & Print Center will help you re-create and preserve your important work with professional copying and binding services.

Notifying the University of Your Intent to Graduate

To graduate, you must satisfy all the University, college, and major requirements that were in effect at the time of your most recent admission, or re-enrollment, as a degree candidate to the University.

Statistical Consulting Center

Gives advice on statistics to graduate students working on dissertation or thesis research.

Thesis and Dissertation Fees

Pay thesis fee ($10) or dissertation fee ($50).

Thesis and Dissertation Handbook

Requirements and guidelines for the preparation of Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations.

Thesis and Dissertation Submission Requirements and Deadlines

Find required thesis and dissertation submissions dates for all Penn State graduate students.

Download a template to make sure your thesis or dissertation meets required formatting requirements for all Penn State theses and dissertations.

Legal Statements

• Non-Discrimination
• Equal Opportunity
• Accessibility
• The Pennsylvania State University © 2024

Finding theses: Home

• Finding Reading University theses & dissertations
• Finding theses produced in other institutions

This guide outlines ways of identifying theses and dissertations published in your discipline, and those that are currently in progress.

• Finding theses produced at the University of Reading
• Finding theses produced at other institutions

Why use PhD theses in your research?

This video from the British Library outlines how PhD theses obtained via its EThOS service can be used in your research.

Citing a thesis

• Name of author
• Year of submission (in round brackets)
• Title of thesis (in Italics)
• Degree statement (eg PhD thesis, MSc thesis, MA thesis)
• Name of the University or degree awarding body
• If accessed online: DOI or Available at: URL (Accessed: date)

Print thesis

Reference list: Lalani, B. (201 7)  Economics and adoption of conservation agriculture in Cabo Delgado, Mozambique.  PhD thesis. Reading University.

In-text citation: (Lalani, 2017)

Online thesis

Reference list:  Alarifi, S.N.M. (2017)  In vitro studies on gum acacia and its potential as a prebiotic in an elderly population.  PhD thesis. University of Reading. Available at: https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/76135/ (Accessed: 11 July 2022).

In-text citation:  (Alarifi, 2017)

Need further assistance?

• Contact your Academic Liaison Librarian

Related links

• Thesis submission and examination Rules and procedures around the submission and examination of your thesis.
• Training and development for research students from the Doctoral and Researcher College Find out about training and development opportunities offered by the Graduate School.
• Next: Finding Reading University theses & dissertations >>
• Last Updated: Apr 23, 2024 1:44 PM
• URL: https://libguides.reading.ac.uk/theses

We use cookies on reading.ac.uk to improve your experience, monitor site performance and tailor content to you.

Read our cookie policy to find out how to manage your cookie settings.

This site may not work correctly on Internet Explorer. We recommend switching to a different browser for a better experience.

Finding theses

This guide outlines ways of identifying theses and dissertations published in your discipline.

Key resources

• EThOS - [links to University Library information]. EThOS covers PhD theses from a large number of British universities. It allows you to access the full-text of digitised theses, and request paper theses for digitisation from participating institutions.
• ProQuest Dissertations & Theses: USA - gives references to doctoral and masters theses from around the world, some available in full-text.
• WorldCat - a union catalogue which includes doctoral and masters theses submitted to member libraries (mostly North American)

Other sources

• DART-Europe E-theses Portal - provides access to around 100,000 full-text research theses from 12 European countries
• Register of Commonwealth Research - a listing of higher research dissertations, relating to the Commonwealth and its member countries completed or in progress at UK Higher Education Institutions
• Trove: the database of the National Library of Australia - search and access full text of digital versions of Australian theses. Use the advanced search and limit the format to Thesis . See this guide for detailed help on finding Australian theses via Trove.

You may also find that databases in your subject area also index theses. Find out which ones are relevant for you by consulting our list of Databases by subject .

Finding theses in progress

It isn't easy finding out about research currently taking place. For some ideas on finding details of theses in progress take a look at Lancaster University Library theses and dissertations page .

Further help

Contact us for additional advice on finding theses.

• Research Process
• Manuscript Preparation
• Manuscript Review
• Publication Process
• Publication Recognition
• Language Editing Services
• Translation Services

Know How to Structure Your PhD Thesis

• 4 minute read
• 38.2K views

Table of Contents

In your academic career, few projects are more important than your PhD thesis. Unfortunately, many university professors and advisors assume that their students know how to structure a PhD. Books have literally been written on the subject, but there’s no need to read a book in order to know about PhD thesis paper format and structure. With that said, however, it’s important to understand that your PhD thesis format requirement may not be the same as another student’s. The bottom line is that how to structure a PhD thesis often depends on your university and department guidelines.

But, let’s take a look at a general PhD thesis format. We’ll look at the main sections, and how to connect them to each other. We’ll also examine different hints and tips for each of the sections. As you read through this toolkit, compare it to published PhD theses in your area of study to see how a real-life example looks.

Main Sections of a PhD Thesis

In almost every PhD thesis or dissertation, there are standard sections. Of course, some of these may differ, depending on your university or department requirements, as well as your topic of study, but this will give you a good idea of the basic components of a PhD thesis format.

• Abstract : The abstract is a brief summary that quickly outlines your research, touches on each of the main sections of your thesis, and clearly outlines your contribution to the field by way of your PhD thesis. Even though the abstract is very short, similar to what you’ve seen in published research articles, its impact shouldn’t be underestimated. The abstract is there to answer the most important question to the reviewer. “Why is this important?”
• Introduction : In this section, you help the reviewer understand your entire dissertation, including what your paper is about, why it’s important to the field, a brief description of your methodology, and how your research and the thesis are laid out. Think of your introduction as an expansion of your abstract.
• Literature Review : Within the literature review, you are making a case for your new research by telling the story of the work that’s already been done. You’ll cover a bit about the history of the topic at hand, and how your study fits into the present and future.
• Theory Framework : Here, you explain assumptions related to your study. Here you’re explaining to the review what theoretical concepts you might have used in your research, how it relates to existing knowledge and ideas.
• Methods : This section of a PhD thesis is typically the most detailed and descriptive, depending of course on your research design. Here you’ll discuss the specific techniques you used to get the information you were looking for, in addition to how those methods are relevant and appropriate, as well as how you specifically used each method described.
• Results : Here you present your empirical findings. This section is sometimes also called the “empiracles” chapter. This section is usually pretty straightforward and technical, and full of details. Don’t shortcut this chapter.
• Discussion : This can be a tricky chapter, because it’s where you want to show the reviewer that you know what you’re talking about. You need to speak as a PhD versus a student. The discussion chapter is similar to the empirical/results chapter, but you’re building on those results to push the new information that you learned, prior to making your conclusion.
• Conclusion : Here, you take a step back and reflect on what your original goals and intentions for the research were. You’ll outline them in context of your new findings and expertise.

Tips for your PhD Thesis Format

As you put together your PhD thesis, it’s easy to get a little overwhelmed. Here are some tips that might keep you on track.

• Don’t try to write your PhD as a first-draft. Every great masterwork has typically been edited, and edited, and…edited.
• Work with your thesis supervisor to plan the structure and format of your PhD thesis. Be prepared to rewrite each section, as you work out rough drafts. Don’t get discouraged by this process. It’s typical.
• Make your writing interesting. Academic writing has a reputation of being very dry.
• You don’t have to necessarily work on the chapters and sections outlined above in chronological order. Work on each section as things come up, and while your work on that section is relevant to what you’re doing.
• Don’t rush things. Write a first draft, and leave it for a few days, so you can come back to it with a more critical take. Look at it objectively and carefully grammatical errors, clarity, logic and flow.
• Know what style your references need to be in, and utilize tools out there to organize them in the required format.
• It’s easier to accidentally plagiarize than you think. Make sure you’re referencing appropriately, and check your document for inadvertent plagiarism throughout your writing process.

PhD Thesis Editing Plus

Want some support during your PhD writing process? Our PhD Thesis Editing Plus service includes extensive and detailed editing of your thesis to improve the flow and quality of your writing. Unlimited editing support for guaranteed results. Learn more here , and get started today!

Journal Acceptance Rates: Everything You Need to Know

How to Make a PowerPoint Presentation of Your Research Paper

You may also like.

Page-Turner Articles are More Than Just Good Arguments: Be Mindful of Tone and Structure!

A Must-see for Researchers! How to Ensure Inclusivity in Your Scientific Writing

Make Hook, Line, and Sinker: The Art of Crafting Engaging Introductions

Can Describing Study Limitations Improve the Quality of Your Paper?

A Guide to Crafting Shorter, Impactful Sentences in Academic Writing

6 Steps to Write an Excellent Discussion in Your Manuscript

How to Write Clear and Crisp Civil Engineering Papers? Here are 5 Key Tips to Consider

The Clear Path to An Impactful Paper: ②

Input your search keywords and press Enter.

Finding theses

University of sydney theses, higher degree by research theses.

We hold theses written by the University’s Higher Degree by Research (PhD or Masters by Research) students in our collections.

You can find a University of Sydney thesis by searching the  Library catalogue . Select the “Advanced search” and then select “USYD Theses” from the “Material type” dropdown menu.

You can also find digital theses by searching directly in the Sydney eScholarship repository .

Access a digital or digitised thesis

Many of the University’s digital and digitised theses are openly available for download through the Sydney eScholarship repository .

Theses marked “University of Sydney Access” are only available to current University staff and students. Libraries and private researchers can request to purchase a copy of a University of Sydney Access only thesis for AUD$18.50 (incl. GST, within Australia) or AUD$40.00 (international requests).

To purchase a digital thesis, you need to complete one of the relevant request forms below and submit it to [email protected] :

• Individuals requesting a thesis, or library requesting on behalf of an individual
• Libraries requesting a copy to be included in their collection

All requests for copies of material held at the University of Sydney Library must comply with the  Copyright Act of 1968 .

Access a hard copy thesis

Theses that are only available in printed format can be viewed in the Rare Books and Special Collections Library , Level 1, Fisher Library.

We are currently running a project to digitise hardcopy theses. You can request an update to find out where a particular thesis is in our digitisation queue by emailing [email protected] .

We don’t digitise theses on request.

Honours or postgraduate coursework theses

Search for an honours or postgraduate coursework thesis in the repository , then use the filters on the left side of the results page to narrow by “Type”.

You can also search the Honours and Postgraduate Coursework theses collection for a faculty, school or discipline (if available).

There are limited numbers of honours theses in the Sydney eScholarship repository as we have strict requirements for submission of honours theses . If you can't find the thesis you're looking for, we suggest contacting the relevant faculty office.

Theses from other Australian and New Zealand universities

Find a thesis from other Australian or New Zealand universities by searching:

• Australian theses via Trove
• Libraries Australia for Higher Degree theses awarded from 1989 onwards
• Education Research Theses for citations and abstracts from theses submitted from 1919 onwards.

If you’re interested in a thesis that isn't available online, you can request the item through our Resource Sharing Service .

International theses

For theses written and submitted at universities outside of Australia, try the following resources:

• Open Access Theses and Dissertations
• DART-Europe E-theses Portal
• British Library Electronic Digital Thesis Online Service (EThOS)
• EBSCO open dissertations
• French Thesis-On-Line Repository
• History Online – postgraduate theses in History submitted in the UK since 1995
• Index to Theses – listing of theses with abstracts accepted for higher degrees by universities in Great Britain and Ireland since 1716
• Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations – North American theses
• ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global

Related information

For more help finding and accessing theses, speak to our friendly library staff.

dr. Hamed Darbandi defends his PhD Thesis

On June 26th 2024, dr. Hamed Darbandi defended his PhD thesis titled "Non-Invasive Fitness Assessment in Horses - Integrating Wearables and Machine Learning". We are proud of this significant milestone.

Over the course of his PhD, Hamed studied how wearable technology can be leveraged to study fitness and well-being of sport horses. His study yielded several high-quality scientific contributions in both computer and animal sciences. 

You can read his thesis here:

Darbandi, H. (2024).  Non-invasive fitness assessment in horses: Integrating wearables and machine learning . [PhD Thesis - Research UT, graduation UT, University of Twente]. University of Twente. https://doi.org/10.3990/1.9789036561532

More recent news

Advertisement

Supported by

Heritage Foundation Head Refers to ‘Second American Revolution’

Kevin Roberts, president of the group that has coordinated the Project 2025 policy plan, said it could be “bloodless if the left allows it to be.”

• Share full article

By Maggie Astor

The president of the Heritage Foundation, a right-wing think tank that has developed a prominent series of policy plans to overhaul the federal government under a Republican president, said on Tuesday that the country was “in the process of the second American Revolution, which will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be.”

The group’s president, Kevin D. Roberts, made the comments in an interview on “The War Room,” the Trump adviser Stephen K. Bannon’s show on the network Real America’s Voice. (Mr. Bannon himself did not host the show on Tuesday, because he reported to prison the day before to serve a sentence for contempt of Congress.)

Mr. Roberts was discussing the Supreme Court’s ruling on Monday that presidents have substantial immunity from prosecution for what they do in office, a ruling that upended the criminal case against former President Donald J. Trump for his attempts to overturn the 2020 election and that removes a potential barrier to the most radical elements of his second-term agenda if he is elected again.

“We ought to be really encouraged by what happened yesterday, and in spite of all of the injustice — which of course friends and audience of this show, of our friend Steve, know — we are going to prevail,” Mr. Roberts said, alluding to Mr. Bannon’s imprisonment.

He went on to say that “the radical left” was “apoplectic” because “our side is winning” and said, “And so I come full circle in this response and just want to encourage you with some substance that we are in the process of the second American Revolution, which will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be.”

“Right on. Thank you, brother,” the interviewer, former Representative Dave Brat of Virginia, replied.

We are having trouble retrieving the article content.

Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and  log into  your Times account, or  subscribe  for all of The Times.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access.

Already a subscriber?  Log in .

Want all of The Times?  Subscribe .