phd thesis requirements

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Thesis & dissertation.

  Understanding Deadlines and Requirements

The final requirement in earning a graduate degree is the completion and defense of the master’s thesis or doctoral dissertation. Understanding the steps and associated deadlines in the thesis/dissertation submission and degree conferral process is necessary to establish a successful plan and realistic timeframe. 

2023 Thesis/Dissertation Submission to the Graduate School Deadlines:

• December 31, 2023 conferral, deadline is December 1.

2024 Thesis/Dissertation Submission to the Graduate School Deadlines:

• For May 26, 2024 conferral, deadline is May 1.
• For August 31, 2024 conferral, deadline is August 1.
• December 31, 2024 conferral, deadline is December 1.

See our  Planning Timeline  for more detailed information.

  Writing Your Thesis/Dissertation

The Graduate School offers several writing resources to help you get started, meet your goals, and complete your thesis/dissertation on time. 

Before You Begin:

• Guide to Writing Your Thesis/Dissertation
• Fields Permitting the Use of Papers Option
• Required Sections, Guidelines, and Suggestions
• Formatting Requirements
• Fair Use, Copyright, Patent, and Publishing Options

Resources for Writing:

• Thesis & Dissertation Templates
• Writing from A to B

  Scheduling and Taking Your Final Exam

Once you have submitted your draft thesis/dissertation to your committee you are ready to defend. This involves scheduling and taking your final exam (“B” exam), an oral exam/dissertation defense for Ph.D. candidates, or (“M” exam), an oral exam/thesis defense for Master’s candidates.

• About Exams
• Defending Your Thesis or Dissertation
• Taking Exams

 Submitting Your Thesis/Dissertation

Policy requires the thesis/dissertation be submitted within 60 days of the final exam. The Graduate School uses a service called ProQuest to administer the electronic thesis/dissertation (ETD) submission and committee approval process. Once you have made any necessary revisions and the thesis/dissertation is final, you are ready to begin the approval and submission process.

Before initiating the submission process, students are required to complete complete an ORCID iD and complete the Survey of Earned Doctorates.

• Open Researcher and Contributor ID (ORCID iD)
• Survey of Earned Doctorates 
• Thesis & Dissertation Submission Process
• Submission Fees
• Graduation Requirements 

Thesis & Dissertation Filing

The University of Maryland, College Park has entered into an agreement with Proquest Information and Learning Services to accept theses and dissertations in Adobe PDF format via the Web. The university accepts 99% of all dissertations and theses in electronic form.

The submission process is as follows:

• After your defense, you submit your thesis or dissertation document directly to Proquest’s University of Maryland  Electronic Thesis and Dissertation (ETD) website .
• The Office of the Registrar then evaluates your document online for formatting and legibility, according to the standards set forth in the  Thesis and Dissertation Style Guide . If corrections are needed, you will receive an email from the Office of the Registrar detailing what needs to be done.
• Once you make all your necessary formatting corrections, the Office of the Registrar will accept the document and begin the graduation clearance process.
• After this process is complete, the Office of the Registrar “delivers” the documents officially to Proquest, who logs, indexes, and publishes them on  Digital Dissertations , a nationwide clearinghouse of theses and dissertations, to which the vast majority of US theses and dissertations are submitted.
• The Office of the Registrar also delivers thesis and dissertation documents to the university's  Digital Repository at the University of Maryland  (DRUM) for online publication. DRUM is an open-access archive that is accessible by everyone.

Visit the  Academic Deadlines section  to see the Graduate School's deadlines for thesis and dissertation submission. These deadlines indicate the date by which your academically complete document must be submitted to the system.  Any formatting changes requested by the Office of the Registrar can be made based on an evaluation of selected components within your submission. Requested changes must be made by the communicated deadline from the Office of the Registrar to ensure approval of clearance for the applied semester. 

Style Guide

The Graduate School’s requirements for all theses and dissertations are detailed in the  ETD Style Guide . The guide also the ETD submission process and includes a section on formatting the document with Microsoft Word. It is important that students consult this document prior to beginning the ETD process.

Special Cases

The departments listed below have special requirements for electronic theses and dissertations. Please consult the ETD Style Guide for more information and requirements.

• The Department of Art
• The Department of Art History and Archaeology
• The School of Music
• School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies

Template for Microsoft Word

These are beta versions of documents intended to assist students in completing their thesis or dissertation at the University of Maryland. The template comes pre-formatted to Graduate School standards; the template Instructions offer detailed assistance on using the documents. If you would like to use the Template / Instructions, please download it and email any feedback to  [email protected] . Your comments are welcomed and encouraged; the Graduate School wants to make the Thesis / Dissertation process as user-friendly as possible.

Template Instructions Full Template for Dissertations Lite Template for Dissertations Full Template for Theses Lite Template for Theses

Template for LaTex

This document was created by the Institute for Research in Electronics and Applied Physics. Like the MS Word template, the document comes pre-formatted to the standards set forth in the Thesis and Dissertation Style Guide.

Thesis and Dissertation Template For LaTex

Doctoral Student Surveys

The Graduate School requires that doctoral students complete two surveys prior to graduation.  Learn more about these surveys here .

Third-Party Access to Dissertation

Prior to 2010, ProQuest offered doctoral students the option of allowing third parties to acquire the students’ dissertations. Because there was no restriction on whether or not the third party could sell the dissertation, some third parties, such as Amazon, have been doing so.

If you published your dissertation prior to 2010 and would not like third parties to have the ability to acquire your dissertation, you must contact ProQuest via email at  [email protected]  and request that your dissertation (which is under copyright to you) be restricted from sales to third parties. You should expect to receive a response from ProQuest within 48 hours.

If you published your dissertation in 2010 or later, you do not need to worry about this issue. ProQuest stopped offering this option in 2010.

Corrections to Theses and Dissertations

Once submitted to the Digital Repository at the University of Maryland ( DRUM ), the body of a thesis or dissertation may not be changed. Students may, however, request that a dated addendum be appended to their original thesis or dissertation document.

To add an addendum, students must submit:

• A written request to the Graduate School ( [email protected] ) to add an addendum to the thesis or dissertation document currently in DRUM. 
• The request should include the proposed addendum and a letter of support from the thesis or dissertation chair. The letter of support should confirm that the addendum does not substantively change the content of the document and that all members of the thesis or dissertation committee are aware of the submitted addendum.
• For corrections that arise from the process to review concerns under the University’s policy on scholarly misconduct , the Graduate School will collaborate with the Office of Faculty Affairs on the proper resolution before a thesis or dissertation addendum will be posted. Thesis and dissertation chairs, committee members, and students must adhere to the policy’s reporting requirements if there is a concern that a thesis or dissertation may require correction as a result of such misconduct. 
• With the written approval from the Graduate School, the thesis or dissertation author should send the proposed addendum and Graduate School approval to the Libraries ( [email protected] ) to upload the addendum.

Students who wish to add an addendum to their document on the ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global Database must contact ProQuest directly at  [email protected]  for procedures and fees.

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Thesis and Dissertation Resources

Here you can find resources and guidelines on how to prepare and submit your Thesis/Dissertation.

The Graduate School Thesis and Dissertation Guide

This Guide includes everything you need to know about what should be included in your final document, samples of specific sections, formatting guidelines, and a checklist for submitting your work.

Submit your thesis or dissertation

This link directs you to the ProQuest ETD Administrator site where you will set up an account and submit your completed electronic thesis or dissertation to The Graduate School.

The Graduate School Handbook

The Handbook provides additional information on master's thesis requirements or doctoral dissertation requirements .

Thesis and dissertation formatting workshops

• Dissertation formatting workshop: PC version
• Dissertation formatting workshop: Apple/Mac version

Stages of the thesis or dissertation process

These guidelines and advice will be helpful as you consider your thesis or dissertation from preparation through final submission.

Stages of the Thesis or Dissertation Process

Although you won't submit your thesis or dissertation until your final semester of graduate study, it is recommended that you begin thinking about many aspects of your thesis or dissertation much sooner.

• Use The Graduate School's Thesis and Dissertation Guide to aid in preparing and submitting your thesis or dissertation. Read through the guidelines early and refer back to them as often as needed throughout the process.
• Begin discussions with your advisor and committee early, as they may have useful information to impart to you as you begin your research and writing.
• Be sure to determine which style manual is appropriate for your discipline. Formatting is often easier when applied at the beginning of the writing process rather than at the end, especially when concerning citations.
• Review and discuss how copyrighting may impact your research and writing, including decisions about publishing your own work. The University Libraries' Scholarly Communications Office is a campus resource on scholarly publishing practices.
• Take advantage of campus resources such as workshops, University Libraries, and the Writing Center.
• As you approach your defense, set up your student account in the ProQuest ETD Administrator . Review the site for useful information about the online submission process.
• After your defense has occurred and all final edits are approved by your committee, plan to submit your thesis or dissertation. Follow the checklist and submission instructions in the Thesis and Dissertation Guide to prepare your document.
• In addition to uploading a PDF of your thesis or dissertation, be prepared to provide added information (e.g., abstract, keywords, and subject headings) about your work for indexing and identification purposes. This information will help make your work more discoverable online.
• After you have submitted your thesis or dissertation, check your email regularly for updates. Make any required revisions promptly.
• You will receive a final email notifying you that your ETD has been accepted. Once your document has been approved, you cannot make any further changes. ProQuest will make the title and abstract of your thesis or dissertation available online shortly after graduation. The University Libraries will make your thesis or dissertation available within one semester.

Frequently asked questions about electronic theses and dissertations

Follow the dates posted on The Graduate School's graduation deadlines website . Submit your thesis or dissertation after your defense has occurred and all final edits are approved by your advisor and committee. Your Committee Composition and Exam Report forms (with all approval signatures) must be submitted to The Graduate School before submitting your document.

The ETD Administrator uses statuses to help students and staff keep track of what step comes next during the ETD submission process. Some statuses require action on the part of the student while others indicate that staff are responsible for taking the next step. To help you understand what each status means, visit the ProQuest help page . You can also access this page from within the ETD Administrator by clicking on the “Help ?” link on the top right corner of most pages.

You should receive an email from the ETD Administrator immediately following submission of your thesis or dissertation. If you do not receive this email, please check your junk/spam folder and verify which email address you used when you set up your ETD Administrator account. You will continue to receive emails relating to time-sensitive required revisions, so it is important that you monitor the email account associated with your ETD Administrator account on a daily basis. You will receive a final email when The Graduate School has accepted the finalized document.

While you should receive emails notifying you of necessary changes, required revisions can also be viewed directly within the ProQuest ETD Administrator . To view required revisions:

• Login to your account
• Go to the “My Dissertations/Theses List”
• Click on the “View” button under the entry for your ETD
• Under “Manage this ETD” on the left margin, select “View decisions”
• A list of the decisions that have been made will be displayed in the middle of the page; on the far right of each decision is a link for “View Email”
• Click the “View Email” link to display the entire contents of the email that was sent to you, including any required revisions

Conflict of interest disclosures should be included in the Acknowledgements section of your document. Please contact [email protected] for more information.

The Thesis and Dissertation Guide has been designed as a comprehensive resource to aid you in preparing your thesis or dissertation for final acceptance and approval. If you have read the Guide and still have questions about the guidelines or submission process, email your Graduate School enrolled students specialist . Please note that Graduate School staff cannot offer formatting assistance. For technical assistance relating to the ETD Administrator submission website, contact ProQuest Tech Support or review the ETD Administrator Help pages .

Receipt of a submitted and approved thesis or dissertation in The Graduate School results in the publication of the document by the University Library at UNC-Chapel Hill. As such, each student grants the University a limited, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to reproduce the student's work, in whole or in part, in electronic form to be posted in the University Library database and made available to the general public at no charge. As a public institution, UNC-Chapel Hill is committed to disseminating research widely and furthering the free exchange of intellectual information, including approved theses and dissertations completed by graduating students. See the Thesis and Dissertation Guide Copyrighting section for information about the campus copyright policy.

Most students will not need to request an embargo. In certain circumstances (e.g., pending patent application, publisher requirements) it may be advisable to request one. If you would like to delay release of your thesis or dissertation, please discuss the advantages and disadvantages of an embargo with your advisor or academic program.

UNC-Chapel Hill only permits the request of a one or two year embargo – regardless of options and documentation displayed in ProQuest. If your request for an embargo is accepted by The Graduate School, online publishing of your thesis or dissertation will be delayed for one or two years. Please note that the title of your work, as well as your abstract, will be available through ProQuest Dissertations & Theses shortly after your work has been approved by The Graduate School and submitted to ProQuest. Please review the Thesis and Dissertation Guide Embargo section for more information.

The Open Access, full text of your thesis or dissertation will be available online through the UNC Libraries . There is an approximately one semester delay for processing and uploading electronic theses and dissertations to the Library's digital collections.

Shortly after graduation, your thesis or dissertation title and abstract will be available through several ProQuest databases that can be accessed through the UNC Libraries.

If you chose to order optional printed copies of your thesis or dissertation in the ETD Administrator as part of the submission process, your order will be filled by ProQuest. Your order summary and manuscript ID are in your submission confirmation email. For questions about your order, you will need to contact ProQuest directly. Neither The Graduate School nor the University Libraries can offer information about past orders or requests for print copies.

Graduate School

Dissertation guidelines.

• Academics & Research
• Rules & Regulations

Ph.D. candidates at Brown must file their dissertations electronically.

Brown's  electronic theses and dissertation (ETD) system  collects and archives final dissertations as text-based PDF files. Electronic dissertations submitted through the ETD will appear in the Library's  discovery service  and in the Brown  digital repository .

In the spirit of the dissemination of new knowledge that is a hallmark of higher education, dissertations will be subject to web searches and unrestricted downloads unless the student requests to opt out of that system and have their dissertation unavailable for download outside of the Brown community. A request to restrict download access to a dissertation has an initial two-year window from the time the degree is conferred. Guidelines associated with restricted dissertation access are:

• The full text version of the dissertation will be available for download only to members of the Brown community.
• Web searches including the citation and abstract of restricted dissertations will continue to be available to the general public.
• After two years the restriction will elapse.
• Restrictions on full text download may be renewed for two-year periods up to a total of ten years from the date of degree conferral. Requests for additional two-year restrictions should be made to the Graduate School.
• Any requests to extend the restriction beyond ten years must go to the Graduate Council for approval.
• In cases where the dissertation is a co-worked piece and there is disagreement between the student and the advisor over whether the dissertation will or will not be available for download outside of the Brown community, the dispute will be brought before the Graduate Council for resolution.

To complete the electronic submission process, doctoral candidates must have successfully defended their dissertation and had it approved by their committee. To use the ETD system, doctoral candidates must possess a valid username and password for accessing Brown’s computer network. If you are unable to create an account in the system, please contact  [email protected]  for assistance.

Graduate students are eligible to have degrees conferred, and to receive their diploma, at three different times over the course of the academic year. 

For students who complete their degree requirements the preceding summer term. The Application to Graduate opens on July 1, 2024 and closes on September 6, 2024. Degrees are conferred on October 20, 2024.

For students who complete their requirements the preceding fall term. The Application to Graduate opens on October 1, 2024 and closes on January 10, 2025. Degrees are conferred on February 9, 2025.

For students who complete their requirements over the preceding spring term. The dissertation deadline is May 1, 2024. Please note, the Application to Graduate deadline is April 19, 2024.

The doctoral dissertation and all of the associated forms and documents related to the completion of a Ph.D. must be submitted to the Graduate School by the deadlines listed above; no extensions will be granted. See Submission of the Final Copy for important clarifications regarding the final submission process.

Commencement

Brown has one graduation per year; Commencement exercises and the conferral of degrees take place on the Sunday before Memorial Day. Students may file their dissertations at any time of the year in advance of the filing deadline. Students may choose to request a Certificate of Completion to show that they have completed all degree requirements before beginning a position, as faculty or postdoctoral fellow, for example.  See details below under Certificate of Completion. 

Tuition and Fees

If a doctoral student completes all of the requirements for the PhD during semester I, the tuition and fees for semester II will not be charged. Students must file before the first day of classes in semester II in order to avoid being charged the tuition and fees for semester II.

The Final Examination or Defense

The final examination or defense must be scheduled by the candidate at the convenience of the readers. At least two weeks prior to the final examination or defense, candidates must provide the department manager with the appropriate dissertation defense information so the  Dissertation Defense Information Form  can be completed and returned to the Graduate School.

NOTE:  Requests for waiving the final examination must be endorsed by the dissertation director as well as the director of graduate study or department chair.

After the Defense

The formal, final approval of all dissertations is handled by the Graduate School's Academic Affairs Manager (Barbara Bennett). Candidates must submit final copies of their dissertations  electronically .

The Manuscript

The signature page .

In addition to the electronic submission, all Ph.D. candidates are required to submit their signature page to the Graduate School, which may be sent electronically to  [email protected] . Samples are available online. The signature page should bear the signatures of the dissertation director and all readers. The typed names of the director and readers must appear under their signature lines. Electronic signatures are acceptable. An unsigned copy of the signature page should be uploaded to  ETD system .

Type and spacing 

Standard typefaces set to print at 10-, 11-, or 12-point font are acceptable. All text should be double-spaced, except for block quotations, captions, long headings, and footnotes. All these should be single-spaced with a blank line between items.

Page Numbers 

Each page, including blank ones, must have a number. The number should not appear on the title page or the copyright page but, these pages are assigned numbers and are included in the pagination. Preliminary pages are numbered with lower case roman numerals, centered at the foot of the page, three-fourths of an inch from the bottom edge. The title page counts as page i but the number does not appear on the page. The remainder of the dissertation is numbered with Arabic numerals beginning with 1.

Most dissertations consist of preliminary pages which are numbered using Roman numerals, and the dissertation proper which is numbered using Arabic numerals. The preliminary pages must appear in the following order:

• Title Page (do not number)
• Copyright Page (do not number)
• Signature Page (iii)
• Curriculum Vitae* (iv)
• Preface and Acknowledgments (v)
• Table of Contents (vi)
• List of Tables vii List of Illustrations (viii)

Should any element of the preliminary pages be longer than one page, number the pages consecutively. The preliminary pages should appear in this order but not necessarily with the page numbers shown above.

The dissertation proper (including introduction, main body of the text, illustrations, appendices, and bibliography) is numbered using arabic numerals. The numbering begins with "1" and runs consecutively to the end.

Do not place headers on each page. Use them only as appropriate to indicate major sections of the thesis (e.g., INTRODUCTION, CHAPTER 1, BIBLIOGRAPHY). They should be centered and placed two inches from the top of the paper in uppercase type.

* The curriculum vitae is a statement giving a short biography of the candidate, including institutions attended, degrees and honors, titles of publications, teaching or professional experience, and other pertinent information. Please do not include date or place of birth or phone numbers.

Graphs may be put on cross-section pages.

Dating the Dissertation  

Because degrees are conferred three times during the calendar year, the title page and abstract of a dissertation completed at any point during the academic year must be dated on the date the degree is conferred.

The Abstract

The dissertation must be accompanied by an abstract. The abstract should, in a concise manner, present the problem of the dissertation, discuss the materials and procedure or methods used, and state the results or conclusions. Mathematical formulas, diagrams, and other illustrative materials should be avoided. The abstract should not be part of the dissertation itself nor should it be included in the table of contents. It should be headed as follows:

Abstract of (TITLE OF DISSERTATION), by (AUTHOR'S NAME), Ph.D., Brown University, May (YEAR IN WHICH DEGREE IS TO BE AWARDED).

The abstract should be prepared carefully since it will be published without editing or revision. The abstract should be double-spaced and may not exceed 350 words (maximum 2,450 typewritten characters — including spaces and punctuation — about 70 characters per line with a maximum of 35 lines). 

Submission of the Final Copy

When the dissertation is presented to the Graduate School electronically, it must be in final form. Dissertations may require revision after their original presentation if it is determined by the Graduate School that the dissertation does not conform to the standards articulated above. The need for such revisions is not grounds for a deadline extension. If a dissertation is determined to be defective after the deadline, the Graduate School may refuse to confer a student's degree. Doctoral candidates are encouraged to submit their dissertations early, and to send questions not answered by the descriptions above, to  [email protected] .

ALL completing doctoral candidates are required to submit the documents listed below. (the title page and signature page can be sent electronically to  Barbara Bennett , the Academic Affairs Manager.) The dissertation will not be accepted and the candidate's degree will not be conferred if an item from this list is missing or incomplete. The online submission system will send notifications when each document has been received and approved by the Graduate School.

• Ph.D. Exit Survey , Brown University Graduate School; you may forward the email receipt.
• Survey of Earned Doctorates , National Research Council (The NRC sends the certificate directly to the Graduate School.)
• The title page; this may be sent by email.
• The signed signature page, which may be sent by email to  [email protected] .

Digital Supplementary Materials

Students interested in depositing digital supplementary materials along with their dissertation are welcome to contact the Library for assistance. Please contact: Andrew Creamer in the Library at  [email protected] .

Publishing the Dissertation

It is University policy that all research done at the University under its sponsorship must be freely published without restriction. Since 1954, the Graduate School has required that dissertations be published. In 1985, the Graduate Council reaffirmed that decision and approved the following policy:

"All Ph.D. dissertations and Master's theses will be open documents. The Graduate Council will not recommend the awarding of the Ph.D. or Master's degree until the dissertation or thesis is submitted to the Graduate School and accorded unlimited distribution status."

Exceptions to this requirement will be made only if there is a letter from a publisher stating that the dissertation will be published within one year after the degree is awarded and that requests that circulation of the dissertation be withheld for twelve months after the degree is conferred. Six months will be allowed for the clearing of a patent.

If you have a question about temporarily removing your dissertation from the  Library's digital repository , please contact  [email protected] .

The Diploma

The Office of the Registrar's Application to Graduate provides the candidate with an opportunity to indicate how the diploma name should appear. Otherwise, the name that will appear on the diploma and in the Commencement program, and under which the Library will catalog the dissertation, is the name under which the candidate is officially registered. Any request for a change of registered name should be addressed to the Office of the Registrar and accompanied by supporting legal documentation, such as a court order, marriage license, passport, driver’s license, or social security card. 

Certificate of Completion

If all academic requirements for the degree and all financial obligations have been met before May 1, the Office of the Registrar will issue a certificate of completion within three weeks of the candidate's request.

If you have any questions regarding the submission of your dissertation or thesis, please contact the Graduate School's Academic Manager, Barbara Bennett, 863-2843,  [email protected] .

Additional Information

• Sample: Dissertation Abstract
• Sample: Dissertation Copyright Notice
• Sample: Dissertation Signature Page
• Guidelines for Dissertation Titles

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Thesis & Dissertation Filing Requirements

This is the official UCLA manuscript preparation guide that contains established criteria for uniformity in the format of theses and dissertations. The regulations included in it supersede any style manual instructions regarding format. Also includes information on filing dates and procedures, registration of copyright, and guidelines for submission.

Related tools:

• Thesis & Dissertation Filing Deadlines and Workshops
• List of Approved Special Characters

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Thesis and Dissertation Information

•  /  Complete Your Degree
•  /  Thesis and Dissertation Information

The Graduate School, the University Libraries, and the graduate faculty of Penn State have established format standards that a thesis or dissertation must meet before receiving final approval as fulfillment of a graduate requirement. 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 these established regulations.

Every thesis and dissertation must be reviewed by the Office of Theses and Dissertations for format only and are not edited for spelling, grammar, or punctuation. Master's papers are not reviewed by the Office of Theses and Dissertations.

When a thesis or dissertation is submitted to the Office of Theses and Dissertations, it must meet the formatting and deadline requirements set forth in the Thesis and Dissertation Handbook . All doctoral dissertations and master's theses must be submitted electronically. For more information on electronic theses and dissertations (eTDs), visit the eTD website .

The following forms are available in Adobe PDF and accessible Microsoft Word (DOC) format. The Word documents are designed to be used specifically with screen reader technology.  Please use the PDF versions of these forms unless you require the use of screen reader technology.

You may need to download the latest version of  Adobe Acrobat reader  (free) to view and print the PDF documents.

Submission Requirements

• Thesis and Dissertation Handbook
• Thesis, Dissertation, Performance, and Oral Presentation Calendar
• Copying and Binding
• The Most Common Mistakes
• How To Submit a Doctoral Dissertation
• How To Submit a Master's Thesis
• Format Review Instructions
• Acknowledgement of Federal Funding
• Pay thesis fee ($10) or dissertation fee ($50)

Supporting Materials

• Survey of Earned Doctorates

Templates 

The templates for Thesis and Dissertations are available in OneDrive . Please use the "Download" option from this page to download the required template(s) to use as your local working document.  There is no need to open the file in your browser or request any additional access to the files.

The Statistical Consulting Center gives advice to graduate students working on thesis research. The Graduate Writing Center  provides consultation to graduate students in all disciplines.

Information about using LaTeX is available from the University Libraries .

Information about the Graduate School's commencement ceremony .

Questions about theses, dissertations, or Graduate School commencement should be directed to:

Office of Theses and Dissertations 115 Kern Graduate Building University Park, PA 16802 Phone: 814-865-1795

The Graduate College at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Graduate college thesis requirements, organizing your thesis.

The links below will direct you to the Graduate College thesis requirements, as well as sample pages and templates to further guide you in formatting your thesis. When organizing your thesis, be sure to follow the required order, which is shown below.

We also offer basic full-document templates to help you begin formatting your work. You may adapt these templates to fit your needs. If you have issues with formatting your document, please visit our Formatting Tutorials page to access written and video tutorials.

Doctoral Template (MS Word download)

Master's Template (MS Word download)

LaTeX Template (Link to Box folder with files)

Looking for a good example?

The following theses and dissertations passed the Graduate College review with very few, if any, corrections requested by the Thesis Office:

• Civil Engineering
• Crop Sciences
• Electrical and Computer Engineering
• Mathematics
• Mechanical Engineering
• Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences
• Neuroscience (includes supplementary files; see the appendix of the thesis and document uploaded with the thesis)
• Veterinary Clinical Medicine
• Curriculum and Instruction (includes IRB approval letter in an appendix)
• Human Development and Family Studies (includes IRB approval letter in an appendix)

Note the absence of List of Tables and List of Figures sections from the examples above. These sections are generally not necessary, and the Thesis Office advises students who are interested in a quick review with few or no corrections requested to leave these sections out of the thesis or dissertation. Also note that the Table of Contents is most useful for the reader when entries are limited to chapter-level titles only or to chapter-level titles and first-level (main) section headings, as has been done in the examples above.

A note on departmental requirements

This list describes only Graduate College requirements for student theses. The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign confers graduate degrees in over 100 units, and many of these departments have additional, discipline-specific format requirements. Students should consult with their program regarding departmental format requirements and departmental thesis review procedures.

Note: The Graduate College Thesis Office will not begin the thesis format review without notification of departmental approval.

Format Requirements for Your Dissertation or Thesis

Main navigation.

The final dissertation or thesis manuscript must have a ready-for-publication appearance and standard features.

The Office of the University Registrar does not endorse or verify the accuracy of any dissertation or thesis formatting templates that may be available to you.

It is your student responsibility to make sure that the formatting meets these requirements. Introductory material, text, and appendices must all be clearly and consistently prepared and must meet all of the specifications outlined below.

Once you upload and submit your dissertation or thesis in Axess, and it has been approved by the university, the submission is considered final and no further changes are permitted.

The digital file of the dissertation or thesis, which is sent to Stanford Libraries for cataloging, must meet certain technical requirements to ensure that it can be easily accessed by readers now and into the future. 

Follow the specifications outlined below.

Style and Format

Word and text divisions, style guides, content and layout, special instructions for d.m.a. students, order and content, page orientation, embedded links, supplementary material and publishing, supplementary material, scholarly reference, published papers and multiple authorship, use of copyrighted material, copyrighting your dissertation, file security and file name, stanford university thesis & dissertation publication license.

Pages should be standard U.S. letter size (8.5 x 11 inches).

In order to ensure the future ability to render the document, standard fonts must be used. 

For the main text body, type size should be 10, 11, or 12 point. Smaller font sizes may be used in tables, captions, etc. 

The font color must be black. 

Font Families

Acceptable font styles include:

• Times New Roman (preferred)
• Courier, Courier Bold, Courier Oblique, Courier Bold-Oblique;
• Helvetica, Helvetica Bold, Helvetica Oblique, Helvetica Bold-Oblique;
• Times, Times Bold, Times Italic, Times Bold-Italic;
• Computer Modern (or Computer Modern Roman).

Note: Do not use script or ornamental fonts. Do not use proprietary fonts.

If you use mathematical or other scientific notation in your dissertation or thesis using a font other than Symbol, you must embed the font into the PDF that is submitted to the university. 

Inner margins (left edge if single-sided; right edge for even-numbered pages, and left edge for odd-numbered pages if double-sided) must be 1.5 inches. All other margins must be one inch.

Pagination, headers, and/or footers may be placed within the margin, but no closer than one-half inch from the edge of the page.

For double-sided copies, 1.5 inches must be maintained as the inner margin. Margin requirements should apply to the entire document, including the title page.

The main text of the manuscript should be one-and-a-half or double-spaced lines, except where conventional usage calls for single spacing, such as footnotes, indented quotations, tables, etc.

Words should be divided correctly at the end of a line and may not be divided from one page to the next. Use a standard dictionary to determine word division. 

Avoid short lines that end a paragraph at the top of a page, and any heading or subheading at the bottom of a page that is not followed by text.

The dissertation and thesis must be in English. 

Language Exceptions for Dissertations Only

Approval for writing the dissertation in another language is normally granted only in cases where the other language or literature in that language is also the subject of the discipline. 

Exceptions are granted by the school dean upon submission of a written request from the chair of your major department. Approval is routinely granted for dissertations in the Division of Literature, Cultures, and Languages within department specifications.

Prior to submitting in Axess, you must send a copy of the approval letter (or email message chain) from the department dean to [email protected]    

Dissertations written in another language must include an extended summary in English (usually 15 to 20 pages in length). In this case, you should upload your English summary as a supplemental file, during Step 4 of the online submission process.

Select a standard style approved by your department and use it consistently. 

Some reliable style guides are:

• K.A. Turabian’s A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, 
• Theses and Dissertations (University of Chicago Press), and 
• the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations (Modern Language Association).

If you are a student in the Doctor of Musical Arts program, you may submit musical scores formatted at 11 x 17 inches in size. 

If you are submitting a performance as your dissertation, submit the audio file in WAV format as a supplemental file. 

Note: The maximum file size accepted for submission is 100 MB. If a performance recording exceeds the maximum file size, break the file into multiple files and submit the parts individually as supplemental files.

Your dissertation or thesis must contain the following sections. All sections must be included in a single digital file for upload.

• Title Page — The format must be followed exactly. View these title page examples for Ph.D. Dissertation and this title page sample for an Engineer Thesis . Use uppercase letters. The title of the dissertation or thesis should be a meaningful description of the content of the manuscript. Use word substitutes for formulas, symbols, superscripts, subscripts, Greek letters, etc. The month and year must be the actual month and year in which you submit your dissertation or thesis electronically to the university. (Note: A student who submits in Autumn quarter is conferred his/her degree in the following calendar year.)
• Copyright Page — The dissertation or thesis PDF uploaded in Axess should not contain a copyright page. The copyright page will be created automatically by the online submission system and inserted into the file stored by Stanford Libraries.
• Signature Page — The dissertation or thesis PDF uploaded in Axess should also not contain a signature page. The submission process has moved away from ink-signatures, so a digital facsimile of the signature page will be created automatically by the online submission system and inserted into the dissertation or thesis in its final format stored by Stanford Libraries.
• Abstract — An abstract may be included in the preliminary section of the dissertation or thesis. The abstract in the body of the dissertation or thesis follows the style used for the rest of the manuscript and should be placed following the signature page. There is no maximum permissible length for the abstract in the dissertation or thesis.    Dissertation authors must enter an abstract using the online submission form for uploading the digital dissertation or thesis file to the library. This abstract, which will be indexed for online searching, must be formatted in plain text (no HTML or special formatting). It should be a pithy and succinct version of the abstract included in the dissertation or thesis itself.
• Preface, an Acknowledgment, or a Dedication
• Table of Contents – Include page references.
• List of Tables –  Include titles and page references. This list is optional.
• List of Illustrations – Include titles and page references. This list is optional
• Introduction  
• Main body – Include suitable, consistent headings for the larger divisions and more important sub-divisions.
• Appendices.
• Bibliography or List of References.

Except for the title page, which counts as 'i' but is not physically numbered, each page of the manuscript, including all blank pages, pages between chapters, pages with text, photographs, tables, figures, maps, or computer code must be assigned a number. 

Consistent placement of pagination, at least one-half inch from the paper’s edge, should be used throughout the manuscript.

Follow these pagination instructions exactly:

• For the preliminary pages, use small Roman numerals (e.g., iv, v, vi).
• The title page is not physically numbered, but counts as page i.
• Keep in mind that a copyright page ii and augmented signature page iii (based off your student record) will automatically be inserted to your manuscript during submission.  This means you must ensure to remove pages ii and iii from your dissertation or thesis.
• Failing to remove pages ii and iii is most common formatting mistake: you must remove your copyright page ii and signature page iii from the pdf file before you submit your dissertation or thesis, and begin pagination on your abstract with page number "iv". If the document is formatted for double-sided printing with each section starting on the right page, then pagination will begin on a blank page (page"iv") and the Abstract should be numbered as page "v", and so forth.
• For the remainder of the manuscript, starting with the Introduction or Chapter 1 of the Main Body, use continuous pagination (1, 2, 3, etc) for text, illustrations, images, appendices, and the bibliography. Remember to start with Arabic numbered page 1, as this is not a continuation of the Roman numeral numbering from the preliminary pages.
• The placement of page numbers should be consistent throughout the document.

For text, illustrations, charts, graphs, etc., printed in landscape form, the orientation should be facing away from the bound edge of the paper.

Images (color, grayscale, and monochrome) included in the dissertation or thesis should be clearly discernible both on screen and when printed. The dimensions should not exceed the size of the standard letter-size page (8.5” x 11”).

Image resolution should be 150 dots per inch (dpi), though resolutions as low as 72 dpi (and no lower) are acceptable. 

The format of images embedded in the PDF should be JPEG or EPS (the format JPEG2000 is also acceptable when it is supported in future versions of the PDF format). GIF and PNG are not preferred image file formats.

Large images, including maps and charts or other graphics that require high resolution, should not be included in the main dissertation or thesis file. Instead, they can be submitted separately as supplemental files and formatted in other formats as appropriate. 

Multimedia, such as audio, video, animation, etc., must not be embedded in the body of the dissertation or thesis. These media types add size and complexity to the digital file, introducing obstacles to users of the dissertation or thesis who wish to download and read (and “play back”) the content, and making it more difficult to preserve over time.

If you wish to include multimedia with your submission, upload the media separately as a stand-alone file in an appropriate media format. See Supplementary Material section below.

It is acceptable to include “live” (i.e., clickable) web URLs that link to online resources within the dissertation or thesis file. Spell out each URL in its entirety (e.g., http://www.stanford.edu ) rather than embedding the link in text (e.g., Stanford homepage ). By spelling out the URL, you improve a reader’s ability to understand and access the link reference.

Supplementary material may be submitted electronically with the dissertation or thesis. This material includes any supporting content that is useful for understanding the dissertation or thesis, but is not essential to the argument. It also covers core content in a form that can not be adequately represented or embedded in the PDF format, such as an audio recording of a musical performance.

Supplementary materials are submitted separately than the dissertation or thesis file, and are referred to as supplemental files.

A maximum of twenty supplemental files can be submitted. There are no restrictions on the file formats. The maximum file size is 1 GB.

You are encouraged to be judicious about the volume and quality of the supplemental files, and to employ file formats that are widely used by researchers generally, if not also by scholars of the discipline.

The following table outlines recommended file formats for different content types. By following these recommendations, the author is helping to ensure ongoing access to the material.

After uploading each supplemental file, it is important to enter a short description or label (maximum 120 characters for file name and the description). This label will be displayed to readers in a list of the contents for the entire submission.

If copyrighted material is part of the supplementary material, permission to reuse and distribute the content must be obtained from the owner of the copyright. Stanford Libraries requires copies of permission letters (in PDF format) to be uploaded electronically when submitting the files, and assumes no liability for copyright violations. View this sample permission letter .

System restrictions allow for a maximum of 10 individually uploaded permission files. If you have more than 10 permission files we recommend combining all permission letters into a single PDF file for upload.

In choosing an annotation or reference system, you should be guided by the practice of your discipline and the recommendations of your departments. In addition to the general style guides listed in the Style section above, there are specific style guides for some fields. When a reference system has been selected, it should be used consistently throughout the dissertation or thesis. The placement of footnotes is at your discretion with reading committee approval.

An important aspect of modern scholarship is the proper attribution of authorship for joint or group research. If the manuscript includes joint or group research, you must clearly identify your contribution to the enterprise in an introduction.

The inclusion of published papers in a dissertation or thesis is the prerogative of the major department. Where published papers or ready-for-publication papers are included, the following criteria must be met:

• There must be an introductory chapter that integrates the general theme of the research and the relationship between the chapters. The introduction may also include a review of the literature relevant to the dissertation or thesis topic that does not appear in the chapters.
• Multiple authorship of a published paper should be addressed by clearly designating, in an introduction, the role that the dissertation or thesis author had in the research and production of the published paper. The student must have a major contribution to the research and writing of papers included in the dissertation or thesis.
• There must be adequate referencing of where individual papers have been published.
• Written permission must be obtained for all copyrighted materials. Letters of permission must be uploaded electronically in PDF form when submitting the dissertation or thesis. 
• The submitted material must be in a form that is legible and reproducible as required by these specifications. The Office of the University Registrar will approve a dissertation or thesis if there are no deviations from the normal specifications that would prevent proper dissemination and utilization of the dissertation or thesis. If the published material does not correspond to these standards, it will be necessary for you to reformat that portion of the dissertation or thesis.
• Multiple authorship has implications with respect to copyright and public release of the material. Be sure to discuss copyright clearance and embargo options with your co-authors and your advisor well in advance of preparing your thesis for submission.

If copyrighted material belonging to others is used in your dissertation or thesis or is part of your supplementary materials, you must give full credit to the author and publisher of the work in all cases, and obtain permission from the copyright owner for reuse of the material unless you have determined that your use of the work is clearly fair use under US copyright law (17 USC §107). 

The statute sets out four factors that must be considered when assessing Fair Use:

• the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purpose;
• the nature of the copyrighted work;
• the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
• the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

The Association of American University Presses requires permission for any quotations that are reproduced as complete units (poems, letters, short stories, essays, journal articles, complete chapters or sections of books, maps, charts, graphs, tables, drawings, or other illustrative materials). You can find this guideline and other detailed information on Fair Use at http://fairuse.stanford.edu . 

If you are in doubt, it is safest to obtain permission. Permission to use copyrighted material must be obtained from the owner of the copyright. Stanford Libraries requires copies of permission letters (in PDF format) to be uploaded electronically when submitting the dissertation or thesis, and assumes no liability for copyright violations. For reference, view this sample permission letter .

Copyright protection is automatically in effect from the time the work is in fixed form. A proper copyright statement consisting of the copyright symbol, the author’s name, year of degree conferral, and the phrase “All Rights Reserved” will be added automatically to the dissertation or thesis in its final form.

Registration of copyright is not required, but it establishes a public record of your copyright claim and enables copyright owners to litigate against infringement. You need not register your copyright with the U.S. Copyright Office at the outset, although registration must be made before the copyright may be enforced by litigation in case of infringement. 

Early registration does have certain advantages: it establishes a public record of your copyright claim, and if registration has been made prior to the infringement of your work, or within three months after its publication, qualifies you to be awarded statutory damages and attorney fees in addition to the actual damages and profits available to you as the copyright owner (should you ever have to sue because of infringement).

For more information about copyright, see the Stanford Libraries' resource on Copyright Considerations .

For further information on Registration of Copyright, see https://www.copyright.gov/registration/ .

Do not require a password to make changes to your submitted PDF file, or apply other encryption or security measures. Password-protected files will be rejected.

The file name and description will be printed on a page added to your dissertation or thesis, so choose a file name accordingly.

Important note: File names may only consist of alphanumeric characters, hyphen, underscore, at sign, space, ampersand, and comma – before the ending period and file extension.  Specifically,

• A file name cannot start with a space, period (nor contain a period), underscore, or hyphen.
• Files names must be 120 characters or less.

Here is an example of a filename that is allowed, including all of the possible characters:

• A Study of Social Media with a Focus on @Twitter Accounts, Leland Student_30AUG2023.pdf

In submitting a thesis or dissertation to Stanford, the author grants The Trustees of Leland Stanford Junior University (Stanford) the non-exclusive, worldwide, perpetual, irrevocable right to reproduce, distribute, display and transmit author's thesis or dissertation, including any supplemental materials (the Work), in whole or in part in such print and electronic formats as may be in existence now or developed in the future, to sub-license others to do the same, and to preserve and protect the Work, subject to any third-party release or display restrictions specified by Author on submission of the Work to Stanford.

Author further represents and warrants that Author is the copyright holder of the Work, and has obtained all necessary rights to permit Stanford to reproduce and distribute third-party materials contained in any part of the Work, including use of third-party images, text, or music, as well as all necessary licenses relating to any non-public, third-party software necessary to access, display, and run or print the Work. Author is solely responsible and will indemnify Stanford for any third party claims related to the Work as submitted for publication.

Author warrants that the Work does not contain information protected by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), confidentiality agreements, or contain Stanford Prohibited, Restricted or Confidential data described on the University IT website , or other data of a private nature.

Stanford is under no obligation to use, display or host the work in any way and may elect not to use the work for any reason including copyright or other legal concerns, financial resources, or programmatic need.

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Dissertation Formatting Requirements

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University Library Digital Publishing Services Dissertation Information

ProQuest Dissertation Submission FAQ

ProQuest Resources and Guidelines Formatting, intellectual property, and copyright guides.

The Graduate School sets the minimum formatting standards for the PhD dissertation to ensure uniformity, legibility, and to comply with ProQuest and University Library requirements for publishing/archiving.  These guidelines do not address all facets of formatting and style.  Students should consult with their adviser, committee, and academic program’s choice of style manual for formatting questions outside what is described below.

A sample template providing examples of what is outlined below can downloaded as either a PDF or Word document.

Arrangement of Pages

Dissertations must be arranged in the following order.  Items in italics are optional.  

• Copyright page
• Acknowledgment page
• List of Abbreviations (required in dissertations with significant use of abbreviations)
• Table of Contents
• List of Tables, Illustrations, Figures, or Graphs
• Introduction
• Tables, Illustrations, Figures, Graphs (if not incorporated into body of text)
• Vita (optional, but recommended)
• The page size should be 8.5" x 11”, standard US Letter size (not A4).
• Margins must be 1” on all sides with the exception of page numbers, figures, headers/footers, footnotes/endnotes, and full-page images, which may be ¾" from edge of page.
• The abstract, dedication, acknowledgements, table of contents, and body of the manuscript should be double spaced.
• Quotations as paragraphs, captions, items in tables, lists, graphs, charts, footnotes/endnotes, bibliographic entries, and lists in appendices may be single spaced.
• Any legible font is permitted except script or ornamental fonts.
• Fonts must be embedded.
• Font size should be equivalent in scale to 10pt Arial or 12pt Times New Roman.
• Every page in a dissertation is numbered, except the title page .
• Page numbering will begin on the second page with Arabic numeral 2 .
• Page number should appear in upper right corner of page at least ¾” from both the top and right edges of the page.
• For best screen readability: page numbers should appear in the upper right corner when the page is viewed on a screen. This is usually what word processing software does by default when pages are changed to landscape layout within a document. Note that page numbers with this layout may end up being obscured in bound copies of the dissertation.
• For best on-paper readability (for printed/bound copies): page numbers should appear in the correct position when the page is printed and bound, i.e., as if the page were actually portrait-oriented. A landscape page tutorial appears in the formatting template .
• If the primary language of the dissertation is not English, a 10-20 page summary of the dissertation in English must be included as an appendix.
• The abstract of a foreign language dissertation must be in English.
• Layout: The title page should conform to this sample .
• The title of the dissertation should be in mixed case; the first and last words and all nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs, and adverbs are capitalized. Articles (a, an, the), coordinating conjunctions (and, but, or, for, nor), and prepositions, regardless of length, are lowercased unless they are the first or last word of the title or subtitle.
• Special characters cannot be used in titles. Use word substitutes in place of formulas, symbols, superscripts, or Greek letters.
• See Dissertation Title Best Practices
• Program name: Should be the name of the students’ academic program as listed here .
• Date: The date should be the month and year in which the degree will be officially conferred (December 20XX for Fall graduates, March 20XX for Winter graduates, June 20XX for Spring graduates, September 20XX for Summer graduates).

Copyright (optional)

• If the choice is made to register copyright in the manuscript, a copyright notice should be included on its own page immediately after the title page.
• Additional information about dissertation copyright can be found on the University Library Copyright Basics website as well as on ProQuest’s resources and guidelines website .
• A double-spaced abstract is required and should immediately follow the title page (or the copyright page, if one is included).
• There is no word limit.
• Mathematical formulas, photographs, diagrams, and other illustrative materials should not be included in the abstract.

Lists of Tables, Illustrations, Figures, or Graphs

• Lists should reproduce the specific titles and page locations of illustrative materials.
• If not incorporated into the main body of the text, these items should immediately follow the text, not at the end of chapters.
• Each dissertation must include references to document the text.
• References may be included at the bottom of the page or at the end of the text, but cannot be placed at the end of each chapter.
• The format for references should conform to the guidelines in an approved style manual. References may be single-spaced.

Supplementary Materials (optional)

• If supplementary materials—such as audio, video, data sets and spreadsheets—are part of the dissertation or thesis, they can be submitted as supplementary files during the online submission process.

Use of Copyrighted Material

• Information about including previously published materials can be found in the ProQuest Copyright Guide. 
• In many cases it is fine to include sections of previously published (or in-press/forthcoming) papers in the dissertation, but students should (1) obtain written permission from co-authors in order to quote extensively and/or reproduce tables, figures, etc. and (2) seek or verify permission from the original publisher of the paper to ensure it is permitted.
• It is recommended that a line be included in those chapters such as, “Printed with permission of [co-author] and [original publisher].” 

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The Department’s long-standing emphasis on original research is a key element in the Candidate’s educational development.

The thesis defense has two stages: i) a final Thesis Committee Meeting report, and ii) a defense. The final Thesis Committee Meeting involves only the student and the Thesis Committee but it must include all members of the Thesis Committee. In highly unusual circumstances, the Chair of the Graduate Committee may approve faculty absences or substitutions for the preliminary exam. Such approval must be obtained in writing at least one week in advance of the meeting. Approval is only possible with written support from the chair of the Thesis Committee and the faculty member to be replaced or absent.

At least one week prior to the final Thesis Committee Meeting, the student will email PDF copies of the final thesis report document to the thesis committee members. The final thesis report usually will involve a brief presentation summarizing research results and the contents of the thesis document. The Thesis Committee will prepare a set of comments, suggestions, or requirement, as necessary for further experiments, more careful data analysis, more rigorous interpretation, or improved expression. If the Thesis Committee discovers major deficiencies, a second progress report may be required.

The Thesis Defense is open to the public. The defense can only be scheduled after all deficiencies identified in the final Thesis Committee meeting report have been addressed. In no case will the defense occur sooner than two weeks after the final Thesis Committee meeting. At least two weeks prior to the defense, the Candidate will email PDF copies of the final thesis document to the Thesis Committee members. The committee members must decide within these two weeks if the thesis document is acceptable to proceed to defense. The committee members must decide within these two weeks if the thesis document is acceptable to proceed to defense. If the thesis is unacceptable, the defense will be rescheduled following correction of the thesis. It is the student’s responsibility to reserve a classroom for the Thesis Defense. If the student wishes to reserve one of the BE Classrooms (56-614, 16-220), they should contact the BE Academic Office, any other classroom reservation must be reserved through the Registrar’s Office .

The defense begins with a formal presentation of approximately 45 minutes based on the thesis. The floor is then opened to questions from the general audience, which is thereafter excused. The Thesis Committee, and any other MIT faculty that wish to remain, continue the examination of the Candidate in private. The Candidate and any non-Thesis Committee faculty still present are finally excused from the room for the final Committee deliberations and decision. A majority yes vote is required to approve the thesis. It is the responsibility of the Thesis Committee Chair to give the Committee’s decision whether the thesis is satisfactory or unsatisfactory to the Candidate and to the BE Academic Office. In the event of vote not to pass, the Thesis Committee will make recommendations as to needed changes to render the thesis satisfactory. The revised thesis will then be submitted for a second final defense.

Note: Students are advised to keep in mind that the months of May and August tend to be the months where scheduling a presentation may be difficult because of faculty unavailability.

Theses and Dissertations

Defense and submission.

Below is an overview of the main steps in preparing, defending, and submitting your thesis or dissertation. For detailed instructions on each step, see The Graduate School's  Guide for Electronic Submission of Thesis and Dissertation (PDF) , in addition to this video recording from a workshop given on the subject. 

• Schedule your defense and apply for graduation in DukeHub ( defense and graduation deadlines ).  
• At least 30 days before your defense: Confirm or update your defense committee.  
• Give your thesis/dissertation to your advisor for inspection, and prompt your advisor to send a letter to [email protected] stating that it is complete and ready to defend. Note: For students in School of Medicine Ph.D. programs, their advisor letters are generated through T3.  
• Request your DGSA to send a departmental defense announcement to  [email protected] . Note: For students in School of Medicine Ph.D. programs, their departmental defense announcements are generated through T3.  
• At least 2 weeks before your defense: Submit your complete, correctly formatted dissertation/thesis to ProQuest (initial submission). Also provide it to each member of your committee.  
• Optional: After you receive an email through ProQuest from the Graduate School administrator who reviewed your thesis/dissertation format, you may make an appointment for a brief, virtual meeting with the administrator to discuss any questions you have about the defense process or the recommended formatting revisions.  
• A few days before your defense, The Graduate School will generate your final examination certificate and email it to the chair/co-chair(s) of your examination committee and the DGSA of your department. Note:  For students in School of Medicine Ph.D. programs, their final examination certificates are generated and released through T3.  
• Defend your dissertation. After your final examination, your committee members will vote on whether you passed or failed. Your chair and DGS will record the votes on your final examination certificate, sign it, and submit it to The Graduate School. Your committee may vote that you passed but still require minor edits or corrections before final submission.  
• As soon as possible after your defense, submit to [email protected] the Non-Exclusive Distribution License and Thesis/Dissertation Availability Agreement (“embargo agreement”) signed by yourself and your thesis/dissertation advisor.  
• Within 30 days after your successful defense, or by the established final submission deadline (whichever is first): Submit the final version of your dissertation/thesis to ProQuest.

Guide for Electronic Submission of Thesis and Dissertation (PDF)

We provide the following templates for your convenience and to help you eliminate common formatting errors. However,  all submitted theses and dissertations must meet the specifications listed in the ETD guide . The manuscript must be a completed document, formatted correctly, with no sections left blank.

• Word Template for Thesis/Dissertation (Word)
• LaTeX Template for Thesis/Dissertation (ZIP)

Notes about the LaTeX Template

• This LaTeX template is for both master's and Ph.D. students. Master's theses must also have an abstract title page.
• Neither The Graduate School nor OIT supports LaTeX beyond providing this template.

Ph.D. and master’s students are required to apply for graduation in  DukeHub  by the established application deadline for the semester in which they plan to graduate.

Review the full graduation guidelines on the  Graduation Information and Deadlines  page. 

When you submit your thesis or dissertation electronically, you will also permit Duke University to make it available online through  DukeSpace  at Duke Libraries. See the pages below for more information about ETDs:

• ETDs Overview
• ETD Availability
• ETD Copyright Information 
• ETD Technical Help 

Check out the writing support  offered by The Graduate School, such as writing spaces, consultations, and access to online writing workshops, communities, and resources.

• Public Lectures
• Faculty & Staff Site >>

Thesis/Dissertation

To graduate with a master’s (thesis program) or doctoral (dissertation program) degree, students are required to submit an Electronic Thesis/Dissertation (ETD) and a Committee Approval Form to the Graduate School through the  UW ETD Administrator Site . ETDs are distributed by ProQuest/UMI Dissertation Publishing and made available on an open access basis through UW Libraries  ResearchWorks Service .

The Graduate School partners with the UW Libraries to provide comprehensive resources for students as they write, submit, and publish academic theses or dissertations. These pages outline information and policies related to preparing your thesis/dissertation, including formatting, deadlines, copyright and distribution decisions, and, ultimately, graduation. We also encourage you to review the  ETD Library Guide  for additional information.

For comprehensive information on preparing to graduate, please refer to our graduation requirements information page .

Writing Your Thesis or Dissertation

Etd resources.

As a starting point, students submitting an ETD are encouraged to review the below resources:

• Hacking the Academy: UW Theses & Dissertations (Recording of July 29, 2020 event) This session helps students think through their options for how and when to share their work, including the copyright and publishing considerations they may need to take into account.
• Electronic Theses & Dissertations with the UW Libraries The University Libraries welcomes you to this self-guided course on electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs) at the UW. In this five-part learning experience, you will learn a lot about the ETD process including how the submission process works, how to give and receive recognition for your work, how to find and interpret publisher policies and how to read and inspect publishing contracts.

Formatting Guidelines

After you submit your ETD, the Graduate School will review your document as part of the graduation process at the end of each quarter. We will review for information accuracy, consistency, and to ensure your ETD meets the formatting requirements described below. There are three required sections (pages) that must be included at the beginning of your manuscript: 1) Title Page, 2) Copyright Page, 3) Abstract. Templates for these sections are provided below.

Apart from these first three pages, the Graduate School does not adhere to any specific formatting or publishing requirements unless explicitly stated by the ProQuest Author Guide: Preparing Your Manuscript for Submission (provided below). You should refer to the citation, formatting, and style specifications of your discipline and the guidance of your supervisory committee.  Note: theses and dissertations must be submitted in PDF format.

For a complete overview of the graduation process, please review  Preparing to Graduate .

Required Sections:

• Must include all items listed in the sample title page and placed in the same order
• May be the first or second page of your document
• Title of document
• Author’s Full Name
• Name of degree as it will appear on your diploma
• Year of graduation
• Names of chair/committee members (do not include signatures or professional titles, e.g. Dr. or PhD, before/after faculty names)
• Program authorized to offer degree (school or department)
• Name and year must match title pages
• List the year of graduation
• Place abstract after copyright and title page

Master’s Thesis Approval Form:

You are required to upload a completed and signed Master’s Thesis Approval Form into the UW ETD Administrator (ProQuest) site; the Approval Form is part of your ETD submission. This Approval Form is a separate PDF and should not be included as a page in the thesis or dissertation itself.

• Master’s Thesis Approval Form

Electronic Doctoral Dissertation Approval:

Final Exams scheduled after March 3, 2020 include a link for Reading Committee Members to approve the dissertation online at MyGrad Committee View.

ETD Formatting Resources:

• Thesis/Dissertation Formatting Checklist  – a quick reference guide of the formatting do’s and don’ts provided below.
• ProQuest Dissertation Publishing — Author Guide: Preparing Your Manuscript for Submission
• ProQuest Online Submission FAQs
• Master’s Thesis Title Page – Fillable PDF Template 
• Doctoral Dissertation Title Page – Fillable PDF Template
• Word Templates  – Alex Mamishev, Professor in Electrical Engineering maintains a Word file that other students may find useful when formatting their document.

Common ETD Formatting Revisions Requested

To ensure timely graduating, take some time before you submit to review this information and ProQuest’s document formatting guidelines. These are all common errors and revisions the Graduate School will request when reviewing ETD formatting. You will be required to resubmit if revisions are needed. Be precise, and consistent as you format your document.  Many formatting errors result from following a fellow or former student’s example, so it’s important to review the most current templates and guidelines.

Title Page, Copyright Page, Abstract

Language requirement.

Your document must be written in English ( policy 1.1.4.3 ). If you need to write your document in another language to accommodate the main audience, you must get prior approval to do so by  submitting a petition the dean via MyGrad . If the petition is approved, the required sections (title page, copyright page, abstract) must still be written in English.

Plagiarism is using words, ideas, diagrams, and other content from publicly available work without appropriately acknowledging the sources of these materials. This definition constitutes plagiarism whether it is intentional or unintentional and whether it is the work of another or your own, previously published work.

Plagiarism is a very serious offense that the University of Washington does not tolerate. Evidence of plagiarism may prevent granting of your degree.

Submitting and Publishing

Submitting for dissemination and access.

The Graduate School and the Libraries require that all UW theses and dissertations be submitted electronically for management efficiency, cost control, ease of dissemination, and long-term preservation reasons. In addition, your ETD must eventually be made available openly on the web. Your ETD will be hosted in both UW’s institutional repository,  ResearchWorks , and in  ProQuest’s ETD Database .  Consequently, you will need to indicate your choices in two sections about how your ETD is made available. Most students choose to make their work available immediately, but you can choose to limit access  temporarily  before making it available openly.

Students may restrict access to their theses and dissertations…

• while seeking to publish journal articles or books based on them,
• to protect intellectual property during the patent application process, or
• to prevent the disclosure of sensitive or classified information.

During the submission process, you will select ProQuest and ResearchWorks (Institutional Repository, or IR) publication options. The options are summarized on a table below, followed by selected scenarios to assist you in making your decisions.

IMPORTANT: The metadata describing your ETD, including the citation and abstract, is openly available  immediately— regardless of the embargo or restriction status. This information is searchable by Google, Bing and other search engines, so take care that neither the descriptive information nor the text contain confidential or sensitive information.

Selecting Access Options

Selected etd access scenarios.

The UW Libraries and the Graduate School are committed to the goal of sharing graduate students’ research as soon and as widely as possible, while allowing students to temporarily limit access to their theses and dissertations for such reasons as to support formal publication in journal article or book form or to allow time for filing patents. Below are some examples of how students may wish to use these options to support their publishing or intellectual property-protection goals.

Discussion of Scenarios

• Journal Article Publishing. In recent years graduate students – especially in scientific, medical and technical fields — have increasingly been publishing results of their research in journals.
• The “Research Article” Dissertation. In some disciplines students may be expected to publish 2 or more journal articles during the course of their studies and submit them as the core of their thesis or dissertation — along with an introduction, literature review, and conclusions. Because this has become so common, most journals now permit authors to immediately republish their articles within their theses or dissertations as long as they provide the full article citation and a statement that an article is being “reprinted with permission” of the journal. However, some other journals allow the practice but require that an article not appear on an open access basis before a delay of 6 or 12 months. The Libraries strongly suggests that students become familiar with the policies in place at the journals in which they would like to publish their work, and choose appropriate access restrictions if needed when they submit their ETD’s.
• Book Publishing. Some students in such humanities and social science disciplines as history and political science may hope to publish a revised version of their dissertation as their first book. As they consider that possibility they may be concerned they might undermine their prospects by making their dissertations widely available via ProQuest and/or on an open access basis.Before deciding whether or for how long to limit access to their work based on these concerns, The Libraries recommends students become familiar with the arguments and evidence put forward on these issues. For example, Cirasella and Thistlethwaite 3 and Courtney and Kilcer 4 provide excellent discussions of issues and review recent literature, while William Germano’s classic From Dissertation to Book 5 and Beth Luey’s Revising Your Dissertation 6 offer important insight into what might be involved during the dissertation revision process. While the Libraries recommends that most students hoping to publish their dissertations as books make them widely available while they work toward that goal, they should feel free to consider choosing otherwise, such as “Immediate Access” for ProQuest and limiting to UW for five years – at the end of which students may request additional time.
• Patent Protection Strategies. Students whose theses or dissertations describe work for which patent protection might be appropriate should contact Jesse Kindra at CoMotion ( [email protected] or 206 616-9658) prior to submitting their work to ProQuest and choosing access restrictions. Depending on the circumstances, a student may choose to completely withhold access for one year, but should recognize that doing so will prevent anyone else at the UW from having access to it during the restricted access period. To exercise this option, students should delay releasing their work to ProQuest for 1 or 2 years, and then choose “No access for 1 year, then make Open Access” from the Institutional Repository (IR) Publishing Options menu for the UW copy. In unusual circumstances, requests for access to be withheld an additional year may be considered. To make such a request, students should describe the reason(s) for it in an email to [email protected] prior to expiration of the original embargo period.

1 Marisa L. Ramirez, Joan T. Dalton, Gail McMillan, Max Read and Nancy H. Seamans, “Do Open Access Electronic Theses and Dissertations Diminish Publishing Opportunities in the Social Sciences and Humanities,” College and Research Libraries 74 (July 2013): 368‐80, http://crl.acrl.org/content/74/4/368.full.pdf+html .

2 Marisa Ramirez, Gail McMillan, Joan T. Dalton, Ann Hanlon, Heather S. Smith and Chelsea Kern, “Do Open Access Electronic Theses and Dissertations Diminish Publishing Opportunities in the Sciences?” College and Research Libraries 75 (November 2014): 808-21, http://crl.acrl.org/content/75/6/808.full.pdf+html .

3 Jill Cirasella and Polly Thistlethwaite, “Open Access and the Graduate Author: A Dissertation Anxiety Manual,” pp. 203-224 in Open Access and the Future of Scholarly Communication: Implementation (Kevin L. Smith and Katherine A. Dickson, eds.: Rowman and Littlefield, 2017), http://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_pubs/286/ .

4 Kyle K. Courtney and Emily Kilcer, “From Apprehension to Comprehension: Addressing Anxieties about Open Access to ETD’s,” pp. 225-244 in Open Access and the Future of Scholarly Communication: Implementation (Kevin L. Smith and Katherine A. Dickson, eds.: Rowman and Littlefield, 2017).

5 William Germano. 2013. From Dissertation to Book, 2d. ed. : University of Chicago Press.

6 Beth Luey (ed.). 2008. Revising Your Dissertation: Advice from Leading Editors. University of California Press.

Publishing Agreements

When you submit your ETD for review and publication, you will be required to read and accept two separate publishing agreements. You will also have to decide whether to publish your work right away or to delay its release. Additional pages within this section will outline all the considerations to keep in mind, when deciding how to make your work available to the scholarly community.

All students writing a thesis or dissertation should review the UW Libraries Copyright Research Guide . Understanding copyright law is another critical aspect as you write your thesis or dissertation.  As you compose your work, ask yourself the following questions:

• Have you referenced others’ work? If so, you either need to get explicit permission from the rights holder or to determine that your use is Fair.
• Have you previously published any part of the work? If you’ve signed your copyright over to your publisher, you will need permission to use your material in your thesis.

Ordering Paper Copies

There are no required fees , although you have the option to register your copyright via ProQuest for a fee. If you want to order bound (paper) copies of your document, you may do so through the UW Copy Centers or through ProQuest. Questions should be directed to the UW Copy Centers or to ProQuest at 1.800.521.0600 ext. 77020 — available 8 a.m.–5 p.m. EST, Monday through Friday (excluding U.S. holidays).

Frequently Asked Questions

I created an account in the etd administrator site, but i’m not ready to submit my etd. can i come back to my account later.

Yes. If you need to finish your submission later (for instance, if you need to update your PDF file before uploading it), you can save your information and come back to finish. No information will be lost.

I submitted my ETD but would like to make an edit to the document. How can I edit my submission?

Once your thesis/dissertation is submitted, no additional changes to the document are allowed with the exception of a major data error in the document. In this circumstance, a letter outlining the necessary changes is required from your supervisory committee chair.

What will the Graduate School be reviewing after I submit my ETD?

Submissions are reviewed by GEMS advisors for formatting requirements for the three required sections — title page, copyright page, abstract — before they are delivered to ProQuest for publication. We are checking for accuracy and consistency. Refer to the Formatting Guidelines section on this page for detailed information.

I submitted my ETD and haven't heard anything yet. When will it be reviewed?

We try to review all ETDs as they are received, but if you submit early in the quarter it may not be acted on immediately. If you need to confirm completion of your degree requirements to an external agency or employer, please access the request for letter of certification in the forms section of our Additional Resources page (once your degree has posted to your UW transcript, we can no longer issue this letter). In general, ETDs are reviewed in the last two to three weeks before the quarter ends and after the last day of the quarter. When your submission has been accepted by a GEMS advisor, you will receive email confirmation.

How can I tell if my ETD was submitted and received by the Graduate School?

When your ETD is successfully submitted and pending review, the status will read “submission in review.”

When will my ETD be made available for access?

This depends on the type of access restrictions you selected when creating your account. However, your submission will be delivered to ProQuest for publishing four to six weeks after graduation and you will receive email confirmation when this has occurred. It should be available in UW ResearchWorks around the same time.

When will the printed dissertation / thesis copies I ordered from ProQuest be ready?

After you receive the email confirmation that UW has “delivered” your submission (ETD) to ProQuest, you should please refer to the ProQuest customer service guidelines for the expected delivery date of your order.

What if I am missing a faculty signature for my thesis or dissertation, or I have encountered difficulties in uploading my ETD? Must I pay the graduate registration waiver fee and graduate in the following quarter?

If you encounter these types of situations, contact Graduate Enrollment Management Services (206.685.2630 or  [email protected] ) as early as possible and no later than the last day of the quarter in which you intend to graduate.

Additional Resources

• Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) Guide  (start here!)
• Copyright and Fair Use
• Open Access
• Scholarly Publishing
• ProQuest/UMI Agreement — Traditional Publishing Agreement
• University Agreement — UW Libraries Thesis and Dissertation Submission Agreement
• UW Human Subjects Division (HSD)
• UW CoMotion

• Graduate Programs in Biostatistics

PhD Qualifying Exams & Dissertation Requirements

Phd qualifying exams, preliminary written statistics and biostatistics examination.

The PhD Written Qualifying Examination has two parts: A statistical theory part, developed and scored by the Statistics Group within the Math Department; and a biostatistics part, developed and scored by the Division of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics within the Department of FMPH. The exam committees in charge may be different for each part of the exam. Whether or not students pass or fail is determined separately by the exam committees for the Statistical Theory part and the Biostatistics part of the exam. The student must pass both QEs at the PhD-provisional pass level or higher, with one QE receiving a PhD pass grade. Each exam committee will forward its recommendation to the chair of the Graduate Program Committee, which will be the final arbiter of pass or fail.

The PhD written qualifying examination will be given at the end of each spring quarter and also at the beginning of each fall quarter. Students in the PhD program must attempt the exam in the spring quarter immediately after they complete both the Math 281A-B-C and FMPH 221-223 core course series. A well-prepared student will take these exams during the first year of the program. Otherwise, they are expected to take the exams during the second year of the program. Students must pass both QEs by the end of the second year in the program. At least one of the exams must be completed with a provisional PhD pass or better by the end of the first year. Failure to meet the passing requirements (i.e.,PhD-provisional pass or better on both QEs with at least one PhD-level pass by the end of the second year) on the QEs after two attempts will result in a recommendation to the Dean of Graduate Studies for disqualification of the student in the PhD program and dismissal from the University.

Scientific Research Examination

Students in the PhD program must also pass a Scientific Research Examination. This consists of a seminar presentation of a statistical application in a particular area of life sciences. The presentation will be evaluated by an ad-hoc committee of three faculty members, including at least one outside (non-statistician) member with expertise in the area of application. The exam is taken Pass/Fail. The student is allowed two attempts at taking this exam. The student should pass this requirement prior to the end of the third year of study. The presentation will be evaluated on the students’ demonstration of a sufficient understanding of the area of application, and on the relevance of the statistical approach to this area.

Advancement to Candidacy

It is expected that by the end of the third year (9 quarters), students should have a field of research chosen and a faculty member willing to direct and guide them. A student will advance to candidacy after successfully passing the oral qualifying examination, which deals primarily with the area of research proposed. The student will also have successfully completed at least 64 units of required and elective courses within the Program. More information on the process can be found   here .

Exams taken before receiving committee membership approval from Graduate Education and Postdoctoral Affairs (GEPA) may be deemed null and void. Students must be registered during the quarters in which they take any portion of their QE. To be eligible for the QE, the student must have:

• A “B” average in all work done in graduate standing;
• Satisfied all departmental or group requirements; and
• Removed all academic deficiencies

The preparation for the exam will be done by working closely with a faculty mentor (independent study) who is a regular member of the interdepartmental Program in Biostatistics. The exam committee consists of the Doctoral Committee. The PhD Qualifying Examination examines a student on the breadth and depth of knowledge expected from the coursework taken, and a special research topic approved by the committee. The primary purpose of the QE is to validate that the student is academically qualified to conceptualize a research topic, undertake scholarly research and clearly communicate its results, and successfully produce the dissertation required for a doctoral degree. A thirty minute presentation given by the student is followed by a question period that covers the special research topic as well as coursework in general.

GEPA guidelines for PhD Qualifying Examinations apply and may be viewed here . A student who passes the PhD QE is eligible for Advancement to Candidacy for the PhD degree. Title and abstract of the PhD QE presentation will be distributed to all faculty and students of the participating departments in the Program in Biostatistics, who are invited to attend the presentation portion of the examination. The subsequent question period is a closed session between the student and the committee. The student must file the appropriate paperwork with the Office of Graduate Studies (assisted by the Graduate Coordinator) and pay the candidacy fee to be promoted to Candidacy for the PhD degree. The candidacy fee will post to the student's bill and is the student's responsibility to pay. 

Qualifying Exam: Outcomes. A committee, having reached a unanimous decision, shall inform the student of its decision as “Pass” (no conditions may be appended to this decision), “Not Pass” (the Chair’s report should specify whether the student is required to retake all or part of the exam, list any additional requirements, and state the exact timeline for completion of requirements to achieve a “Pass”) or “Fail”. If a unanimous decision takes the form of “Not Pass” or “Fail”, the Chair of the QE committee must include in its report a specific statement, agreed to by all members of the committee, explaining its decision and must inform the student of its decision. Having received a “Not Pass” or “Fail”, the student may attempt the QE one additional time. After a second exam, a vote of “Not Pass” is unacceptable; only “Pass” or “Fail” is recognized. Only one retake of the QE is allowed. A student who fails the QE on the second attempt will be recommended to the Dean of Graduate Studies for disqualification from the PhD program.

PhD Dissertation Requirements

Doctoral dissertation.

The doctoral dissertation is an essential part of the PhD program. A topic will be selected by the student, under the advice and guidance of a Major Professor (thesis adviser) and a Dissertation Committee chaired by the Major Professor. The Committee is composed of at least 4 members with UC San Diego faculty appointments; at least 1 member must have a primary appointment in a different department than your chair's primary department; at least 2 members must be from Biostatistics. Students are encouraged to begin some research activity as early as possible during the second year of their graduate studies, and to use the Biostatistics Rotation to assess potential thesis advisers. The dissertation must contain an original contribution of quality that would be acceptable for publication in the biostatistics literature that extends the theory or methodology of biostatistics, or extends biostatistical methods to solve a critical problem in applied disciplines.  More details on the dissertation can be found here .

Dissertation Defense

The entire dissertation committee will conduct a final oral examination, which will deal primarily with questions arising out of the relationship of the dissertation to the field of Biostatistics. The final examination will be conducted in two parts. The first part consists of a one-hour presentation by the candidate followed by a brief period of questions pertaining to the presentation; this part of the examination is open to the public. The second part of the examination will immediately follow the first part; this is a closed session between the student and the committee and will consist of a period of questioning by the committee members. Title and abstract of the oral presentation will be distributed to all faculty and students of departments that participate in the Biostatistics.

Normative Time to Degree

The normative time for the PhD in Biostatistics is five years; a student must have advanced to candidacy by the end of 11 quarters. A student is eligible for support for a maximum of five years. The final thesis defense must have been conducted by the end of the 5th year.

Students must pass two written qualifying exams at the PhD level by the end of their second year. At least one of the exams must be completed with a provisional PhD pass or better by the end of the first year. In the second year, a student begins Biostatistics Rotations so that they become familiar with the process of doing research and familiarize themselves with a number of faculty members who may serve as their advisor. Optimally, a student advances to candidacy sometime in their third year; a student must have advanced to candidacy by the end of 11 quarters. This allows for the fourth and fifth year to concentrate on research and produce a thesis. In contrast to coursework, research is an unpredictable endeavor, so it is in the interest of the student to have as much time as possible to produce a thesis.

• PhD Milestones
• PhD Course Requirements
• PhD Qualifying Exams & Dissertation

• Youth Program
• Wharton Online

How the PhD Program Works

Program Overview

Completing your doctorate at Wharton requires 5 years of full-time study. The first 2 years in the program prepare you for admission to candidacy by taking courses, qualifying exams, and starting research projects. In the last few years, you are primarily conducting research full-time including writing and defending your doctoral dissertation.

Admission to candidacy.

You begin by taking courses required for your program of study. All programs requires a preliminary exam, which may be either oral or written.

Some programs may have further requirements, such as an additional exam or research paper. If you enter with a master’s degree or other transfer credit, you may satisfy the formal course requirements more quickly.

Beginning the Wharton PhD Curriculum How the first two years of the Wharton program helped students discover their interests, learn the tools of the profession, and fuel their passion for teaching.

The Doctoral Dissertation

Upon successful completion of coursework and passing a preliminary examination, you are admitted to candidacy for the dissertation phase of your studies.

Your doctoral dissertation should contain original research that meets standards for published scholarship in your field. You are expected to be an expert in the topic you choose to research.

You are admitted to candidacy for the dissertation phase of your studies upon successful completion of coursework and passing a preliminary examination, but you can start thinking about and working on research of relevance at any time.

The dissertation process culminates with a “defense,” in which you defend the proposal orally before your dissertation committee.

While working on your dissertation, you interact extensively with Wharton faculty. Together with interested faculty, you create your own research community that includes your dissertation advisor and dissertation committee.

Policies and Procedures

Get more detailed explanation of course requirements, academic standards, the Teacher Development Program, time limits, and dissertation procedures and requirements.

Sample Program Sequence

Years 1 & 2.

Coursework Examination Research Papers Research Activities Field-Specific Requirements

Directed Reading & Research Admission to Candidacy Formulation of Research Topic

Years 4 & 5

Continued Research Oral Examination Dissertation

Hear From Our Doctoral Community

From phd student to colleague, faculty expertise in housing economics attracted this phd student to wharton, what brought this cdc researcher to wharton's phd program.

• Organismic and Evolutionary Biology
• Introduction

Harvard Griffin GSAS strives to provide students with timely, accurate, and clear information. If you need help understanding a specific policy, please contact the office that administers that policy.

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Questions about these requirements? See the contact info at the bottom of the page. 

Requirements for the PhD Degree

Course requirements.

All first-year students are required to complete OEB399.

All courses must be taught by OEB faculty members or be courses in other departments approved by the OEB Graduate Committee. The grade minimum for graded courses is B-. OEB students must maintain a grade point average of at least a B (3.00) each academic year; the grade point average is weighted for each course based on the number of course credits. For example, a grade received in a two-credit course proportionally impacts the grade point average compared to a four-credit course. 

Students admitted in 2017 or later  are required to have completed four graded, four-credit courses by the end of their second year and a total of six graded, four-credit courses by the end of their third year. Students may fulfill up to two of these six total course requirements by teaching unique courses. For instance, a student who takes four graded courses and teaches two unique courses during their first three years would fulfill this requirement. A student can count a course once as a student and once (but not more than once) as a Teaching Fellow.  

For some students, specific courses may be prescribed by the OEB Graduate Committee. No student can be expected to have deep knowledge of all areas of modern biology, but all OEB graduate students are expected to have some familiarity with biological processes in (i) suborganismic (molecular and cellular biology), (ii) organismic (structure and function) and (iii) supraorganismic levels (evolution and ecology). Students are also expected to have competence in (iv) basic mathematics and statistics. Soon after their arrival at Harvard University, incoming students will meet with their advisor and members of the OEB Graduate Committee to review the student’s previous coursework, identify any gaps in basic knowledge, and develop a plan of study. If gaps are identified in any of the basic areas (i)–(iv), this plan of study will include prescribed courses to be completed by the end of the student’s second year with a grade of B- or better. All prescribed courses count toward the requirement for six graded four-credit courses. 

Students admitted prior to 2017 are required to have completed any prescribed courses by the time of their qualifying examination and a minimum of four graded courses by the time they defend their dissertation. With advisor approval, students may opt to take courses beyond their four-course requirement. The grade minimum for graded courses is B-. OEB students must maintain a grade point average of at least a B (3.00) each academic year; the grade point average is weighted for each course based on the number of course credits. For example, a grade received in a two-credit course proportionally impacts the grade point average compared to a four-credit course. 

Pedagogical Requirements

Teaching in the first year is not allowed per Harvard Griffin GSAS policy.

For students admitted in 2016 and later , the department requires at least three teaching fellow assignments for completion of the degree. Students must teach at least two different courses over at least two different terms. As part of your dissertation proposal for the qualifying examination, you should develop a teaching plan that will help you balance factors, including when courses of interest are being offered and when you might have a particularly intense field or laboratory work. 

Students admitted prior to 2016  are required to complete two teaching fellow assignments to meet the pedagogical requirement. 

Satisfactory Progress Requirements

All students in the Harvard Kenneth C. Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences must be making satisfactory progress in order to be eligible for any type of financial aid. The following provisions are the interpretation of satisfactory progress for graduate students in OEB.

• During the first two years of graduate study, any student who is permitted to register is considered to be making satisfactory progress. OEB students are required to enroll and participate in OEB 399 in their first year.
• Students admitted in  2017 and later  must have completed four letter-graded courses (including all prescribed courses) and have taken the qualifying examination by the end of the second year. Students admitted  before 2017  are simply required to complete their prescribed courses and their qualifying examination by the end of the second year. Students can petition the OEB Graduate Committee to have their qualifying examination deferred until their third year. Such a petition takes the form of a written request to the director of graduate studies (DGS), endorsed by your advisor, and submitted during the second year. A deferral, if granted by the OEB Graduate Committee, does not change the requirement that a student who has not passed the qualifying examination by the end of their third year will be expected to withdraw. OEB students must maintain a grade point average of at least a B (3.00) each academic year; the grade point average is weighted for each course based on the number of course credits. For example, a grade received in a two-credit course proportionally impacts the grade point average compared to a four-credit course.
• Students admitted in  2017 and later  must have passed the qualifying examination and completed six letter-graded courses by the end of the third year. Students admitted  before 2017  must complete four letter-graded courses by the time they defend their dissertation.
• After passing the qualifying examination, students must hold a yearly dissertation advisory committee meeting and be judged to be making satisfactory progress.
• Students in their fourth year must participate in the G4 symposium in the spring.
• A student who is judged not to be making satisfactory progress may, with department endorsement, be placed on  grace status  for up to one year. Students on grace status remain eligible for financial aid during this period but cannot hold teaching appointments. At the end of the grace period, the student must have rectified the deficiency and be in compliance with all other established criteria in order to be considered to be making satisfactory progress. A student is ordinarily allowed only one period of grace.
• As noted above, the calendar of requirements may be interrupted by a single year of department-approved leave. In the particular case of a student who wishes to obtain a professional degree, the approved leave period can be extended beyond a single year.

Qualifying Examination

The qualifying examination is an oral examination conducted to assess whether the student has a well-designed research plan for their dissertation and to examine the student’s knowledge in broad areas of organismic and evolutionary biology. Students are expected to have taken the qualifying examination before the end of the second year of graduate study (exceptions may be granted by petition to the OEB Graduate Committee) and, at the very latest, to have passed the examination before the end of the third year of graduate study.

The qualifying examination committee consists of the student’s advisor and at least three other individuals. At least three committee members, including the chair,  must be members of the OEB faculty. Students should choose their committee chair (any OEB faculty committee member except their advisor) in consultation with their advisor. They should invite the chair to serve in that capacity when they invite them to serve on the committee. Students must obtain DGS approval of their qualifying examination committee and chair designation prior to submitting a notice of their examination to the senior academic programs administrator.

Students contact their committee to arrange an examination date and time. Three hours must be allotted for the meeting. Students should be aware that many faculty members may not be available when classes are not in session. Students are advised to remind faculty of the time and place of the meeting several days before the examination.

During the exam,  students will be tested on three broad topics pertinent to, but not restricted to, the specific topic of the proposed or ongoing dissertation studies. Topics should overlap a little and should be broad in scope. Students must obtain approval from the DGS for the three exam topics for these syllabi. After DGS approval, the student prepares a course syllabus outline for each topic. At least two of these courses should be modeled on a one-term lecture course meeting two to three times a week and addressing a broad area of biological knowledge. One course can be an advanced-level seminar on a more specialized topic. These syllabi will serve as a guide for the qualifying examination committee members to begin asking questions. However, committee members are not limited to asking questions directly relevant to the syllabi. Students are encouraged to meet with committee members before the examination to discuss questions that might be asked and to receive advice and recommendations on specific material that may be worth reviewing. There are no set guidelines on syllabus format; they should be modeled after those commonly distributed at the beginning of OEB courses. Students should consult with their advisor on the format.

The student is also expected to prepare a written dissertation   research proposal  for the qualifying examination committee.  Students should consult with their advisor about the format. In the examination, students will present a brief oral presentation on the proposal, designed to last approximately 15 to 20 minutes, not counting questions (recalling that committee members will have read the proposal so that it is neither necessary nor desirable to review everything in it).

The syllabi and dissertation proposal must be electronically distributed to qualifying examination committee members and the senior academic programs administrator at least two weeks before the examination. Failure to do so will result in the postponement of the examination .  

The qualifying examination committee chair will be in charge of the examination. At the outset, the student will be asked to leave the room so that the committee can discuss progress to date and ensure course prescriptions have been fulfilled. The advisor will then be asked to leave the room for the student to talk with the other committee members. After the advisor’s return, the student will then make their oral presentation, after which committee members will ask questions. Usually, committee members take turns, each asking several questions, with several rounds of questioning. At the end of the examination, students will again be asked to leave the room.

After the exam , students who passed the qualifying examination will be promptly notified and approved for the continuation of dissertation studies and advancement to doctoral candidacy. At least one term should ordinarily elapse between the qualifying examination and when the dissertation examination can be held. The qualifying examination committee may pass the student but prescribe additional coursework or other additional work (such as writing a review paper on a particular topic). Completion of this prescribed work is required before the next dissertation advisory committee meeting for the student to be judged at that time as making satisfactory progress.

If the qualifying examination reveals serious deficiencies , the committee may decide: (1) that the student be reexamined at a later date (but not later than the end of the G3 year) or (2) that the student not be admitted to candidacy for the doctoral degree. In the latter case, the committee will recommend that further candidacy be terminated not later than the end of the ongoing academic year. The recommendation to terminate must be reviewed and approved by the OEB graduate committee. The student, together with the advisor, may appeal any such decision by submitting to the OEB graduate committee written arguments for a reversal of the decision to terminate. Under such circumstances, the case will be further reviewed by the OEB graduate committee and the department before a final decision is rendered.

Dissertation Advisory Committee Meetings

Students have opportunities to review their dissertation project, its progress, and future potential with their dissertation advisory committee (DAC) in annual DAC meetings.  The first DAC meeting should be held no later than one year after the qualifying examination and at one-year (or shorter) intervals thereafter.  The student should present a brief account of any results obtained and plans for additional research. The DAC should indicate to the student whether it anticipates that the dissertation will be acceptable. It should also suggest improvement where needed. The DAC meeting is not intended to be an oral "examination,” but the DAC must approve the student’s progress and plans. If the DAC does not approve, then the student will be considered not to be making satisfactory progress, and a plan must be prepared to return to good standing within six months. Failure to do so may lead the DAC to recommend dismissal from the graduate program. Students more than six months late in holding a DAC meeting will automatically be considered not to be making satisfactory progress.

The DAC will consist of the student’s advisor and at least two other members. At least three members of the DAC must be OEB faculty. Additional members affiliated with other departments or institutions may be added after consultation with the advisor. Students should choose their DAC chair (any OEB faculty committee member except their advisor) in consultation with their advisor when they are assembling their DAC. The overall composition of the DAC must be approved by the DGS. The members of the DAC will, in most cases, also constitute the dissertation examination committee. In some situations, scheduling a meeting that all DAC members can attend may not be possible. With permission of the advisor and the DGS, one DAC member may be absent from the meeting, as long as arrangements are made for the student to meet separately with that DAC member. 

Dissertation Presentation and Examination

All graduate students in the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology come under the jurisdiction of the OEB graduate committee. The DGS is authorized to approve all examination committees appointed for doctoral candidates.

1.  Application for the PhD Degree

Information on the degree  application is available on the  Harvard Griffin GSAS website . Students can find updated degree applications on the Harvard Griffin GSAS  Degree Calendar  and  Academic Calendar  pages. All applications must be approved by the DGS. Students should be aware that many committee members are not available for dissertation defenses when courses are not in session.

2.  Dissertation Presentation

The student must present the subject matter of the dissertation in a seminar open to the community and to which the members of the dissertation examination committee have been invited. This presentation shall take place prior to the dissertation examination. The senior academic programs administrator will send out notice of the public presentation to the OEB community two weeks prior to the date. A copy of the posted notice of the seminar will become part of the student's record.

3.  Dissertation Abstract

Each PhD candidate will prepare an abstract of the dissertation —ordinarily limited to one page, single-spaced—and submit it to the senior academic programs administrator two weeks prior to the date of the dissertation examination. Copies of the dissertation abstract will be distributed to the OEB community.

4.  Dissertation Examination

The  dissertation  is written under the supervision of the student's research advisor and should conform to the standards outlined in the Harvard Griffin GSAS policy page on  Dissertations .

The  Dissertation Examination Committee  will consist of the student’s advisor and at least two other members. At least three members of the committee must be members of the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology. Additional members affiliated with other departments or institutions may be added by the advisor. As with the DAC, the committee chair must be an OEB faculty member who is not the student's advisor. The overall composition of the committee must be approved by the DGS. 

The senior academic programs administrator and the DGS must be notified of the  time and location of the dissertation   examination at least four weeks prior to the date  desired. The candidate must electronically distribute to their dissertation examination committee and the student academic programs administrator  their dissertation in final form at least 10 business days prior to the defense date .  Failure to electronically distribute the finalized dissertation to the dissertation examination committee and the senior academic programs administrator 10 business days prior to the exam date will automatically lead to postponement of the dissertation defense.

The student should observe the final dates for holding the dissertation examination indicated in the  Academic Calendar  posted on the Harvard Griffin GSAS website. It is strongly suggested that the dissertation examination be held at least one month prior to the dissertation electronic submission deadline to allow time for revisions; students should not expect committee members to approve a dissertation because a student has an impending deadline.

After examination, the dissertation examination committee will decide whether the candidate will pass, fail, or pass on the condition that specified changes be made to the dissertation (because students are often required to do additional work before the dissertation is passed, we recommend that students defend two to four weeks before degree filing or other deadlines). The dissertation examination committee may delegate to its chair the responsibility for seeing that such changes are made in a satisfactory manner before the award of the degree is recommended to the department by the graduate committee. The student's advisor should make such certification in writing to the DGS.

If possible, students should schedule their last DAC meeting one to three months before their dissertation defense. At this time, they should review the dissertation thoroughly, allowing committee members to identify issues that should be rectified prior to the presentation of the dissertation. Holding such a DAC meeting is the best way to ensure that problems are identified prior to the defense, thus minimizing the chance that the committee will require substantial additional work that may delay awarding of the degree.

In rare cases, it may be possible to hold the dissertation exam with one committee member absent. Arrangements must be made for that committee member to confer with the advisor prior to the dissertation being approved. Approval for such an arrangement must come from the DGS and only will be granted under unusual circumstances.

5.  Filing the Dissertation 

Students should consult the  dissertation submission guidelines . Each candidate must be registered in Harvard Griffin GSAS, with the required registration fee(s) paid, at the time the dissertation is filed, as summarized on the  Application for Degree  page. It is the student's responsibility to  electronically   via ProQuest ETD in accordance with the desired graduation date deadline.

Requirements for the AM Degree

The Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology does not admit students whose sole purpose is to study for the Master of Arts (AM) degree.

However, graduate students admitted to  any PhD program  at Harvard University or  OEB graduate students admitted prior to 2017 may apply for the AM degree if they fulfill the following requirements:

• Six letter-graded four-credit courses in the department (or other courses approved by the DGS), with no grades lower than B-. Students must maintain a grade point average of at least a B (3.00) each academic year; the grade point average is weighted for each course based on the number of course credits. For example, a grade received in a two-credit course proportionally impacts the grade point average compared to a four-credit course.  
• AM candidates must submit a written paper based on original research conducted under the guidance of a faculty member in the department. Both the student's advisor and the DGS must send the senior academic programs administrator their written approval of the paper.

OEB graduate students admitted in 2017 and later  may also apply to be awarded the AM degree. The requirements for students within the department are:

• Four graded four-credit courses by the end of their second year. In addition, students must either have completed a total of six graded four-credit courses by the end of their third year, or have completed four graded four-credit courses and acted as a Teaching Fellow in two additional courses by the end of their third year. All courses must be taught by OEB faculty members or be courses in other departments approved by the OEB graduate committee. The grade minimum for graded courses is B-. Students must maintain a grade point average of at least a B (3.00) each academic year; the grade point average is weighted for each course based on the number of course credits. For example, a grade received in a two-credit course proportionally impacts the grade point average compared to a four-credit course.  A student can count a course once as a student and once (but not more than once) as a Teaching Fellow.  All prescribed courses count toward the requirement for six graded four-credit courses.
• A written report based on original research conducted under the guidance of a faculty member in the department (the student’s dissertation proposal will often satisfy this requirement). The student's advisor and the DGS must send the senior academic programs administrator their written approval of the report.

Contact Info

Organismic and Evolutionary Biology Website

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Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry

Get your phd in chemistry.

Thank you for your interest in the graduate program at the University of Iowa Department of Chemistry. The Department has had a chemistry PhD program for over 75 years and currently consists of over 25 research faculty, over 130 graduate students, and over 20 postdoctoral associates, research scientists and visiting scholars. Our graduates and postdocs have accepted positions at leading academic and industrial institutions and national laboratories.

State-of-the-art research labs, support facilities, and classrooms are located in the Chemistry Building and the Iowa Advanced Technology Laboratory. Extensive resources are readily accessible such as NMR, mass spectrometry, and X-ray analysis facilities, advanced computational resources, and complete machine, electronics, and glass shops. In addition to strong programs in the core areas of analytical, inorganic, organic, and physical chemistry, we offer unique research opportunities in emerging interdisciplinary areas such as biocatalysis, natural products, materials, surface science, bioinorganic, chemical sensors, chemical education research, and environmental and atmospheric chemistry.

The Department of Chemistry funds the tuition for all of our graduate students in good standing. In addition, we offer teaching and research assistantships that pay an annual stipend and provide employee benefits such as health insurance. Additional funding from a variety of sources is also available. 

For more information, contact the graduate program by e-mail at [email protected] . 

Student resources

• First year student guide
• Annual review resources
• Teaching assistant resources
• Postdoctoral scholar resources
• Thesis and dissertation
• General catalog
• Current courses

Degree requirements

Competency requirement.

Students must demonstrate basic competency in three chosen sub-disciplines of chemistry (analytical, biochemistry, inorganic, organic, physical). Competency is established in one of the following ways: Scoring at the 50th percentile level (national norm) on the proficiency exam, completing a one-semester review course with a grade of C or better (courses specified below), or completing a one-semester graduate-level/advanced course in that sub-discipline of chemistry with a grade of B or better. The competency requirement must be fulfilled before the beginning of the student's third semester in the graduate program.

Review courses

Courses currently designated as review courses are:

• CHEM:4171 (formerly 4:171): Advanced Analytical Chemistry
• BIOC:3120 (formerly 99:120): Biochemistry and Molecular Biology I
• CHEM:4270 (formerly 4:170): Advanced Inorganic Chemistry
• CHEM:4372 (formerly 4:172): Advanced Organic Chemistry
• CHEM:4431 (formerly 4:131): Physical Chemistry I

Advanced course requirement

Beyond the competency requirements, a minimum of four additional courses that total at least 11 semester hours of graduate credit must be completed by the end of the fourth semester in residence. Grades of "B" or higher must be attained in all of these advanced courses. A grade of "B-" does not meet this requirement. Research, seminar, and pedagogy credits, courses that are doubly listed with sub-100 level numbers, courses taken with the S/U grade option, and courses with grades of "B-" or lower cannot be used to fulfill this requirement. The student is strongly encouraged to develop a detailed course plan that is reviewed and approved by the research advisor.

Comprehensive examination

The oral comprehensive examination is designed to assess the student's overall progress, knowledge of fundamental chemical principles and chosen area of specialization, and general competency for PhD research.

Before the beginning of the second semester after a permanent advisor has been appointed, a Graduate Academic Committee (GAC) of five faculty, at least four from Chemistry, will be formed for each student with a PhD degree objective. The committee will consist of the research advisor and four additional members invited by the student subject to the advisor’s approval.

The five member committee for the comprehensive examination is the same as the student's Graduate Academic Committee (GAC). Additional faculty members may be invited to attend the oral comprehensive examination and may be consulted in judging the presentation when it bears upon their areas of expertise.

To be eligible to take the Comprehensive Examination, the student must have a cumulative average of 3.00 or greater on appropriate graduate coursework at The University of Iowa. Appropriate graduate coursework includes review courses (Section II.B.), graded seminar presentations (Section III.F.), courses that satisfy the advanced course requirement (Section III.A.), and additional courses in chemistry or related disciplines that are judged appropriate by the student’s GAC. Graduate Chemistry Orientation (CHEM:5091, formerly 4:191), Ethics in Chemical Sciences (CHEM:5092, formerly 4;192), Research in Chemistry (CHEM:7999, formerly 4:290) and Research Seminar (CHEM:6990, formerly 4:291) shall be graded on an S/U basis and therefore are not included in the computation of the cumulative average.

The general comprehensive examination requirements set by the Graduate College must be completed by the end of the fourth semester in residence, unless written consent is received from the GAC and is approved by the Departmental Graduate Review Committee (DGRC). A student who fails to meet this requirement may be dropped from the PhD program. A student on academic probation is not eligible to take the comprehensive exam. Students entering with a Master's degree and those exempted from review courses are strongly encouraged to take the comprehensive examination during the second or third semester in residence.

The comprehensive examination is a two-part oral examination. The first part consists of an oral defense of the student's research problem and progress, and will be based upon a written Research Report submitted by the student. The second part consists of an oral defense of an original Research Proposal submitted by the student. The Research Report and the Research Proposal must be submitted (together) prior to five weeks before the last day of classes in the semester during which the examination is to be taken (or, for a spring semester examination, by the last Friday prior to Spring Break, whichever is earlier). It is strongly recommended that the examination be held at the earliest possible date in the semester to facilitate scheduling.

If the GAC approves both the Research Report and the Research Proposal, the oral examination may be scheduled. The student should then complete a Formal Plan of Study and a Request to the Graduate College for the PhD Comprehensive Examination. At the examination, the student will be asked to present a short (20 minute) summary of their research project. During or following this presentation, the committee will ask questions designed to probe the student's understanding of the research topic and important background material, the experimental methods and techniques which are important in the particular area, and the goals and significance of the research. The committee next will examine the candidate's understanding of areas related to the Research Proposal. The student will be asked to give a short (30 minute) presentation of the Research Proposal. The committee will ask questions designed to probe the quality and the student's understanding of the proposal. Typically, however, this discussion will evolve into a wide-ranging examination of the student's general competency in the chemical sciences.

Seminar requirements

Each student is expected to give a minimum of two acceptable seminars. One seminar must cover the student's research. The other may also deal with the student's research, or can be an extensive literature report. The student may register for the appropriate divisional seminar course and receive letter grade credit during those semesters in which the seminars are presented. The final PhD defense cannot be used to meet this requirement.

The research conference/three-month seminar

At least three months before the anticipated final defense, the PhD candidate must meet with their graduate academic committee. If scheduling permits, the research work can be reported as a research seminar during a regularly scheduled divisional seminar, with a subsequent committee meeting for questions and advice.

Final defense of the PhD dissertation

The Dean of the Graduate College will make a public announcement of a candidate’s final defense three weeks prior to the exam date. This final oral examination is open to the public. Dissertation copies must be made available to all members of the examining committee not later than two weeks before the examination date.

Milestones toward the PhD

The milestones on the path toward earning your PhD in chemistry at the University of Iowa are described below. These are illustrative of a typical student; most students follow this path, but some variations are possible.

Typical timelines for PhD completion

Create your academic path.

You'll find degree overviews, requirements, course lists, academic plans, and more to help you plan your education and explore your possibilities.

Current course list

The MyUI Schedule displays registered courses for a particular session and is available to enrolled students. The list view includes course instructors, time and location, and features to drop courses or change sections.