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PhD thesis formatting

There is no official pre-made departmental or University-wide style template for PhD theses. Some argue that learning (and advancing!) the art of beautifully typesetting a thesis is a crucial part of getting a PhD.

Here are some practical recommendations, examples, and useful starting points.

Most PhD authors in the Computer Laboratory prefer LaTeX as their typesetting system (under both Linux or Windows), mainly because of its

• excellent and yet unmatched support for mathematical formulae;
• good support for managing bibliographic references;
• good support for high-quality typography;
• easy integration with software-engineering tools (make, revision control, etc.);
• very safe and robust handling of large documents;
• long-term stability;
• comprehensive free tool support.

A common approach is to use the report style, with a suitable title page added, margins changed to make good use of the A4 format, and various other changes to suit submission requirements and individual tastes (e.g., other fonts).

For preparing publication-quality diagrams, some of the most powerful and popular tools used include:

• PGF/TikZ – the probably most sophisticated drawing package for LaTeX
• matplotlib – Matlab-style function plotting in Python

Official requirements

There used to be detailed Student Registry PhD format requirements , regarding font sizes and line spacing, but most Degree Committees have dropped these, recognizing that they were mainly motivated by past typewriter conventions. The rules left are now mainly about the word count .

In particular, it is no longer necessary for dissertations to be printed single sided or in “one-and-a-half spaced type”. If you still like to increase the line spacing, for easier proofreading, you can achieve this in LaTeX by placing into the preamble the line “ \usepackage{setspace}\onehalfspacing ”.

Recommendations

One Cambridge thesis-binding company, J.S. Wilson & Son , recommend on their web page to leave 30 mm margin on the spine and 20 mm on the other three sides of the A4 pages sent to them. About a centimetre of the left margin is lost when the binder stitches the pages together.

Write your thesis title and section headings in “sentence case”, that is use the same capitalization that you would have used in normal sentences (capitalize only the first word, proper nouns and abbreviations). Avoid the US-style “title case” that some conference-proceedings publishers require.

• Sentence case is normal typographic practice in the UK (see any UK-published newspaper, magazine, journals such as Nature , etc.).
• The catalogues of both the University Library thesis collection and our departmental Technical Report series record titles this way, and you don't want the cataloguers mess with your title capitalization when your thesis finally reaches them.
• It preserves useful information about the correct capitalization of any names or technical terms used.

Page numbers

Use a single page-number sequence for all pages in your thesis, i.e. do not use a separate sequence of Roman numerals for front-matter (title page, abstract, acknowledgements, table of contents, table of figure). In LaTeX that means using the report style, not the book style.

• PDF viewers number pages continuously starting from 1, and using anything else as printed page numbers causes confusion.
• This will save you some reformatting when submitting your thesis as a techreport .

Bibliographic references

If you use purely-numeric bibliographic references, do not forget to still mention authors’ surnames, as a courtesy to both the authors and your readers. Also, try to add the exact page number on which the quoted point is found in the reference; LaTeX supports this really well. (“suggested by Crowcroft and Kuhn [42,p107]”)

Technical Report submission

After a thesis has been approved by the examiners, the author normally submits it for publication as a Computer Laboratory Technical Report .

It is a good idea to read early on the submission guidelines for technical reports , as this may reduce the need to change the formatting later.

If you want to minimize any changes needed between your submitted thesis and the corresponding technical report version, then – in addition to applying all the above advice – you can

• make page 1 the title page,
• make page 2 the required declaration of originality,
• make page 3 the summary, and
• choose a layout suitable for double-sided printing (required for techreport, since 2010 also allowed for final PhD submission).

This way, there is a very high chance that turning your thesis into a techreport could be as simple as replacing pages 1 and 2 with the standard Technical Report title page (which the techreport editor can do for you).

More information

• The Computer Laboratory house style page explains where to find the University identifier that many put on the title page of their thesis.
• Markus Kuhn’s simple PhD thesis template ( snapshot ) is just one possible starting point.
• The cam-thesis LaTeX class is a collaborative effort to maintain a Cambridge PhD thesis template for Computer Laboratory research students, initiated by Jean Martina, Rok Strniša, and Matej Urbas.
• Effective scientific electronic publishing – Markus Kuhn’s notes on putting scientific publications onto the web, especially for LaTeX/LNCS users.
• International Standard ISO 7144 Presentation of theses and similar documents (1986) contains also some general guidelines for formatting dissertations that may be of use.
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The doctoral thesis should contain material of sufficient originality to merit publication. The original material should be adequate to form a substantial basis of a monograph or at least two journal articles. The thesis should demonstrate the candidate's command of the relevant literature.

The thesis should be a coherent piece of work, rather than several disparate pieces of research juxtaposed together. It may include published work, provided it is part of a connected argument and it is in the same format as the rest of the thesis. The thesis may also include appendices which are relevant to the material contained in the thesis but do not form part of the connected argument (e.g. primary source materials that are not readily accessible, questionnaire responses, statistical tables, descriptions of objects or analytical bibliographies).

It is important that you indicate clearly the sources from which you have obtained your information and the extent to which you have made use of the work of others. You are required to include a declaration that it is entirely your own work and that it is not substantially the same as any work you have submitted for another qualification. You should also include a declaration of the length of your thesis, which should be no more than 80,000 words, including footnotes but excluding the bibliography. There are no set expectations for the minimum length. If you need an extension to the word limit, or wish to submit an appendix that does not count towards the word limit, you will need to apply to the Degree Committee for permission, using the form available on CamSIS.

You should write the thesis in English. Quotations from other languages should usually be given in translation with the original text, where appropriate, given in a footnote or appendix.

The thesis should be in typescript on one side only of A4 paper in portrait format. The text should be adequately spaced, with a font size no smaller than 11 point for the main text and 10 point for footnotes. You must include a title page giving your full name, your College, the full title of the thesis and the degree for which it is submitted. A one-page abstract should also be included.

Please note that the form in which your thesis is presented, and the care with which it has been prepared and illustrated, are in themselves evidence of your capabilities and will receive consideration as such. You are strongly advised to check carefully for typing errors, spelling mistakes and poor use of English. Correcting such errors may be a condition of approval for the degree.

In planning your thesis you should take account of the criteria for recommending award of the PhD set out in the Guide to Examiners:

• The thesis is a significant contribution to the field of study through the creation and interpretation of new knowledge, connection of previously unrelated facts or the development of new theory or revision of older views.
• The work is of a quality in whole or in part of a standard to merit publication (whether or not subsequently published).
• The thesis provides evidence of the acquisition of knowledge and a detailed understanding of applicable techniques for research and advanced academic enquiry.
• It is of a quality and quantity to reflect three years of full-time postgraduate study or five years of part-time study.

Collaborative research

Inclusion in the thesis of work carried out in collaboration is unusual and requires the approval of the Degree Committee and Student Registry. If you have been given leave to work in collaboration with others you should indicate clearly which parts of your thesis relate to this work and should state the names of those with whom you have collaborated and the extent to which they have assisted you.

Human participants

If you are planning to collect data from human participants, or use data collected from human participants, you will need to plan well in advance to ensure that you have obtained ethical approval before starting work on your project and have given consideration to how you are going to handle the information you collect.

Working with human participants: ethical approval and data protection

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Before submitting

The word limit is 65,000 words (including appendices, footnotes, tables and equations, but excluding the bibliography). It must not contain more than 150 figures. See  Word limits and requirements of your Degree Committee . If you need to increase your word limit, you must apply for permission via your CamSIS self-service account. Requests for more than 72,000 words will not be considered under any circumstances.

Additional Materials

Additional materials* are defined as materials created by the candidate which are integral to the thesis and essential for examination, but cannot be easily included in the main body of the thesis. Examples may include 3D models, simulations, video or audio recordings, hi-resolution images, or computer programmes. Additional materials are defined as materials created by the candidate which are integral to the thesis and essential for examination, but cannot be easily included in the main body of the thesis. Examples may include 3D models, simulations, video or audio recordings, hi-resolution images, or computer programmes.

If you need to include additional materials , you need permission to do so BEFORE submitting your thesis for examination.

*Please note that additional materials cannot be used to circumvent the thesis maximum word limit

Format and presentation

Please see the information on the  Cambridge Students website.

Your submission deadline

Your PhD thesis should be submitted before the last day of your fourth year of study. You can find your submission deadline on your CamSIS self-service account. The earliest date you can submit is the first day of your ninth term. We strongly advise students to aim to submit within ten terms, or by the end of their funding date, whichever is soonest . This will allow you some contingency time in case of unexpected delays.

Extensions can only be granted in limited circumstances (ie where you have experienced unforeseen delays); see  Extending your submission date . Please ensure that you read and follow the guidance carefully if you need to apply for an extension. If you do not submit by your deadline, you will be removed from the register of graduate students, which will result in you losing access to resources. However, if this happens, you will still be able to submit your thesis at a later date .

Preparing to submit

Four weeks before you intend to submit your thesis, please complete the online  Intention to Submit Form . After consulting with your supervisor, the GSO will arrange for your examiners to be appointed and your title approved. At this point the GSO will add you to the Moodle site so that you can submit your thesis when it is complete.

If you wish to notify examiners of any disability or request adjustments on account of such disability for your viva voce examination (either for your first year assessment or final examination), you can do this via your Degree Committee by completing and submitting the  voluntary disclosure form .

Where and what to submit

You should submit an electronic pdf copy of your thesis via the Engineering Degree Committee thesis submission   Moodle site. Please name the file "PhD_ Your CRSid.pdf" so that it is identifiable.

Providing examiners have been appointed, your thesis will be forwarded to the examiners within two days of receipt by the GSO. For details of where to submit your thesis and what paperwork to include, see  Submitting your Thesis .

After submitting

The oral examination (viva).

We will email you when your thesis has been forwarded to your examiners. You should expect to wait at least 8 weeks for your  oral examination . In most cases the viva will be between you and two examiners, usually one internal and one external.

After your oral examination, you may be asked to make some corrections to your thesis. If your examiners do not provide you with a list of corrections, please contact the GSO and we will arrange for a list to be sent to you.  When the corrections are complete, you should show them to your internal examiner (and/or your external examiner in some cases).

After the examination

Your examiners' reports will be considered at a meeting of the Engineering Degree Committee . Following this meeting, the Degree Committee will send their decision to the Student Registry. You will usually receive an email from the Student Registry within about a week of the Degree Committee meeting, informing you of the outcome, along with copies of your examiners' reports. In some cases, your examination paperwork will also need to be considered by the Postgraduate Committee (see 'Other outcomes' below).

No corrections needed, or corrections completed and approved before paperwork considered by Degree Committee

If you were not required to make any corrections, or you have already completed your corrections and they have been approved by your examiners before your paperwork is considered by the Degree Committee, then following the meeting you will receive an email from the Student Registry informing you to submit the hardbound and electronic copies of your thesis . In some cases where corrections have been completed, you may first receive notification that corrections are required, and then another email within a day or two to confirm that those have been completed and you can submit your hardbound and e-thesis.

Corrections required

Examiners can recommend that you need to complete some corrections  to your thesis. These can be either minor, which you will be given three months to complete, or major, which you will be given six months to complete. These timings start from the date that your examination paperwork is approved by the Degree Committee, and you will receive an email from the Student Registry informing you of the relevant timeframes following that meeting.

You remain on the register of graduate students during this period (unless your corrections are approved sooner), however the working restrictions for graduate students do not apply during this time. You should still apply for leave to work away if you are completing your corrections away from Cambridge. After completing your corrections, you should send them to your internal examiner to approve, who will then confirm to the Degree Committee, via the GSO, when they have done so. Approval of corrections does not need to go through any further committee meetings. The GSO will notify the Student Registry, who will then send you an email about submitting the hardbound and electronic copies of your thesis .

Other outcomes

Although the most common outcome is that corrections are required before you can be awarded a PhD (or occasionally an outright pass), it is also possible that you may be asked to Revise and Resubmit your thesis for a new examination. Alternatively, you may be offered the award of a lower degree, or in rare cases, outright failure is a possible outcome. You can find the full list of potential outcomes in the Code of Practice . If the Degree Committee wishes to recommend one of these outcomes, your examination results will need to be considered at a meeting of the University's Postgraduate Committee before a decision is agreed and notified to you. If your examination results are to be considered at a Postgraduate Committee meeting, you will be informed by the Student Registry after the Degree Committee meeting, 

After degree approval

After your PhD, including any corrections required, has been approved by the Degree Committee, you will be notified that you need to submit the hardbound copy of your thesis, as well as an electronic copy. You can find information about this, as well as what to do if you need to restrict or embargo your thesis, on the Cambridge Students website.

You can then make arrangements to attend a congregation, or have your degree awarded in absentia .

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Thesis formatting

There is no official pre-made departmental or University-wide styletemplate for PhD theses. Some argue that learning (and advancing!) the art of beautifully typesetting a thesis is a crucial part of getting a PhD.

Here are some practical recommendations, examples, and useful starting points.

Most PhD authors in the Computer Laboratory prefer LaTeX as their typesetting system (under both Linux or Windows), mainly because ofits

• excellent and yet unmatched support for mathematical formulae;
• good support for managing bibliographic references;
• good support for high-quality typography;
• easy integration with software-engineering tools (make, revision control, etc.);
• very safe and robust handling of large documents;
• long-term stability;
• comprehensive free tool support.

A common approach is to use the report style, with a suitable title page added, margins changed to make good use of the A4 format, and various other changes to suit submission requirements and individual tastes (e.g. other fonts).

For preparing publication-quality diagrams, some of the most powerful and popular tools used include:

• PGF/TikZ – the probably most sophisticated drawing package for LaTeX
• matplotlib – Matlab-style function plotting in Python

Official requirements

There used to be detailed  Student Registry PhD format requirements , regarding font sizes and line spacing, but most Degree Committees have dropped these, recognizing that they were mainly motivated by past typewriter conventions. The rules left are now mainly about the word count .

In particular, it is no longer necessary for dissertations to be printed single sided or in “one-and-a-half spaced type”. The Graduate Education Committee, however, strongly advises candidates to use one-and-a-half spaced type for ease of reading by the examiners. You can achieve this in LaTeX by placing into the preamble the line “ \usepackage{setspace}\onehalfspacing ”.

Recommendations

One Cambridge thesis-binding company,  J.S. Wilson & Son ,  recommend on their web page to leave 30 mm margin on the spine and 20 mm on the other three sides of the A4 pages sent to them. About a centimetre of the left margin is lost when the binder stitches the pages together.

Write your thesis title and section headings in “sentence case”, that is, use the same capitalisation that you would have used in normal sentences (capitalise only the first word, proper nouns and abbreviations). Avoid the US-style “title case” that some conference-proceedings publishers require.

• Sentence case is normal typographic practice in the UK (see any UK-published newspaper, magazine, journals such as Nature, etc.).
• The catalogues of both the  University Library thesis collection and our departmental  Technical Report series record titles this way, and you don't want the cataloguers mess with your title capitalisation when your thesis finally reaches them.
• It preserves useful information about the correct capitalisation of any names or technical terms used.

Page numbers

Use a single page-number sequence for all pages in your thesis, i.e. do not use a separate sequence of Roman numerals for front-matter (title page, abstract, acknowledgements, table of contents, table offigure). In LaTeX that means using the report style, not the book style.

• PDF viewers number pages continuously starting from 1, and using anything else as printed page numbers causes confusion.
• This will save you some reformatting when  submitting your thesis as a tech report .

Bibliographic references

If you use purely numeric bibliographic references, do not forget to still mention authors’ surnames, as a courtesy to both the authors and your readers. Also, try to add the exact page number on which the quoted point is found in the reference; LaTeX supports this really well. (“suggested by Crowcroft and Kuhn [42, p107]”)

Technical Report submission

After a thesis has been approved by the examiners, the author normally submits it for publication as a Computer Laboratory Technical Report.

It is a good idea to read early on the submission guidelines for technical reports, as this may reduce the need to change the formatting later.

If you want to minimize any changes needed between your submitted thesis and the corresponding technical report version, then – in addition to applying all the above advice – you can:

• make page 1 the title page,
• make page 2 the required declaration of originality,
• make page 3 the summary, and
• choose a layout suitable for double-sided printing (required for tech report, since 2010 also allowed for final PhD submission).

This way, there is a very high chance that turning your thesis into a techreport could be as simple as replacing pages 1 and 2 with the standard Technical Report title page (which the tech report editor can do for you).

More information

• The Computer Laboratory house style  page explains where to find the University identifier that many put on the title page of their thesis.
• Markus Kuhn’s simple PhD thesis template ( snapshot ) is just one possible starting point.
• The cam-thesis  LaTeX class is a collaborative effort to maintain a Cambridge PhD thesis template for Computer Laboratory research students, initiated by Jean Martina, Rok Strniša, and Matej Urbas.
• Effective scientific electronic publishing – Markus Kuhn’s notes on putting scientific publications onto the web, especially for LaTeX/LNCS users.
• International Standard ISO 7144 Presentation of theses and similar documents (1986) also contains some general guidelines for formatting dissertations that may be of use.

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Physical & Digital Collections

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

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

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

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

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

University of Cambridge theses

Finding a cambridge phd thesis online via the institutional repository.

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

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

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

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

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

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

UK Theses and Dissertations

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

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

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

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

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

World-wide (incl. UK) theses and dissertations

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Submitting your hardbound and electronic thesis (final thesis submission)

Please note the information on this page is for doctoral students. MSc and MLitt students are not required to submit a hardbound copy of their thesis or upload an electronic copy to Apollo

Please note also, this information is for submission of the final version of the thesis. Information about submitting your thesis for examination .

Submitting the hardbound and electronic (final) thesis (doctoral students)

Final approval for doctoral degrees is conditional on you submitting a hardbound copy of your thesis for deposit in the University Library and uploading an electronic copy to Symplectic Elements for deposit in the University repository Apollo. These should be the versions approved by your examiners and Degree Committee and should be identical with the exception of the 'Deposit & Copying of Hardbound Thesis Declaration' form which should not be included in the electronic version. The ‘Statement of Length and Declaration Form’ which you submitted with the thesis for examination should not be included in either the hardbound or the electronic copy of the thesis. If you received permission to submit additional materials alongside your thesis, they must be uploaded with the electronic copy of your thesis for deposit in the University repository. It is not possible to make any amendments to the hardbound or electronic thesis after they have been submitted. If you receive permission to redact material from the electronic copy of your thesis, your hardbound thesis must still be the unredacted version - the Library will manage access to the thesis to ensure information redacted from the electronic copy is protected.

We recommend that you submit the electronic copy of your thesis first, so any errors that are picked up can be rectified prior to getting the hardbound printed and bound.

Submission of the hardbound thesis, creation of a thesis record in Symplectic Elements and the uploading of a thesis access confirmation form to it are requirements for all access levels. A file representing the full thesis must also be uploaded for all access levels except Indefinitely restricted access (see below for further guidance).

If you plan to graduate as soon as possible, please note that both hardbound and electronic copies of your thesis should be submitted at least ten calendar days before the graduation ceremony you wish to attend. 

It is important to ensure your mailing address, email address(es) and telephone numbers are updated over the 12 months following the submission of your thesis. We will primarily contact you by email. You can update your details via  CamSIS Self Service

1. Hardbound thesis submission

What are the requirements for the hardbound submission.

It is important that you read this information very carefully - your hardbound and electronic theses may not be accepted if they do not meet the requirements.

The minimum requirements for the hardbound thesis are as follows:

be typescript on A4 paper; recommended 100gsm - check with the binders if you want to use a different weight, but should not be lower than 100gsm

be in A4 portrait format

use one-and-a-half spaced type

we recommend you use double-sided printing where possible; however, single-sided printing is acceptable

your hardbound thesis should be the version approved by your examiners and Degree Committee. If you receive permission to redact material from the electronic copy of your thesis, your hardbound thesis must still be the unredacted version - the Library will manage access to the thesis to ensure information redacted from the electronic copy is protected.

Cover and spine:

hard bound (hand stitched and not stuck)

cover colour is up to you

your thesis title, your initials and surname reading down the spine

letter colour must be gold

Bound inside the thesis:

Please ensure pages are in the correct order. 

1. the 'Deposit & Copying of Hardbound Thesis Declaration' form must be bound into your final hardbound thesis as the very first page . Do not include this form in the electronic version

2. title page, displaying:

• the full title of the thesis; please note this must be identical to the title of the thesis submitted for examination unless your examiners and Degree Committee have formally approved a new title. Changing the title will cause delays to approving you for the award of your degree.
• your full legal name (as it appears on your passport, marriage certificate or deed poll);
• your college;
• the date of submission (month and year).  Please note - the date on the title page must be the same as on the thesis originally submitted for examination - this applies even if you were required to make corrections to your thesis. However, if your original viva outcome was to revise and resubmit you should put the month and year you submitted the revised thesis for examination. 
• a declaration stating "This thesis is submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy/Doctor of Education etc... (as appropriate)."  

3. a typewritten declaration (this is different to the declaration form mentioned above),  following the title page , stating ( you must use the wording provided - if you use different wording, this will delay the processing of your thesis) 'This thesis is the result of my own work and includes nothing which is the outcome of work done in collaboration except as declared in the preface and specified in the text. It is not substantially the same as any work that has already been submitted, or, is being concurrently submitted, for any degree, diploma or other qualification at the University of Cambridge or any other University or similar institution except as declared in the preface and specified in the text. It does not exceed the prescribed word limit for the relevant Degree Committee'. 

The declaration does not need to be signed. It must not be signed with your signature.

For more information about word limits see the word limits for the respective Degree Committee .

4. a copy of your Summary/Abstract. This must be bound inside the thesis following the typewritten declaration.

5. [if applicable] the list of additional materials that were approved for submission alongside the thesis. This must be bound inside the thesis  following the Summary/Abstract.

Where can I have my thesis bound with hard covers?

There are a number of bookbinders available, including:

• J S Wilson & Son  Bookbinders Ltd  Est 1830. You can place your order with the Cambridge SU who act as a collection and drop-off point for J S Wilson. 
• Blissetts/Thesis Online

Cambridge SU Print Shop offer self-service printing.

Where do I submit my thesis?

Student Registry Student Services Centre New Museums Site Cambridge CB2 3PT

What if I am not in Cambridge?

The two Cambridge Bookbinders listed above accept an electronic copy of the thesis and will arrange for printing, binding and delivery to the Student Registry. Please note that this is only a service offered by the two bookbinders directly - the Cambridge SU do not offer this service.

How many copies of the hardbound thesis must I submit?

One copy is required for the University Library. However, the following Departments require a second copy, usually for their own library.  Submit both copies to the Student Registry:

• Earth Sciences
• History and Philosophy of Science
• Judge Business School

2. Electronic thesis submission

NB: MD under Special Regulations candidates should contact the Thesis Team ( [email protected] ) for advice on uploading the electronic copy of their thesis once the Student Registry has informed them that they are eligible to do so.

In addition to submission of a hardbound thesis (please see above), you are required to upload an electronic version of your thesis to Symplectic Elements for deposit in the University repository, Apollo. Information can be found on the Open Access webpages. However, please see below if you choose indefinitely restricted access for your thesis.

Details of a training session can be found here .

A module on deposting your electronic thesis can be found here.

What are the requirements for the electronic submission?

Complete the thesis access form which can be found on the Open Access webpage (see below for information about managing access).

The electronic submission must be identical to the hardbound copy with the exception of the ' Deposit & Copying of Hardbound Thesis Declaration' form - do not include this form in the electronic version. If you receive permission to redact material from the electronic copy of your thesis, your hardbound thesis must still be the unredacted version - the Library will manage access to the thesis to ensure information redacted from the electronic copy is protected.

Upload your thesis and thesis access form to Symplectic Elements for deposit in the University repository, Apollo. If you were granted permission to submit additional materials alongside your thesis for examination, these must also be uploaded alongside the electronic version of your thesis. If you are unsure how to do this, please contact the Office of Scholarly Communication for further advice at [email protected] . 

Please note that it is not possible to make any amendments to the thesis once it has been submitted.

Managing access to your thesis (hardbound and electronic)

Before you upload the electronic copy of your thesis to the University’s repository, you will need to confirm the appropriate level of access to your thesis.  University Library staff will apply the access level to the hardbound and electronic version of your thesis. If your Degree Committee requires a second copy of the thesis to be retained in the department library, you need to ensure that the librarian knows which access level to apply.

Guidance on the different access levels is available on the Open Access webpage.  

• You should agree the appropriate level of access with your supervisor, taking account of any terms and conditions of your funding or other contractual arrangements, use of copyrighted or sensitive material or patent applications. You are advised to start this discussion as early as possible following your viva. This will help to prevent delays when you submit your electronic thesis.
• A common cause for delays to students graduating is missing thesis access forms or forms which do not have the appropriate signatures.  Supervisors and Degree Committees should provide handwritten signatures or exact digital equivalents. If this is not possible, contact the thesis team ( [email protected] ) to ask about approval via email.
• Complete the thesis access form (which can be found on the Open Access webpage) and upload the completed form ( signed by your supervisor and also the Degree Committee where appropriate ) when you upload your thesis. 

Students who submitted the final version of their thesis before 1st October 2017

If you submitted the final version of your thesis before 1 st October 2017 and wish to extend a period of restricted access that was previously agreed, you can apply for this using the Restricted Access Extension form . You can apply to extend the period of restricted access to your thesis by a maximum of two years with each application.

Your Supervisor and Degree Committee will need to sign the form to confirm their approval of the extension of the period of restricted access. Once the form is complete and signed by all parties, it should be submitted to the Student Registry by email to [email protected] for final approval.

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A LaTeX / XeLaTeX / LuaLaTeX PhD thesis template for Cambridge University Engineering Department (CUED)

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Cued phd thesis template.

A LaTeX / XeLaTeX / LuaLaTeX PhD thesis template for Cambridge University Engineering Department.

• Krishna Kumar

Conforms to the Student Registry PhD dissertation guidelines and CUED PhD guidelines

Supports LaTeX, XeLaTeX and LuaLaTeX

Adaptive Title Page: Title page adapts to title length

Title page with both College and University crests.

Print / On-line version: Different layout and hyper-referencing styles

Pre-defined and custom fonts (Times / Fourier / Latin Modern) with math support

Supports system fonts (XeLaTeX)

Pre-defined and custom bibliography style support (authoryear / numbered / custom)

Custom page styles: 3 Different Header / Footer styles

Pre-defined and custom margin size

A separate abstract with thesis title and author name, along with the titlepage can be generated by passing the argument abstract to the document class.

Option to generate only specific chapters and references without the frontmatter and title page. Useful for review and corrections.

Draft mode: Draft water mark, timestamp, version numbering and line numbering

Add supervisor and/or advisor to your PhD thesis or MPhil report

A LyX Template is now available at https://github.com/kks32/PhDThesisLyX/

Building your thesis - XeLaTeX

Using latexmk (unix/linux/windows).

This template supports XeLaTeX compilation chain. To generate PDF run

Building your thesis - LuaLaTeX

This template supports LuaLaTeX compilation chain. To generate PDF run

Building your thesis - LaTeX / PDFLaTeX

This template supports latexmk . To generate DVI, PS and PDF run

Using the make file (Unix/Linux)

The template supports PDF, DVI and PS formats. All three formats can be generated with the provided Makefile .

To build the PDF version of your thesis, run:

This build procedure uses pdflatex with bibtex and will produce thesis.pdf . To use pdflatex with biblatex , you should run:

To use XeLaTeX , you should run:

or with biblatex

To use LuaLaTeX , you should run:

To produce DVI and PS versions of your document, you should run:

This will use the latex command to build the document and will produce thesis.dvi , thesis.ps and thesis.pdf documents. You will need psutils installed

Clean unwanted files

To clean unwanted clutter (all LaTeX auto-generated files), run:

Note : the Makefile itself is take from and maintained at here .

Shell script for PDFLaTeX (Unix/Linux)

Usage: sh ./compile-thesis.sh [OPTIONS] [filename]

[option] compile: Compiles the PhD Thesis

[option] clean: removes temporary files - no filename required

Using the batch file on Windows OS (PDFLaTeX)

• Open command prompt and navigate to the directory with the tex file. Run:
• Alternatively, double click on compile-thesis-windows.bat

Usage details

Thesis information such as title, author, year, degree, etc., and other meta-data can be modified in thesis-info.tex

Class options

The class file, PhDThesisPSnPDF , is based on the standard book class

It supports the following custom options in the documentclass in thesis.tex:

(Usage \documentclass[a4paper,11pt,print]{PhDThesisPSnPDF} )

a4paper (default as per the University guidelines) or a5paper : Paper size

11pt or 12pt : The University of Cambridge guidelines recommend using a minimum font size of 11pt (12pt is preferred) and 10pt for footnotes. This template also supports 10pt .

oneside or twoside (default): This is especially useful for printing double side (twoside) or single side.

print : Supports Print and Online Version with different page margins and hyperlink styles. Use print in the options to activate Print Version with appropriate margins and page layout and view styles. Leaving the options field blank will activate Online version.

custommargin : You can alter the margin dimension for both print and online version by using the keyword custommargin in the options. Then you can define the dimensions of the margin in the preamble.tex file:

\setFancyHdr should be called when using custom margins for proper header/footer dimensions

\ifsetMargin is deprecated, please use \ifsetCustomMargin instead.

index : Including this option builds the index, which is placed at the end of the thesis.

Instructions on how to use the index can be found here .

Note : the package makeidx is used to create the index.

abstract : This option enables only the thesis title page and the abstract with title and author to be printed.

chapter : This option enables only the specified chapter and it's references. Useful for review and corrections.

draft : The default draft mode supports some special features such as line numbers, images, and water mark with timestamp and custom text. Position of the text can be modified in preamble.tex .

draftclassic : This mode is similar to the default draft mode in the book class. Images are not loaded.

lineno : Enables pagewise line numbering on the outer edge. You can switch-off line numbering by specifying nolineno in the options.

flushleft : The University recommends using ragged right or flush left alignment for texts. The reason behind this is left justifying a text may exclude a certain readers. Dyslexic people find it hard to read justified text. You can enable raggedright option in the document class by passing flushleft argument. Default is flush left and right.

The front page (title page) resizes to fit your title length. You can modify the options in thesis-info.tex .

\subtitle (optional): Adds a subtitle to your thesis.

\college (optional): This option adds the name of your college on the bottom left.

If \college is defined, the bottom of the title page will look like this:

If \college is undefined or blank, the degreedate will be centered.

The template offers support to having both the college and university crests or just one of the crests.

• \collegeshield (optional): Includes college crest in addition to the university crest. This reformats the front page layout.

Abstract separate

A separate abstract with the title of the PhD and the candidate name has to be submitted to the Student Registry. This can be generated using abstract option in the document class. Ignore subsequent warnings about skipping sections (if any).

To generate the separate abstract and the title page, make sure the following commands are in the preamble section of thesis.tex file:

Chapter mode

The chapter mode allows user to only print specific chapters along with references. By default, it excludes everything else in the front matter and appendices. This can done by using chapter option in the document class in thesis.tex . Ignore subsequent warnings about skipping sections (if any).

draft adds a watermark draft text with timestamp and version number at the top or the bottom of the page. Pagewise line numbering is added on every page. draft settings can be tweaked in the preamble.tex .

Use draftclassic in the document class options to use the default book class draft mode.

To add figures in draft mode (default enabled), in the preamble set \setkeys{Gin}{draft=false} . draft=true disables figures

To change the watermark text \SetDraftText{DRAFT}

To change the position of the watermark text. Default watermark position is top. The location can be changed to (top / bottom) \SetDraftWMPosition{bottom}

To change the draft version. Default draft version is v1.0. \SetDraftVersion{v1.1}

Watermark grayscale value can be modified. Text grayscale value (should be between 0-black and 1-white). Default value is 0.75 \SetDraftGrayScale{0.8}

Choosing the fonts

PhDThesisPSnPDF currently supports three fonts Times , Fourier and Latin Modern (default) .

times : (The University of Cambridge guidelines recommend using Times). Specifying times option in the document class will use mathptpx or Times font with Math Support.

fourier : fourier font with math support

default (empty) : When no font is specified, Latin Modern is used as the default font with Math Support.

customfont : Any custom font can be set in preamble by using customfont option in the document class. Then the custom font can be loaded in preamble.tex in the line:

Choosing the bibliography style

PhDThesisPSnPDF currently supports two styles authoryear and numbered (default) . Citation style has to be set. You can also specify custombib style and customise the bibliography.

authoryear : For author-year citation eg., Krishna (2013)

numbered : (Default Option) For numbered and sorted citation e.g., [1,5,2]

custombib : Define your own bibliography style in the preamble.tex file.

(Overview of Bibtex-Styles with preview)[ http://nodonn.tipido.net/bibstyle.php ?]

If you would like to use biblatex instead of natbib. Pass the option custombib in the documentclass. In the preamble.tex file, edit the custombib section. Make sure you don't load the natbib package and you can specify the layout of your references in thesis.tex in the reference section. If you are using biber as backend, run pdflatex thesis.tex >> biber thesis >> pdflatex thesis.tex >> biber thesis >> pdflatex thesis.tex . If you are using the default natbib package, don't worry about this.

Choosing the page style

PhDThesisPSnPDF defines 3 different page styles (header and footer). The following definition is for twoside layout. To choose a page style, include it in the documentclass options: \documentclass[PageStyleI]{PhDThesisPSnPDF} . Alternatively, page style can be changed by adding \pagestyle{PageStyleI} or \pagestyle{PageStyleII} in thesis.tex . Note: Using \pagestyle command will override documentclass options when used globally.

default (leave empty) : For Page Numbers in Header (Left Even, Right Odd) and Chapter Name in Header (Right Even) and Section #. Section Name (Left Odd). Blank Footer.

PageStyleI : For Page Numbers in Header (Left Even, Right Odd) and Chapter Name next to the Page Number on Even Side (Left Even). Section Number and Section Name and Page Number in Header on Odd Side (Right Odd). Footer is empty. Layout:

PageStyleII : Chapter Name on Even Side (Left Even) in Header. Section Number and Section Name in Header on Odd Side (Right Odd). Page numbering in footer. Layout:

Changing the visual style of chapter headings

The visual style of chapter headings can be modified using the titlesec package. Edit the following lines in the preamble.tex file.

Custom settings

The depth for the table of contents can be set using:

A depth of [3] indicates to a level of \subsubsection or #.#.#.#. Default set as 2.

To hide sections from appearing in TOC use: \tochide\section{Section name} in your TeX files

Define custom caption style for figure and table caption in preamble.tex using:

Uncomment the following lines in preamble.tex to force a figure to be displayed in a particular location. Use H when including graphics. Note H instead of h .

Bibliography with Author-Year Citation in preamble.tex :

Line spacing for the entire document can be specified in preamble.tex . Uncomment the line spacing you prefer. e.g., \onehalfspacing

Nomenclature definition

To use nomenclature in your chapters:

The sort keys have prefix. In this case a prefix of g is used to denote Greek Symbols, followed by -pi or -sort_key . Use a - to separate sort key from the prefixes. The standard prefixes defined in this class are:

A or a : Roman Symbols

G or g : Greek Symbols

Z or z : Acronyms/Abbreviations

R or r : Superscripts

S or s : Subscripts

X or x : Other Symbols

You can change the Title of Nomenclature to Notations or Symbols in the preamble.tex using:

TexStudio's default compile option doesn't include nomenclature , to compile your document with the nomenclature, do the following:

In add user command type makenomeclature:makenomenclature on the left pane and makeindex %.nlo -s nomencl.ist -o %.nls on the execution side. Now you can run the user defined command makenomenclature from Tools >> User >> makenomenclature .

Alternatively, you can use the compile-thesis-windows.bat file or run make on Unix / Linux / MacOS

To-do Notes

To include custom to-do notes in your pdf document use \mynote{Hey! I have a note} anywhere in your chapters. To activate this feature, you need to uncomment the following lines in preamble.tex . To-do notes will be available only in the draft or draftclassic and not in the final thesis.

You rarely want to commit changes to your TeX files which are not reflected in the PDF included in the repo. You can automate this process, among other things, with a git hook. Install the hook with make hooks (or see how to do it in ./hooks/install.sh ). Now every time you commit, if any files affecting your build have changed in this commit and those changes are more recent than the last modification of thesis.pdf , the default make target will be run and changes to thesis.pdf will be git add ed.

Currently, changes to any tex/pdf/eps/png/cls files are picked up. This can be changed in ./hooks/pre-commit .

Skip the hook with git commit --no-verify .

bash -only.

General guidelines

Why is it important to follow good practices and not get killed by a Velociraptor ;)

To restrict the length of the figure caption in List of figures use a [short-title] and {longtitle} for the caption or the section:

To exclude sections from being numbered and disable it from appearing in the Table of Contents use \section*{Section_Name} or \chapter*{Chapter_Name}

To only exclude it from being listed in the Table of Contents encapsulate the section command inside the \tochide command. \tochide{\section{Section_Name}} the section will not appear in the Table of Contents, but the section will be numbered.

When including figures in your tex file, it's a good practice to size your picture depending on the page size, instead of using absolute values. In the following example 0.75\textwidth refers to picture width being set to 75% of the text width.

Use a - to separate sort key from the prefixes, eg., g-pi denotes the Greek symbol pi .

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1 : where can i find the thesis formatting guidelines this class is based on.

https://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/students/studentregistry/exams/submission/phd/format.html

Q2 : Where can I find newer versions of the University of Cambridge crest/logos?

The university updates its crest every now and then. You can find up-to-date logos on this page (subject to change without notice).

Download and exchange the new logos with University_Crest.eps and/or University_Crest.pdf . I'll try to keep the crest up to date.

Q3 : Where can I find the guidelines to submit my thesis and requirements?

Preparing to submit:

Formatting styles:

Submitting the dissertation

Q4 : How can I count the number of words in my thesis?

You can run the following command (Linux/Unix): ps2ascii thesis.pdf | wc -w (eg., result 2713 words)

or pdftotext thesis.pdf | wc thesis.txt -w (eg., result 2690 words)

or texcount -inc *.tex (eg., result 2341 words)

Q5 : How do I use a system font (libertine)?

To use a system font (open type) font with XeLaTeX, please select customfont option in the documentclass in thesis.tex . Add the path and font name to the custom font definition in preamble.tex

Please use XeLaTeX tool chain with LaTeXmk.

Q6 : I found a bug in the template. Where do I report bugs?

You can report issues at our GitHub repository .

You can also mail the developer directly or contact Tim Love, CUED

Troubleshooting warnings

W1 :i get the package fancyhdr warning: \fancyhead's e option without twoside option is useless on input line # or #. what should i do.

Nothing. The warning is because the twoside option is also defined in the class, although only the oneside option is currently used.

W2 : I get the Class PhDThesisPSnPDF Warning: Unknown or non-standard option 'something'. Will see if I can load it from the book class. If you get a warning unused global option(s): something then the option is not supported! on input line #.

You are either trying to use a undefined option or a non-standard option which is in the book class but not defined in the PhD Thesis Template. If it can be used it will be loaded and you will get no further warnings. If not, the option you chose is unavailable.

W3 : I get LaTeX Warning: Unused global option(s):[something].

You are trying to load an option that is not supported in the PhDThesisClass and the Book Class. Are you sure you are using the right option? Check your spelling!

W4 : I get I'm skipping whatever remains of this command line # of file thesis.aux @input{Chapter1/chapter1.aux}

If you are generating a separate abstract for your thesis submission, ignore this warning and good luck with your submission. If you are compiling your thesis and see this warning, please remove the option abstract from the document class.

W5 : I get blank pages between chapters

This is normal for a book class. Usually, a new chapter in a book always starts on the right hand side, which is why you see a blank page. You can remove the extra blank page by passing openany option to the documentclass. This works for double sided printing. However, if you are printing on a single side, please pass oneside option to the document class.

W6 : My references aren't listed in the ordered in which I cite them

This is controlled by the bibliography style. Please use \bibliographystyle{unsrt} in thesis.tex instead of apalike . This applicable only for numerically sorted references.

Known issue(s) / Bugs / Feature requests

Hyperlinks doesn't seem to be working in Post-Script file, however works on DVI and PDF (which is produced from the PS file), possibly viewer limitation than a code bug.

On older versions of dvips (version 5.97 or below), if your page margins do not appear properly in your PDF, when compiling through DVI >> PS >> PDF, please ensure that you have set a4paper or a5paper in the document class. If you are still having issues you can run:

This issue occurs only when the papersize is not specified in the document class and you are compiling DVI >> PS >> PDF using an older version (5.97 or below) of dvips.

Open issues can be tracked at https://github.com/kks32/phd-thesis-template/issues . If you would like a new feature to be added to the template, please create an issue and label it as an enhancement.

Please fork me on github and create a pull request, if you would like to contribute to the repo.

The history of releases can be viewed at ChangeLog

Inspirations/Based on

Cambridge Computer Laboratory PhD Thesis Template https://github.com/cambridge/thesis

CUED Version 1.1 Template by H. Banderi

Acknowlegments

Alex Ridge - original idea, code concepts & testing

Steven Kaneti - code concepts

Tina Schwamb - testing and bug reports

John Plaice - Bug fixes

Releases 22

Contributors 14.

• Makefile 34.0%

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PhD theses (HPS)

We hold bound copies of all PhD theses completed by students in the Department of History and Philosophy of Science in the University of Cambridge since at least the mid 1980s. These are available from the staff desk (you will be asked to sign a copyright declaration form). They can be read in the library, but may not be copied or borrowed.

All our PhD theses are catalogued on iDiscover : find them by searching for author name and title keywords in the same way as for a printed book. Alternatively, select the Whipple as the holding library and search for "dissertation" to get a more comprehensive list. 

In addition, the following lists give you a quick overview of the PhD theses we hold, in alphabetical and chronological order:

• HPS PhD theses (alphabetical)
• HPS PhD theses (chronological)

If the thesis you are looking for is not held here at the Whipple it's possible it was submitted to a different department or faculty in the University. Cambridge University Library holds hard copies of all PhD theses in all subjects approved by the University of Cambridge since 1921. These can be consulted in person in the Manuscripts Room .

How can I obtain a copy of a Cambridge PhD thesis?

Unfortunately we are not able to provide copies of PhD theses, either in hard copy or digital, from the Whipple. However, our colleagues in the Digital Content Unit at the University Library may be able to help; visit their website for further information about their image ordering service and to access the online request form.

Other HPS theses

The Library has a small collection of PhD and Masters-level theses and dissertations on a variety of HPS topics from other universities, acquired by donation. These are not catalogued on iDiscover, but are listed separately. Please ask staff for details.

MPhil and Part III dissertations

We have a large - but not comprehensive - collection of MPhil dissertations completed in the Department of History and Philosophy of Science since the late 1990s. These are catalogued on iDiscover , and are available for use in the Library only. Please ask at the staff desk for further details.

The following lists give you a quick overview of the MPhil and Part III dissertations we hold:

MPhil History and Philosophy of Science and Medicine

• Alphabetical list
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MPhil Health, Medicine and Society

Part iii history and philosophy of science.

• Alphabetical List
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Sample Part II, Part III and MPhil coursework

We also have a selection of sample work submitted for Part II, Part III and MPhil exams in recent years, which is available to consult in the Library. This includes Part II Primary Source Essays and Dissertations, Part III Research Papers, and MPhil Essays. The samples include a range of historical and philosophical approaches and are intended to provide good examples of each type of work. Please ask at the staff desk for further details.

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PhD Students (and the following Doctoral students: Doctor of Business, Doctor of Engineering, Doctor of Education, Doctor of Medicine, Doctor of Medicine under Special Regulations) are required to deposit an electronic copy of their thesis in the University of Cambridge's institutional repository, Apollo. This has been a requirement since 1st October 2017, when the Board of Graduate Studies introduced the requirement that these students deposit both a hard copy and an electronic copy of their thesis. For the avoidance of doubt, the requirement to deposit an electronic thesis in Apollo applies irrespective of when the degree commenced. 

These pages contain information for Doctoral students about requirements to deposit their theses and advice on how to manage this process. They also contain information for potential researchers and readers of theses.Information about  submitting hardbound copies  can be found on the Student Registry's website.

Any alumni who wish to have their thesis digitised and made open access are  can find guidance here.

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University of Cambridge

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Making changes to the Cambridge University thesis template

I am a beginner in LaTeX scripting and started writing my thesis on LaTeX using Overleaf . The University of Cambridge thesis template suits me best and I am trying to make some changes to the thesis title page without any luck. Any help will be deeply appreciated.

The changes I want to make are listed as follows:

I want to add a line of text after the Degree Title using the font in the previous line i.e. It should read:

A Thesis submitted for the Degree of "Degree Title i.e. Doctor of Philosophy" in the Faculty of Science // This is the new line I want to insert using the font style of the first line //

I tried to follow the suggestion at another TeX Stack Exchange question but ran into trouble.

The Second issue is with the absence of roman numerals as page numbers in subsequent pages after the Table of Contents page.

Finally, I am sure I will discover a few more issues as I write along. I will try to list them here as they appear. Looking forward to this wonderful community of some timely assistance.

Edit: Latest Issue - I need to add a Summary page at the end of the final Chapter which should appear in the Table of Contents page in bold but separate from the Chapter titles and numbers. How do I achieve that?

2 Answers 2

The title page is configured in the thesis-info.tex file, it includes some comments describing how to make modifications. In order to address your first issue, you could replace lines 57-63 of thesis-info.tex with the following:

One solution for you second issue is to uncomment line 79 in the thesis.tex file in order to change the page style to PageStyleII . This enables roman numeral page numbers for the page between the table of contents and chapter 1. However, switching to PageStyleII also changes the overall style of the pages which may be undesirable.

The page styles in this template appear to be defined in PhDThesisPSnPDF.cls , which would need to be modified if you want to keep the original page style while also enabling roman number page numbers.

Edit: It sounds like you want to add an unnumbered chapter which is still included in the ToC (Table of Contents). I managed to achieve this by adding the following commands to the Cambridge template:

If you would prefer to make the summary into single page section instead of a separate chapter while still keeping the chapter-style ToC entry style, you can instead use this:

• Your solution to first issue worked out for me. I am playing around with PageStyle option at the moment. Btw can you tell me how to rearrange the different block items on the title page. I tried reordering these blocks PhDThesisPSnPDF.cls and thesis-info.tex files to no effect. –  noisyoscillator Commented Nov 22, 2020 at 9:56
• JAKZero and @LuisSibaja I have added a new issue highlighted in bold in the original post. Would really appreciate if you could take a look and guide me to the solution. –  noisyoscillator Commented Dec 4, 2020 at 7:19
• @noisyoscillator I updated my answer with a solution to your new issue. Does it produce the formatting that you want? –  JAK Zero Commented Dec 4, 2020 at 9:47
• Your first solution for the Summary section does work but it leaves a big white space above the title. I wonder why. The second solution also works but it changes the formatting/linespacing etc. It would be ideal if there is a way to remove that big white space when applying the first solution. Please let me know if you find a remedy for that. –  noisyoscillator Commented Dec 8, 2020 at 10:09

Hope this helps. (I'm sure there's a better way to do it, but this will do it)

• Inside the folder named Classes, there's a file named "PhDThesisPSnPDF.cls". In there you can look for line 1210, and you should see something like

You can modify it, adding a new line as in

Now, before the \begin{document} in thesis.tex , you must write

In case you want it empty, just do \newcommand{\textToAdd}{} or remove the line you added in "PhDThesisPSnPDF.cls"

Test image!

• With respect to the second one, I think this question tells you why, how to change it, and how to "reverse" it for certain pages. Anyway, I came up with this.

Add before begin{document} the next lines

This however, makes \thispagestyle{empty} and \thispagestyle{plain} loose their original definitions. If you want to use them, now you need to do \thispagestyle{oldempty} or \thispagestyle{oldplain}

For more formatting options, you can ask, or you could look for the fancyhdr user's manual on CTAN.org.

• I just figured out the same solution to the first issue. Let me play around with your solution to the second issue. Do you know how to rearrange the different block items on the title page. Please take a look at my comment to @JAKZ 's solution. –  noisyoscillator Commented Nov 22, 2020 at 10:16
• The command that makes this page is \maketitle . From line 908 to line 972 in PhDThesisPSnPDF.cls, there's the \renewcommand{\maketitle}{ . . . } . Those lines dictate in what order the things should appear. You can rearrange the text blocks, and the title page will rearrange according to your changes. –  Luis Sibaja Commented Nov 22, 2020 at 15:16
• I have added a new issue highlighted in bold in the original post. Would really appreciate if you could take a look and guide me to the solution –  noisyoscillator Commented Dec 4, 2020 at 7:19
• Is his solution what you wanted? –  Luis Sibaja Commented Dec 8, 2020 at 4:14
• Yes it solved my issue. thanks a lot. –  noisyoscillator Commented Feb 15, 2021 at 12:39

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Templates — Thesis

Templates tagged Thesis

Show all Templates

Your thesis or dissertation is often the most important single piece of work you’ll produce as a student (whether it be your final year undergraduate research project or your complete Masters / PhD thesis). These templates, many provided by the university themselves as official layout guidelines, include sections for you to add all the relevant author information (your university, department, supervisor, year, etc) along with placeholder chapters for your introduction, background, method, results, conclusion / discussion, references and appendices.

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