phd thesis layout latex

PhD Thesis and Dissertation LaTeX Templates for Harvard, Princeton and New York University (NYU)

Dissertate provides a beautiful LaTeX template for a thesis or dissertation. This template has been uploaded into Overleaf so you can get started simply by clicking the button above.

It currently provides everything needed to support the production and typesetting of a PhD dissertation at Harvard, Princeton, and NYU.

The format and styling are based closely on the requirements published by each university's registrar.

For more information, please see the Dissertate on GitHub

Have you checked our knowledge base ?

Message sent! Our team will review it and reply by email.

Study at Cambridge

About the university, research at cambridge.

• Events and open days
• Fees and finance
• Student blogs and videos
• Why Cambridge
• Course directory
• How to apply
• Fees and funding
• Frequently asked questions
• International students
• Continuing education
• Executive and professional education
• Courses in education
• How the University and Colleges work
• Visiting the University
• Term dates and calendars
• Video and audio
• Find an expert
• Publications
• Global Cambridge
• Public engagement
• Give to Cambridge
• For current students
• For business
• Colleges & departments
• Libraries & facilities
• Museums & collections
• Email & phone search
• Computer Laboratory
• Internal information

Typographic resources

• Thesis formatting

Department of Computer Science and Technology

• Academic staff
• Support staff
• Contract researchers
• Fellows & affiliates
• PhD students
• Wednesday Seminar Series
• Wheeler Lectures
• women@cl 10th Anniversary
• Computer Laboratory 75th Anniversary
• Shopping and leisure
• Library induction
• Electronic resources
• Virtual journals shelf
• Local services
• Lab technical reports
• External technical reports
• Resource lists
• Reading lists
• Maps and directions
• Contact information
• Group Meetings
• Project ideas for current students
• Projects and research topics
• [no title found]
• Selected Publications
• Open source components
• Contact Details
• Applying to do a PhD
• Project suggestions
• Other information
• Reading Club
• Postgraduate opportunities
• Programming, Logic, Semantics
• Projects and topics
• Security Seminar Series
• Mailing lists
• Research Projects
• Student Projects
• Digital Technology Group
• Research Admin
• PhD applications
• Graduate Admissions Prospectus
• Funding deadlines
• MPhil in Advanced Computer Science
• Premium Research Studentship
• Student Administration
• Induction for M.Phil and Part III students
• Part III and ACS projects
• Part IA CST
• Part IB CST
• Part II CST
• Lecturer index
• Instructions for lecturers
• Examination dates
• Examination results
• Examiners' reports
• Plagiarism and collusion
• Purchase of calculators
• Data Retention Policy
• Past exam papers
• Guidance on deadlines
• Part III Assessment
• MPhil Assessment
• Student Complaint Procedure
• Short form timetable
• Part II supervisions overview
• Part II sign-up dates
• Notes on supervising
• Supervisor support
• Advice for students visiting Cambridge
• UROP internships
• Previous years
• Briefing document (Pink Book)
• Important dates
• Phase 1 report
• Back-up advice
• Resources Declaration
• Studies Involving Human Participants
• Failure to submit proposal
• Selection Tips
• Declaration of originality
• Submission of dissertation
• IP ownership
• Diploma model projects
• Older project suggestions
• Supervising Notes
• Overseer Briefing Notes
• Directors of Studies
• Managed Cluster Service
• Part III and MPhil machines
• Online services
• Installing Linux
• Microsoft Azure for Education Membership
• Neil Wiseman, 1934–1995
• Roger Needham, 1935–2003
• David Wheeler, 1927–2004
• Karen Spärck Jones, 1935–2007
• Judith Ann Bailey, 1934–2008
• Robin Milner, 1934–2010
• Sir Maurice Wilkes, 1913–2010
• Michael JC Gordon, 1948–2017
• Richard Gibbens, 1962–2018
• Ross J Anderson, 1956–2024
• An introduction to our computing facilities
• Information for new PhD students
• Information for new staff
• Information for visitors
• Information for hosts of visitors
• General information
• Induction Guidelines
• Specialist resources
• Printing and scanning
• The CL network
• SSH access to the CL systems
• Supported platforms
• Generic Unix/Linux information
• Web servers and sites
• The RT ticketing system
• Lecture theatre AV
• Departmental policies
• Meeting rooms
• Personnel information
• Staff training
• Wiseman prize
• General health and safety
• Environment
• H&S policies & committees
• Risk assessment
• Laser safety
• Useful links
• Index of Health & Safety pages
• PhD supervisors
• Graduate Advisers
• First Year Report: PhD Proposal
• Second Year Report: Dissertation Schedule
• Third Year Report: Progress Statement
• Fourth Year Report: the last year
• Papers and conferences
• Submitting your dissertation
• Exemption from University Composition Fees
• Leave to work away, holidays and intermission
• Researcher Development
• Application deadlines
• List of PhD thesis
• Graduate Students' Forum
• PAT, recycling and Building Services
• Preparing Tripos exam questions in LaTeX
• Information for CST examiners
• Information for Directors of Studies
• ACS module definition
• Providing advice to incoming ACS students
• ACS interviewing and admissions
• Outreach material
• Faculty Board
• Degree Committee
• Graduate Education
• Tripos Management
• Health & Safety
• IT Strategy
• Equality and Diversity
• Research Staff
• Staff–Student
• Graduate Students
• Buildings and Environment
• Discontinued committees
• Building Services
• Access and security
• Care of the WGB
• Facilities in offices
• Energy & Environment
• West Cambridge Site
• Leaving the department
• New arrivals
• Specialist resources ➥
• System administration
• Roles and responsibilities
• Information for staff
• Health and safety
• PhD resources
• Teaching resources
• William Gates Building

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.
• University A-Z
• Contact the University
• Accessibility
• Freedom of information
• Terms and conditions
• Undergraduate
• Spotlight on...
• About research at Cambridge

The MIT thesis template in LaTeX

The latex template.

The current MIT thesis template was developed in 2023, using up-to-date LaTeX coding, to meet the current formatting requirements of the MIT Libraries. The title and abstract pages are automatically laid out from information provided by the user. This template includes options to use a variety of fonts, and it is compatible with either pdfTeX or unicode engines such as luaLaTeX. When using LaTeX formats dated November 2022 or later, the resulting pdf file meets the PDF/A-2b archivability standard. A standard TeX Live installation includes all other packages required by the template.

This template was written by John Lienhard at the request of the MIT Libraries.

• Documentation: Documentation for the template is available in pdf format here .
• Download: The most current LaTeX files for this template are distributed through the Comprehensive TeX Archive Network (CTAN): https://ctan.org/pkg/mitthesis Download
• Overleaf.com: A copy of the thesis template is also present in Overleaf.com's template gallery, here . Overleaf includes all the packages in TeX Live, so no additional downloads are needed. Learn more about Overleaf at MIT .

Specifications for MIT theses

The formatting requirements for MIT theses are set by the MIT Libraries, as described at this url: http://libraries.mit.edu/archives/thesis-specs/ . Questions regarding these specifications should be directed to [email protected] .

The original LaTeX 2.09 template was written by Stephen Gildea in the late 1980s (also in CTAN, here ). That template was edited by many later students, leading to the files archived here.

LaTeX has changed greatly since the original MIT thesis template was written. LaTeX 2.09 was replaced by LaTeX2e in 1994. New engines were developed, particularly pdfTeX during the 1990s and Unicode-aware engines in the decades that followed. Many packages and fonts were developed to accompany the original platform, particularly after 2000; and major updates to the LaTeX kernel began in 2018. Over the years, the MIT Libraries have changed the required format several times, especially as electronic thesis submission has become the norm. The original template served MIT well; but by the early 2020s, it was substantially out of date. That situation motivated the creation of this new template.

LaTeX Resources for Graduate Students: Formatting of theses and dissertations

• BibTeX reference format
• BibTeX command
• LaTeX bibliography file
• LaTeX editors and compilers
• Sample LaTeX file with bibliography
• Sample LaTeX file without bibliography
• Formatting of theses and dissertations

Formatting and structure

The Cornell Graduate School has become increasingly flexible about the formatting of theses and dissertations.  There now are only seven core requirements . For the structure of theses and dissertations here is a list of required and recommended sections .

Latex template

Among the available thesis and dissertation templates provided by the Graduate School is also a LaTeX template (ZIP archive). This template has been uploaded to Overleaf and placed in the Cornell template directory . This template contains a small fix to avoid an error message about \ifpdf .

• << Previous: Sample LaTeX file without bibliography
• Last Updated: Oct 25, 2022 5:12 PM
• URL: https://guides.library.cornell.edu/latex

Overleaf for Scholarly Writing & Publication: LaTeX Theses and Dissertations

• Reference Managers and Overleaf
• Adding Graphs, Tables, and Images
• Using Templates on Overleaf
• LaTeX Theses and Dissertations

LaTeX Theses and Dissertatons

Tips and tools for writing your LaTeX thesis or dissertation in  Overleaf, including templates, managing references , and getting started guides.

Managing References

BibTeX  is a file format used for lists of references for  LaTeX  documents. Many citation management tools support the ability to export and import lists of references in .bib format. Some reference management tools can generate  BibTeX  files of your library or folders for use in your  LaTeX  documents.

LaTeX on Wikibooks   has a  Bibliography Management  page.

Find list of BibTeX styles available on Overleaf   here

View a video tutorial on how to include a bibliography using BibTeX  here

Collaborate with Overleaf

Collaboration tools

Every project you create has a secret link. Just send it to your co-authors, and they can review, comment and edit. Overleaf synchronizes changes from all authors, so everyone always has the latest version. More advanced tools include protected projects and integration with Git.

Collaborate online and offline with Overleaf and Git

Protected projects with Overleaf Pro

Getting Started with Your Thesis or Dissertation

How to get started writing your thesis in LaTeX

Writing a thesis or dissertation in LaTeX can be challenging, but the end result is well worth it - nothing looks as good as a LaTeX-produced pdf, and for large documents it's a lot easier than fighting with formatting and cross-referencing in MS Word. Review this video from Overleaf to help you get started writing your thesis in LaTeX, using a standard thesis template from the  Overleaf Gallery .

You can  upload your own thesis template to the Overleaf Gallery   if your university provides a set of LaTeX template files or you may find your university's thesis template already in the Overleaf Gallery.

This video assumes you've used LaTeX before and are familiar with the standard commands (see our other  tutorial videos   if not), and focuses on how to work with a large project split over multiple files.

How to Write your Thesis/Dissertation in LaTeX: A Five-Part Guide

Five-Part LaTeX Thesis/Dissertation  Writing Guide

Part 1: Basic Structure   corresponding  video

Part 2: Page Layout   corresponding  video

Part 3: Figures, Subfigures and Tables   corresponding  video

Part 4: Bibliographies with Biblatex  corresponding  video

Part 5: Customizing Your Title Page and Abstract   corresponding  video

Link Your ORCID

Link yo ur  ORCiD  account  to your  Overleaf account  via the  ORCID @ CMU Portal

Open Knowledge Librarian

• << Previous: Using Templates on Overleaf
• Last Updated: Oct 4, 2023 9:31 AM
• URL: https://guides.library.cmu.edu/overleaf

Research Guides

Submit and publish your thesis.

• The Graduate Thesis: What is it?
• Thesis Defences
• Deadlines and Fees
• Formatting in MS Word

Formatting in LaTeX

• Making Thesis Accessible
• Thesis Embargo
• Review and Release
• Your Rights as an Author
• Re-using Third Party Materials
• Creative Commons Licenses for Theses
• Turning Thesis into an Article
• Turning Thesis into a Book
• Other Venues of Publication

For formatting instructions and requirements see the Formatting section of the School of Graduate Studies website. The thesis style template for LaTeX ( ut-thesis ) implements these requirements. You are not required to use the template, but using it will make most of the formatting requirements easier to meet.

►► Thesis template for LaTeX .

Below are some general formatting tips for drafting your thesis in LaTeX.  In addition, there are other supports available:

• Regular LaTeX workshops are offered via the library, watch the library workshop calendar at https://libcal.library.utoronto.ca/
• With questions about LaTeX formatting, contact Map and Data Library (MDL) using this form
• There are also great resources for learning LaTeX available via Overleaf

Many common problems have been solved on the TeX - LaTeX Stack Exchange Q & A Forum

LaTeX Template

To use the LaTeX and ut-thesis , you need two things: a LaTeX distribution (compiles your code), and an editor (where you write your code). Two main approaches are:

• Overleaf : is a web-based platform that combines a distribution (TeX Live) and an editor. It is beginner-friendly (minimal set-up) and some people prefer a cloud-based platform. However, manually uploading graphics and managing a bibliographic database can be tedious, especially for large projects like a thesis.
• A LaTeX distribution can be installed as described here . ut-thesis can then be installed either: a) initially, with the distribution; b) automatically when you try to compile a document using \usepackage{ut-thesis} ; or manually via graphical or terminal-based package manager for the distribution.
• The LaTeX distribution allows you to compile code, but provides no tools for writing (e.g. syntax highlighting, hotkeys, command completion, etc.). There are many editor options that provide these features. TeXstudio is one popular option.

Occasionally, the version of ut-thesis on GitHub  may be more up-to-date than the popular distributions (especially yearly TeX Live), including small bug fixes. To use the GitHub version, you can download the file ut-thesis.cls (and maybe the documentation ut-thesis .pdf ) and place it in your working directory. This will take priority over any other versions of ut-thesis on your system while in this directory.

LaTeX Formatting Tips

Here are a few tips & tricks for formatting your thesis in LateX.

Document Structure

Using the ut-thesis document class, a minimal example thesis might look like:

\documentclass{ut-thesis} \author {Your Name} \title {Thesis Title} \degree {Doctor of Philosophy} \department {LaTeX} \gradyear {2020} \begin {document}   \frontmatter   \maketitle   \begin {abstract}     % abstract goes here   \end {abstract}   \tableofcontents   \mainmatter   % main chapters go here   % references go here   \appendix   % appendices go here \end {document}

►►  A larger example is available on GitHub here .

You may want to consider splitting your code into multiple files. The contents of each file can then be added using \input{filename} .

The usual commands for document hierarchy are available like \chapter , \section , \subsection , \subsubsection , and \paragraph . To control which appear in the \tableofcontents , you can use \setcounter{tocdepth}{i} , where i = 2 includes up to \subsection , etc. For unnumbered sections, use \section* , etc. No component should be empty, such as \section{...} immediately followed by \subsection{...} .

Note: In the examples below, we denote the preamble vs body like:

preamble code --- body code

Tables & Figures

In LaTeX, tables and figures are environments called “floats”, and they usually don’t appear exactly where you have them in the code. This is to avoid awkward whitespace. Float environments are used like \begin{env} ... \end{env} , where the entire content ... will move with the float. If you really need a float to appear exactly “here”, you can use:

\usepackage{float} --- \begin{ figure}[H] ... \end {figure}

Most other environments (like equation) do not float.

A LaTeX table as a numbered float is distinct from tabular data. So, a typical table might look like:

\usepackage{booktabs} --- \begin {table}   \centering   \caption {The table caption}   \begin {tabular}{crll}     i &   Name & A &  B \\     1 &  First & 1 &  2 \\     2 & Second & 3 &  5 \\     3 &  Third & 8 & 13   \end {tabular} \end {table}

The & separates cells and \\ makes a new row. The {crll} specifies four columns: 1 centred, 1 right-aligned, and 2 left-aligned.

Fancy Tables

Some helpful packages for creating more advanced tabular data:

• booktabs : provides the commands \toprule , \midrile , and \bottomrule , which add horizontal lines of slightly different weights.
• multicol : provides the command \multicolumn{2}{r}{...} to “merge” 2 cells horizontally with the content ... , centred.
• multirow : provides the command \multirow{2}{*}{...} , to “merge” 2 cells vertically with the content ... , having width computed automatically (*).

A LaTeX figure is similarly distinct from graphical content. To include graphics, it’s best to use the command \includegraphics from the graphicx package. Then, a typical figure might look like:

\usepackage{graphicx} --- \begin {figure}   \centering   \includegraphics[width=.6 \textwidth ]{figurename} \end {figure}

Here we use .6\textwidth to make the graphic 60% the width of the main text.

By default, graphicx will look for figurename in the same folder as main.tex ; if you need to add other folders, you can use \graphicspath{{folder1/}{folder2/}...} .

The preferred package for subfigures is subcaption ; you can use it like:

\usepackage{subcaption} --- \begin {figure} % or table, then subtable below   \begin {subfigure}{0.5 \textwidth }     \includegraphics[width= \textwidth ]{figureA}     \caption {First subcaption}   \end {subfigure}   \begin {subfigure}{0.5 \textwidth }     \includegraphics[width= \textwidth ]{figureB}     \caption {Second subcaption}   \end {subfigure}   \caption {Overall figure caption} \end {figure}

This makes two subfigures each 50% of the text width, with respective subcaptions, plus an overall figure caption.

Math can be added inline with body text like $E = m c^2$ , or as a standalone equation like:

\begin {equation}   E = m c^2 \end {equation}

A complete guide to math is beyond our scope here; again, Overleaf provides a great set of resources to get started.

Cross References

We recommend using the hyperref package to make clickable links within your thesis, such as the table of contents, and references to equations, tables, figures, and other sections.

A cross-reference label can be added to a section or float environment using \label{key} , and referenced elsewhere using \ref{key} . The key will not appear in the final document (unless there is an error), so we recommend a naming convention like fig:diagram , tab:summary , or intro:back for \section{Background} within \chapter{Intro} , for example. We also recommend using a non-breaking space ~ like Figure~\ref{fig:diagram} , so that a linebreak will not separate “Figure” and the number.

You may need to compile multiple times to resolve cross-references (and citations). However, this occurs by default as needed in most editors.

The LaTeX package tikz provides excellent tools for drawing diagrams and even plotting basic math functions. Here is one small example:

\usepackage{tikz} --- \begin {tikzpicture}   \node [red,circle]  (a) at (0,0) {A};   \node [blue,square] (b) at (1,0) {B};   \draw [dotted,->]   (a) -- node[above]{ $ \alpha $ } (b); \end {tikzpicture}

Don’t forget semicolons after every command, or else you will get stuck while compiling.

There are several options for managing references in LaTeX. We recommend the most modern package: biblatex , with the biber backend.  A helpful overview is given here .

Assuming you have a file called references.bib that looks like:

@article{Lastname2020,   title = {The article title},   author = {Lastname, First and Last2, First2 and Last3 and First3},   journal = {Journal Name},   year = {2020},   vol = {99},   no = {1} } ...

then you can cite the reference Lastname2020 using biblatex like:

\usepackage[backend=biber]{biblatex} \addbibresource {references.bib} --- \cite {Lastname2020} ... \printbibliography

Depending on what editor you’re using to compile, this may work straight away. If not, you may need to update your compiling command to:

pdflatex main && biber main && pdflatex main && pdflatex main

Assuming your document is called main.tex . This is because biber is a separate tool from pdflatex . So in the command above, we first identify the cited sources using pdflatex , then collect the reference information using biber , then finish compiling the document using pdflatex , and then we compile once more in case anything got missed.

There are many options when loading biblatex to configure the reference formatting; it’s best to search the CTAN documentation for what you want to do.

Windows users may find that biber.exe or bibtex.exe get silently blocked by some antivirus software. Usually, an exception can be added within the antivirus software to allow these programs to run.

• << Previous: Formatting in MS Word
• Next: Making Thesis Accessible >>
• Last Updated: Sep 15, 2023 3:23 PM
• URL: https://guides.library.utoronto.ca/thesis

Library links

• Library Home
• Renew items and pay fines
• Library hours
• Engineering
• UT Mississauga Library
• UT Scarborough Library
• Information Commons
• All libraries

University of Toronto Libraries 130 St. George St.,Toronto, ON, M5S 1A5 [email protected] 416-978-8450 Map About web accessibility . Tell us about a web accessibility problem . About online privacy and data collection .

© University of Toronto . All rights reserved. Terms and conditions.

Connect with us

• Email & phone search

Department of Engineering

It services.

• University of Cambridge
• Department of Engineering
• Computing Help

PhD/MPhil Thesis - a LaTeX Template

A new version of this, by Krishna Kumar, is available. Features include -

• 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

July 2018: On CUED's central Linux system, you'll need to change Preamble/preamble.tex , commenting out the \usepackage{siunitx} ... line by putting a % symbol at the start of it. (some of our packages are too out of date)

Downloading

• LaTeX Template - https://github.com/kks32/phd-thesis-template/releases/tag/phd-latex-template-latest-stable
• LaTeX Template - https://github.com/kks32/phd-thesis-template/releases/latest
• LyX Template - https://github.com/kks32/PhDThesisLyX/releases

Older versions are still available, but no longer supported.

• © Cambridge University, Engineering Department, Trumpington Street, Cambridge CB2 1PZ, UK ( map ) Tel: +44 1223 332600, Fax: +44 1223 332662 Privacy policy Contact: helpdesk

Overleaf for LaTeX Theses & Dissertations: Home

• Using Templates on Overleaf
• Reference Managers and Overleaf
• Adding Graphs, Tables & Images

Dissertations and Theses

Tips and tools for writing your LaTeX thesis or dissertation in Overleaf, including templates, managing references , and getting started guides.

Getting started with your thesis or dissertation

How to get started writing your thesis in LaTeX

Writing a thesis or dissertation in LaTeX can be challenging, but the end result is well worth it - nothing looks as good as a LaTeX-produced pdf, and for large documents it's a lot easier than fighting with formatting and cross-referencing in MS Word. Review this video from Overleaf to help you get started writing your thesis in LaTeX, using a standard thesis template from the Overleaf Gallery .

You can upload your own thesis template to the Overleaf Gallery if your university provides a set of LaTeX template files or you may find your university's thesis template already in the Overleaf Gallery.

This video assumes you've used LaTeX before and are familiar with the standard commands (see our other tutorial videos  if not), and focuses on how to work with a large project split over multiple files.

5-part Guide on How to Write a Thesis in LaTeX

5-part LaTeX Thesis Writing Guide

Part 1: Basic Structure corresponding  video

Part 2: Page Layout corresponding  video

Part 3: Figures, Subfigures and Tables   corresponding video

Part 4: Bibliographies with Biblatex corresponding video

Part 5: Customizing Your Title Page and Abstract corresponding video

Managing References

BibTeX is a file format used for lists of references for LaTeX documents. Many citation management tools support the ability to export and import lists of references in .bib format. Some reference management tools can generate BibTeX files of your library or folders for use in your LaTeX documents.

LaTeX on Wikibooks has a Bibliography Management page.

Find list of BibTeX styles available on Overleaf here

View a video tutorial on how to include a bibliography using BibTeX  here

Collaborate with Overleaf

Collaboration tools

Every project you create has a secret link. Just send it to your co-authors, and they can review, comment and edit. Overleaf synchronizes changes from all authors, so everyone always has the latest version. More advanced tools include protected projects and integration with Git.

Collaborate online and offline with Overleaf and Git

Protected projects with Overleaf Pro

Link your ORCiD ID

Link your ORCiD account to your Overleaf account.

Add Institutional Library contact info here.

Contact Overleaf   or email [email protected]

See Overleaf news   on  our blog.

ShareLaTeX Joins Overleaf!

Read more about Overleaf and ShareLaTeX joining forces here

• Next: Using Templates on Overleaf >>
• Last Updated: Oct 6, 2022 1:00 PM
• URL: https://guides.lib.virginia.edu/overleaf-dissertations
• 434-924-3021
• [email protected]
• Ask a Librarian
• UVA Shannon Library P.O. Box 400113 160 McCormick Road Charlottesville, VA 22904

About the Library

• Staff Directory
• Fellowships

Using the Library

• Library Use Policies
• Off-Grounds Access
• ITS Computing Accounts
• Accessibility Services
• Emergency Information
• UVA Privacy Policy
• Tracking Opt-out

Other Sites

• Cavalier Advantage
• Library Staff Site

LaTeX template for PhD thesis

This page describes a LaTeX template for writing up your PhD or DPhil . It can be downloaded from here. The template could also serve as a backbone for writing similar documents, like Bachelor and Masters theses. Using the template only requires minimal knowledge of LaTeX, and it contains in-line comments explaining the most essential LaTeX mark-up in the document, mainly the introduction.tex file. If you don't have a LaTeX environment on your computer, you can find some instructions below (Requirements section).

• 1 Overview of template layout
• 2 Download and use
• 3 Requirements
• 4.1 History of changes

Overview of template layout

Using this LaTeX template you will be able to produce a professionally typeset PDF document with useful features not found in most PDFs. Most of the document structure will be generated automatically without you having to set it up manually, saving you several hours of layout twiddling. Favourite features are the automatic placement of figures close to the text references and avoiding orphan lines (see below for a full list).

• cover page with institution crest and personal details (panel 1, top left)
• automatic table of contents, automatic numbering of chapters, section,.. (panel 2)
• automatic listing of all figures and tables after the table of contents (panel 3 & 4, top right)
• automatic glossary in 2 columns (panel 5, bottom left)
• special layout for the start of a chapter, always on a main page (odd page number) (panel 6)
• easy placement of figures with bold title and indented caption below using a macro (panel 7)
• automatic generation of reference section / bibliography at the end of the document (panel 8, bottom right)

The template does most of the layout work for you. Nevertheless, you can of course change the layout if desired. You might want a different citation style or you may not need an abstract. Many alternatives are given within the documents of the template as inactive lines (preceded by %), which can be activated as desired by uncommenting (removing the % sign).

Download and use

• download the archive with all the text files making up the template: PhDtemplateLATEX.zip (2 MB) - If you have improved the template, feel free to upload a new version [1]
• unpack the archive after download
• you will find a folder structure resembling the document ( 0_frontmatter, 1_introduction,.. 9_backmatter )
• start by looking at the introduction.tex file in the folder /1_introduction ; it contains detailed comments explaining LaTeX and this template
• you can start directly by adding contents to the sub-document, e.g. the introduction.tex file
• also add your personal information to the central document thesis.tex which calls up all the other sub-documents

Requirements

• LaTeX environment: pre-installed on many Linux OSs or via installers like MacTeX package (free)
• LaTeX compiler, e.g. TeXShop (free, OS X)
• For TeXShop, I recommend the Latexmk405TeXShop package which will ease compilation of your document a lot. you can download it here . Installation instructions are included.

To use the template you'll need a piece of software that assembles the PDF from the various text files. There are flavours of this for all operating systems. For example on the Mac, I would recommend TexShop. You might also find a citation manager useful, although not strictly required. You can make the file containing the references (BibTex file) using the web site CiteULike instead. A reference manager comes with additional handy features though. On the Apple computers, BibDesk is the best because its freeware with PubMed import, easy keyword tagging, and PDF linking/viewing.

Credits and call for improvements

If you adapt the template, change the layout, iron out glitches, write explanations, etc. please upload your improvements and make them available to the community .

Especially the glossary generation is still complicated. It would be great if this were simplified. I had to resort to the command line using the OS X Terminal programme: makeindex thesis.nlo -s path/nomencl.ist -o thesis.nls (file paths may have to be added).

History of changes

• Thanks to Till Korten for bug fixes and further improvements added in 2009.
• I extended and corrected (glossary, page number 1/2 duplicated, some layout changes,..) Harish's template in 2007 and posted it here for community use.
• This template is based on Harish Bhanderi's PhD template from 2002. Thanks for a well done template.
• Talk page of this page for FAQ

on OpenWetWare:

• LaTeX - introduction to LaTeX typesetting, pros and cons
• Word vs. LaTeX
• Getting started with LaTeX on a Mac

in Wikipedia et al:

• Latex wikibook
• Harish Bhanderi's LaTeX PhD template from 2002
• UCL computer department thesis template
• UT thesis template updated by James Bednar, 2006
• http://tex.stackexchange.com/ — a Q & A site for TeX, LaTeX and related issues

Navigation menu

Page actions.

• View source

Personal tools

• Request account
• Recent changes
• Contact OWW
• Add a Lab Notebook
• What links here
• Related changes
• Special pages
• Printable version
• Permanent link
• Page information
• Cite this page

• This page was last edited on 13 August 2010, at 06:20.
• Content is available under GNU FDL or Creative Commons BY-SA unless otherwise noted.
• About OpenWetWare
• Disclaimers
• Mobile view

because LaTeX matters

Template for latex phd thesis title page.

Often universities provide official LaTeX templates for PhD theses. If your university doesn’t, here is a template. The template includes the most common elements of a thesis title page:

• University’s or institute’s logo
• Thesis title
• Author’s name
• Degree the thesis is submitted for
• Submission date

A few remarks

The template may have to be adapted, as it most likely won’t fulfil your university’s or institute’s official thesis guidelines.

If the official guidelines do not explicitly state it, do not use more than two different font sizes. In the template, I used the same font size throughout the title page ( \Large ).

To center content of the title page and still use twoside -margins for the thesis, use the geometry package :

Share this:

22 comments.

13. May 2014 at 19:21

Tom, do you know how I can make the page numbers in an index to be hyperlinks please? I haven’t found any way of doing it online.

14. May 2014 at 7:35

Just use the linktoc=all option when you load the hyperref package .

14. May 2014 at 11:07

I’ve tried it but it didn’t work, FYI this is the relevant part of my file header –

There is no change at all in the index page, unfortunately! 🙁

14. May 2014 at 11:18

You load the hyperref package twice with different options. Use this instead:

Also, hyperref has to be the last package loaded ( exceptions ).

Finally, always typeset twice for changes to appear in the TOC.

14. May 2014 at 11:22

sorted by using

14. May 2014 at 11:26

Great to hear, thanks!

19. May 2014 at 9:44

Hello Tom, I like how your template looks so clean and simple. Do you think it is wise to use the “titlepage” environment for a title? It is used in the Wikibook about LaTeX ( https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/LaTeX/Title_Creation ).

19. May 2014 at 10:28

Thanks for the positive feedback! Personally, I’ve never used the titlepage environment, \maketitle has done the job so far. You may want to take a look at the discussion on the topic here to decide what’s your best choice…

3. September 2014 at 9:55

I have really liked the templete. Can you please tell me where should I put the logo if I also want to mention the name of the university in the title page?

5. September 2014 at 2:59

Personally, I’d place the university name right before the year and keep the logo on top. There might be guidelines of your school defining the order.

11. September 2014 at 2:50

Hi Tom, Thanks for the template! It seems that newgeometry does not work with version 4 of the geometry package. Is there another possibility to get the twoside margins?

12. September 2014 at 4:25

Interesting question. You could either update your version of geometry, \newgeometry was introduced in version 5, or use the gmeometric package instead.

18. September 2014 at 15:49

Nice, simple, clean template. Thanks for sharing. Unfortunately, when I use this, it adds page numbers (which I do not want) and also includes a blank first page.

I have to use this as my preamble.

If I do not comment out the first line, it does no compile

How can I remove the page numbers and the blank first page.

20. September 2014 at 16:36

To switch pages number off, use:

5. February 2015 at 17:51

Hi Tom Is it possible to have two logos side by side on the cover page (joint phd and both univversities’ logos must appear). Any idea how I can implement this?

14. February 2015 at 5:50

Hi Michael,

Try the minipage environment as shown below. If this doesn’t work, please provide a minimal working example. Thanks, Tom.

11. May 2015 at 18:45

Thanks Tom for the Template

10. August 2015 at 17:54

If the titlepage has different margin settings, which is quite often the case, i tend to recommend to include the titlepage as a standalone document with includepdf from pdfpages. A titlepage doesn’t change every few minutes and is quite static. Clompetely avoiding the newgeometry stuff.

11. August 2015 at 12:15

Thanks for your comment. I agree, that’s a neat way of keeping the titlepage separated from the rest of the document. Best, Tom.

8. May 2016 at 9:23

Sir Please tell me how to write 4 to 5 authors in title page of a report?

10. May 2016 at 10:58

You can use the author macro as shown in the minimal working example below.

10. May 2016 at 18:14

Depending on how you want your complete author section output, there might be better ways. In some cases, it is even more painless to do the titlepage by hand.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Masters/Doctoral Thesis

This template provides a full framework for writing a graduate level thesis. It is carefully structured and separated into multiple parts for easy editing. Included are the following pages/sections: a cover page, declaration of authorship, quotation, abstract, acknowledgements, contents page(s), list of figures, list of tables, abbreviations, physical constants, symbols, dedication, example chapter, example appendix and bibliography.

Description

This template provides a full framework for writing a graduate level thesis. It is carefully structured and separated into multiple parts for easy editing. Included are the following pages/sections: a cover page, declaration of authorship, quotation, abstract, acknowledgements, contents page(s), list of figures, list of tables, abbreviations, physical constants, symbols, dedication, example chapter, example appendix and bibliography. An example chapter is included which explains the basics of LaTeX and this template. It contains everything you need to know to begin writing your academic thesis using this template. Important note: this template comes as a zip file with multiple files and folders within it. It is worth reading the Chapter 1 introduction to the thesis to get an idea of what they do.

This second major version of this template was made by Vel . The thesis style was originally created by Steve R. Gunn and modified into a template by Sunil Patel .

Current Version

v2.5 (August 27, 2017)

This template is licensed under a CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 license. Click here to see what this license means for your use of the template.

Open Template for Free Editing Online

Download template, have a question.

• Ask a Question at LaTeX.org
• Report via Email

This page last updated on: August 27, 2017

LaTeX Templates Information

General enquiries [email protected]

Most templates licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

LaTeX Templates is developed in New Zealand

© Creodocs Limited. All Rights Reserved.

• Langson Library
• Science Library
• Grunigen Medical Library
• Law Library
• Connect From Off-Campus
• Accessibility
• Gateway Study Center

Email this link

Thesis / dissertation formatting manual (2024).

• Filing Fees and Student Status
• Submission Process Overview
• Electronic Thesis Submission
• Paper Thesis Submission
• Formatting Overview
• Fonts/Typeface
• Pagination, Margins, Spacing
• Paper Thesis Formatting
• Preliminary Pages Overview
• Copyright Page
• Dedication Page
• Table of Contents
• List of Figures (etc.)
• Acknowledgements
• Text and References Overview
• Figures and Illustrations
• Using Your Own Previously Published Materials
• Using Copyrighted Materials by Another Author
• Open Access and Embargoes
• Copyright and Creative Commons
• Ordering Print (Bound) Copies
• Tutorials and Assistance
• FAQ This link opens in a new window

UCI Libraries maintains the following  templates to assist in formatting your graduate manuscript. If you are formatting your manuscript in Microsoft Word, feel free to download and use the template. If you would like to see what your manuscript should look like, PDFs have been provided. If you are formatting your manuscript using LaTex, UCI maintains a template on OverLeaf.

• Annotated Template (Dissertation) 2024 PDF of a template with annotations of what to look out for
• Word: Thesis Template 2024 Editable template of the Master's thesis formatting.
• PDF Thesis Template 2024
• Word: Dissertation Template 2024 Editable template of the PhD Dissertation formatting.
• PDF: Dissertation Template 2024
• Overleaf (LaTex) Template
• << Previous: Tutorials and Assistance
• Next: FAQ >>
• Last Updated: Feb 20, 2024 2:09 PM
• URL: https://guides.lib.uci.edu/gradmanual

Off-campus? Please use the Software VPN and choose the group UCIFull to access licensed content. For more information, please Click here

Software VPN is not available for guests, so they may not have access to some content when connecting from off-campus.