thesis submission certificate

• Submitting Your Dissertation
• Introduction

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

• Application for Degree
• Credit for Completed Graduate Work
• Ad Hoc Degree Programs
• Acknowledging the Work of Others
• Advanced Planning
• Dissertation Advisory Committee
• Dissertation Submission Checklist
• Formatting Your Dissertation
• Publishing Options
• English Language Proficiency
• PhD Program Requirements
• Secondary Fields
• Year of Graduate Study (G-Year)
• Master's Degrees
• Grade and Examination Requirements
• Conduct and Safety
• Financial Aid
• Non-Resident Students
• Registration

On this page:

Program Submission

• Thesis/Dissertation Acceptance Certificate

Registrar’s Office Submission

• Related Contacts and Forms

Students must submit their dissertation by the date established by their program (generally six to eight weeks prior to the Registrar’s Office dissertation submission deadline) and follow the program’s instructions on the number of copies to submit and format (bound or unbound). 

Please note : Students are responsible for notifying their department of any requested embargoes that were approved at the time of online submission.

Thesis Acceptance Certificate

Students must complete a thesis acceptance certificate (sometimes referred to as the dissertation acceptance certificate), which includes the title of the dissertation and signatures of at least three advisors approved by the student’s program and whose membership follows the Harvard Griffin GSAS policies on the Dissertation Advisory Committee . Electronic signatures  from committee members are acceptable. If a DAC is submitted with electronic signatures, an additional DAC with handwritten signatures will not be required. A  document version of the certificate is available if needed.

The title and the student name on the thesis acceptance certificate must read exactly as it does on the title page of the dissertation, meaning if you use your full middle name or middle initial on one document, it must be the same on the other document. The thesis acceptance certificate must also be uploaded as a separate "Administrative Document" when submitting the electronic dissertation to ProQuest ETD . All thesis/dissertation acceptance certificates are forwarded to the Harvard University Archives.

A copy of the signed thesis acceptance certificate should appear before the title page of the online dissertation submission; no page number should be assigned to the thesis/dissertation acceptance certificate. The thesis/dissertation acceptance certificate will be included in all copies of the dissertation.

Students must submit their dissertation in PDF format to the FAS Registrar’s Office through ProQuest ETD by the deadline established for each degree conferral date (see the Degree Calendar  or the  Registrar’s Office website .  Please carefully review your dissertation formatting  before submitting online. Formatting errors may prevent you from receiving your degree.  During the submission process, students are asked to upload a separate copy of the signed thesis/dissertation acceptance certificate, approve two license agreements, and complete two surveys (the Harvard Griffin GSAS Employment Exit Survey and the Survey of Earned Doctorates). If you are requesting an embargo of more than two years, you will need to submit a signed approval form from the department's Director of Graduate Studies (DGS) with your dissertation submission.

The Registrar’s Office will review the dissertation for compliance and will contact the student to confirm acceptance or to request alterations.

In very rare cases, a dissertation may require redaction, which is the process of obscuring or removing sensitive information for distribution. If sensitive or potentially harmful material appears in the dissertation (e.g., commercially sensitive information, sensitive personal data, risk of harmful retribution, etc.), a student should contact the  Office for Scholarly Communication .

Contact Info

Registrar's Office   Faculty of Arts and Sciences  Harvard University  Richard A. and Susan F. Smith Campus Center Office  1350 Massachusetts Avenue, Suite 450  Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138

Tel: 617-495-1543  Fax: 617-495-0815

Office Hours: 10:30 a.m.-4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday

For additional questions, please  send us a message .

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Academics | Candidacy & Defense

Thesis submission.

The deadline to submit for the May degree conferral has passed. The deadline to submit for the August degree conferral is noon CDT on Friday, August 9, 2024. Be sure to upload your Signed Title Page and Original Approval of Candidacy form at the website here after submitting your thesis through thesis.rice.edu .

Students must submit the final thesis to the Office of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies no later than six months from the date of the defense. However, in order to qualify for a specific degree conferral date, the submission deadline for that semester must be met. See the academic calendar for deadlines. The General Announcements has complete information on thesis defense .

Am I ready to submit?

If your thesis is defended but not final (e.g., changes to your thesis are required), within one week, you must follow the steps as described in Part 1 below. Once you have defended and all changes are made, you must then submit your thesis within six months of your defense. Instructions for both scenarios are listed below. If you are ready to submit your thesis within a week of your defense, you may complete all of the steps in both parts at once. If you choose to do this, you'll need to include all of your supplementary documents as described in Part 2. Do not press "submit" until you have reviewed both sets of instructions. Please contact us if you have trouble accessing the thesis site.

How will the new online thesis verification and submission generally work?

• Once your thesis defense announcement has been registered with the Office of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies via events.rice.edu/rgs , it will be posted online by the GPS office, provided it is approved.
• Thesis Title Page through AdobeSign. Both you and your graduate program administrator will be notified when this is ready. If your committee changes prior to your defense , please ask the department chair, program director, or director of graduate study to notify GPS as soon as possible. The new committee will need to be approved, and we will need to generate a completely new Approval of Candidacy form and Thesis Title Page form to be completed via AdobeSign.
• On the day of your defense, you should fill out the electronic Original Approval of Candidacy form. It will then go to your committee for signing after your successful defense. Once the committee has signed the Original Approval of Candidacy, the AdobeSign process will come back to you for the next steps.
• Once your thesis has been approved in its final form, you will return to the AdobeSign form and complete your Thesis Title page. Once completed, it will be sent to your committee again to sign and recognize that your final thesis is approved for submission. Your committee can sign in parallel. Your graduate administrator will receive notifications for every signature and you will receive a notification when the title page has been signed in full. Please contact your graduate administrator if you would like an update on the progress of your thesis title page.
• When all of the committee members have signed the Thesis Title Page, the GPS office will receive a final copy of the form to be validated when you finalize your thesis defense.

You’ll get notifications in each phase. Once all committee members have signed both forms, you’ll receive a final PDF via email. To prep for upload to thesis.rice.edu , you will need to separate this PDF into two documents. Because the PDF is protected, you’ll follow some specific instructions here (Microsoft) or here - after opening the .pdf using a browser such as Google Chrome (Mac) to do this. To separate the pages of a protected PDF, go to print, then select "Microsoft Word to .pdf" as the printer name. Once you’ve separated the pages into the two documents, upload to thesis.rice.edu as outlined in the processes here .

Once your thesis is final and everything has been verified in thesis.rice.edu , you must fill out the webform here . This replaces what is normally a visit to GPS and Office of the Registrar for final submission.

For tips on how to approach an online thesis defense, click here .

How do I submit?

If your thesis is defended but not complete (e.g., you need to make changes), follow the instructions in Part 1 within one week of your defense.

If your thesis is defended and all changes have been made, submit your thesis using Part 2 below within six months of your defense.

If your thesis is defended and no changes were necessary, complete all of the steps in Part 1 and 2.

Questions? Email [email protected] .

Part 1: Within a week of your defense

• Navigate to thesis.rice.edu
• Click "Start your submission"
• Login with your NetID and password
• Follow the instructions on the site, using the guides for assistance

Verify that all the information is accurate before moving forward.

Assent to the terms of the agreement by checking the appropriate boxes.

• Enter your thesis title, graduation date, abstract, and keywords. The information entered here should match the information in your document.
• Supply the names of your committee members.

If you’ve used the online thesis submission process, once all your committee members have signed virtually, you will receive the PDF of the Original Approval of Candidacy form. Print this form, digitally separate the two pages and upload them to thesis.rice.edu:

• The Original Approval of Candidacy is uploaded as an administrative file, and
• The defended version of the manuscript is uploaded as the "Manuscript in PDF".
• The title page should not be signed or submitted until the advisor confirms that the thesis is in its final form and ready to submit.

For guidelines on supplemental files, please click here .

• Confirm that your information is correct and click the "Confirm and Submit Button".
• This initial submission (Part 1) is not final. Your submission will be sent to GPS for an initial review. You will still be able to edit your submission, thesis, and uploaded documents following the GPS review, typically within two business days.
• If you need to make changes to your submission at this point, do not start a new submission. Contact [email protected] to have your thesis status changed so you can make edits.
• Once GPS acknowledges your defense, your status will be changed to "Defended, Not Final." Please review the thesis format guidelines if you have not already done so prior to submitting the final copy of your thesis.
• Within six months of your defense, you must upload and submit the final copy of your thesis and all supplemental documents. This is Part 2. Once you submit a final copy of your thesis and your signatures have been received, and you’ve completed the required electronic Thesis Submission webform (see Part 2), you will not be permitted to alter your thesis.
• Please make all corrections prior to submitting your thesis. The online webform referenced above replaces the visit to GPS and the Office of the Registrar.

Part 2: Changes made, ready to submit

Please note all thesis and administrative files must be PDFs.

• Create a single PDF of your thesis, including the signed electronic Thesis Title Page form. Please review the thesis format guidelines if you have not already done so.
• Separate your electronic Original Approval of Candidacy.
• Doctoral only: complete the Survey of Earned Doctorates and create PDF of the certificate you'll receive upon completion.
• Open http://thesis.rice.edu in your web browser.
• Select "Start your submission."
• Login with your Rice NetID and password.
• If you have already started a submission previously, select the action "Edit" or "Continue" to continue a previous submission. Otherwise, select "Start a new submission."

If any of the information is incorrect or needs to be updated, email [email protected] .

• Upload defended and corrected copy of your thesis as your primary document. This action will archive the defended version.
• You must include your signed electronic Thesis Title Page form as the first page of your final version of your thesis.

Upload the following required documents as ADMINISTRATIVE FILES:

• Your signed Original Approval of Candidacy
• Survey of Earned Doctorates Certificate (Doctoral only)
• Supplemental files are optional and may include non-PDF materials, such as videos, that complement your thesis.

Add a note here if there have been any changes in your thesis submission data.

• Complete the webform here . This replaces what is normally a visit to GPS and the Office of the Registrar for final submission.
• GPS will review the thesis submission and sign the form accordingly.
• You'll receive the form back as a receipt once complete.
• GPS will also sign the Original Approval of Candidacy form, and you and your graduate program administrator will receive a copy.
• The thesis will be published with the electronic title page if there are no embargoes.

Updated November 2023

Thesis Writing and Filing

The following guidelines are only for master’s students. If you are pursuing a doctoral degree, please see the Dissertation Filing Guide .

Filing your master’s thesis at the Graduate Division is one of the final steps leading to the award of your graduate degree. Your manuscript is a scholarly presentation of the results of the research you conducted. UC Berkeley upholds the tradition that you have an obligation to make your research available to other scholars. This is done when the Graduate Division submits your manuscript to the University Library.

Your faculty committee supervises the intellectual content of your manuscript and your committee chair will guide you on the arrangement within the text and reference sections of your manuscript. Consult with your committee chair early in the preparation of your manuscript.

The specifications in the following pages were developed in consultation with University Library. These standards assure uniformity in the degree candidates’ manuscripts to be archived in the University Library, and ensure as well the widest possible dissemination of student-authored knowledge.

Research Protocols

Eligibility, fall and spring semesters, summer filing, formatting your manuscript, special page formats, organizing your manuscript, procedure for filing your thesis, permission to include previously published or co-authored material, inclusion of publishable papers or article-length essays, withholding your thesis, changes to a thesis after filing, diploma, transcript, and certificate of completion, certificate of completion, common mistakes, mixed media guidelines, definitions and standards, electronic formats and risk categories, frequently asked questions.

If your research activities involve human or animal subjects, you must follow the guidelines and obtain an approved protocol  before you begin your research.   Learn more on our website   or contact the Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects ( http://cphs.berkeley.edu/  or 642-7461) or the Animal Care and Use Committee ( http://www.acuc.berkeley.edu/  or 642-8855).

In addition to the considerations explained below, your Expected Graduation Term (EGT) must match the term for which you intend to file. EGT can be updated at any time using an eForm available in CalCentral.

To be eligible to file for your degree, you must be registered or on approved Filing Fee status for the semester in which you file. We encourage you to file your thesis as early in the semester as you can and to come in person to our office to submit your supporting documents. If you cannot come to our office, it is helpful if you have a friend bring your documents. The deadline to file your thesis in its final form is the last day of the semester for your degree to be awarded as of that semester.

Filing during the summer has a slightly different set of eligibility requirements. If you were fully registered during the immediately preceding Spring semester, and have not used Filing Fee already, you may file your thesis during the summer with no additional cost or application required. This option is available for both Plan I master’s degree students filing a thesis and Plan II students completing a capstone. Summer is defined as the period from the day after the Spring semester ends (mid-May) until the last day of the Summer Sessions (mid-August).

International students completing degree in the Summer must consult Berkeley International Office before finalizing plans, as in some cases lack of Summer enrollment could impact visa status or post-completion employment.

If you have already used Filing Fee previously, or were not registered the preceding Spring semester, you will need to register in 1.0 unit in Summer Sessions in order to file.

Theses filed during the summer will result in a summer degree conferral.

You must be advanced to candidacy, and in good standing (not lapsed), in order to file.

All manuscripts must be submitted electronically in a traditional PDF format.

• Page Size : The standard for a document’s page size is 8.5 x 11 inches. If compelling reasons exist to use a larger page size, you must contact the Graduate Division for prior approval.
• Basic manuscript text must  be a non-italic type font and at a size of 12-point or larger. Whatever typeface and size you choose for the basic text, use it consistently throughout your entire manuscript. For footnotes, figures, captions, tables, charts, and graphs, a font size of 8-point or larger is to be used.
• You may include color in your thesis, but your basic manuscript text must be black.
• For quotations, words in a foreign language, occasional emphasis, book titles, captions, and footnotes, you may use italics. A font different from that used for your basic manuscript may be used for appendices, charts, drawings, graphs, and tables.
• Pagination:   Your manuscript is composed of preliminary pages and the main body of text and references. Page numbers must be positioned either in the upper right corner, lower right corner, or the bottom center and must be at least ¾ of an inch from the edges. The placement of the page numbers in your document must be consistent throughout.

Be Careful!   If you have any pages that are rotated to a landscape orientation, the page numbers still need to be in a consistent position throughout the document (as if it were printed and bound).

• Do not count or number the title page or the copyright page. All other pages must have numbers. DO NOT SKIP PAGE ” 1 “.
• The remaining preliminary pages may include a table of contents, a dedication, a list of figures, tables, symbols, illustrations, or photographs, a preface, your introduction, acknowledgments, and curriculum vitae. You must number these preliminary pages using   lower case Roman numerals  beginning with the number “i” and continue in sequence to the end of the preliminary pages (i, ii, iii, iv, v, etc.).
• An abstract is optional, but if you chose to include one, your abstract must have  Arabic numeral  page numbers. Start numbering your abstract with the number “1” and continue in sequence (1, 2, 3, etc.)
• The main body of your text and your references also use Arabic numerals. Start the numbering of the main body with the number “1” and continue in sequence (1, 2, 3, etc.), numbering consecutively throughout the rest of the text, including illustrative materials, bibliography, and appendices.

Yes! The first page of your abstract and the first page of your main text both start with ‘1’

• Margins:   For the manuscript material, including headers, footers, tables, illustrations, and photographs, all margins must be at least 1 inch from the edges of the paper. Page numbers must be ¾ of an inch from the edge.
• Spacing:  Your manuscript must be single-spaced throughout, including the abstract, dedication, acknowledgments, and introduction.
• Tables, charts, and graphs   may be presented horizontally or vertically and must fit within the required margins. Labels or symbols are preferred rather than colors for identifying lines on a graph.

You may choose to reduce the size of a page to fit within the required margins, but be sure that the resulting page is clear and legible.

• Guidelines for Mixed Media:   please see Appendix B for details.

Certain pages need to be formatted in a very specific way. Links are included here for examples of these pages.

Do not deviate from the wording and spacing in the examples, except for details applicable to you (e.g. name, major, committee, etc.)

• As noted in the above section on pagination, the abstract is optional but if included must be numbered  separately  with arabic numerals starting with ‘1’
• IMPORTANT: A physical signature page should no longer be included with your thesis. Approvals by your committee members will be provided electronically using an eForm.
• The title page does not contain page numbers.
• Do not bold any text on your title page.
• The yellow bubbles in the sample are included for explanatory purposes only. Do not include them in your submission.
• If you are receiving a joint degree, it must be listed on your title page ( Click here for sample with joint degree )

The proper organization and page order for your manuscript is as follows:

• Copyright page or a blank page
• Dedication page
• Table of contents
• List of figures, list of tables, list of symbols
• Preface or introduction
• Acknowledgements
• Curriculum Vitae
• References or Bibliography

After you have written your thesis, formatted it correctly, assembled the pages into the correct organization, and obtained verbal approval from all members of your committee, you are ready to file it with UC Berkeley’s Graduate Division.

Step 1:  Convert your thesis to a standard PDF file.

Step 2: Log into your CalCentral account. Under Student Resources in your Dashboard find Submit a Form and choose Final Signature Submission .

Step 3:  Complete the eForm in its entirety and hit submit once all  required documents are submitted:

• Attach the PDF of your thesis and
• Attach a copy of the approval letter for your study protocol from the Committee for Protection of Human Subjects, or the Animal Care and Use Committee if your research involved human or animal subjects. 

(Step 4): Congratulations you’re done! The traditional lollipop will be mailed to you following the end of the semester. Please be sure to update your mailing addresses (especially the diploma mailing address).

Important Notes: 

• DO NOT SUBMIT A DRAFT. Once your thesis has been submitted, you will not be allowed to make changes. Be sure that it is in its final form!
• Check your email regularly. Should revisions be necessary the eForm will be “recycled” to you and you will be notified via email. To resubmit your thesis, go back to Student Resources in your CalCentral account find Manage Your Forms and select Update Pending Forms . Here you can search for your submitted Final Signature form and make necessary updates and/or attach your revised thesis.
• After your thesis has been approved by Graduate Division, it will be routed to the listed committee members for electronic approval. Once all members have provided approval you will be notified.
• The review of your thesis may take up to four business days.

Important note for students in a Concurrent Degree Program (e.g. Landscape Architecture & City Planning):

• If you are filing a thesis to satisfy both master’s degrees, do not submit two eForms. Please select one plan only on the eForm and the Graduate Division will update your record accordingly.

If you plan use of your own previously published and/or co-authored material in your manuscript, your committee chair must attest that the resulting thesis represents an original contribution of ideas to the field, even if previously published co – authored articles are included, and that major contributors of those articles have been informed.

Previously published material must be incorporated into a larger argument that binds together the whole thesis. The common thread linking various parts of the research, represented by individual papers incorporated in the thesis, must be made explicit, and you must join the papers into a coherent unit. You are required to prepare introductory, transitional, and concluding sections. Previously published material must be acknowledged appropriately, as established for your discipline or as requested in the original publication agreement (e.g. through a note in acknowledgments, a footnote, or the like).

If co-authored material is to be incorporated (whether published or unpublished), all major contributors should be informed of the inclusion in addition to being appropriately credited in the thesis according to the norms of the field.

If you are incorporating co-authored material in your thesis, it is your responsibility to inform major contributors. This documentation need not be submitted to the Graduate Division. The eform used by your committee chair to sign off on your thesis will automatically include text indicating that by signing off they attest to the appropriateness and approval for inclusion of previously published and/or co-authored materials. No addition information or text needs to be added.

Publishable papers and article-length essays arising from your research project are acceptable only if you incorporate that text into a larger argument that binds together the whole dissertation or thesis. Include introductory, transitional, and concluding sections with the papers or essays.

Occasionally, there are unusual circumstances in which you prefer that your thesis not be published immediately.  Such circumstances may include the disclosure of patentable rights in the work before a patent can be granted, similar disclosures detrimental to the rights of the author, or disclosures of facts about persons or institutions before professional ethics would permit.

The Dean of the Graduate Division may permit the thesis to be held without shelving for a specified and limited period of time beyond the default, under substantiated circumstances of the kind indicated and with the endorsement of and an explanatory letter from the chair of the thesis committee.  If you need to request that your manuscript be withheld, please consult with the chair of your committee, and have him or her submit a letter requesting this well before you file for your degree. The memo should be addressed to the cognizant Associate Dean, in care of Graduate Services: Degrees, 318 Sproul Hall.

Changes are normally not allowed after a manuscript has been filed.  In exceptional circumstances, changes may be requested by having the chair of your thesis committee submit a memo to the cognizant Associate Dean, in care of Graduate Services: Degrees, 318 Sproul Hall.  The memo must describe in detail the specific changes requested and must justify the reason for the request.  If the request is approved, the changes must be made prior to the official awarding of the degree.  Once your degree has been awarded, you may not make changes to the manuscript.

After your thesis is accepted by Graduate Services: Degrees, it is held here until the official awarding of the degree by the Academic Senate has occurred.  This occurs approximately two months after the end of the term.  After the degree has officially been awarded, the manuscripts are shipped to the University Library.

Posting the Degree to Your Transcript

Your degree will be posted to your transcript approximately 3 months after the conferral date of your degree.  You can order a transcript from the Office of the Registrar (https://registrar.berkeley.edu/academic-records/transcripts-diplomas/).

Diploma Your diploma will be available from the Office of the Registrar approximately 4 months after the conferral date of your degree.  For more information on obtaining your diploma, visit the Registrar’s website .  You can obtain your diploma in person at the Office of the Registrar, 120 Sproul Hall, or submit a form to have it mailed to you. Unclaimed diplomas are retained for a period of five (5) years only, after which they are destroyed.

If you require evidence that you have completed your degree requirements prior to the degree being posted to your transcript, request a “ Certificate of Degree Completion “.

Please note that we will not issue a Certificate of Completion after the degree has been posted to your transcript.

• The most common mistake is following a fellow (or previous) student’s example. Read the current guidelines carefully!
• An incorrect committee — the committee listed on your title page must match your currently approved committee. If you have made any changes to your committee since Advancement to Candidacy, you must request an official change from the Graduate Division. Consult your departmental adviser for details.
• Do not use a different name than that which appears in the system (i.e. the name on your transcript and Cal Central Profile). Students are allowed to use a Lived Name, which can be updated by self-service in CalCentral.
• Page numbers — Read the section on pagination carefully. Many students do not paginate their document correctly.
• Page rotation — some pages may be rotated to a landscape orientation. However, page numbers must appear in the same place throughout the document (as if it were bound like a book).
• Do not include the signature/approval page in your electronic thesis. Signatures will be provided electronically using the eForm.
• Do not include previous degrees on your title page.

In May, 2005, the Graduate Council established new guidelines for the inclusion of mixed media content in theses.  It was considered crucial that the guidelines allow theses s to remain as accessible as possible and for the longest period possible while balancing the extraordinary academic potential of these new technologies.

The thesis has three components: a core thesis, essential supporting material, and non-essential supplementary material.

Core Thesis.   The core thesis must be a self-contained, narrative description of the argument, methods, and evidence used in the thesis project.  Despite the ability to present evidence more directly and with greater sophistication using mixed media, the core thesis must provide an accessible textual description of the whole project.

The core thesis must stand alone and be printable on paper, meeting the formatting requirements described in this document. The electronic version of the thesis must be provided in the most stable and universal format available—currently Portable Document Format (PDF) for textual materials. These files may also include embedded visual images in TIFF (.tif) or JPEG (.jpg) format.

Essential Supporting Material.   Essential supporting material is defined as mixed media content that cannot be integrated into the core thesis, i.e., material that cannot be adequately expressed as text.  Your faculty committee is responsible for deciding whether this material is essential to the thesis.  Essential supporting material does  not  include the actual project data.  Supporting material is essential if it is necessary for the actual argument of the thesis, and cannot be integrated into a traditional textual narrative.

Essential supporting material  must  be submitted in the most stable and least risky format consistent with its representation (see below), so as to allow the widest accessibility and greatest chance of preservation into the future.

Non-essential Supplementary Material.   Supplementary material includes any supporting content that is useful for understanding the thesis, but is not essential to the argument. This might include, for example, electronic files of the works analyzed in the thesis (films, musical works, etc.) or additional support for the argument (simulations, samples of experimental situations, etc.).

Supplementary material is to be submitted in the most stable and most accessible format, depending on the relative importance of the material (see below). Clearly label the CD, DVD, audiotape, or videotape with your name, major, thesis title, and information on the contents. Only one copy is required to be filed with your thesis.  A second copy should be left with your department.

Note . ProQuest and the Library will require any necessary 3rd party software licenses and reprint permission letters for any copyrighted materials included in these electronic files.

The following is a list of file formats in descending order of stability and accessibility. This list is provisional, and will be updated as technologies change. Faculty and students should refer to the Graduate Division website for current information on formats and risk categories.

Category A:

• TIFF (.tif) image files
• WAV (.wav) audio files

Category B:

• JPEG, JPEG 2000 (.jpg) image files
• GIF (.gif) image files

Category C:

• device independent audio files (e.g., AIFF, MIDI, SND, MP3, WMA, QTA)
• note-based digital music composition files (e.g., XMA, SMF, RMID)

Category D:

• other device independent video formats (e.g., QuickTime, AVI, WMV)
• encoded animations (e.g., FLA or SWF Macromedia Flash, SVG)

For detailed guidelines on the use of these media, please refer to the Library of Congress website for digital formats at  http://www.digitalpreservation.gov/formats/index.shtml .

Q1: Can I file my thesis during the summer?

A1: Yes. There are 2 ways to file during the summer:

1)     If you have never used Filing Fee before AND you were registered during the immediately preceding spring semester, you can file your thesis during the summer with no further application or payment required. Simply submit your thesis as usual and the Graduate Division staff will confirm your eligibility. If you are an international student, you must consult the Berkeley International Office for guidance as this option may have visa implications for you.

2)     If you weren’t registered in spring, you can register for at least 1.0 unit through Berkeley Summer Sessions.

Q2: If I chose that option, does it matter which session I register in during the summer session?

A2: No. You can register for any of the sessions (at least 1.0 unit). The deadline will always be the last day of the last session.

Q3: If I file during the summer, will I receive a summer degree?

A3: Yes. If you file before the last day of summer session, you will receive an August degree. If you file during the summer, remember to write “Summer” on your title page!

Q1: I’ve seen other theses from former students that were / that had  __________, should I follow that format?

A1: No. The formatting guidelines can be changed from time to time, so you should always consult the most current guidelines available on our website.

Q2: I want to make sure that my thesis follows the formatting rules. What’s the best way to do this?

A2: If you’ve read and followed the current guidelines available on our website, there shouldn’t be any problems. You are also always welcome to bring sample pages into the Graduate Degrees Office at 318 Sproul Hall to have a staff member look over your manuscript.

Q3:  Does my signature page need to be printed on some special paper?

A3: Signatures are now an eForm process. A physical signature page is no longer required.

Q1: I’m away from Berkeley. Is there any way to file my thesis remotely?

A1: Yes! The whole process is done remotely.

Q2: Can I have a friend file my thesis for me?

A2: No. You will need to CalNet authenticate in order to file.

Q3: What’s a Receipt of Filing? Do I need one?

A3: The Receipt of Filing is an official document that we produce that certifies that you have successfully filed your thesis on the specified day and that, if all other requirements are met, the date of the degree conferral.

Some students may need the receipt in order to prove to an outside agency that they have officially filed their thesis. Many students simply keep the receipt as a memento. Picking up your receipt is not required.

Q4: What’s the difference between a Receipt of Filing and a Certificate of Completion?

A4: A Receipt of Filing is automatically produced for all students upon successful filing of their thesis. However, it only certifies that the thesis has been accepted. The Certificate of Degree Completion  must be requested. It will state that all requirements  have   been met and notes the date that the degree will be conferred. This is a useful document for students who file early in the semester and need some verification of their degree in advance of its conferral (note: degrees are only conferred twice each year).

Q5: How to I know if I’m eligible for a Certificate of Completion?

A5: In order to be eligible to receive a Certificate of Completion, you must:

1) Successfully file your thesis

2) Have a completed (satisfied) Academic Progress Report. Your department can assist you with this if you have questions.

3) Pay all of your registration fees. If you have a balance on your account, we may be unable to provide a Certificate of Completion.

Q6: I’m supposed to submit my approval letter for research with human subjects or vertebrate animals, but it turns out my research didn’t use this after all. What should I do?

A6: If you’re research protocol has changed since you advanced to candidacy for your degree, you’ll need to ask you thesis chair to write a letter to the Graduate Division explaining the change. It would be best to submit this in advance of filing.

Q7: My thesis uses copyrighted or previously published material. How to I get approval?

A7: The policy on this has recently changed. There is no need to for specific approval to be requested.

Q9: I found a typo in my thesis that has already been accepted! What do I do?

A9: Once a thesis has been submitted and accepted, no further changes will be permitted. Proofread your document carefully. Do not submit a draft. In extreme circumstances, your thesis chair may write a letter to the Graduate Division requesting additional changes to be made.

Q10: Oh no! A serious emergency has caused me to miss the filing deadline! What do I do? Are extensions ever granted?

A10: In general, no. In exceptional circumstances, the Head Graduate Advisor for your program may write to the Graduate Division requesting an extension. Requests of this type are considered on a case by case basis and, if granted, may allow you to file after the deadline. However, even if such an exception is granted you will receive the degree for the subsequent term. Your first step is to consult with your department if an emergency arises.

Theses and Dissertations

Defense and submission.

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

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

Guide for Electronic Submission of Thesis and Dissertation (PDF)

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

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

Notes about the LaTeX Template

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

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

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

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

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

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

Steps After Submission

Main navigation.

If you recently submitted a dissertation or thesis in Axess, you still have one more required step to complete. Browse this guide to help you stay on track.

Certificate of Final Reading

After you’ve submitted your dissertation or thesis, one member of your Reading Committee, known as the Final Reader, must certify that they have reviewed the final draft of the dissertation, engineer thesis, or final project submitted to the university. The Final Reader must be a member of the Academic Council.  Final Reader certification or approval is one of the last submission steps that must be completed by the submission deadline date .

The certification process occurs in Axess, where the Final Reader will be able to review a copy of the submission, and then approve or reject the submission.

Upon final submission of the dissertation or thesis online, an email is automatically sent to the Final Reader informing them that they have a dissertation or thesis ready for review in Axess. The Final Reader can locate the Approve Dissertation/Thesis link within their Advisor tab in Axess.

The final reading of the dissertation should include a review of the following:

• Content : All suggested changes have been taken into account and incorporated into the manuscript where appropriate. If the manuscript includes joint group research, the student's contribution is clearly explained in an introduction.
• Published Materials : If previously published materials are included in the dissertation, publication sources are indicated, written permission has been obtained for copyrighted materials, and all of the dissertation format requirements have been met.
• Appearance : The dissertation is ready-for-publication in appearance.
• Release Options : The Final Reader will also have the opportunity to review the selected embargo and other release options.

If the Final Reader is unable to approve electronically via Axess, or if the Final Reader does not have access to a computer, the student may submit a paper Certificate of Final Reading , signed by the Final Reader.

Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED)

Stanford University participates in the Survey of Earned Doctorates, which is sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Department of Education, and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH).  Stanford asks that you complete this survey .

Obtaining Bound Copies for Personal Use

The Office of the University Registrar does not provide bound copies of your dissertation or thesis for personal use.

After you officially submit your dissertation or thesis to Stanford, if you want a bound copy of your work for personal use, the university recommends the HF Group .

The HF Group offers a print-on-demand service for Stanford students wanting personal bound copies (with red covers) of their dissertations, engineer thesis, or DMA Final Project. 

/images/cornell/logo35pt_cornell_white.svg" alt="thesis submission certificate"> Cornell University --> Graduate School

Submitting your thesis/dissertation.

Submission of the final thesis/dissertation must be within 60 days of the final exam. Students who miss the 60 day submission deadline are ineligible to register in future terms.

The Graduate School uses ProQuest to administer the electronic thesis/dissertation (ETD) submission and committee approval process that results in publication in ProQuest Dissertations and Theses (PQDT) database and Cornell’s Library Repository, eCommons. Before initiating the electronic process, students are required to complete the Survey of Earned Doctorates (for doctoral students only). A SED Certification of Completion is provided to the student when the survey has been completed. Once the survey is completed, the final ETD can then be submitted to the Graduate School using the ProQuest system. The SED Certification of Completion is required for submission to ProQuest.

ProQuest Submission Steps

In order to complete the submission process, you will need to have the following:

• A single PDF file of your thesis or dissertation
• Your abstract
• Supplemental material
• SED Certification of Completion 

Step 1: Begin Submission Process

Master’s students go to  Cornell Master’s ProQuest site, doctoral students go to  Cornell Doctoral ProQuest site. Click on the “sign up and get started today” button and follow instructions to begin the submission process.

Submission Process: Submission steps are outlined on the left menu. You will see the items checked off as you progress through the submission steps. You must click “Save & Continue” at the bottom of each page, even pages on which you do not enter any information. Using the left menu, you can return to any page and make changes until the point of final submission.

Step 2: Publishing Options

Traditional Publishing:  “Traditional Publishing” is automatically selected and is included in the Cornell Thesis and Dissertation filing fees.

Delayed Release:  ProQuest provides six months, and one and two year embargoes. The Graduate School recommends you discuss the publishing options with your advisor. If your advisor is unavailable or has no opinion, the conservative approach is to choose a two-year embargo.

Step 3: Read and Agree to ProQuest and University Distribution License

Both ProQuest and Cornell University distribution licenses will be presented for your acceptance.

Step 4: Enter Thesis/Dissertation Information

In addition to the mandatory information, such as title and abstract, you will have the opportunity to select up to three categories (subject areas) and six key words that describe your ETD. This information will make it easier for others to find your work when searching the web.

Step 5: Upload PDF and Supplemental Files

Upload PDF: Whether you use the PDF conversion tool provided by ProQuest or you convert your document to PDF yourself, review your PDF to ensure your formatting remains as you intended after conversion.

Supplementary Materials: If supplementary materials – such as audio, video, and spreadsheets – are an integral part of your ETD, you can submit them as supplementary files during the online submission process.

Step 6: Upload Required Documents

The SED Certification of Completion if you are a Ph.D. candidate is required for submission to ProQuest.

Step 7: Register for Copyright

You can complete this process through ProQuest for a fee, or you complete the process independently through the U.S. Copyright Office.

Step 8: Order Copies

If you would like to purchase additional copies of your thesis/dissertation for yourself, your field, or your committee members, you may order bound copies through ProQuest (Order Copies page). The required bound archival copy for the library is automatically ordered for you and included in the Cornell thesis and dissertation filing fees.

Select the “Decline – do not order” option if you don’t wish to order additional copies.

Bound copies can also be ordered through Cornell Print Services .

Step 9: Review and Submit

Once the thesis editor has reviewed the formatting of your thesis/dissertation, you will receive an email to let you know whether any corrections are required. You will then have five days to make the changes and upload the revised PDF. You will not be certified for graduation until the formatting of your ETD has been fully approved by the Graduate School. You will receive a confirmation email of final acceptance.

Step 10: Submitting Revised PDF (if needed)

You will receive an email describing the formatting changes needed with instructions and a link for resubmission.

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Graduate Studies

Submitting your electronic thesis or dissertation.

The University of New Mexico encourages open access to all thesis and dissertations produced for graduate degrees. Therefore, all theses are submitted electronically in PDF format to Graduate Studies. These electronically submitted theses (ETDs) are uploaded on a server housed in the UNM Digital Repository  where they are accessible for search and download through web search engines such as Google.  In most cases, students submitting ETDs benefit from having their work available in the open access repository. In some special cases, however, students may want to delay making their work available for varying lengths of time.  For this reason, UNM has implemented an embargo policy that enables students, with approval from their advisers and Graduate Studies, to delay public-wide access to their work in the UNM Digital Repository. While under embargo the manuscript nonetheless remains available to the University of New Mexico academic community in order to satisfy requirements for the degree. Before submitting your thesis, please consult with your committee chair and review the Embargo Restriction Policy  to determine whether or not you should release your work to open access or petition for an appropriate embargo option. For more information on the embargo policy please see Embargoing your Electronically Submitted Thesis or Dissertation . If the decision is made to request an embargo restriction then the form must be submitted to Graduate Studies at the same time as you submit the Announcement of Examination form — at least two weeks before your dissertation defense.

Steps for Submitting Your Manuscript

Once your thesis or dissertation committee approves your final manuscript and you have made all necessary revisions and corrections, you are ready to submit your work as a single pdf file to the UNM Digital Repository and, for dissertation writers, the ProQuest ETD Administrator archive following the instructions below . At the minimum, you must submit your thesis or dissertation to Graduate Studies within (90) ninety days of your final defense or by the graduation deadline for the term in which you are graduating, whichever comes first.

Submission Instructions by Degree:

• Doctorate of Education
• Doctorate of Philosophy
• Master of Fine Arts
• Master of Arts or Master of Science

Note: You must submit the manuscript as a PDF, thus you will need to convert your Microsoft Word document or any other document to the pdf format. When using either a PC or Macintosh platform with recent versions of Microsoft Office you may lose some formatting when converting your Word document into pdf or when submitting your pdf document to the UNM Digital Repository. To protect against such problems, it is important that you create and save all changes to your document on the same computer platform and using the same version of Microsoft Office. Thus, when you complete your final manuscript do not shift between computers and different versions of Word. If you encounter these problems, contact the Manuscript Coordinator at Graduate Studies for assistance.

Steps to Create a Single Thesis or Dissertation File (Microsoft Word 2007 or 2010)

• For the best results to set up the file, please do NOT Copy/Paste the two Template pages before this file is generated with the following instructions.
• Create a number of pages (Page breaks)—Go to Insert (Ribbon)—Click on “Page Break” any number of times (10-20). You need to estimate how many pages you may need for the Front Matter. Please consult the  Examples of Front Matter . Review the example to decide on the number of pages in the Front Matter.
• In order to be able to create page numbers for the Front Matter (lower case Roman numerals) and Body of Research (Arabic numerals), pick the halfway placement of the pages to set the section break. Place the cursor on the page in which the section break will be set at the beginning of that page.
• Set the section break: Go to Page Layout (Ribbon)—Click on Breaks—Click on Section Break (Next page). Do NOT use the continuous section break.
• At this point, you want to set the lower case Roman numeral page numbers for the Front Matter. Go to the first page of the file and place the cursor at the first page. Go to Insert (Ribbon)—move to the right and click on Page Number. You will need to pick the location placement of your page numbers (window examples). You need to pick either upper right hand corner or bottom center. Once the location is set and make sure your cursor is still at the first page of the file. You should be able to go back to Insert (Ribbon)—Page Number (which may have moved to just below to the left from the ribbon. Scroll down to Format Page Numbers and click to show the window box. At this time, click on the arrow and select the ”i,ii,iii,iv”-lower case Roman numerals which will be highlighted in gray. Move down to the page numbering section and select the start at:  type in “i”. Click on the “OK” button.
• The previous step should have incorporated the lower case roman numbers for the Front Matter. You will see that at the transition page where the section break was set for the Body of Research that an Arabic number is in place instead of the lower case number. Example: I,ii,ii,vi,v,vi,vii,viii,ix,x,11,12,13.
• The first page of the Body of Research should start as page 1. You will need to reset the page numbers for the Body of Research. Place the cursor on this page of the Body of Research and follow the previous step to incorporate correct Arabic page numbers. Go to Insert (Ribbon)—move to the right and click on Page Number. You will need to pick the location placement of your page numbers (window examples). You should be able to go back to Insert (Ribbon)—Page Number (which may have moved to just below to the left from the ribbon. Scroll down to Format Page Numbers and click to show the window box. At this time, click on the arrow and select the  ”1,2,3,…”-Arabic numerals which will be highlighted in gray. Move down to the page numbering section and select the start at:  type in “1”. Click on the “OK” button. This step should have renumbered the Body of Research correctly to start as p.1.
• At this point, this is the file that can now be formatted to become the full thesis or dissertation file. You will now continue with the format criteria for margins, line spacing, fonts, and all other style (APA, MLA, or Chicago) criteria that you can confirm with your committee chair if necessary.
• You can create the two template pages (Approval page and the Title page) which can be copy/pasted to the p.i and p.ii of the Front Matter.  Please consult the  Examples of Front Matter for Thesis or Dissertation  to decide how the Front Matter pages will be generated –Approval page, Title page, Dedication page(optional), Acknowledgement page(optional), Abstract page, Table of Contents, List of Tables(optional), List of Figures(optional).
• For Microsoft 2010 to copy/paste the Template pages, follow the next instructions.  When you are ready to create the template pages, you must unlock the template to complete typing within the gray fields but, also, to Save the template page to your laptop/computer. Go to “Review” (Ribbon) and click on “Review” icon. Move to the far right side and click Restrict Editing. Look down the right side to the bottom area and click Stop Protection. This will allow you to complete the template page and save it to your computer.
• With the document file, you will want to copy/paste your Template pages (Approval page and Title page), Abstract page, Table of Contents to the Front Matter section. You can copy/paste individual files (Introduction or Chapter 1, Chapter 2,…) to the Body of Research section. You want to complete all your edit/revisions within this file. When you paste the documents to the full thesis or dissertation file, use the Paste Special option and then the Picture option to move the selected text to your thesis or dissertation file.
• Most important, please backup your thesis or dissertation file to a USB stick or external hard drive. Be sure to save this file to multiple places so when you have a final thesis or dissertation file, you will be ready to convert this file to a PDF for final submission to the electronic digital repositories to meet the final degree requirement for your degree program.

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Thesis Dissertation Guidelines

Steps to Graduation

Graduate Studies Deadlines

Continuous enrollment policy, graduate writing support, academic probation, ▷ thesis / dissertation guidelines, apply to graduate, pay graduate fees online, graduate program specialists, frequently asked questions.

BEFORE YOU BEGIN

Students are required to use Microsoft Word unless otherwise approved by the academic department.

All students enrolled full-time or part-time in a degree granting program at SF State (i.e., matriculated students) are eligible for a  free copy of Microsoft Office 365 Education for Students .

FORMATTING & SUBMISSION Q&A

Watch the recorded session of a Q&A offered by the Division of Graduate Studies:

• Instructional Video/Slides

Formatting Guides and Checklist

• Microsoft Word accessibility  /  Adobe Accessibility
• Thesis Dissertation, Written Creative Work and Music Composition Checklist

1. To Begin, Download the Appropriate Template

• EdD Dissertation Template
• Master’s Thesis/Creative Work Template
• Latex template (provided by department)

Note: The Thesis/Dissertation and Creative Work templates include instructions related to making your document accessible in Microsoft Word. For further guidance, consult the relevant  Microsoft Office documentation for accessibility . Students using the Latex template provided by their department can consult the  Adobe Accessibility guide .

2. Preliminary Format Check

While writing your Thesis/Dissertation/Written Creative Work make sure to keep  Microsoft Word accessibility  /  Adobe Accessibility  in mind.

• Before submitting, run the  Accessibility Checker  /  Adobe Accessibility  and make sure to clear all errors.
• If revisions are required, we will return the thesis by email along with feedback regarding required changes. Once changes are addressed, email the latest draft to your  Graduate Program Specialist .
• When approved, Graduate Studies will notify students by email to proceed with Final Format check instructions.

3. Final Format Check

• Student must title the Thesis/ Dissertation/ Written Creative Work as:  Full Name_ Student ID_Dept_Thesis/Dissert_WCW .
• Make sure the Certification of Approval page on your Thesis/ Dissertation/ Written Creative Work does not have signatures.
• Run the Word  Accessibility Checker  /  Adobe Accessibility  and make sure that all errors are cleared (including feedback given during the preliminary format check).
• If revisions are required, we will return the thesis by email along with feedback regarding required changes. Once changes are addressed, email the latest draft to your Graduate Program Specialist.
• When approved, your Graduate Program Specialist will notify students by email to proceed with Certification of Approval and Submission instructions.

4. Certificate of Approval - Obtain Electronic Signatures

You can use our DocuSign Powerform to route the Certificate of Approval for your committee to sign. To begin the process, follow these steps:

a. You will need your committee’s name and email address. SF State email address preferred . Note: You can use another email address. However, it must be a professional email address not a personal email address. Example of acceptable email address: @ucsd, @calacademy. Personal email addresses are not be acceptable: @gmail, @yahoo, @outlook, etc.

b. Once you enter the required information click on “ Begin Signing ” to be directed to the Certificate of Approval form. You will need to  complete the requested information , then click “ Finish ”.

Your committee members will receive an email requesting their signatures. Once it is complete, you will receive a copy of the form.

c. The signed document will need to be uploaded as a separate document during the final submission process.

d. To begin routing: Certificate of Approval Powerform Routing

5. Submit your Thesis/Dissertation/Written Creative Work Guidelines and Certificate of Approval to the Library

Note:  Considering an Embargo? IF you would like to delay the publication of your Thesis, Dissertation, Written Creative Work or Music Composition, make sure to discuss the timeline of release with your Committee Chair prior to final submission.

• Once the final version of your thesis has been cleared for submission, you will see a new “To Do List” item titled “Submit Scholarly Work.” Click on “Details” to access the link and submit your work
• You will need to upload your final and accessible Thesis/ Dissertation/ Written Creative Work (Word Document) as well as the signed Certification of Approval.

Thesis, Dissertation, or Written Creative Work submitted without approval from a  Graduate Program Specialist  will be rejected.

📜 Thesis / Dissertation Guidelines FAQs

Q: What will the Division of Graduate Studies look for when conducting the preliminary and final format check?

A: We will be reviewing that all guidelines included in the template are followed, that standard size and font is used, and the work has 1-inch margins all round. Most importantly, we will be reviewing for accessibility. We want to see that all titles and subtitles are using built in headings, that all tables, figures, and images have alternative text and that page breaks are used throughout your work eliminating unnecessary blank spaces.

For Adobe users, we will also review that the reading order on your document has been corrected.

Q: Does my thesis need to be completed for a Preliminary Format check?

A: No, your thesis does not need to be completed for the preliminary check. To be able to conduct the preliminary format check, we will need all preliminary pages (title page through lists of appendices) as well as only a few pages of your thesis content. We want to make sure that you are on the right track and make sure we address any issues before your thesis is complete.

However, the final format check requires a completed and accessible version of your work.

Q: If I already have Microsoft on my computer, do you recommend downloading the universities Microsoft 365?

A: No, if you have a recent version of Microsoft and you have access to the Accessibility Checker you should be okay.

Q: Are students required to use a legal name on their thesis?

A: Students can use their legal name or their preferred name. However, we required that your name is formatted in the same way throughout your thesis.

Q: Is there a specific way in which the student name needs to be entered?

A: You can enter your name in the format you prefer:

• First Name, Middle Name, Last Name
• First Name, Middle Initial, Last Name
• First Name, Last Name

However, we require that your name is formatted in the same sequence throughout your thesis.

Q: Is there a required font type or font size?

A: We require students to use 10 to 12 font sizes. Standard proportional fonts such as Times New Roman or Ariel are also required.

Q: Where can I find a guide to building a Table of Contents, List of Tables and/or List of figures?

A: For detailed instruction on building a Table of Contents you can visit: Microsoft Support-Insert Table to Contents

For detailed instruction on building a list of tables and/or figures you can visit: Microsoft Support – Insert tale of figures

Also visit How to number chapters, appendixes, and pages in documents that contain both chapter and appendix headings in Word

Q: Is there a maximum amount of tables I can include in my thesis?

A: The Division of Graduate Studies does not require or restrict the number of tables, figures, or images in the student’s work. The format check will only review that each table, figure and/or image is properly formatted and contains alternative text.

Q: Is using Hyperlinks throughout our work required?

A: If you need to include a link within the content of your thesis, we recommend that you use a hyperlink rather than including the entire address. However, it is not a requirement. In addition, this is not applicable for your Work Cited. Please make sure to follow the academic style recommended by your discipline (MLA, APA, Chicago, etc.).

Q: What needs to be completed by the May/December/August deadline?

A: All requirements need to be completed by the final deadline; this includes your thesis. The final deadline is the last day in which you can submit your final, approved, and accessible thesis to the library.

Please make sure to plan ahead and submit your work for final format check at least a week before this deadline to prevent graduation delays. (If you are unable to meet the deadline, you will need to apply and graduate in the next semester).

Q: I have submitted my work to my Committee Chair, do I also need to submit it to the Division of Graduate Studies?

A: Yes, your committee will approve the content of your thesis as well as academic style recommended by your discipline (MLA, APA, Chicago, etc.). We will be reviewing overall formatting and accessibility. Upon completion of your preliminary and final format check you will be given access to the online thesis submission to the library. Without preliminary checks, you will not be able to submit your work. In addition, any works submitted without approval from the Division of Graduate Studies will be rejected from the library.

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Manuscript Submission Process

Submit manuscript for an initial format review.

Students must create an account in the ProQuest ETD Administrator before they can upload their manuscript for an initial format review. Initial submission and all revised submissions must be completed through the ProQuest ETD Administrator.

Instructions for creating an account can be found here:  Instructions for Submitting your Manuscript

When creating an account on the ProQuest ETD Administrator, a lot of information is required upfront, including access preferences as well as optional paid services like purchasing bound copies of the manuscript and filing for copyright. ProQuest does not complete these instructions using the initial submission. They only publish the final approved manuscript and implement student publishing preferences and any paid services AFTER the manuscript has been approved by the FSU Manuscript Clearance Office and the student's graduation has been confirmed by the Registrar’s Office.

The Graduate School recommends that students submit their completed manuscript for an initial format review at the same time the manuscript is submitted to the committee prior to the defense. However, students must submit their manuscript for an initial format review no later than the relevant initial submission deadline for the semester in which they intend to graduate. Initial reviews are valid for two semesters (the original semester and one semester following). If the defense is delayed further than that, a new initial review must be completed by the appropriate deadline.

While it is understood that content will likely change after the defense, it is expected that manuscripts submitted for the initial format review are at least 90% complete and have been formatted in full accordance with the criteria in the most recent version of the Guidelines and Requirements.

• 90% complete: MUST include the title page, committee page, table of contents, lists (if needed), abstract, chapters, references, biographical sketch and a majority of tables and figures.
• Those manuscripts that do not meet this standard will NOT be reviewed and will NOT count as an initial submission to meet any deadline.

The Manuscript Clearance Office works with 250+ students per semester, so students are always encouraged to submit early.

Students must defend no later than the “last day for submission of final defended, content-approved thesis, dissertation or treatise and required forms” for the semester in which they intend to graduate. The Graduate School allows defenses up to this deadline with the understanding that all content corrections must be completed, approved by the major professor or committee, and submitted to the student's online ETD account no later than 11:59 p.m. on that deadline; however, to allow time for such corrections, the Graduate School recommends defending no later than 1 week prior to the deadline.

Submit Revised Manuscript

Once the student has completed all content changes required and approved by the committee, and incorporated all formatting corrections noted in the initial review, the student submits the revised version through their ETD account using the Revise option. The student should not create a new submission. This must be completed by 11:59 p.m. on the “last day for submission of final defended, content-approved thesis, dissertation or treatise and required forms.”

The revised manuscript will be reviewed by the Manuscript Clearance Advisor. If there are additional formatting corrections, the student will be notified. Manuscripts typically require 2-3 revisions to correct formatting issues that may arise after the content is corrected. A manuscript is not considered cleared until the formatting has been approved, all forms have been received and approved by the Manuscript Clearance Office, and the student has received an email from the Manuscript Clearance Office stating that their manuscript has been cleared.

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Special Collections Schedule - Summer 2024

The Special Collections reading rooms in Firestone and Mudd Libraries will be closed on the following upcoming holidays: Monday, May 27 (Memorial Day), Wednesday, June 19 (Juneteenth), Thursday, July 4 (Independence Day), and Monday, September 2 (Labor Day). We will be closing at 12:00pm on Friday, June 14. We will also begin our Summer Hours, 9am-4:15pm, on Monday, June 3. During this time we stop paging at 3:45pm. 

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• Senior Thesis Submission Information for Students
• Master's Theses and Ph.D. Dissertations: Submission Guidelines
• Senior Thesis Submission Information for Academic Departments

On this page: 

Thesis central - general information.

• Thesis Central - Step-by-step Instructions
• Submission status
• Verify Your Information
• Senior Thesis Information
• Upload Your Files
• Confirm & Submit
• Further Questions
• Student Options Regarding Access to Their Theses
• Using LaTeX to Display Special Characters in Submission System  
• Thesis Central is a system that allows students to upload senior thesis files for retrieval by their home department (and certificate program, if applicable) and from which the files will be transmitted to the University Archives.
• All students, except those whose thesis work is in the form of a performance or exhibition, should upload their thesis file (or files) to Thesis Central.
• Thesis Central will be available for student submissions starting in March 25th, 2024 thru the 2024 Dean's date, May 7th, 2024. To access the site, go to the Princeton Thesis Central homepage and login with your netid. 
• Allow roughly 20 minutes to complete the upload process.
• Note: be sure to check with your home department for additional requirements regarding submission of senior theses, such as the submission of bound or unbound paper copies.

Thesis Central- Step-by-step Instructions

Submission status page.

• This page lists a student's active submissions. Each student will have one in progress submission in the first row of the table. To submit your senior thesis, click the "Continue" button.
• You should only click on "Start a new submission" if you made an error in your initial submission and need to resubmit your thesis, or if you are submitting two different senior theses, such as one for your home department, and a different thesis for a certificate program. 
• If you are resubmitting your thesis due to an error in your first submission, you should notify the undergraduate administrator that you are doing so. 
• Note: All submissions are timestamped to ensure that you are meeting your departmental deadline.

Verify Your Information Page

Student information.

• Verify the information that is displayed. If your name, email address, or department is incorrect, notify the University Archives via our Ask Us Form.
• If your home department is not displayed, choose your department from the dropdown box.

Senior Thesis Type

• In this section, most students should choose "Home Department Thesis."
• Only choose "Certificate Program Thesis" if you wrote two different senior theses (one for your home department and one for a certificate program) and you are in the process of submitting your certificate program thesis.
• This choice is typically only used for students who are in the Creative Writing Program and have written a separate thesis for that program.
• If you have written one senior thesis that fulfills requirements for your home department as well as a certificate program, you should choose “Home Department Thesis.” You will have the opportunity to record the certificate program to which your thesis relates in a later step.
• Please submit any questions to the Ask Us form .

Honor Code Page

You must agree to the honor code statement in order to complete your submission.

Senior Thesis Information Page

On this page you will enter information about your senior thesis.

Title and Abstract

• Enter your thesis title into the title field. If your thesis has an abstract, copy and paste it from your PDF. The abstract field is optional; if your thesis does not have one, leave the field blank.
• If your title or abstract has special characters, see the section below on  LaTex Instructions .

Multi-author

• Is this a multi-author thesis?
• If you are the sole author of the thesis, select "No."
• If you collaborated on your thesis with others select "Yes."
• If you are submitting a multi-author thesis, your senior thesis file must include all coauthors’ names; and you and your coauthors must agree on an access level. Access levels are explained on Office of Undergraduate Reserach Thesis Archive webpage .

Certificate Program

• If your thesis fulfills requirements for your home department as well as a Certificate Program, choose the program from the list.
• If this thesis fulfills requirements for more than one program, record the first certificate program in Thesis Central and use this Google form to record any addtional certificate programs. If you have questions contact  [email protected] .

Your Adviser/s

• If your adviser is not listed, enter their name in the fields provided. Please use the form of name found in the Princeton University Directory . For example, “Anthony T. Grafton” instead of “Tony Grafton.”
• If you were advised by multiple faculty members, you may add additional adviser names.

Upload Your Files Page

• In this step you will upload your senior thesis file. Optionally, you may upload additional supplementary files that will be available along with your document after publication.
• In the Thesis Central system, the primary senior thesis document must be a PDF. To upload your thesis, click on the Browse button to find the file on your device, and then, once chosen, click on the Upload button to save the file to the server.
• If your senior thesis submission does not include a PDF, you can upload a placeholder_file.pdf file in the Upload Primary Document section. You can then proceed to upload other file types in the Upload Additional Files section.

Large files

• The size limit for each individual file uploaded to Thesis Central is 1 GB. If your main PDF file exceeds 1 GB, you must upload the placeholder_file.pdf file so that you can complete your submission. You should then email  [email protected]  and your undergraduate administrator to let us know that you have taken this step. We will work with you to obtain your file through other means. 
• There is no limit on the number of supplementary files you may upload, though total of all files must not exceed 4 GB. Executable files (.exe) are not allowed.

Below is a list of preferred file types for supplementary files:

• Audio files: MP3 format (.mp3)
• Video files: MP4 format (.mp4), and encoded in H.264/MPEG-4 compression format. See Video Compression Instructions for H.264/MPEG-4 format
• Still images that are separate from a PDF: JPEG (.jpg), JPEG2000 (.jp2), or TIFF (.tif) format
• Websites: see our Guidelines for Designing Preservation-Friendly Websites . Students whose entire senior thesis project is a website should complete a submission in Thesis Central using the placeholder.pdf file (entering the thesis title, abstract (if applicable), and adviser names) and contact  [email protected]  to discuss options for capturing the website.

Confirm & Submit Page

• On the confirm and submit page, you will see all of the information that pertains to your thesis. You can edit any of the information that you supplied by clicking on the edit links, such as “edit your senior thesis information.” You can also view the file/s that you uploaded by clicking on the file links. You can change the file that you have uploaded by clicking on the “edit your uploaded files” link.
• Once you hit Confirm and Submit you will no longer be able to make edits to this submission. If you find that you have made an error in your submission, you should create a new submission with the correct information, and contact your undergraduate administrator explaining the reason that you have multiple submissions.

Further Questions?

For questions about, or problems with, the Thesis Central system, contact  [email protected] . For questions about your senior thesis requirements, contact your department's undergraduate program coordinator. For questions about access restriction requests, contact [email protected] .

Student Options Regarding Access to Your Thesis

• Your senior thesis will be added to the Princeton University Archives' senior thesis digital archive hosted by Dataspace . This resource enables Princeton students, faculty, and staff and other authorized users of Princeton University's computing network to access copies of senior theses online. Senior theses are not freely accessible online outside of the Princeton computing network.
• The Office of Undergraduate Research (OUR) offers options for students to further restrict their theses. Visit the OUR webpage on the digital archiving of senior theses for complete detials. If you have questions about these options, please contact [email protected] . 
• To make a restricted access request, complete and submit a Restricted Access Form to the Office of the Dean of the College by 11:55 p.m. on commencement day. 

Using LaTeX to Display Special Characters in Submission System

If you have mathematical formulae or scientific expressions in your title or abstract that you cannot create using your keyboard, we ask you to use some basic LaTeX markup in the senior thesis submission site so that the characters will display properly in our digital repository. In most cases, the characters that need encoding are subscripts and superscripts, arrows and other symbols, and letters of the Greek alphabet. In order to display these characters, you must create an expression that begins and ends with the following tags: \( and \), and then insert the code for the character or symbol within the tags.

See these common examples:

• Subscript: Na\(_{2}\)  displays as Na 2
• Superscript:  Na\(^{2}\) displays as Na 2  
• Left facing arrow: \(\leftarrow\) displays as ←
• Greek letter Delta: \(\Delta\) displays as Δ

To find the code you need, see the ShareLaTeX website , especially in their documentation of superscripts and subscripts (see the Reference Guide section), and their library of codes for symbols and Greek letters. Another helpful site is the LaTeX Wikibooks page. The Senior Thesis Submission Site contains a preview page to test how your markup will display before you enter it into the submission form.

If you have trouble with your markup, make a note in the comments of the submission form and submit your thesis. It is more important to submit your thesis on time than to have the markup exactly right!

Downloadable Documents

Adelaide Graduate Research School

Thesis Submission

You have finally finished your thesis! There are just a few more steps (and forms) needed to submit it for examination.

Getting ready for thesis submission

• The checklist The Adelaide Graduate Research School has created a simple checklist for you to complete to ensure that you have everything ready to submit your thesis. Download the checklist
• Certification for thesis examination This form must be submitted at the time your thesis is submitted. It basically confirms that the thesis is ready for examination. It needs to be signed by your Principal Supervisor and your PGC or Head of School. As these people are busy it would be worth contacting them a few days in advance to advise that you would like to get the form signed and organise a time they will be available. Download the Certification for Thesis Examination form

Submit your thesis at the Adelaide Graduate Research School Submit your thesis electronically as a single PDF together with a completed  Certification for Thesis Examination form  by email to the  Adelaide Graduate Research School . If your thesis is too large to email, please use the University’s preferred file sharing software, Box, to create a link for us to download your file  using the ‘Copy Shared Link’ function, not the ‘Share’ function ( instructions on using Box are available ).

Note that students submitting a thesis with music need to submit one electronic copy of exegesis as a PDF and copies of any music files along with an index, and students submitting a thesis with creative work should submit the exegesis and creative work as 2 separate PDF files.

Examinations will be conducted as normal although delays due to COVID-19 are expected. Any queries regarding thesis submission should be emailed to the  Adelaide Graduate Research School .

• Celebrate your thesis submission Celebrate your thesis submission ! Submit a photo to the Adelaide Graduate Research School for inclusion in the thesis submission gallery.

What happens next?

Find out more about the thesis examination .

• AcSIR Emblem
• Mission & Objectives
• Board of Governors, AcSIR
• Senate, AcSIR
• AcSIR Affiliated Research Institutes (82)
• Statement of Accounts
• Right To Information
• Faculty of Studies
• Academic Timeline
• Professors & Faculty List
• AcSIR Students List
• Programme Fee
• Grade Conversion Formula
• Academic Requirements
• Research Papers with AcSIR Affiliation (till 2021)
• AcSIR Ph.D. Thesis Abstract Portal
• PhD Notification
• Request for Transcript from AcSIR
• Request for Degree Certificate (Routine/ Priority to Indian/ foreign destination) and/or Duplicate Degree/ Grade Card
• AcSIR Best Ph.D. Thesis Awards
• Awards & Honors
• Convocation
• Online Admission Portal
• Admission process
• Admission Calendar
• QIP | Quality Improvement Programme
• Visvesvaraya PhD Scheme January-2024 (Open)
• AcSIR-RMIT University Joint PhD (Cotutelle) Fellowship Program 2023
• AcSIR-Deakin University Joint PhD (Cotutelle) Program, 2023
• AcSIR, India–UWA, Australia, Joint PhD (Cotutelle) Program
• AcSIR Alumni network
• Master’s Program – Alumni
• Ph.D. Program- Alumni
• Opportunities

Forms and Templates.

Template for introduction of new courses, template for modification of existing courses, format for doctoral advisory committee (dac) meetings, format for comprehensive exam, form for conduct of pre-thesis open colloquium (ptoc/ dac-iv), thesis submission checklist, form for examiners of ph.d thesis, request form for financial no dues certificate : word format | pdf format, format of declaration for plagiarism free dissertation or thesis, form for dac recommendation on thesis examiner reports and constitution of oral examination board (oeb), format for certification of the compliance to ugc regulation 2009/2016 for ph.d. degree, semester academics continuation commitment (sacc) form.

• Revised Formats of AcSIR Ph.D. Thesis and documents to be mandatorily included with the Thesis ( effective from August 08, 2020 onwards for all the Ph.D. thesis submitted to AcSIR )
• Faculty application form

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Thesis Submission Guidelines

This webpage provides guidelines for thesis submission to postgraduate students at the Department of Civil & Construction Engineering of the University of Nairobi. This webpage is continuously updated, the student and supervisor are requested to review it each time before corresponding with the department. 

Proposal Document Standards

The student should use the following template to ensure their document is up to standard. 

• Faculty of Engineering (FEng) proposal template. The FEng Title Page Proposal template . The main body of the proposal (Introduction, Literature Review, Methodology, Workplan & Budget and References) of the proposal should not exceed 30 pages. 
• The student may use this  Thesis Proposal Checklist   (used to review the student's thesis proposal) as a guide to ensure the document is in order. 

Thesis Document Standards

The student should use the following template to ensure their thesis is up to standard. 

• Faculty of Engineering (FEng) thesis template. The student may use this  Thesis Template  as guide. The Thesis Template  template is slightly modified from the Proposal template. 

Correspondences and Email Header Guidelines

All correspondences to the department regarding thesis submission must be done using the dedicated department's email. Postgraduate Correspondence, Civil & Construction Engineering [email protected] . Please copy your supervisors in all communications sent; doing so will enable the department to capture the student's and supervisors' email addresses and will make future correspondences with the student and the supervisor much easier. Endeavour to use the students' university email ([email protected]). The student must include their registration number in all correspondences to the Department. The subject of every inquiry should be as follows, ' Inquiry - Student Name - Registration Number ', for example, ' Thesis Submission Follow Up - Anony Mous - F56/12345/2021 '. The subject should be in title case (mixed upper and lower cases). Do not use all uppercase letters. Use of the title case allows the department to easily copy and record the requests to a spreadsheet without a lot of further formatting. Similarly, ensure the registration number on the email subject has slashes (not hyphens). It helps a lot. 

The department keeps the requests in digital form, kindly comply with these requirements of writing the subject to assist in the retrieval of records. Email filters have also been configured to automatically forward the email to the appropriate staff based on the subject header. The sender's compliance will ensure faster delivery of service. 

Because of the large correspondences received, the department may not respond to your email but the request will be recorded in the spreadsheet at the end of this webpage. 

Filenames of PDF documents

The files the student should also take the format of the Email Subject. However, when writing the registration number, the student should use the hyphen character instead of the back slashes. For example, when submitting a fresh thesis proposal, the subject of the email should be ' Fresh Proposal Submission - Mous Anony - F56/1234/2021 ' and the PDF file should be named ' Fresh Proposal Submission - Mous Anony - F56-1234-2021 '. 

Student University Email Account

Students are encouraged to set up the university email account via the student's portal on https://smis.uonbi.ac.ke .

Students who have forgotten their previous passwords and require recovery of the student email account can request a recovery code by writing an email to [email protected] through their personal email (Gmail, Yahoo, Work Email etc.). The subject of the email should be 'Student Email Recovery - Student Name - Registration Number' , for example, 'Student Email Recovery - Another Student - F16/12345/2021' .The body of the email should also include the student university email account to be recovered, phone number and any other relevant information. Copy the Department, [email protected] to assist you with follow up. The student will receive a code to activate the student university email from their personal email. The student is advised to be alert as the code sent to the student will expire six hours after the code is generated. The student should act immediately to restore their account once they receive the code. 

The student can also make a physical visit in to the Faculty of Engineering ICT office on Ground Floor, Mechanical Engineering Block, Harry Thuku Way. 

WhatsApp Support Group

There is a support group on WhatsApp where a student can submit queries, compliments, and complaints. WhatsApp - CCE Thesis Support Group . 

Extension of Registration

Students whose registration has expired will be required to renew their registration. Students who registered more than five years ago have expired registrations. For example, in the year 2024, students with registration number ending /2018 have their student status expired and must extend their registration. The student should write to the Chairman, Department of Civil & Construction Engineering requesting an extension of their registration.  The Faculty will then process the request for Senate approval according to student progression guidelines. The student may use this Extension of Registration template as a guide.  The student should ensure that the supervisor signs next to their name on the document before sending it. The student should send the letter as a signed PDF document to [email protected] . The subject of the email should be ' Extension of Registration - Student Name - Registration Number '. Do not use all uppercase in the subject. Use title case. Title case is a mix of uppercase and lowercase letters as indicated on this webpage. Similarly, ensure the registration number on the email subject has slashes (not hyphens). The student should copy all the supervisors' email addresses. 

The filename of the PDF document

The PDF file should be named ' Extension of Registration - Student Name - F56-1234-2021 '. 

Provisional Extension of Registration (PhD Students Only) 

PhD Students whose provisional registration has exceeded six months willl be required to extend their registration. The student should write to the Deputy Vice-Chancellor - Academic Affairs, through the Dean, Faculty of Engineering and through the Chairman, Department of Civil & Construction Engineering requesting provisional extension of registration.  The student may use this Provisional Extension Request as a guide.  The student should send the letter as a signed PDF document to [email protected] . The subject of the email should be ' Provisional Extension - Student Name - Registration Number '. Do not use all uppercase in the subject. Use title case. Title case is a mix of uppercase and lowercase letters as indicated on this webpage. Similarly, ensure the registration number on the email subject has slashes (not hyphens). The student should copy all the supervisors' email addresses. 

The filename of the PDF document (PhD Students Only)  

The PDF file should be named ' Provisional Extension - Student Name - F56-1234-2021 '. 

The student will receive a letter from the academic registrar extending their registration status on the condition that they pay an extension fee. The letter provided will have instructions on how to make the payment. A student who has an overpayment in their fees can direct the excess fees to pay the extension fees by instructing the Finance Department to do so. The narrative for the transfer should be 'Registration Extension Fee Deduction'. The Student Finance Department is in Room G3, Ground Floor, Mahatma Gandhi Wing, Main Campus, Harry Thuku Way, Nairobi. 

Payment of Extension of Registration

Once payment is made. Kindly send the payment receipt to  [email protected]   as indicated in the letter. Copy  [email protected]   so that the department can keep the record in your file and assist with follow-up. The subject of the email should be ' Payment of Extension - Student Name - Registration Number '. Do not use all uppercase in the subject. Use title case. Title case is a mix of uppercase and lowercase letters as indicated on this webpage. Similarly, ensure the registration number on the email subject has slashes (not hyphens). The student should copy all the supervisors' email addresses.

Advisory: All payments should be made by direct physical deposit to the bank, where a deposit slip should be obtained. The narrative or description of the financial transaction should include the student's registration number. MPesa and RTGS Payments are not encouraged as they will require further follow-up with Student Finance by the student. The Student Finance Department is in Room G3, Ground Floor, Mahatma Gandhi Wing, Main Campus, Harry Thuku Way, Nairobi. 

The PDF file should be named ' Payment of Extension - Student Name - F56-1234-2021 '. 

Advisory: The most opportune time to make the payment of extension (to maximise on the limited additional time) is as the student submits the 'Uploaded Thesis Proposal' if the proposal had not yet been approved by the Academic Registrar/Deputy Vice-Chancellor - Academic Affairs or as you submit the 'Intent to Submit Thesis' if your proposal had already been approved by the Academic Registrar/Deputy Vice-Chancellor - Academic Affairs. 

Change of supervisors

A change of supervisors is usually initiated by the student. Students whose proposals have NOT yet been approved by the department can change at any point during the proposal stage. Students whose proposals have already been approved by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor can request to change their supervisors through a letter. The student should address the letter to the Chairman, Department of Civil & Construction Engineering, requesting a change of supervisor. The student may use this Change of Supervisors template as a guide. The student should ensure that the supervisor signs next to their name on the document before sending it. The student should send the letter as a signed PDF document to [email protected] . The subject of the email should be ' Change of Supervisors - Student Name - Registration Number '. Do not use all uppercase letters in the subject. Use title case. Title case is a mix of uppercase and lowercase letters as indicated on this webpage. Similarly, ensure the registration number on the email subject has slashes (not hyphens). The student should copy all the supervisors' email addresses. 

Students who wish to drop a supervisor must have their request supported with a letter from the supervisor to be dropped. The supervisor may take advantage of the Supervisor's Withdrawal template as a guide. 

The PDF file should be named ' Change of Supervisors - Student Name - F56-1234-2021 '. 

Other general queries such as Transcript requests, Missing marks, Course registration, Timetables and other requests must be directed to the Department's main email address: [email protected].  

Identifying a research topic

Candidates will be required to undertake research guided by at least one supervisor competent in the subject area and field of research in which the candidate proposes to work. The main supervisor must come from the Department where the student is registered. After the research, the candidate shall be required to submit a thesis for examination. 

The student should approach any of the lecturers that hold a PhD degree whose speciality is in a field that the student is interested in researching on. The supervisors should guide the student in the process of writing a thesis proposal. The student may use this Proposal template as a guide . The candidate, in close liaison with the supervisors, shall develop the proposal. When the supervisors are satisfied that the draft proposal has attained a reasonable quality, they will allow the candidate to present it at a seminar with at least 30% of the academic members of staff of the Department.

Requirements for the supervisors

A minimum of two supervisors shall be appointed for each candidate of whom the first should be an academic staff in the Department of Civil & Construction Engineering. The first supervisor must be a PhD holder. The second supervisor must be an academic member of staff. The second supervisor can be from the Department of Civil & Construction Engineering or any other Department at the University of Nairobi. The Department may appoint a third supervisor from any other institution. If the third supervisor from another institution is appointed, the supervisor's CV must be attached. 

Letter of Introduction

Candidates requiring a letter of introduction in order to carry out research in a different institution should request the letter from the Department via email through [email protected] . The subject of the email should be as follows ' Letter of Introduction - Student Name - Registration Number '. The student must include the topic of their thesis and the address/es to which the letters should be addressed to. If no specific address is mentioned, the letter will be addressed "To Whom It May Concern". 

Renewal of Scholarships

Students who were awarded scholarships in the first year will be required to apply for the renewal of the scholarship for the second year. The scholarship renewal form can be downloaded here . The scholarship renewal application should be accompanied by the first year transcript. By the time the student requests the renewal, it is expected that the scholarship student should already be involved in some teaching assistantship and have made some significant progress on their research proposal in consultation with their supervisor since the supervisor will be required to fill in some sections of the form.  

Setting up a Proposal Seminar Online

The candidate should prepare presentation slides on their proposed research. The student should rehearse to ensure that their presentation lasts no more than 15 minutes.  The candidate may use university slides template to make the slides . The candidate should set up an online meeting via Google Meet and invite academic members of staff and other interested stakeholders. The student may use this guide on setting up online classes to schedule and present in the seminar . The main supervisor must attend the meeting. The minutes of the recommendations made during the presentation shall be forwarded to Faculty Postgraduate Studies Committee (FPSC) together with the revised version of the proposal.  The student may use this Minutes template as a guide . The student should make arrangements prior to the online meeting on who will take the minutes. 

Getting a Turnitin Similarity Index Report

To get a similarity index report, send the proposal document to [email protected]  and copy all the supervisors' emails. Endeavour to use the students' university email ([email protected]). The document to be sent should only contain Item No. 1 to Item No. 4 of the list in the requirements below. Item No. 5 to Item No. 7 should not be in the document to be checked. The document to be checked for plagiarism need NOT be signed by the student nor the supervisors. . The document sent must be in editable format (DOCX) format. Documents in Portable Document Format (PDF) will not be scanned. 

The subject of the email should be as follows 'Similarity Index Report - Student Name - Registration Number'. For example. ' Similarity Index Report - Mous Anony - F56/12345/2021 '. The subject should be in title case (mixed upper and lower cases). Do not use all uppercase letters. Similarly, ensure the registration number on the email subject has slashes (not hyphens). It is important that you stick to this format for the following reasons:

• The email received is automatically forwarded to the email of the staff responsible for running your document through Turnitin. Email filters have been configured to only forward the document based on the subject header.
• The department will capture the student's and supervisors' email addresses and will make future correspondences with the student and the supervisor much easier. Emails requesting the Similarity Index Report without copying the supervisors' email addresses will not be acted on. 

A Turnitin report will be sent back to the student in five business days. The student should extract the summary pages of the similarity index report for signing by the student and the supervisors. Please note that any Similarity Index Report that is not signed and dated by the student and the supervisor is invalid.  The student may use this  signed Turnitin sample report for guidance . Some technical knowledge of editing PDF documents is necessary. The similarity index report should be below 15% ( 14% and below only ). 

Please note the whole document (Item No. 1 to Item No. 4) [Listed below] should be scanned hence the allowance of below 15%. Sentences in quotes and the bibliography will not be marked as plagiarised. A 30-word source exclusion has been set. The document to be submitted will not be deposited to any repository. 

Filename of the DOCX (Microsoft Word) document

The DOCX file should be named ' Similarity Index Report - Student Name - F56-1234-2021 '. 

Getting Academic Transcript for First Year (MSc Students)

The student can request a transcript from the Department through writing and delivering it to the Office of the Chairman. A typed letter is preferred. The letter should have the student's registration number and name. The student can also make the request through the department's main email address: [email protected] . 

Funding Opportunities

Funding opportunities are available on successful application to a relevant grant. These opportunities are advertised every Thursday via the University email from the Office of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research, Innovation & Enterprise).  The funding opportunities are collated on the landing page of  https://uonresearch.uonbi.ac.ke  under the funding news tab. The candidate is advised to reach out to the Office of the DVC - RIE for further guidance and facilitation. Seeking research funding is one of the office's key role and the staff there will be glad to assist you. The office is located on the 15th Floor, UoN Tower, Main Campus, University of Nairobi, Nairobi. 

Submission of the Thesis Proposal to the Faculty of Engineering

The requirements to submit the Thesis Proposal to the Faculty of Engineering are as follows: 

• Faculty of Engineering (FEng) Title Page without a page number. The FEng Title Page is included in this  Proposal template . 
• Declaration and Approval page with all the signatures on the second page [Page number (i)].  The Declaration and Approval Page is included in this  Proposal template . 
• Signed UoN Declaration of Originality.  The UoN Declaration of Originality Form is included in this  Proposal template . 
• Main Proposal Document (Acknowledgement, Table of Contents, Abstract, Introduction, Literature Review, Methodology, Budget & Workplan, References and Appendices). The student may use this Proposal template as a guide. 
• Minutes of the Proposal Seminar. The student may use this Minutes template as a guide. 
• First Year Transcript (MSc Students). 
• Turnitin Antiplagiarism Report. The similarity index should be below 15%. (The student and the supervisors should sign and date on the page that shows the percentage). 

Order of Components

Please compile your document into one PDF in the order above. The student should NOT upload the thesis proposal yet. Guidance and requirements for uploading are given further below on this webpage. 

Submit the document through your supervisors, through the Department of Civil & Construction Engineering [email protected]  to the Dean, Faculty of Engineering. The student may use this  Thesis Proposal Checklist   (used to review the student's thesis proposal) as a guide to ensure the document is in order. 

Filename of the PDF document

The PDF file should be named ' Fresh Proposal Submission - Student Name - F56-1234-2021 '. 

Submission of Thesis Proposal through Email

Submission must be done by email in soft copy. Only one compiled PDF document is to be submitted. The subject of the email should be as follows, 'Fresh Proposal Submission - Student Name - Registration Number'. For example, ' Fresh Proposal Submission - Another Student - F56/12345/2021 '. The subject should be in title case (mixed upper and lower cases). Do not use all uppercase letters. Similarly, ensure the registration number on the email subject has slashes (not hyphens). There are two ways of submitting the document via email. Please use this subject header so that the email received is automatically forwarded to the email of the staff responsible for acting on the document. Email filters have been configured to only forward the document based on the subject header. 

• The student can ensure the document is signed by the supervisors before sending it to the Chairman of the Department, [email protected] and copy the supervisors' email, or 
• The student can send the document to the Chairman of the Department, through the supervisors via email. 

Option 1 is strongly preferred and recommended . To use Option 2 to submit your document, kindly send an email to the second supervisor asking them to sign and date on the relevant pages and forward it to the first supervisor and to inform them to sign and date on the relevant pages and forward it to the Chairman [email protected] . The student should not just copy all the interested parties in one generic email; the forwarding email should have detailed instructions to the various supervisors on what the supervisors should do. See the sample email below: 

The chairman will approve and forward the Fresh Thesis proposal to the Faculty Postgraduate Studies Committee (FPSC). At the FPSC, the document is distributed to reviewers at their next scheduled meeting. The reviewers will give comments, suggestions and improvements to the submitted proposal at various dates. The FPSC chairman will consolidate all the reviews into one report and send it to the student through the department. 

It is the student's responsibility to follow up on the approval process of their thesis proposal. If the student has not received feedback after one month from the date of submission, the student should follow up on their thesis status with the Coordinator of Postgraduate Studies, Department of Civil & Construction Engineering.

The physical location of the office of the Coordinator of Postgraduate Studies , Department of Civil & Construction Engineering is: Office Number 110, 1st Floor, Mechanical Engineering Block, Harry Thuku Way, Main Campus, Nairobi. 

Resubmission of the Thesis Proposal to the Faculty of Engineering

The thesis proposal will be reviewed and it will be returned with some corrections from the Faculty Postgraduate Studies Committee (FPSC). As you submit the corrected proposal, ensure you meet the following requirements: 

• Faculty of Engineering (FEng) Title Page without a page number.  The FEng Title Page is included in this  Proposal template . 
• Declaration and Approval page with all the signatures on the second page [Page number (i)]. Please note that the supervisors should sign again. Avoid repasting the signatures that were in the initial document.  The Declaration and Approval Page is included in this  Proposal template . 
• Main Corrected Proposal Document (Acknowledgement, Table of Contents, Abstract, Introduction, Literature Review, Methodology, Budget & Workplan, References and Appendices).  The student may use this Proposal template as a guide. 
• Original Minutes of the Proposal Seminar. 
• Turnitin Antiplagiarism Report on the Corrected Proposal Document. The Corrected Proposal Document should then be rechecked for plagiarism. The procedure for getting the Turnitin Similarity Index Report is outlined above (The student and the supervisors should sign and date on the page that shows the percentage). Please note that the supervisors should sign again. The student must NOT  repaste the signatures that were in the initial document. 
• The original Faculty Postgraduate Studies Committee (FPSC) Reviews. 
• Table of Corrections. Avoid the use of lazy comments such as 'Ammended', 'Done', 'Corrected in Manuscript' or 'Attached'. Instead, make detailed responses to the reviewers' comments. Be clear about how you responded (copy and paste the updated text next to the reviewers’ comments) and state where this fits into the manuscript (with a page number). This practice allows the reviewers to easily see that you have taken all the reviewers’ comments on board and evaluate your response to each of their concerns. Please read this  article on how to properly respond to Reviewers' comments. The student may use this Table of Corrections Sample as a guide . 
• Certificate of Corrections from the supervisors addressed to the Dean, Faculty of Engineering, through the Chairman, Civil & Construction Engineering and through the Faculty Postgraduate Studies Committee (FPSC). The student may use this Certificate of Correction template as a guide. 

IMPORTANT: Please review your work plan to match the current dates. The dates signed on the proposal must also reflect the current dates. The date on the cover page must also be updated. 

Please compile your document into one PDF in the order above. The student should NOT upload the thesis proposal yet. Guidance and requirements for uploading are given further below on this webpage. 

Submit the document through your supervisors, to the Department of Civil & Construction Engineering [email protected]  and copy the supervisors' email addresses. The Department will forward the document to the Dean, Faculty of Engineering. The subject of the email should be as follows, 'Revised Proposal Submission - Student Name - Registration Number'. For example, ' Revised Proposal Submission - Another Student - F56/12345/2021 '. The subject should be in title case (mixed upper and lower cases). Do not use all uppercase letters. Similarly, ensure the registration number on the email subject has slashes (not hyphens). Please use this subject header so that the email received is automatically forwarded to the email of the staff responsible for acting on the document. Email filters have been configured to only forward the document based on the subject header. 

The PDF file should be named ' Revised Proposal Submission - Student Name - F56-1234-2021 '. 

The chairman will approve and forward the Revised Thesis proposal to the Faculty Postgraduate Studies Committee (FPSC). At the FPSC, the document is distributed to reviewers at their next scheduled meeting. The reviewers will then confirm that the initial comments they gave have been addressed satisfactorily. It is for this reason that the student should include the FPSC reviews as they were. If fully addressed, the proposal is approved. If the comments have not been fully addressed, the FPSC returns the document to the student through the department to address the unattended comments.  The department will send the student further comments. 

Further Revised Proposal

To resubmit the further revised proposal, kindly submit with the subject ' Further Revised Proposal Submission - Another Student - F56/12345/2021 ' and copy all the supervisors' emails. Similarly, ensure the registration number on the email subject has slashes (not hyphens).

The PDF file should be named ' Further Revised Proposal Submission - Student Name - F56-1234-2021 '. 

FPSC Approval

Once FPSC approval is done, the student will also receive minutes of the deliberations from the FPSC and the filled out Declaration and Approval Page [Page i] (including the Dean's Signature and Stamp). The student should then compile a single document in the order below. 

Final Approved Document to be Uploaded to Postgraduate Tracking System

• Declaration and Approval page with all the signatures on the second page [Page number (i)]. This declaration page should have all the parties signatures: the student, the supervisors, the Chairman - Department of Civil & Construction Engineering, the Chairman - FPSC and the Dean - Faculty of Engineering. 
• Minutes of the Proposal Seminar. 
• Turnitin Antiplagiarism Report on the Corrected Proposal Document. 
• Certificate of Corrections from the supervisors addressed to the Dean, Faculty of Engineering, through the Chairman, Civil & Construction Engineering and through the Faculty Postgraduate Studies Committee (FPSC). This Certificate of Corrections should have all the parties signatures
• Signed Faculty Postgraduate Studies Committee (FPSC) minutes approving the forwarding of the proposal to the Deputy Vice-Chancellor - Academic Affairs. 

The PDF file should be named ' Uploaded Thesis Proposal - Student Name - F56-1234-2021 '. 

Uploading to the Postgraduate Tracking System 

Before uploading the compiled document above, the student should ensure that they have first been assigned supervisors on the Postgraduate Tracking System on the Students Management Information System  on smis.uonbi.ac.ke . The student can check the assigned supervisors as shown in the screenshot below: 

If the students has not been assigned, the student should notify the department via email [email protected] with the subject being ' Supervisors - Student Name - Registration Number '. The body of the email should have the names of your supervisors.

Once assigned, the student should upload the compiled PDF document onto the Postgraduate Tracking System.

Uploading to the Postgraduate Tracking System

Please see this Guide on using the Postgraduate Tracking System. When uploading to the Tracking System. The student should ensure that the following instructions are followed to the letter. Step 6 in the photograph below is absolutely critical and the student must wait for the document to upload to the system before forwarding the submission. Please note that it is impossible to change any item once this process has been performed.  

The student should then alert the supervisor that they have uploaded their fully signed proposal (Item No. 1 - Item No. 11) on the Postgraduate Tracking System. The student may use this uploaded thesis sample for reference.  Students who had uploaded the proposal before approval will require reuploading the thesis proposal.

Reuploading to the Postgraduate Tracking System

To reupload, the student should click on the ' Test proposal submit ' link (circled in the image below). Once the student clicks on this link, they should click on 'Create Proposal' to reupload. 

Please see this Guide on using the Postgraduate Tracking System. The student and the supervisor are encouraged to review this guide and understand their roles. 

Sending the Uploaded Thesis Proposal to the Department

Once uploaded, the student should also send the compiled PDF document to the Department, [email protected] and copy the supervisors, the email subject should be ' Uploaded Thesis Proposal - Student Name - F56/1234/2020 '. The subject should be in title case (mixed upper and lower cases). Do not use all uppercase letters. Similarly, ensure the registration number on the email subject has slashes (not hyphens). The student should ensure that their registration status is in order prior to sending out the uploaded thesis proposal. For example, in the year 2024, students with registration number ending /2018 have their student status expired and must extend their registration and pay the required charges.

Advisory: Kindly note that the department has no access to the Postgraduate Tracking System and it is only by sending the Uploaded Thesis Proposal that the department gets the knowledge that you have uploaded the proposal and initiates the subsequent procedures. 

Based on the fully signed uploaded proposal, the supervisors, Chairman and Dean will then approve the online document for forwarding to the Deputy Vice-Chancellor - Academic Affairs. Once approved by the Office of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor - Academic Affairs, the student will receive a letter from the Academic Registrar, accepting their proposal. The letter will grant the student the authority to officially begin their research and assign the supervisors officially. Please see the sample Letter of Approval that the student and supervisors will receive to commence research . 

It is at this point that your proposal is considered fully registered in the system. 

Technical Challenges with the Postgraduate Tracking System 

Students with technical challenges with regard to the Postgraduate Tracking System should write an email to [email protected] . Copy the Department, [email protected] to assist you with follow-up. The subject of the email should be 'Postgraduate Tracking - Student Name - Registration Number' , for example, 'Postgraduate Tracking - Another Student - F16/12345/2021' .The body of the email should include the nature of the problem such as documents not attaching, or no documents available for download and request the ICT department to clear all documents in your portal and allow you to re-upload the documents. 

Once the documents have been cleared, the student should reupload and request the supervisor to approve the online documents. Once reapproved by the supervisor, the student should notify the department that the documents have been approved. 

The student can also make a physical visit to the Faculty of Engineering ICT office on the Ground Floor, Mechanical Engineering Block, Harry Thuku Way. 

Advisory: The student is advised to start writing a journal article first before writing the thesis. Writing the journal article first will save the student a lot of stress and effort when it comes time to writing the thesis.

CUE requirements: A Master's thesis should be about 20 000 to 30 000 words while a PhD thesis should be about 40 000 to 50 000 words. 

Progress Reports

The student can only get the letter to begin research if their compiled PDF (Items No. 1 - 11) has been uploaded to the Postgraduate Tracking System. Once they receive the letter, the candidate should immediately fill out their first progress report, have it commented and signed by the student and the supervisors only and then upload it on the Postgraduate Tracking system. Only fully signed progress reports should be uploaded on the tracking system.  The student may use this Progress Report template . Please note that comments by the Chairman, Dean and Deputy Vice-Chancellor will be made on the Postgraduate Tracking System. T he student may use this Progress Report sample for guidance . 

The student should also send the Progress Report to the Department department via  [email protected]  for record-keeping. The student must copy all the supervisors. The subject of the email should be, ' Progress Report Q1 - Another Student - F56/12345/2021 ' and so on for the other two progress reports for Q2 and Q3. The subject should be in title case (mixed upper and lower cases). Do not use all uppercase letters. Similarly, ensure the registration number on the email subject has slashes (not hyphens). The supervisors must be copied to the email sent to the department. 

The PDF file should be named ' Progress Report Q1 - Student Name - F56-1234-2021 '. 

The student is required to upload three fully signed progress reports by the time the student sends out the 'Intent to Submit Thesis'. 

Conducting the Thesis

The candidate will then perform the research and make a report. The candidate will be required to make progress reports after every quarter. 

Publishing - Paper Submission to Peer-reviewed Journals

The candidate should make a paper submission to peer-reviewed journals. One journal article is required for MSc students while two journal articles are required for PhD students . This requirement is in line with the Commission for University Education's guidelines. After the publication of the journal article(s), the student may then issue an Intent to Submit the Thesis for Examination. The student may refer to these notes when considering publishing in a peer-reviewed journal. The journals should be indexed in SCOPUS, Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), Clarivate Analytics or Africa Journals Online (AJOL). Publications in predatory journals will not be considered legitimate publications. Read this article to understand more on predatory journals. A quick method of determining predatory journals is that they have short publishing times and require significant publication fees. Secondly, a student may Google the name of the publication followed by the word "predatory" and read the reviews online. 

The student is strongly encouraged to see the University of Nairobi's library guide for publishing.

Some good journals can be found on: 

• https://www.hindawi.com/journals/jat/
• https://journalsuggester.springer.com/
• https://journalfinder.wiley.com/
• https://journalfinder.elsevier.com/
• https://www.scimagojr.com/journalsearch.php 
• https://authorservices.taylorandfrancis.com/publishing-your-research/choosing-a-journal/journal-suggester/
• https://doaj.org/ 

Good publishers also belong to the Committee on Publications Ethics (COPE). Please note some of the journals available from the links above require an additional fee to make your accepted publication open-access. However, it is not a requirement of the University of Nairobi that the journal article be made open-access. Some good journals are free to publish so long as the author accepts that there will be no free access and the reader will have to pay to download the article. The only university requirement is that the journal article should be published in a peer-reviewed journal. 

Once the student has published a paper, the student should send the final published manuscript to the department with the subject ' Published Paper 1 - Student Name - Registration Number '.For example, ' Published Paper 1 - Another Student - F56/12345/2021 ' and so on for the other published papers. The subject should be in title case (mixed upper and lower cases). Do not use all uppercase letters. Similarly, ensure the registration number on the email subject has slashes (not hyphens). The supervisors must be copied to the email sent to the department. The department will then investigate the journal and confirm that the paper has been published in a reputable and credible journal. 

Paper Publications Review (PhD students only)

Journal articles done by the PhD student will be subjected to further review and scrutiny by the Faculty Postgraduate Studies Committee to ensure that the journal articles were of high quality and were published in peer-reviewed journals. 

Once the student has published two papers, the student should send a request for publications review to the department [email protected] . The student may use this template as a guide. The subject of the email should be ' Publications Review - Student Name - Registration Number '.For example, ' Publications Review - Another Student - F80/56789/2021 ' and so on for the other published papers. The subject should be in title case (mixed upper and lower cases). Do not use all uppercase letters. Similarly, ensure the registration number on the email subject has slashes (not hyphens). The supervisors must be copied to the email sent to the department.

Filenames of the PDF documents

The PDF file should be named ' Publications Review - Student Name - F80-56789-2021 '. For this request, there should be three attachments. 

• Publications Review - Student Name - F80-56789-2021.pdf
• Published Paper 1 - Student Name - F80-56789-2021.pdf
• Published Paper 2 - Student Name - F80-56789-2021.pdf

Thesis Registration on SMIS

The candidate should request for registration of FCE 699 after full payment of fees. The student may use this Course Registration Template for guidance . The student should send the Course Registration Request to the Department via  [email protected] . The subject of the email should be ' FCE 699 Course Registration - Another Student - F56/12345/2021 '. The subject should be in title case (mixed upper and lower cases). Do not use all uppercase letters. Similarly, ensure the registration number on the email subject has slashes (not hyphens).

Once the request is sent and all the fees paid, the student may continue with the successive steps. 

Filename of the PDF document 

The PDF file should be named ' FCE 699 Course Registration - Student Name - F56-1234-2021 '. 

Payment of Fees and Fee Statement 

The school fees should be fully paid before sending out the 'Intent to Submit Thesis'. Fees payable is as advised in the admission letter available on the application. For ease of the reference, the fee statements have been provided here: 

• Master's Fee Statement:    A. Admitted before 2021 *    B. Admitted 2021 and later
• PhD Fee Statement.              A. Admitted before 2021 *     B. Admitted 2021 and later  

*The university updated the cost for the student ID in 2020 from KES 500 to KES 1 000 and the amount to be paid should be KES 500 more than what is stated in the PDF form shared. 

Advisory: Bank A/C: UON CESSP Collection Account No.  2032771362  at Absa Bank, Plaza Branch.All payments should be made by direct physical deposit to the bank, where a deposit slip should be obtained. The narrative or description of the financial transaction should include the student's registration number. MPesa and RTGS Payments are not encouraged as they will require further follow-up with Student Finance by the student. The Student Finance Department is in Room G3, Ground Floor, Mahatma Gandhi Wing, Main Campus, Harry Thuku Way, Nairobi. 

Intent to Submit the Thesis for Examination

The candidate should submit a form giving notice of Intent to Submit the Thesis for Examination. The Intent to Submit the Thesis form must have TWO  attachments: 

• Abstract (in one page of approximately 300 words). 
• Detailed Fee Statement (showing complete fees). The Detailed Fee Statement can be printed from the Students' Portal . 

The candidate must use this Intent to Submit Thesis form . 

Submission of Intent to Submit Thesis for Examination through Email

Submission must be done by email in soft copy. Only one compiled PDF document is to be submitted. To submit your document, kindly send an email to the second supervisor asking them to sign and date on the relevant pages and forward it to the first supervisor and to inform them to sign and date on the relevant pages and forward it to the Chairman [email protected] . The subject of the email should be, ' Intent to Submit Thesis - Another Student - F56/12345/2021 '. The subject should be in title case (mixed upper and lower cases). Do not use all uppercase letters. Similarly, ensure the registration number on the email subject has slashes (not hyphens). The student should not just copy all the interested parties in one generic email; the forwarding email should have detailed instructions to the various supervisors on what the supervisors should do. See the sample email below:

It is recommended that the student ensures the document is signed by the supervisors before sending it to the Chairman of the Department, [email protected] and copy the supervisors' email addresses to the email. 

The PDF file should be named ' Intent to Submit Thesis - Student Name - F56-1234-2021 '. 

Submission of the Thesis

Submission must be done by email in soft copy. Submission is done to the Faculty of Engineering through the department Postgraduate Correspondence, Civil & Construction Engineering [email protected] . The constituents of the compiled PDF are listed below. The subject of the email should be as follows, 'Fresh Thesis Submission - Student Name - Registration Number'. For example, ' Fresh Thesis Submission - Another Student - F56/12345/2021 '. The subject should be in title case (mixed upper and lower cases). Do not use all uppercase letters. Similarly, ensure the registration number on the email subject has slashes (not hyphens). All supervisors' email addresses must be copied. The department will forward the thesis to the Faculty for examination and will follow up on behalf of the student. 

Requirements for submission of the thesis are: 

• Faculty of Engineering (FEng) Title Page without a page number. 
• Declaration and Approval page with all the signatures on the second page [Page number (i)].  
• Signed UoN Declaration of Originality. 
• Main Thesis Document (Acknowledgement, Table of Contents, Abstract, Introduction, Literature Review, Methodology, Results & Discussion, Conclusions & Recommendations, References and Appendices). 

The thesis will then be forwarded for examination by the Faculty of Engineering. 

Please compile your document into one PDF in the order above and attach the thesis submission form as a separate attachment. 

Filenames of the PDF documents 

The compiled PDF file should be named ' Fresh  Thesis Submission - Student Name - F56-1234-2021 '. For the fresh thesis, there should be two attachments to the email. 

• Fresh Thesis Submission - Student Name - F56-1234-2021.pdf 
• Thesis Submission Form - Student Name - F56-1234-2021.pdf 

The candidate must use this Submission of Thesis form . 

Thesis Examination and Defence

This examination and defence shall comprise two parts:

• Independent written assessment of the thesis by Internal and external examiners.
• Oral examination of the thesis by a committee of examiners as prescribed by the University of Nairobi statutes. The student may view a past defence presentation on YouTube via this link . Defence is done virtually. Even though the defence is virtual, the student will be expected to be present physically at the University with the student ID and other identification documents. 

Defence The candidate should prepare presentation slides on their research. The student should rehearse to ensure that their presentation lasts no more than 15 minutes.  The candidate may use university slides template to make the slides .

The candidate, in collaboration with the main supervisor, might be given some minor/major corrections to implement. The student will receive a consolidated list of corrections from the first supervisor. The student should ensure that the consolidated list is signed and dated by the supervisor. 

Resubmission of the Corrected Thesis after Thesis Defence and Examination

The student should correct the thesis as advised and prepare a Table of Corrections which should be sent to the main supervisor. The main supervisor will compile the following documents for forwarding to the Dean, Faculty of Engineering: 

• Table of Corrections made by the student. The student should avoid the use of lazy comments such as 'Ammended', 'Done', 'Corrected in Manuscript' or 'Attached'. Instead, the student should make detailed responses to the examiners' comments. Please read this  article on how to properly respond to the examiners' comments. The student may use this Table of Corrections Sample as a guide. 
• Certificate of Corrections. The main supervisor must use this   Certificate of Correction form . 

The supervisor should send the two documents to the Faculty on [email protected] . The supervisor may copy the email to the Department [email protected] . The subject of the email should be ' Certificate of Correction - Student Name - Registration Number '.For example, ' Certificate of Correction - Another Student - F56/1234/2021 '. 

Requirements for submission of the corrected thesis are:

• Main Corrected Thesis Document (Acknowledgement, Abstract, Introduction, Literature Review, Methodology, Results & Discussion, Conclusions & Recommendations, References and Appendices). 
• Digital Repository Agreement Form . (Sent separately with the main thesis) 
• Turnitin Antiplagiarism Report on the Revised Thesis Document. (Sent separately with the main thesis) 
• Another Signed UoN Declaration of Originality . (Sent separately with the main thesis) 
• Valid Student ID. (Sent separately with the main thesis) 

For the corrected thesis, the Digital Repository Agreement Form and the Turnitin Antiplagiarism Report are submitted separately to the final compiled PDF document. The similarity index should be below 15%. (The student and the supervisors should sign and date on the page that shows the percentage). 

Submission of the Revised Thesis

Submission must be done by email in soft copy to [email protected] . The student must copy the supervisors and the Department through  [email protected] . Five (5) separate PDF documents are to be submitted as attachments in ONE email. Do NOT  send the attachments in separate emails. The subject of the email should be as follows, ' Revised Thesis Submission - Student Name - Registration Number '. For example, ' Revised Thesis Submission - Another Student - F56/12345/2021 '. The subject should be in title case (mixed upper and lower cases). Do not use all uppercase letters. All supervisors' email addresses must be copied. Similarly, ensure the registration number on the email subject has slashes (not hyphens).

The PDF file should be named ' Revised Thesis Submission - Student Name - F56-1234-2021 '. For the revised thesis, there should be five attachments to the email. 

• Revised Thesis Submission - Student Name - F56-1234-2021.pdf 
• Digital Repository Form - Student Name - F56-1234-2021.pdf
• Similarity Index Report - Student Name - F56-1234-2021.pdf
• Declaration of Originality - Student Name - F56-1234-2021.pdf
• Valid Student ID - Student Name - F56-1234-2021.pdf

*The Similarity Index Report should be signed and dated by the student and the supervisors on the page that shows the percentage. 

Valid Student ID

A Valid copy of the Student's ID should is required. Application of the ID is done by the student on their SMIS portal. Where the ID is not valid, the student will be required to apply for the renewal and print out the page showing the renewal application from their SMIS portal. The student will attach the printout page as their application. 

The student may follow up with the Admissions Office. The Admissions Office is located in Room 114, First Floor, Central Administration Office, Main Campus, Harry Thuku Way, Nairobi. 

The student will be required to clear in the following departments and offices:

• Department/Faculty
• Sports & Games
• Halls of Residence
• Faculty Registrar
• Finance Office

Department/Faculty - The department is the mandatory first step of clearance. The student will be given a physical form at the Chairman's office. The student will have the form signed by the technologists of the various laboratories and resubmit it to the department. After resubmission, the clearance on the portal will activated and the status will change. 

Sports & Games - The location of Sports & Games is along Lower State House Road, near the Student's Clinic. 

Library - The location of the library is in JKML. 

Halls of Residence - The student should go to the Student's Welfare Authority along Mamlaka Road, close to Hall 9 and the Students' centre. 

Faculty Registrar - The Faculty Registrar's office is on the second floor of the Central Administration Offices in Main Campus. 

Finance Office - The Student Finance Department is on Room G3, Ground Floor, Mahatma Gandhi Wing, Main Campus, Harry Thuku Way, Nairobi. 

Once you have cleared you will be issued with a Letter of Award from the Senate. 

Library Clearance Procedure for Submission of Soft Copy Thesis

1. Graduating student forwards a duly signed PDF version of their Dissertation/Theses/Project alongside other mandatory documents to their respective Deans.

2. Dean confirm that the above documents meet the expected requirements and forward the same to the Graduate Studies Secretariat for verification for graduation.

3. Graduate Studies Secretariat forwards to the Library the above documents (No.1) for printing and binding through [email protected] for purposes of reference in the respective departments, Libraries and archiving in the repository.

4. The Library Bindery raises invoices and emails to the students to pay for printing and binding services.

5. Printing and Binding Charges are:

• Four (4) copies for PhD theses @Kshs.3,000.00 per copy totalling to Kshs.12,000.00
• Four (4) copies for Masters by Thesis @Kshs.1,950 per copy totalling to Kshs.7.800.00
• Two (2) copies for Postgraduate diploma and Masters by projects/dissertation
• @Kshs.1,450.00 per copy totalling to Kshs.2,900.00Kindly note that all bound copies shall be retained by the University. Any student who requires an extra copy or copies can place a request to the Library after paying for printing and binding charges.

Payment shall be done through either of the following modes:-

LIPA NA MPESA mode. Students using this mode should ensure they use their personal MPESA account and pay by “Buy goods & service” – Till Number 807313.

Deposit to Absa Bank. Account Name: UNES Corporate Account; Branch: Westland Branch; Account Number: 0732255303. Narrative should be the name of the student’s and their Registration Number.

6. Student Scans and forwards a copy of the payment evidence to   [email protected]

7. Bindery confirms payment, clears students for binding services, forwards scanned copies of the clearance form and payment receipt to Graduate Studies Secretariat, Dean and the Student. 8. The Dean initiates the clearance of the student for him/her to seek clearance from various departments. 

NB. Original receipts can be collected from Library bindery at Jomo Kenyatta Memorial

Library (JKML) Main Campus after clearance as per No.8 above.

Completion and Graduation

The student will graduate in the next graduation ceremony after paying the required graduation convocation fee. The mandatory convocation fee is paid to: 

• Bank: ABSA KENYA PLC
• Branch: ABSA Towers
• Account Name: UON MODULE I COLLECTION ACCOUNT
• Account Number: 2032770838
• Amount: 1 000 
• Narrative: Registration Number

Or as advised in memos leading to the graduation ceremony. 

Optional charges are: 

• Hire of graduation gown: KES 4 000.00
• Congregation fee: KES 2 500 (must be paid for those who wish to attend physically)

Collection of Certificate

The graduate should plan to collect their Master's or PhD certificate after the announcement for schedule for collection of certificates is made on the University of Nairobi's main website uonbi.ac.ke . The certificate should be collected from the University of Nairobi Central Examinations Centre, Chiromo Campus. The graduate student should register on the University CRM Portal  on https://graduates.uonbi.ac.ke/ before going to collect the document physically. 

The following will be required before collection of the certificates: 

• Original National Identity Card or Original Passport. 
• Convocation fee receipt for KES 1 000.00

Certificates should be collected by the stipulated date. Any certificate not collected by the stipulated date will be liable to a storage charge of KES 1 000/= per year or part thereof. For avoidance of doubt, any part of a year after the expiry of the collection date shall attract a storage charge of KES 1 000/=. For further information with regards to the collection of the certificate, please contact:

The Academic Registrar University of Nairobi P.O. Box 30917-00100 NAIROBI Telephone: 020-4914201/020-4914202/020-4914204/020-4914203 Mobile: 0700675405 Email:  [email protected]  or [email protected]

Ongoing students can view their status below. The table is sorted by the students' registration numbers in ascending order. 

KEY Turnitin Rcvd - The department has received a similarity index report request from the student. Action required: The department should take action and respond with a similarity index report in not more than five business days. 

Turnitin Snt - The department has scanned and sent back a similarity index report to the student. Action required: The student should take action and submit the proposal, if the similarity index was less than 15%; or revise the document if the similarity index was 15% or more. 

Prpsl Rcvd - The department has received a proposal document with all seven requirements from the student/supervisor. Action required: The chairman should take action and approve the document for forwarding to the FPSC. 

Prpsl Snt - The chairman has signed and has sent the proposal document to the Faculty Postgraduate Studies Committee. Action required: The FPSC should take action and review the document. 

FPSC Rcvd - The department has received the FPSC reviews. Action required: The department should take action forward the comments to the student. 

FPSC Snt - The department has sent the FPSC reviews to the student. Action required: The student should revise the proposal as per FPSC recommendations. 

NTntn Rcvd - The department has received a similarity index report for the revised thesis proposal from the student. Action required:  The department should scan and send the student the similarity index report. 

NTntn Snt - The department has sent a similarity index report for the revised thesis proposal to the student. Action required: The student should send the department a revised thesis proposal. 

Rev Prpsl Rcvd - The department has received the revised thesis proposal with all 10 requirements. Action required: The chairman should approve the revised thesis proposal and send it to the FPSC. 

Rev Prpsl Snt - The department has sent the revised thesis proposal to the FPSC. Action required: The FPSC should confirm that the student has adopted all the recommendations (or provided adequate rebuttals) to the recommendations it has made. 

Fcmnts Rcvd - The department has received further comments, if any, from the FPSC.  Action required: The department should send the FPSC further comments to the student. 

FCmnts Snt - The department has sent the student further comments from the FPSC, if any. Action required: The student should adopt the FPSC further comments. 

FRev Prpsl Rcvd - The department has received the further revised proposal from the student. Action required:   The chairman should approve the document and forward it to the FPSC. 

FRev Prpsl Sent - The department has sent the further revised proposal to the FPSC. Action required: The FPSC should review the further revised proposal. 

FPSC Aprvl Rcvd - The department has received the minutes from the FPSC granting approval of proposal. Action required: The department will allocate supervisors to the student on the Postgraduate Tracking System and should forward the signed pages and minutes to the student. 

FPSC Aprvl Snt - The department has sent the minutes from the FPSC to the student. Action required: The student should compile the document, upload the document to the Postgraduate Tracking System and forward the compiled document to the department. 

Upl Rcvd - The department has received the complete thesis proposal (with all signatures) for record-keeping. Action required: The department should also request the Dean to request DVC (AA) for official approval of the thesis proposal. 

Upl Snt - The department has sent the complete proposal to the dean's office for record-keeping. Action required: The Dean will request the DVC (AA) for official approval of the thesis proposal. 

Acd Rgstr LttrRcvd - The department has received the letter from the academic registrar. Action required: The department will forward the student the letter of approval to the student. 

Acd Rgstr Lttr Snt - The department has sent the letter from the academic registrar to the student. Action required: The student should begin the research and upload Progress Report Q1. 

Prg 1 Rcvd - The department has received the fully signed Progress Report 1 from the student. Action required: The student should file the second progress report in not less than a month (from submission of Progress Report 1) and begin publishing in a peer-reviewed journal. 

Prg 2 Rcvd - The department has received the fully signed Progress Report 2 from the student. Action required: The student should file the third progress report in not less than a month (from submission of Progress Report 2) and should be in the publication process in a peer-reviewed journal. 

Prg 3 Rcvd - The department has received the fully signed Progress Report 3 from the student. Action required: The student should complete the publication process in a peer-reviewed journal. 

Intt Submit Rcvd - The department has received an 'Intent to Submit' by the candidate. Action required: The department checks whether the student has filled the three progress reports and whether the publication has been made in a peer-reviewed journal.  

Intt Submit Snt - The department has sent the 'Intent to Submit' to the Dean. Action required: The department, chairman and the supervisor in consultation with the Dean will set up a Committee of Examiners. 

CoE Setup - A committee of examiners has been set up. Action required: The dean will request the student to submit the thesis. 

Submt Ths Rcvd - The department has received instruction from the Dean to ask the student to submit the thesis. Action required: The department will forward the instruction to the student. 

Submt Ths Sent - The department has sent the instruction from the Dean to the student asking the student to submit the thesis. Action required: The student should submit the thesis with all the requirements. 

Ths Rcvd - The department has received the thesis from the student. Action required: The Chairman will approve and send the document to the Dean. 

Ths Snt - The chairman has approved the document and has been sent to the Faculty. Action required: The dean will send the thesis to the reviewers for examination. The student will be called for a defence. 

RThs Rcvd - The department has received a revised thesis from the supervisor. Action required: The department will forward the revised thesis to the Faculty. 

RThs Snt - The department has sent the revised thesis to the Faculty. Action required: The Faculty will forward the document to Graduate Secretariat. Action required: The student should clear and prepare for graduation.

Help improve this page by asking questions or seeking clarifications from  [email protected] . Your comments might be incorporated into this page to assist other students. 

Updated: 2024-04-19

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New Graduate Student Orientation 2024

Congratulations on your acceptance to the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (UH Mānoa)!  Your journey to an advanced degree begins now! Graduate Division is excited to welcome you and invites you to attend New Graduate Student Orientation (NGSO). Participating in NGSO is a great opportunity to prepare for a successful graduate student experience. Session topics include learning about what to expect in grad school, developing good relationships with mentors, planning for funding opportunities, and much more.

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Graduate College

Postdoc examines impact of fungal priority pathogen cryptococcus.

The World Health Organization lists Cryptococcus as a fungal priority pathogen  to guide research, development, and public health action.

In extreme cases, Cryptococcus is breathed into the lungs before traveling to the spinal cord and brain, causing c ryptococcal meningitis -- an infection that is fatal if untreated.

Andrew Jezewski, a postdoctoral fellow in the Krysan Lab in the Stead Family Department of Pediatrics at the University of Iowa, studies how Cryptococcus grows in the human host. Specifically, Jezewski investigates how the fungus grows in the brain and how it tolerates carbon dioxide. Jezewski estimates that carbon dioxide levels are 100-fold higher in the human body than in the environment.

“Most strains of Cryptococcus don’t grow well in the human body,” Jezewski says. “If that strain gets in your lungs, chances are it won’t survive. It’s a stress on Cryptococcus to encounter substantial amounts of carbon dioxide. But a few strains can resist that stress from carbon dioxide.  I am trying figure out how those strains can tolerate that carbon dioxide stress because those are the strains that cause severe disease.”

Cryptococcus isn’t passed from human to human and almost never causes disease in immunocompetent individuals. This alleviates concern when Jezewski and his advisor, Damian Krysan, a professor of pediatric-infectious diseases, work with Cryptococcus that has been isolated from an individual patient. 

People with cryptococcal meningitis can experience seizures and may require cerebral spinal fluid drainage. They are treated intravenously with the antifungal medication amphotericin B .  Jezewski says there around 200,000 cases of cryptococcal meningitis worldwide, with 150,000 resulting in death. 

Since the World Health Organization lists cryptococcus as a fungal priority pathogen, resources are being increased in resource-impoverished areas, so amphotericin B can be more widely prescribed to patients. Researchers like Krysan and Jezewski are also working to identify novel therapeutic strategies.

Grant writing perfection

Jezewski received a rare perfect score on his National Institutes of Health K22 grant application, which will support his research as a faculty member.

“ I circulated that grant with a lot of people who had won K awards before and got helpful feedback,” Jezewski says. “I took all the feedback to heart to try and improve my grant. My grant received a perfect score in the first round, so I didn’t have to do a resubmission.”

Jezewski plans to take his K22 award, worth $250,000 over two years, with him to his faculty position.

“This shows, as proof of concept, I am competitive in writing grants. When I apply for positions, which are dependent on writing grants, I can at least show I have a record of that,” Jezewski says. “You can take that money to help get your research off the ground in combination with any start-up package you get. When you get offered a start-up package from an institution, (the employer) must show the NIH that the (new hire) is receiving the same level of support that they would give a faculty member who is not receiving a grant.”

Krysan believes that new faculty members doing research must learn to write and communicate their ideas effectively. 

“Andrew has expansive curiosity and creativity. However, one must be able to convince others that what you are interested in and how you will study it are significant and feasible,” Krysan says. “He has written grant proposals at multiple times during his training, culminating with a perfect score on his NIH K22 application; the evolution of his writing and his ability to express his creativity and insights have been gratifying to watch and read.”

  In the upcoming academic year, Jezewski will be joining the Department of Genetics and Biochemistry at Clemson University as an assistant professor affiliated with the nationally renowned Eukaryotic Pathogens Innovation Center (EPIC). His research will focus on Cryptococcus, but he also has prior experience working with other eukaryotic pathogens, including Plasmodium, the causative agent of malaria, and the brain parasite Toxoplasma.

“I am excited to bring my expertise to this new role and collaborate with a distinguished group of faculty," Jezewski says. "Together, we aim to advance our understanding of neglected and complex pathogens, ultimately working toward novel therapeutic strategies.”