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

theses

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

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

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

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

University of Cambridge theses

Finding a cambridge phd thesis online via the institutional repository.

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

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

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

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

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

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

dissertations cambridge university

UK Theses and Dissertations

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

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

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

dissertations cambridge university

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

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

World-wide (incl. UK) theses and dissertations

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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The University does not require electronic copies of Masters Theses to be deposited in Apollo, which means that the Thesis team does not deposit individual Masters Theses via Symplectic Elements.

However, there is a batch upload arrangement in place for faculties/departments who wish to deposit their Masters Theses in Apollo. Interested faculties/departments should contact the Thesis team for further information ( [email protected]).

Key features of the batch upload arrangement

  • All Theses deposited via the batch upload will be made immediately open access in Apollo;
  • Faculties/departments will be provided with a shared drive, which they will use to provide electronic copies of Theses, Deposit Licence Agreements and metadata;
  • Faculties/departments create their own local policies to determine the number and frequency of their uploads to their shared drive;
  • Batch uploads are run once per term, at the end of each term by Repository staff.

Guidelines for faculties/departments

As all Theses that are deposited into Apollo via the batch upload arrangement will be immediately available (open access) in Apollo, it is only suitable for Theses that do not contain:

  • uncleared copyrighted material and/or
  • unauthorised confidential/sensitive information.

However, Faculties/departments may instead opt provide a redacted version of any Theses that do contain such content. If this option is chosen, Faculties/departments should deposit the original, unredacted Thesis and a redacted version. We have further information on our website about redacting material from theses.

It is important that these issues are resolved in advance of uploading the thesis to their shared drive, because depositing these items into Apollo may breach copyright or GDPR laws. If in doubt about a thesis, faculties/departments are advised not to include it in the batch upload request.

Should a Thesis have supplementary data files, the data should be uploaded separately via Symplectic Elements by the faculty/departmental administrator.

Third party copyright

Copyright held by someone other than the author is known as third party copyright. If an author has used third party copyright material, they should ascertain whether or not they need permission to use it in their thesis.

We recommend that authors obtain permission to include material as they are researching. Clearing permission can take a long time, so unless a redacted version is supplied, it is not appropriate to include Theses for batch upload where permissions have been sought but are still outstanding. It is also not appropriate to include theses where permission has not been sought, or where permission has been denied.

Please be aware that different copyright rules apply to the hardbound copy that is deposited in the library for reference and the electronic version that is deposited in the repository. This is because the hardbound copy is considered unpublished and the electronic version, if made available as open access, is considered published. The thesis must credit the copyright holder(s) and source(s) of all third party copyright material.

There is  more information on third party copyright on our website .

Sensitive information

Sensitive information is data that must be protected for the privacy or security of an individual, group, or organisation. The kinds of sensitive information most likely to be included in theses are:

  • Commercial (trade secrets or information which could damage commercial interests)
  • Health and safety (information which could damage the health and/or safety of an individual)
  • Information provided in confidence Personal (as defined by the  Data Protection Act 2018  - GDPR)
  • Culturally sensitive material (information or arguments which some cultural groups might find offensive or upsetting)
  • Content referring to legal cases

The  Freedom of Information Act 2000  sets out the types of sensitive information to which legally enforceable restrictions may be applied. The University of Cambridge is bound by this Act. It may decide to apply restrictions to other types of information, including theses deposited in the University Library or Departmental and Faculty libraries, but they are not legally binding if not falling under the Act.

Unless a redacted version is supplied, it is also not appropriate to include theses for batch upload that contain sensitive/confidential information without authorisation from whom the information relates.

There is  more information about sensitive material on our website

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Dissertations and theses in librarian's office

PhD theses (HPS)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Other HPS theses

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

MPhil and Part III dissertations

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

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

MPhil History and Philosophy of Science and Medicine

  • Alphabetical list
  • Chronological list

MPhil Health, Medicine and Society

Part iii history and philosophy of science.

  • Alphabetical List
  • Chronological List

Sample Part II, Part III and MPhil coursework

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

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You can access undergraduate and graduate student dissertations in Anthropology and Archaeology via the Haddon Library. You must be a current member of the University to access student dissertations. When you find a dissertation that you'd like to read, please request it by emailing us or asking at the front desk.

  • List of Archaeology/BioAnth (undergraduate) dissertations available to view online,  2020-Present (Google Sheet)   
  • List of Social Anthropology (undergraduate) dissertations available to view online,  2020-Present (Google Sheet) 

Please note that as of April 2024 , all requests for online access to dissertations will be granted for seven calendar days , so use your reading time wisely. If you require access past this time, you will need to submit a new request.

Print dissertations are for use in the library only and cannot be borrowed.

  • List of Social Anthropology/Archaeology/BioAnth (undergraduate/graduate) dissertations in print , up to 2019 (Excel)   

Recently completed Cambridge PhD theses are available via Apollo , the University Repository (unless under embargo). 

You can also search for the full text of PhD theses across the UK using the British Library's EThOS service  or browse the Proquest Dissertations and Theses database for research across 700 academic institutions worldwide.

You can request theses from other institutions via the University Library's Inter-Library Loan service .

Related Links

  • Cambridge PhD Theses on Apollo
  • British Library EThOS service

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Answered By: Jenni Lecky-Thompson Last Updated: Mar 22, 2023     Views: 11026

Finding print dissertations

The University Library holds all Cambridge dissertations from 1921 onwards and they can be ordered from the Manuscript Reading Room (01223 333143, [email protected] ). They can't be borrowed or supplied for inter-library loan.

Information on finding theses and dissertations can be found on the Theses Libguide .   Details of all Cambridge theses approved since 1970 can be found using iDiscover . They are also listed in the EThOS database.

Copying of Cambridge dissertations is subject to regulations made by the Board of Graduate Studies. Personal applications for the purchase of copies of dissertations for private research can be directed to the Digital Content Unit ( http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/departments/digital-content-unit ; email [email protected] ). There is a charge for this. To purchase dissertations on behalf of an institution (e.g. for library stock) the author's permission is required before a copy can be supplied.

Finding digitised dissertations

Apollo , the University's institutional repository, holds full-text digital versions of several hundred Cambridge PhD. theses. This is a rapidly growing collection deposited on a voluntary basis.

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Apollo (previously  DSpace@Cambridge ) is the University of Cambridge’s Institutional Repository (IR), established in 2003 as a service for sharing the outputs of Cambridge’s research activity. The Repository service is managed by the Open Research Systems (ORS) team, which is part of Digital Initiatives and is based in Cambridge University Library.

As outlined in Apollo’s terms of use , the Repository is responsible for the curation of deposited research outputs, as well as for storing and sharing those outputs according to the guidelines of research funders and abiding to principles and recommendations from Cambridge University Library’s (CUL) Digital Preservation Policy . Apollo underpins the commitment of the University of Cambridge to preserve for the long-term and provide access to its research as widely as possible in order to contribute to society as well as to academic advancement. I ts primary focus is on providing open access to the University’s research publications. For further information, see our  Open Access pages , or to register your publication for ‘Green’ or ‘Gold’ access, please use the  Open Access upload form .

The Repository is committed to store and preserve the University’s research outputs. Research outputs can include, but are not limited to, publications, conference proceedings, book chapters, monographs, theses, various forms of research data (video recordings, spreadsheets, computational scripts, code, images etc.), presentations and others.

If you have any queries about Apollo, please contact [email protected] .

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Apollo has participated in a number of externally funded projects intended to better understand researcher requirements or improve the services it offers. 

In late 2019 Apollo was selected for FAIRsFAIR Trust & FAIR certification support.  FAIRsFAIR  is playing a key role in the contribution to policies and practices for broader adoption of FAIR practices, and in the development of standards for FAIR certification of repositories. Through an Open Call run between July and August 2019, Apollo was chosen by FAIRsFAIR to be supported on the path towards achieving  CoreTrustSeal certification . 

The submissions were assessed based on the repository's designated community, its focus on long-term preservation and reuse, and on the feasibility of it being able to achieve CoreTrustSeal certification within the timeframe available. A diverse geographical and disciplinary spread among the selected repositories was also of importance. FAIRsFAIR provides support and capacity building, including materials, training and advice to repository managers and other stakeholders so they can improve their knowledge of the preparation required for CoreTrustSeal self-assessments. At the same time, the repositories share with the FAIRsFAIR project their valuable experience of how repository practices enable the curation of FAIR data. FAIRsFAIR actively engages with Apollo and the  other selected repositories . Together, we collaborate on the journey to Trust and FAIR.

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dissertations cambridge university

A selection of dissertations from recent undergraduate students, and MPhil Conservation Leadership placement reports*, are now available for reading access online.

We regret to announce that paper copies of dissertations submitted prior to 2020 are not included in this service.

Paper copies of dissertations between 2015-2019 can only be viewed upon request in the Geography Library itself – please ask staff for access. Dissertations earlier than 2015 may be available to view in the Manuscripts Reading Room at the UL (again you need to request access in advance to view these). To find out about the availability of paper copies of earlier dissertations, you will need to search on iDiscover by searching using the words ‘Geography’, ‘Tripos’ and ‘Dissertation’. Check the holdings information to see whether they have a note to say ‘Transferred to UL’.

Please note down the file number (in the first column) before you proceed to the online request form , where you can request access to two dissertations per application. It is best to use this form from the Geography intranet.

You can also request a particular dissertation by clicking on the number in the first column of the table, which also takes you through to the request form.

Terms and conditions apply, and you must agree to these before you are given access.

Please note we can only process requests during our staffed hours. Please see the Library opening hours for further details.

*An index of the MPhil Conservation Leadership reports that are available to view are on the dedicated Moodle page for students.

Most recent years are shown first.

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Dissertations

Since 2015-16 we have started obtaining Part IIB dissertations - and we will aim to keep adding them in the coming years.

If you are interested in consulting these "sample dissertations":

  • Advanced Diploma dissertations from 2016-2019 (link to iDiscover records)
  • Part IIB dissertations from 2015-2019 (link to iDiscover records)

Please be aware of the following conditions of use:

You are allowed to look at the sample dissertations if you agree to abide by the following conditions:

  • Sample dissertations cannot be copied (this includes any medium: e.g. not using the Library photocopier, or a camera)
  • Sample dissertations cannot leave the Divinity Library, and must be consulted at a desk near to the Issue Desk .
  • Students are reminded that submitting their own dissertation with a title resembling those in the sample collection is unacceptable .
  • Students are reminded of the University policy on plagiarism .
  • This list will be passed to the Chair of the Teaching Committee , if requested.
  • You will need to bring a valid blue University card , and any dissertation will be issued to you for 3 hours at a time.
  • You will also need to sign that you will abide to follow the above.

The following, four sample dissertations (2019-20) are available electronically:

  • A feminist lens on Johannine and Graeco-Roman theories of generation.
  • Deuteronomic' cult centralisation and contradictions within the mode of production of late monarchic Judah.
  • Marian Theology in "The Power" by Naomi Alderman and "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood.
  • Meaning in absurdity: a paradox in the philosophy of Albert Camus.

Please email the Library for access.

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Students taking Option A write a dissertation on a topic approved by the HPS Board and prepared under the supervision of a teaching officer or postdoctoral researcher.

The dissertation gives you the chance to explore a topic of interest in depth; it gives you practice in essential writing skills; and it should sharpen your capacity for analysis and posing questions. Part II students in the past have found the dissertation to be the most rewarding aspect of the course. The dissertation counts for 20% of the overall mark – the same as one exam paper.

The word limit for the dissertation is 8,000. This includes footnotes but excludes the bibliography and prefatory matter.

The dissertation is expected to embody a substantial piece of study on a given topic. Quality is not correlated with length, but it is difficult to write a first-class dissertation in 5,000 words.

Figures may be included in the work and should contribute to the argument. They should be captioned only so as to specify the source; such captions are excluded from the word count. Formulae may be used where appropriate and are also excluded from the word count.

The word limit is strictly enforced. Each piece of work will be inspected to ensure that the word limit has been respected. If work is over the limit, a mark will be placed at the point where the word limit has been reached. Examiners reserve the right to stop reading when they get to that point.

The Department uses Microsoft Word to check word counts. If you use coding software, such as LaTeX, you should be aware that this software may give a different word count. You may find it helpful to use TeXcount , an online tool that analyses LaTeX code to provide an accurate count of words, formulae, captions and footnotes. If using software other than Microsoft Word you should submit a screenshot to demonstrate the word count from the software used.

Choosing a topic and securing a supervisor

The dissertation must be on a topic that falls within the subject area of history and philosophy of science. Remember, if you have taken the HPS Part IB course, there are many areas covered in Part II that you will not have encountered yet. Remember too that the Department's expertise in some fields is stronger than in others. This is important when it comes to finding an appropriate supervisor.

You should plan to secure a dissertation topic and supervisor as early as possible in Michaelmas Term, and no later than the division of term.

Dissertations are tightly focused pieces of original research. To identify a topic, the first thing to do is to establish the general question and/or area of research that interests you. This will usually correspond to the subject of one of the Part II papers, even if it is not taught directly on that paper. Your Director of Studies can advise about this. Once you have established the general subject area of the dissertation, you should contact the relevant paper manager. He or she will advise you about honing the topic and will put you in contact with an appropriate supervisor.

To get a sense of the sorts of expertise that might be available, and to begin to identify possible supervisors, see the Department's list of dissertation and essay supervisors.

Dissertation and essay supervisors

If you would like to work with an external supervisor – someone who is not a member of the Department – you must obtain permission from the Part II Manager.

Successful dissertation subjects emerge from discussions between students and supervisors, but it is important that you choose a topic you are enthusiastic about. Think about the kind of general questions in HPS that you find significant, and would like to answer. Explore the HPS reading lists. Think about the kind of work you might enjoy doing. Some dissertation topics give the chance for extensive reading and library research; others involve work with instruments in the Whipple Museum ; others require a close study of a single text, a critical review of a major debate, or the analysis of an important philosophical problem. The choice is yours.

Please note that a dissertation topic in the same area as a student's primary source essay will not normally be approved.

Planning your work

Once you have secured a topic and a supervisor, your first task will be to start reading. You should aim to have a working bibliography in place by the end of Michaelmas Term. During Lent Term you should establish the focus of the dissertation, and agree a schedule of deadlines for submitting drafts (or draft sections) to your supervisor. Four hours of supervision is the norm for an HPS dissertation. The dissertation is due at the beginning of Easter Term, but you cannot expect your supervisor to be available during the Easter vacation.

Once you have a topic, start the research and writing as soon as possible. It is a mistake to carry out months of research first, with the idea that it will all somehow come together at the very end. Do not leave the writing to take care of itself over the Easter vacation. Do not assume that your first draft will be your final draft: allow plenty of time between the two. You may find it hard to keep up with the weekly routine of supervision essays during term, so the winter vacation is vitally important for writing the dissertation. Have a substantial body of the text in draft when you come up in January so your supervisor has something to read.

Human participants

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

Working with human participants: ethical approval and data protection

Dissertations must include adequate documentation in the form of notes and a bibliography; make sure to check your citations for accuracy, and give precise page numbers and sources for all quotations and illustrations. Various referencing formats are acceptable, but it is essential to be consistent . The Whipple Library has copies of several Part II, Part III and MPhil dissertations that will give examples of reference styles, or you can use an article in a relevant journal as a model. For helpful comments on style and organisation, see the research guide and advice .

Referencing

You should upload your dissertation to the 'HPS Part II Coursework' site on Moodle before 12noon on the day of the deadline. Paper copies are not required.

Please note:

  • You cannot upload more than one file.
  • The following file formats are accepted: DOC, DOCX, PDF, RTF.

The dissertation will be marked anonymously, so it is important that your name does not appear anywhere on it.

Please note that the Department will retain a copy of your dissertation and may make it available to future students unless you make a written request to the contrary to the Departmental Administrator.

Changing the title

In exceptional circumstances, students sometimes need to change the title of their dissertation after they have they submitted the title form. The deadline for changing the dissertation title is in mid-February.

The University and the Department of History and Philosophy of Science take plagiarism very seriously. Please read our advice about what plagiarism is and how to avoid it.

Plagiarism guidelines

The Department uses the text-matching software Turnitin UK to blanket screen all student work submitted in Moodle.

Use of Turnitin UK

Request to add an appendix

A dissertation should be self-contained, including or citing all information needed for an examiner to follow its argument.

The word limit normally includes text and footnotes but not the bibliography. However, in certain cases permission may be obtained for materials strictly relevant to the argument of the dissertation to be appended for the information of the examiners, with such materials not contributing to the word count. Materials falling into this category may include primary source materials that are not readily accessible, translations, questionnaire responses, statistical tables, descriptions of objects and analytical bibliographies and formal proofs.

Normally material included in the word count should mainly consist of the student's own discussion and analysis. Exceptionally, when a critical edition or translation, an analytical bibliography, or a technical description of objects and their provenances is based on substantial original scholarship and is central to the argument of a dissertation, permission may be obtained for its inclusion within the body of the dissertation, hence contributing to the word count. Normally no more than one third of a dissertation should consist of such material.

Applications for such permissions should normally be sought, in consultation with the supervisor, from the HPS Board prior to submission of the dissertation.

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Hala Hanina, a Palestinian student who has been involved in protests at Newcastle University

‘There are people in tents writing dissertations’: UK reaches for scale of US campus protests

Pro-Palestine protesters hope encampments at universities will contribute to an ‘international student revolt’

S tudents across Britain have said they hope pro-Palestine protests will reach the same scale as those seen on US campuses as they call for universities to divest from companies supplying arms to Israel.

Protests have spread across university campuses in Sheffield, Bristol and Leeds, after a crackdown in the US on protests, which led to mass arrests of students and staff.

More than 2,000 people have been arrested on university campuses in the US , garnering attention from international media and people in the besieged Gaza Strip, including Bisan Owda, a Palestinian journalist and content creator living in Gaza, who encouraged student protesters “to do more” for this “unprecedented moment” in a video posted on Instagram.

Samira Ali, 24, is one of about 100 students who stormed the library at Goldsmiths, University of London this week, occupying the first two floors. Ali, a third-year sociology student and co-organiser for Goldsmiths for Palestine, said 30 students had occupied the building, demanding the university ends “financial complicity” and condemns the war in Gaza.

“I think that it’s only right what we’re doing right now as students standing up for Palestine, particularly saying that it’s not acceptable that the universities that we attend – particularly universities like Goldsmiths which rely on international reputation of being a progressive university – to stay silent on what’s going on in Palestine, the massacres, the horrors and also be complicit in investments,” she said.

Posters on a building at Goldsmiths next to Palestinian flags read ‘Shut it down 4 Palestine’, ‘Decolonisation is not a metaphor’ and, partly out of frame ‘From the river to the sea’.

Although the scale of protests on university campuses in the UK has been relatively small in comparison with the action in the US, students say they remain steadfast and anticipate more planned action.

“I think what we’re witnessing now is almost an international student revolt. We obviously know what’s been happening in the US … There’s a wave of encampments around Britain, which hopefully will grow. I think the potential for them to grow is huge,” Ali added.

A spokesperson for Goldsmiths said it was “in dialogue with students”, who were no longer in occupation by Sunday, and “fully committed” to introducing meaningful support for those affected by the war, including a pledge of £120,000 a year to humanitarian scholarships for Palestinian students.

Hala Hanina, a Palestinian who has been involved in protests at the University of Newcastle, said more than 400 people she knows in Gaza have been killed. Hanina, 31, who came to the UK before October, said: “I don’t have friends now. They have all either been killed or lost their families … I’m doing this for all of Gaza that’s facing a genocide, something that’s unprecedented and unimaginable.

“I must do whatever is possible to be done and even impossible, we’ll make it possible … It’s so important for the student community and British community that they are fighting for justice.”

There has been a renewed focus on the investments of universities since October, with protesters calling for universities to sell off shares, assets or other investments in companies linked to Israel and its war in Gaza, known as divestment.

Student protesters at the University of Warwick said they were willing to juggle exams with protests to ensure their demands are met.

Fraser Amos, a PhD student in global sustainable development, said: “A lot of the main students staying overnight at the encampment, they are in their final year of university. They’ve got exams, there are people in the tents writing their dissertations.

“It’s really difficult and we’re all trying to pitch in to help them out as much as possible. But the fact that they’re making that sacrifice shows how important this is.”

However, the protests on campuses in the UK have been criticised for creating a “hostile and toxic” atmosphere for Jewish students, according to the Union of Jewish Students. Gavriel Solomons, the vice-chair of the Young National Jewish Assembly and politics undergraduate at University of Hertfordshire, said: “The last thing we need is to import an even more aggressive form of organised antisemitism from the US.”

The president of Newcastle University’s Jewish society, Eliana, said Jewish students feel “very isolated compared [with] the numbers which show up to these rallies” and some said, if it weren’t for in-person exams, “they would have finished the semester at home to avoid campus, because it feels safer”.

“The university has a responsibility to protect free speech, but procedures to protect minorities from hate speech leave a lot to desire. At many times, it feels that little is done to prevent hatred or radicalisation from being propagated,” Eliana said.

A spokesperson for Newcastle University said they met “regularly with representatives” from Jewish and Muslim student societies adding: “We are clear that protests should be within the law – we do not tolerate the use of threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour that causes, or is likely to cause, distress.”

The university said it did not invest in companies making armaments, adding: “Any proposals for defence and security collaborations are reviewed on a case-by-case basis.”

The University of Warwick has been approached for comment.

  • Israel-Gaza war
  • US campus protests
  • Goldsmiths, University of London
  • Higher education
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Dissertation Advisory Committee; Thesis Acceptance Certificate

The Dissertation Advisory Committee formally approves the dissertation by signing the Thesis Acceptance Certificate . In PhD programs that are not lab-based, this committee also guides the student in writing the dissertation. The committee should work cohesively in supporting the student to produce their best work. The signatures of these faculty members on the Thesis Acceptance Certificate indicate formal acceptance of the student’s scholarly contribution to the field.  

In some fields, especially in the sciences, the Dissertation Advisory Committee described below is known locally as the “Dissertation Defense Committee.” In these programs, a separate additional committee (also called the Dissertation Advisory Committee) that includes the student’s primary advisor, will guide the student’s progress until submission for formal review by the DAC/defense committee. The members of the DAC/defense committee give formal approval to the finished work, but the student’s work will be understood to have occurred under the guidance of the primary advisor. The changes to the DAC/defense committee as described below do not in any way affect the essential structure of dissertation advising that already exists in lab-based PhD programs. 

The following policy applies to every Harvard Griffin GSAS Dissertation Advisory Committee formed on or after July 1, 2024. Any Dissertation Advisory Committee approved before July 1, 2024 is subject to the rules outlined below, see “Grandfathering.”  

Effective July 1, 2024:  

  •  The graduate thesis for the PhD shall be accepted, and the Thesis Acceptance Certificate signed, by at least three advisors, who will form the Dissertation Advisory Committee (DAC). At least two members of the committee shall be on-ladder faculty members. 
  • In FAS-based programs, the Director of Graduate Studies or Department Chair or Area Chair shall sign off on the proposed committee.  
  • For programs based outside the FAS, the Program Head shall sign off. 
  • A program may petition the Dean of Harvard Griffin GSAS to consider a variation to the above requirement. 
  • A Professor in Residence or Professor of the Practice may serve as a non-chairing member of the DAC, as long as the committee composition is consistent with “1.”  
  •  Senior Lecturers and other non-ladder faculty may serve on the DAC as the third member when appropriate, as approved by the Director of Graduate Studies, Department Chair, Area Chair, or Program Head, as long as the committee composition is consistent with “1.” 
  • Tenured emeriti faculty members (including research professors) may serve on the DAC. They may co-chair the DAC with a current on-ladder faculty member from the student’s department or program but may not serve as the sole chair. 
  • Non-Harvard faculty of equivalent appointment rank to on-ladder faculty at Harvard may serve as one of the non-chairing members of the DAC.  
  • A committee with co-chairs shall require a third member, consistent with ”1.” 
  • Additional members may be appointed to the DAC, as long as the core three-member committee is consistent with ”1.” 
  • They may continue to serve as a committee member if they have moved to another institution with an appointment rank equivalent to on-ladder at Harvard.  
  • Or, if they are no longer serving on the DAC (by choice of the student, the student’s program, and/or the departing faculty member), the advisor must be replaced in accordance with ”1.” 
  • If the departing faculty member will remain as chair on the DAC, a co-chair must be designated in accordance with “1.” The co-chair may, in this instance, be the Director of Graduate Studies in the student’s program if a faculty member with field expertise is not available to serve in this capacity. 

Please note:

  • “On ladder” refers to faculty members with tenure or who are tenure-track. The phrase “on ladder” is generally not used at HMS, but all HMS and HCSPH assistant, associate, and full professors are considered to be “on ladder” according to HMS Faculty Affairs, and, for the purposes of this legislation, may serve on the DAC/defense committee. 
  • With regard to paragraph 3.b.ii, and in keeping with the spirit of this legislation, ordinarily a scholar appointed as a College Fellow would not be ready to serve as one of the three core members of the committee. 
  • With regard to paragraph 3.b.iv, individuals who do not fit this category (e.g., a scholar holding a non-ladder faculty position at another institution) may sit on the committee as a fourth member, in accordance with paragraph 3.d.  
  • On the rare occasion that a situation requires special consideration, programs are advised to consult with the Dean of Harvard Griffin GSAS.  

Grandfathering

Grandfathering, and rules applying to all dissertation advisory committees, regardless of status prior to July 1, 2024:  

For dissertation advisory committees approved before July 1, 2024 under the former policy ( Two signatories must be members of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS); FAS emeriti (including research professors) and faculty members from other Schools at Harvard who hold appointments on Harvard Griffin GSAS degree committees are authorized to sign DACs as FAS members. Harvard Griffin GSAS strongly recommends that the chair of the dissertation committee be a member of the FAS. If approved by the department, it is possible to have co-chairs of the dissertation committee as long as one is a member of FAS) , the following rules apply:   

Dissertation Advisory Committees approved prior to July 1, 2024 will be grandfathered, except in two situations:  

  • An existing DAC chaired by an individual whose faculty appointment does not meet the requirements of the new rules will need to be adjusted. A co-chair should be designated, with the option of appointing the DGS to serve as co-chair, as allowed in paragraph 3.e.iii;  
  • An existing DAC with fewer than three members should be updated, and the new member(s) should be consistent with the new policy.   

Thesis Acceptance Certificate

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COMMENTS

  1. Theses & Dissertations: Home

    Finding a Cambridge PhD thesis online via the institutional repository. The University's institutional repository, Apollo, holds full-text digital versions of over 11,000 Cambridge PhD theses and is a rapidly growing collection deposited by Cambridge Ph.D. graduates.Theses in Apollo can be browsed via this link.More information on how to access theses by University of Cambridge students can be ...

  2. Masters theses

    The University does not require electronic copies of Masters Theses to be deposited in Apollo, which means that the Thesis team does not deposit individual Masters Theses via Symplectic Elements. However, there is a batch upload arrangement in place for faculties/departments who wish to deposit their Masters Theses in Apollo.

  3. Dissertations, Theses & Sample work

    PhD theses (HPS) We hold bound copies of all PhD theses completed by students in the Department of History and Philosophy of Science in the University of Cambridge since at least the mid 1980s. These are available from the staff desk (you will be asked to sign a copyright declaration form).

  4. Theses & Dissertations

    iDiscover (University of Cambridge) ... This database is the world's most comprehensive collection of dissertations and theses from around the world from 1861 to the present day. The database contains 1 million full text dissertations that are available for download in pdf format. There is a charge for ordering a dissertation from this source ...

  5. ProQuest Digital Dissertations & Theses

    The University Library subscribes to this collection of dissertations and theses from around the world, spanning from 1743 to the present day. Access is to abstracts only. Full text can be purchased online via ProQuest directly or by contacting the Cambridge University Library's (UL) Inter-Library Department. Accessible via cam domain or using ...

  6. Dissertations and theses

    Recently completed Cambridge PhD theses are available via Apollo, the University Repository (unless under embargo). You can also search for the full text of PhD theses across the UK using the British Library's EThOS service or browse the Proquest Dissertations and Theses database for research across 700 academic institutions worldwide.

  7. How do I access a dissertation from the University of Cambridge

    Finding print dissertations. The University Library holds all Cambridge dissertations from 1921 onwards and they can be ordered from the Manuscript Reading Room (01223 333143, [email protected] ). They can't be borrowed or supplied for inter-library loan. Information on finding theses and dissertations can be found on the Theses Libguide .

  8. Dissertation databases

    The database contains 1 million full text dissertations that are available for download in pdf format. There is a charge for ordering a dissertation from this source which is payable online to ProQuest. Cam domain / Raven password: University of Cambridge (Apollo) Apollo contains research output from the University's Faculty of Economics.

  9. Repository

    Apollo (previously DSpace@Cambridge ) is the University of Cambridge's Institutional Repository (IR), established in 2003 as a service for sharing the outputs of Cambridge's research activity. The Repository service is managed by the Open Research Systems (ORS) team, which is part of Digital Initiatives and is based in Cambridge University ...

  10. PDF Guide to Dissertations

    Guide to Dissertations 2020-21 Choosing a dissertation, a topic and a supervisor Your decision to write a dissertation in Politics International Relations for Part and IIB may turn on what you have gained from writing a long essay for assessment for POL 5 if you took that paper. A Part IIB dissertation, however, will address a

  11. Department of Geography, Cambridge » Electronic dissertations

    A selection of dissertations from recent undergraduate students, and MPhil Conservation Leadership placement reports*, are now available for reading access online. We regret to announce that paper copies of dissertations submitted prior to 2020 are not included in this service. Paper copies of dissertations between 2015-2019 can only be viewed ...

  12. Dissertations (UG)

    You will need to bring a valid blue University card, and any dissertation will be issued to you for 3 hours at a time. You will also need to sign that you will abide to follow the above. The following, four sample dissertations (2019-20) are available electronically: A feminist lens on Johannine and Graeco-Roman theories of generation.

  13. Submitting your hardbound and electronic thesis ...

    1. the 'Deposit & Copying of Hardbound Thesis Declaration' form must be bound into your final hardbound thesis as the very first page. Do not include this form in the electronic version. 2. title page, displaying: the full title of the thesis; your full legal name (as it appears on your passport, marriage certificate or deed poll); your college ...

  14. Dissertation

    The dissertation gives you the chance to explore a topic of interest in depth; it gives you practice in essential writing skills; and it should sharpen your capacity for analysis and posing questions. Part II students in the past have found the dissertation to be the most rewarding aspect of the course. The dissertation counts for 20% of the ...

  15. Writing, submitting and examination

    Writing, submitting and examination. Postgraduate examinations. This section has information on submitting dissertations and theses for examination. PhD, EdD, MSc, MLitt and MD. Research Best Practice. Preparing to Submit. Word limits. Submitting the thesis for examination. The Oral Examination (viva-voce 'viva')

  16. 'There are people in tents writing dissertations': UK reaches for scale

    Goldsmiths students in London have occupied the university library. Photograph: James Veysey/Rex/Shutterstock. Although the scale of protests on university campuses in the UK has been relatively ...

  17. Dissertation Advisory Committee

    Any Dissertation Advisory Committee approved before July 1, 2024 is subject to the rules outlined below, see "Grandfathering." ... The two other advisors on the committee shall be on-ladder faculty at Harvard University, with the following exceptions: ... Cambridge, MA 02138-3654. Contact. Tel: 617-495-5315. Fax: 617-495-2928. Email: gsas ...

  18. Open University accused of using computer to mark crucial dissertations

    The Open University has been accused of using a computer algorithm to mark dissertations, The Telegraph can disclose.. A former student who obtained marking transcripts for their MBA dissertation ...

  19. This mother delivered a baby and a PhD dissertation on the same day

    New Jersey mom Tamiah Brevard-Rodriguez recounts the day she was working on her doctoral dissertation presentation from Rutgers University when she went into labor. 02:12 - Source: WABC

  20. Digitization Project Expands Access to Drexel Theses & Dissertations

    The Drexel University Libraries recently completed a project to digitize more than 6,000 graduate theses and dissertations that were previously available in print format only. While most of Drexel's recent theses and dissertations are available online through the Drexel Research Discovery portal , the University's research repository, most ...

  21. British universities 'could become unsafe for Jewish students'

    In 2023, 182 university-related antisemitic incidents were recorded by the Jewish charity, the Community Security Trust (CST), compared with 60 incidents in 2022 - a rise of 203 per cent.

  22. Thesis & Dissertation

    The University of Florida Graduate School's Thesis & Dissertation team helps you format and submit your master's thesis or doctoral dissertation.. As you work on that crowning achievement of your graduate education experience, our Thesis & Dissertation team can inform you about policy and procedure, lead you to helpful resources, and offer sage advice so that you complete and submit your ...