unsw thesis phd

Your Thesis

The goal of all higher degree research (HDR) programs is to write a thesis that demonstrates how you have made an original contribution to knowledge. While the task of writing a thesis can be daunting, there are several things you can do to stay on track and complete your thesis on time while producing your best work.  

The Graduate Research School (GRS) runs two seminars that will help you prepare for your thesis submission:

Thesis Submission Seminar   Outlines the submission and examination process

Using Publications in Your Thesis Seminar Examines how publications may be incorporated into your thesis, including how authorship is determined, and when to seek permission to use published work

The GRS also offers a weekly HDR writing group and a Thesis Writing Boot Camp to help you build a regular writing practice. For information on the seminars and events available, please visit this page .  

Can’t make it to a Seminar or event? Watch a recording of the last session and download a copy of the slides here . 

Additional Resources

UNSW Resources Thesis Submission and Examination Applying for Restricted Access   iThenticate  Thesis Format Guide Thesis Examination Procedure

Finding other HDR theses in your field UNSW digital thesis collection Trove – Australian print and digital theses ProQuest dissertations and theses global (UNSW sign in required for access) EThOS e-theses online service

Writing Your Thesis The Writing Center - University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 10 Tips for writing a PhD thesis – Times Higher Education  How to write 10,000 words a day – The Thesis Whisperer

Thesis Plans Free Thesis Plan templates – iThinkwell Sample Thesis Plan - The University of Edinburgh

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Depositing your thesis to UNSWorks

To receive your testamur on the graduation date, you must follow the steps on this page.

Step 1: Prepare your thesis files for deposit

You must deposit two digital copies in PDF format of the final and examined version of your PhD or Masters by Research thesis - a master copy and a public version.

Note: You only need to complete the thesis deposit process once. However, you must deposit two files even if both copies are identical.

The 'master copy' is the full complete final examined version of your thesis. This copy will be archived and will not be publicly accessible.

The 'public version' is the final examined version of your thesis that has been amended for public viewing by removing third-party copyright material or confidential/sensitive content. This version will be made available to the public online. Remove personal information such as signatures, zID and residential address.

If you wish to restrict access to the public version, refer to the Restricting access to your thesis tab below.

Preparing thesis files

Watch this video on how to prepare your thesis files for deposit to UNSWorks.

Restricting access to your thesis

• File 1: the 'master copy'
• File 2: The 'public version'

By default, your thesis is public immediately upon deposit. If you want to restrict access to the public version, you can nominate an embargo period and indicate the date the restriction will be lifted in the UNSWorks thesis deposit form:

• Restrictions up to 24 months do not require approval (date to be calculated from the date on the completion letter you received from the Graduate Research School).
• Restrictions beyond this date will require approval - for more information see UNSW Higher Degree Research Hub (requires login).
• Once a thesis is publicly available in UNSWorks, an embargo cannot be applied. The university will not approve any requests to re-embargo a thesis by a publisher or on behalf of a publisher for articles or manuscripts under consideration. Graduates may contact the Library Scholarly Content team for further guidance.
• Note that the embargo only applies to the thesis file - the title and abstract of your thesis will be publicly available upon deposit.
• Watch this short video on how to add an embargo .

File 1: The 'master copy'

1. Include the following mandatory documents in both copies of your thesis:

• Originality statement, Copyright and Authenticity statements
• Inclusion of Publications Statement

All candidates will have completed these forms online when submitting your thesis for examination via GRIS. You can access these documents via the GRIS Alumni portal .

• To include these documents in your files, you must print to PDF or take screenshots of the mandatory statements and insert them behind the title page of your final thesis.
• Select the checkboxes, including the green 'Candidate's Declaration' as shown in the example mandatory document screenshots below.
• If you no longer have access to the GRIS Alumni Portal, contact the Graduate Research School . Do not include the older signed statements if you can include screenshots of these statements from the GRIS Alumni Portal.

2. Make sure your thesis has a title page with your full name, faculty and school - only one title page is required.

3. Clearly name your file e.g. mastercopy.pdf - ensure it is saved as a PDF and not as a Word document.

Example image of the mandatory documents

File 2: The 'public version'

1. Go to Save As from your Master Copy file and create a duplicate PDF copy of your thesis, with a clearly labelled file name e.g. publicversion.pdf.

2. This version is available to the public online. Remove any confidential or sensitive content including personal information, such as signatures, zID and residential address.

Tips for removing content:

• To avoid disrupting page numbering and citation management, redact material from a PDF file rather than from Word. If preferred, you can edit in Word and then convert to PDF, but this could affect your layout and numbering.
• Edit PDFs in Adobe Pro which is available to current UNSW students from UNSW IT . Follow the Adobe instructions on redacting sensitive material . You can also use the Edit PDF tool to delete content.

3. Check for third-party copyright. Ensure you adhere to the Copyright guidelines and modify the public version to exclude any third-party copyright material for which permission has not been given.

• It is important to retain copies of permissions you have received.
• You can include Copyright permission granted by publishers and copyright owners in the master copy of your thesis that is submitted to the Library. However, they should be removed from the public version as they often contain sensitive content such as personal information.

Step 2: Submit digital copies of your thesis

Deposit your thesis

This button takes you to UNSWorks where you can select to deposit a thesis from the Deposit menu.

You only need to complete the thesis deposit process once however, you must deposit two files even if both copies are identical.

You need to log in with your UNSW zID and password. If your zID access has expired at the end of your candidature, complete the temporary login request form . We will process this request and send UNSWorks temporary login details to your nominated email address by the following working day.

Depositing your thesis: Top tips

Watch this video for our top four tips on how to deposit your thesis to UNSWorks.

Graduating soon?

Congratulations on your achievement! To ensure you are eligible to graduate, remember to return all UNSW Library books and Interlibrary loans, and pay any outstanding Library fines.

Looking for more information?

• See frequently asked questions for thesis digital deposit .
• Watch short videos on how to access the Thesis Deposit form and how to add, upload, edit and remove files .
• For further assistance, contact the Library Scholarly Content team and include your zID.

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When you are about to begin, writing a thesis seems a long, difficult task. That is because it is a long, difficult task. Fortunately, it will seem less daunting once you have a couple of chapters done. Towards the end, you will even find yourself enjoying it – an enjoyment based on satisfaction in the achievement, pleasure in the improvement in your technical writing, and of course the approaching end. Like many tasks, thesis writing usually seems worst before you begin, so let us look at how you should make a start. First make up a thesis outline: several pages containing chapter headings, sub-headings, some figure titles (to indicate which results go where) and perhaps some other notes and comments. There is a section on chapter order and thesis structure at the end of this text. Once you have a list of chapters and, under each chapter heading, a reasonably complete list of things to be reported or explained, you have struck a great blow against writer's block. When you sit down to type, your aim is no longer a thesis – a daunting goal – but something simpler. Your new aim is just to write a paragraph or section about one of your subheadings. It helps to start with an easy one: this gets you into the habit of writing and gives you self-confidence. In an experimental thesis, the Materials and Methods chapter is often the easiest to write – just write down what you did; carefully, formally and in a logical order. How do you make an outline of a chapter? For most of them, you might try the method that I use for writing papers, and which I learned from my thesis adviser (Stjepan Marcelja): Assemble all the figures that you will use in it and put them in the order that you would use if you were going to explain to someone what they all meant. You might as well rehearse explaining it to someone else – after all you will probably give several talks based on your thesis work. Once you have found the most logical order, note down the key words of your explanation. These key words provide a skeleton for much of your chapter outline. Once you have an outline, discuss it with your adviser. This step is important: s/he will have useful suggestions, but it also serves notice that s/he can expect a steady flow of chapter drafts that will make high priority demands on his/her time. Once you and your adviser have agreed on a logical structure, s/he will need a copy of this outline for reference when reading the chapters which you will probably present out of order. If you have a co-adviser, discuss the outline with him/her as well, and present all chapters to both advisers for comments. It is encouraging and helpful to start a filing system. Open a word-processor file for each chapter You can put notes in these files, as well as text. While doing something for Chapter n, you will think "Oh I must refer back to/discuss this in Chapter m" and so you put a note to do so in the file for Chapter m. Or you may think of something interesting or relevant for that chapter. When you come to work on Chapter m, the more such notes you have accumulated, the easier it will be to write. (depending on the reliability of your computer and the age of your memory). Do not keep a back-up drive close to the computer in case the hypothetical thief who fancies your computer decides that s/he could use the drive as well. If you thesis file is not too large, a simple way of making a remote back-up is to send it as an email attachment to a consenting email correspondent; you could also send it to yourself. In either case, be careful to dispose of superseded versions so that you don't waste disk space, especially if you have bitmap images or other large files. Or you could use a drop-box or other more sophisticated system. You should also have a physical filing system: a collection of folders with chapter numbers on them. This will make you feel good about getting started and also help clean up your desk. Your files will contain not just the plots of results and pages of calculations, but all sorts of old notes, references, calibration curves, suppliers' addresses, specifications, speculations, notes from colleagues etc., which will suddenly strike you as relevant to one chapter or other. Stick them in that folder. Then put all the folders in a box or a filing cabinet. As you write bits and pieces of text, place the hard copy, the figures etc in these folders as well. Touch them and feel their thickness from time to time – ah, the thesis is taking shape. If any of your data exist only on paper, copy them and keep the copy in a different location. Consider making a copy of your lab book. This has another purpose beyond security: usually the lab book stays in the lab, but you may want a copy for your own future use. Further, scientific ethics require you to keep lab books and original data for at least ten years, and a copy is more likely to be found if two copies exist. If you haven't already done so, you should archive your electronic data, in an appropriate format. Spreadsheet and word processor files are not suitable for long term storage. by Joseph Slater is a good guide. While you are getting organised, you should deal with any university paperwork. Examiners have to be nominated and they have to agree to serve. Various forms are required by your department and by the university administration. Make sure that the rate limiting step is your production of the thesis, and not some minor bureaucratic problem. One of the big FAQs for scientists: is there a word processor, ideally one compatible with MS Word, but which allows you to type mathematical symbols and equations conveniently? One solution is LaTeX, which is powerful, elegant, reliable, fast and from or . The standard equation editor for MS Word is point and click, so extremely slow and awkward. In many versions, Word's equation editor can be reached via hotkey Alt-equals, and takes pseudo latex typed input (eg X_1 converts to X subscript 1) upon the next space or operator. It uses some different formats - eg () rather than the {} of latex to group things and interprets divisions rather than having to use \frac. Here's a link: It has been useful to know these as it seems biologists and latex don't mix! I strongly recommend sitting down with the adviser and making up a timetable for writing it: a list of dates for when you will give the first and second drafts of each chapter to your adviser(s). This structures your time and provides intermediate targets. If you merely aim "to have the whole thing done by [some distant date]", you can deceive yourself and procrastinate more easily. If you have told your adviser that you will deliver a first draft of chapter 3 on Wednesday, it focuses your attention. You may want to make your timetable into a chart with items that you can check off as you have finished them. This is particularly useful towards the end of the thesis when you find there will be quite a few loose ends here and there. Whenever you sit down to write, it is very important to write So write something, even if it is just a set of notes or a few paragraphs of text that you would never show to anyone else. It would be nice if clear, precise prose leapt easily from the keyboard, but it usually does not. Most of us find it easier, however, to improve something that is already written than to produce text from nothing. So put down a draft (as rough as you like) for your own purposes, then clean it up for your adviser to read. Word-processors are wonderful in this regard: in the first draft you do not have to start at the beginning, you can leave gaps, you can put in little notes to yourself, and then you can clean it all up later. Your adviser will expect to read each chapter in draft form. S/he will then return it to you with suggestions and comments. Your adviser will want your thesis to be as good as possible, because his/her reputation as well as yours is affected. Scientific writing is a difficult art, and it takes a while to learn. As a consequence, there will be many ways in which your first draft can be improved. So take a positive attitude to all the scribbles with which your adviser decorates your text: each comment tells you a way in which you can make your thesis better. As you write your thesis, your scientific writing is almost certain to improve. Even for native speakers of English who write very well in other styles, one notices an enormous improvement in the first drafts from the first to the last chapter written. The process of writing the thesis is like a course in scientific writing, and in that sense each chapter is like an assignment in which you are taught, but not assessed. Remember, only the final draft is assessed: the more comments your adviser adds to first or second draft, the better. Before you submit a draft to your adviser, run a spell check so that s/he does not waste time on those. If you have any characteristic grammatical failings, check for them. Your thesis is a research report. The report concerns a problem or series of problems in your area of research and it should describe what was known about it previously, what you did towards solving it, what you think your results mean, and where or how further progress in the field can be made. Do not carry over your ideas from undergraduate assessment: a thesis is not an answer to an assignment question. One important difference is this: the reader of an assignment is usually the one who has set it. S/he already knows the answer (or one of the answers), not to mention the background, the literature, the assumptions and theories and the strengths and weaknesses of them. The readers of a thesis do not know what the "answer" is. If the thesis is for a PhD, the university requires that it make an original contribution to human knowledge: your research must discover something hitherto unknown. Obviously your examiners will read the thesis. They will be experts in the general field of your thesis but, on the exact topic of your thesis, you are the world expert. Keep this in mind: you should write to make the topic clear to a reader who has not spent most of the last three years thinking about it. Your thesis will also be used as a scientific report and consulted by future workers in your laboratory who will want to know, in detail, what you did. Theses are also consulted by people from other institutions, and the library at your university will store a copy as a file on a server. The advantage is that your thesis can be consulted much more easily by researchers around the world. (See e.g. for the digital availability of research theses.) Write with these possibilities in mind. It is often helpful to have someone other than your adviser(s) read some sections of the thesis, particularly the introduction and conclusion chapters. It may also be appropriate to ask other members of staff to read some sections of the thesis which they may find relevant or of interest, as they may be able to make valuable contributions. In either case, only give them revised versions, so that they do not waste time correcting your grammar, spelling, poor construction or presentation. The short answer is: rather more than for a scientific paper. Once your thesis has been assessed and your friends have read the first three pages, the only further readers are likely to be people who are seriously doing research in just that area. For example, a future research student might be pursuing the same research and be interested to find out exactly what you did. ("Why doesn't the widget that Bloggs built for her project work any more? Where's the circuit diagram? I'll look up her thesis." "Blow's subroutine doesn't converge in my parameter space! I'll have to look up his thesis." "How did that group in Sydney manage to get that technique to work? I'll look up a copy of the thesis they cited in their paper.") For important parts of apparatus, you should include workshop drawings, circuit diagrams and computer programs, usually as appendices. (By the way, the intelligible annotation of programs is about as frequent as porcine aviation, but it is far more desirable. You wrote that line of code for a reason: at the end of the line explain what the reason is.) You have probably read the theses of previous students in the lab where you are now working, so you probably know the advantages of a clearly explained, explicit thesis and/or the disadvantages of a vague one. If you use a result, observation or generalisation that is not your own, you must usually state where in the scientific literature that result is reported. The only exceptions are cases where every researcher in the field already knows it: dynamics equations need not be followed by a citation of Newton, circuit analysis does not need a reference to Kirchoff. The importance of this practice in science is that it allows the reader to verify your starting position. Physics in particular is said to be a vertical science: results are built upon results which in turn are built upon results etc. Good referencing allows us to check the foundations of your additions to the structure of knowledge in the discipline, or at least to trace them back to a level which we judge to be reliable. Good referencing also tells the reader which parts of the thesis are descriptions of previous knowledge and which parts are your additions to that knowledge. In a thesis, written for the general reader who has little familiarity with the literature of the field, this should be especially clear. It may seem tempting to leave out a reference in the hope that a reader will think that a nice idea or an nice bit of analysis is yours. I advise against this gamble. The reader will probably think: "What a nice idea – I wonder if it's original?". The reader can probably find out via the net or the library. If you are writing in the passive voice, you must be more careful about attribution than if you are writing in the active voice. "The sample was prepared by heating yttrium..." does not make it clear whether you did this or whether Acme Yttrium did it. "I prepared the sample..." is clear. The text must be clear. Good grammar and thoughtful writing will make the thesis easier to read. Scientific writing has to be a little formal – more formal than this text. Native English speakers should remember that scientific English is an international language. Slang and informal writing will be harder for a non-native speaker to understand. Short, simple phrases and words are often better than long ones. Some politicians use "at this point in time" instead of "now" precisely because it takes longer to convey the same meaning. They do not care about elegance or efficient communication. You should. On the other hand, there will be times when you need a complicated sentence because the idea is complicated. If your primary statement requires several qualifications, each of these may need a subordinate clause: "When [qualification], and where [proviso], and if [condition] then [statement]". Some lengthy technical words will also be necessary in many theses, particularly in fields like biochemistry. Do not sacrifice accuracy for the sake of brevity. "Black is white" is simple and catchy. An advertising copy writer would love it. "Objects of very different albedo may be illuminated differently so as to produce similar reflected spectra" is longer and uses less common words, but, compared to the former example, it has the advantage of being true. The longer example would be fine in a physics thesis because English speaking physicists will not have trouble with the words. (A physicist who did not know all of those words would probably be glad to remedy the lacuna either from the context or by consulting a dictionary.) Sometimes it is easier to present information and arguments as a series of numbered points, rather than as one or more long and awkward paragraphs. A list of points is usually easier to write. You should be careful not to use this presentation too much: your thesis must be a connected, convincing argument, not just a list of facts and observations. One important stylistic choice is between the active voice and passive voice. The active voice ("I measured the frequency...") is simpler, and it makes clear what you did and what was done by others. The passive voice ("The frequency was measured...") makes it easier to write ungrammatical or awkward sentences. If you use the passive voice, be especially wary of dangling participles. For example, the sentence "After considering all of these possible materials, plutonium was selected" implicitly attributes consciousness to plutonium. This choice is a question of taste: I prefer the active because it is clearer, more logical and makes attribution simple. The only arguments I have ever heard for avoiding the active voice in a thesis are (i) many theses are written in the passive voice, and (ii) some very polite people find the use of "I" immodest. Use the first person singular, not plural, when reporting work that you did yourself: the editorial 'we' may suggest that you had help beyond that listed in your acknowledgments, or it may suggest that you are trying to share any blame. On the other hand, retain plural verbs for "data": "data" is the plural of "datum", and lots of scientists like to preserve the distinction. Just say to yourself "one datum is ..", "these data are.." several times. An excellent and widely used reference for English grammar and style is by H.W. Fowler. There is no need for a thesis to be a masterpiece of desk-top publishing. Your time can be more productively spent improving the content than the appearance. In many cases, a reasonably neat diagram can be drawn by hand faster than with a graphics package, and you can scan it if you want an electronic version. Either is usually satisfactory. A one bit (i.e. black and white), moderate resolution scan of a hand-drawn sketch will be bigger than a line drawing generated on a graphics package, but not huge. While talking about the size of files, we should mention that photographs look pretty but take up a lot of memory. There's another important difference, too. The photographer thought about the camera angle and the focus etc. The person who drew the schematic diagram thought about what components ought to be depicted and the way in which the components of the system interacted with each other. So the numerically small information content of the line drawing may be much more useful information than that in a photograph. Another note about figures and photographs. In the digital version of your thesis, do not save ordinary photographs or other illustrations as bitmaps, because these take up a lot of memory and are therefore very slow to transfer. Nearly all graphics packages allow you to save in compressed format as .jpg (for photos) or .gif (for diagrams) files. Further, you can save space/speed things up by reducing the number of colours. In vector graphics (as used for drawings), compression is usually unnecessary. In general, students spend too much time on diagrams – time that could have been spent on examining the arguments, making the explanations clearer, thinking more about the significance and checking for errors in the algebra. The reason, of course, is that drawing is easier than thinking. I do not think that there is a strong correlation (either way) between length and quality. There is no need to leave big gaps to make the thesis thicker. Readers will not appreciate large amounts of vague or unnecessary text. A deadline is very useful in some ways. You must hand in the thesis, even if you think that you need one more draft of that chapter, or someone else's comments on this section, or some other refinement. If you do not have a deadline, or if you are thinking about postponing it, please take note of this: . There will inevitably be things in it that you could have done better. There will be inevitably be some typos. Indeed, by some law related to Murphy's, you will discover one when you first flip open the bound copy. No matter how much you reflect and how many times you proof read it, there will be some things that could be improved. There is no point hoping that the examiners will not notice: many examiners feel obliged to find some examples of improvements (if not outright errors) just to show how thoroughly they have read it. So set yourself a deadline and stick to it. Make it as good as you can in that time, and then hand it in! (In retrospect, there was an advantage in writing a thesis in the days before word processors, spelling checkers and typing programs. Students often paid a typist to produce the final draft and could only afford to do that once.) Talk to your adviser about this. As well as those for the examiners, the university libraries and yourself, you should make some distribution copies. These copies should be sent to other researchers who are working in your field so that: Whatever the University's policy on single or double-sided copies, the distribution copies could be double-sided paper, or digital, so that forests and postage accounts are not excessively depleted by the exercise. Your adviser could help you to make up a list of interested and/or potentially useful people for such a mailing list. Your adviser might also help by funding the copies and postage if they are not covered by your scholarship. A CD with your thesis will be cheaper than a paper copy. You don't have to burn them all yourself: companies make multiple copies for several dollars a copy. The following comment comes from Marilyn Ball of the Australian National University in Canberra: "When I finished writing my thesis, a postdoc wisely told me to give a copy to my parents. I would never have thought of doing that as I just couldn't imagine what they would do with it. I'm very glad to have taken that advice as my parents really appreciated receiving a copy and proudly displayed it for years. (My mother never finished high school and my father worked with trucks - he fixed 'em, built 'em, drove 'em, sold 'em and junked 'em. Nevertheless, they enjoyed having a copy of my thesis.)" In the ideal situation, you will be able to spend a large part – perhaps a majority – of your time writing your thesis. This may be bad for your physical and mental health. Keep going – you're nearly there! Most PhDs will admit that there were times when we thought about reasons for not finishing. But it would be crazy to give up at the writing stage, after years of work on the research, and it would be something to regret for a long time. Writing a thesis is tough work. One anonymous post doctoral researcher told me: "You should tell everyone that it's going to be unpleasant, that it will mess up their lives, that they will have to give up their friends and their social lives for a while. It's a tough period for almost every student." She's right: it is certainly hard work, it will probably be stressful and you will have to adapt your rhythm to it. It is also an important rite of passage and the satisfaction you will feel afterwards is wonderful. On behalf of scholars everywhere, I wish you good luck! The list of contents and chapter headings below is appropriate for some theses. In some cases, one or two of them may be irrelevant. Results and Discussion are usually combined in several chapters of a thesis. Think about the plan of chapters and decide what is best to report your work. Then make a list, in point form, of what will go in each chapter. Try to make this rather detailed, so that you end up with a list of points that corresponds to subsections or even to the paragraphs of your thesis. At this stage, think hard about the logic of the presentation: within chapters, it is often possible to present the ideas in different order, and not all arrangements will be equally easy to follow. If you make a plan of each chapter and section before you sit down to write, the result will probably be clearer and easier to read. It will also be easier to write. an introduction. It is a résumé of your thesis. The introduction should be interesting. If you bore the reader here, then you are unlikely to revive his/her interest in the materials and methods section. For the first paragraph or two, tradition permits prose that is less dry than the scientific norm. If want to wax lyrical about your topic, here is the place to do it. Try to make the reader want to read the heavy bundle that has arrived uninvited on his/her desk. Go to the library and read several thesis introductions. Did any make you want to read on? Which ones were boring? This section might go through several drafts to make it read well and logically, while keeping it short. For this section, I think that it is a good idea to ask someone who is not a specialist to read it and to comment. Is it an adequate introduction? Is it easy to follow? There is an argument for writing this section – or least making a major revision of it – towards the end of the thesis writing. Your introduction should tell where the thesis is going, and this may become clearer during the writing. How many papers? How relevant do they have to be before you include them? Well, that is a matter of judgement. On the order of a hundred is reasonable, but it will depend on the field. You are the world expert on the (narrow) topic of your thesis: you must demonstrate this. A political point: make sure that you do not omit relevant papers by researchers who are like to be your examiners, or by potential employers to whom you might be sending the thesis in the next year or two. Another disadvantage is that your journal articles may have some common material in the introduction and the "Materials and Methods" sections. The exact structure in the middle chapters will vary among theses. In some theses, it is necessary to establish some theory, to describe the experimental techniques, then to report what was done on several different problems or different stages of the problem, and then finally to present a model or a new theory based on the new work. For such a thesis, the chapter headings might be: Theory, Materials and Methods, {first problem}, {second problem}, {third problem}, {proposed theory/model} and then the conclusion chapter. For other theses, it might be appropriate to discuss different techniques in different chapters, rather than to have a single Materials and Methods chapter. Here follow some comments on the elements Materials and Methods, Theory, Results and discussion which may or may not correspond to thesis chapters. but you should not reproduce two pages of algebra that the reader could find in a standard text. Do not include theory that you are not going to relate to the work you have done. When writing this section, concentrate at least as much on the physical arguments as on the equations. What do the equations mean? What are the important cases? When you are reporting your own theoretical work, you must include rather more detail, but you should consider moving lengthy derivations to appendices. Think too about the order and style of presentation: the order in which you did the work may not be the clearest presentation. Suspense is not necessary in reporting science: you should tell the reader where you are going before you start. Take care plotting graphs. The origin and intercepts are often important so, unless the ranges of your data make it impractical, the zeros of one or both scales should usually appear on the graph. You should show error bars on the data, unless the errors are very small. For single measurements, the bars should be your best estimate of the experimental errors in each coordinate. For multiple measurements these should include the standard error in the data. The errors in different data are often different, so, where this is the case, regressions and fits should be weighted (i.e. they should minimize the sum of squares of the differences weighted inversely as the size of the errors.) (A common failing in many simple software packages that draw graphs and do regressions is that they do not treat errors adequately. UNSW student Mike Johnston has written a that plots data with error bars and performs weighted least square regressions. It is at http://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/3rdyearlab/graphing/graph.html). You can just 'paste' your data into the input and it generates a .ps file of the graph. In most cases, your results need discussion. What do they mean? How do they fit into the existing body of knowledge? Are they consistent with current theories? Do they give new insights? Do they suggest new theories or mechanisms? Try to distance yourself from your usual perspective and look at your work. Do not just ask yourself what it means in terms of the orthodoxy of your own research group, but also how other people in the field might see it. Does it have any implications that do not relate to the questions that you set out to answer? This chapter should usually be reasonably short – a few pages perhaps. As with the introduction, I think that it is a good idea to ask someone who is not a specialist to read this section and to comment. , it may be appropriate to cite web sites. (Be cautious, and don't overuse such citations. In particular, don't use a web citation where you could reasonably use a "hard" citation. Remember that your examiners are likely to be older and more conservative.) You should give the URL and also the date you downloaded it. If there is a date on the site itself (last updated on .....) you should included that, too. If you have found these documents useful, please feel free to pass the address or a hard copy to any other thesis writers or graduate student organisations. Please do not sell them, or use any of the contents without acknowledgement. This document will be updated occasionally. If you have suggestions for inclusions, amendments or other improvements, please send them. Do so after you have submitted the thesis – I thank Marilyn Ball, Gary Bryant, Bill Whiten and J. Douglas, whose suggestions have been incorporated in this version. Substantial contributions will be acknowledged in future versions. I also take this opportunity to thank my own thesis advisers, Stjepan Marcelja and Jacob Israelachvili, for their help and friendship, and to thank the graduate students to whom I have had the pleasure to be an adviser, a colleague and a friend. Opinions expressed in these notes are mine and do not necessarily reflect the policy of the University of New South Wales or of the School of Physics. Why and how did I write this document? The need for it was evident so, as one of my PhD students approached the end of his project, I made notes of everything that I said to him about thesis writing. These notes became the plan for the first draft of this document, which has been extended several times since then. I am surprised that it has hundreds of readers each day. However, this is an important message about the web. It takes time and thought to make a good resource but, if you do, it can benefit a lot of people. When this document was first posted, the web was relatively new and feedback showed that people were often surprised to find what they sought. Now there is a tendency to take the web for granted: one is almost disappointed not to find what one is seeking. However, the web is only as good as the collective effort of all of us. The readers of this document will be scholars, experts and educators: among the many contributions you will make to knowledge and your communities, there may be contributions that should be made freely available, all over the world. Keep this observation about the web in the back of your mind for when you are not writing a thesis.

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Structuring Your Thesis Proposal

How should i structure the proposal.

The following sections are recommended for your research proposal report. Check with your supervisors for optional sections, variations and additional sections that may be required.

Routine information

This can be a full cover page or a quarter page header.

• Address, telephone and email details
• Degree for which you are a candidate
• Supervisor's and co-supervisor's names
• Thesis proposal title

Statement of Topic

Introduce the reader to the recognised general subject area and how your topic is related. Briefly point out why it is a significant topic and what contribution your work will make.

Aims of the thesis/dissertation

Set out specific objectives of the research.

Review of the literature

This, together with the following section on the theoretical orientation, will be the main substance of the proposal and will lay the basis for your discussions of your methods and your total research program.

The literature review should explain the relation of your topic and research aims to significant literature and recent (and current) research in your field. The form of the literature review may vary according to the nature of your field: experimental, philosophical, theoretical, comparative, etc., but its purpose will be the same in all fields. The literature review should place your proposed research topic clearly in its relevant research context, and should demonstrate your awareness of significant similar or relevant research.

You may need to make qualitative judgements concerning the literature. Be careful not to allow the evaluation of previous work to become a large open-ended task. You should consult with your supervisors on the types of questions you need to be asking and what boundaries you should place on your literature review.

In one sense the literature review for the proposal is incomplete. You will continue to expand and update the literature as your research progresses and as you locate new publications. The final literature review will be included in your thesis.

Ask yourself:

• Which pieces of research seem to have been most successful, the most promising and which less so?
• What are the major lines of criticism that can be levelled at previous work?
• What major omissions, gaps or neglected emphases can be identified?

Theoretical orientation

Your aim here is to state your basic ideas on the topic.

• First, state the various theoretical approaches taken in your topic. Which one do you propose to use in your research and why? Where, tentatively do you stand on the topic?
• If there are various theories on your topic or in your field, which one(s) will you use in your conceptual framework for your thesis?
• Which terms or trends do you wish to follow up from the literature review?
• Do you have any fresh suggestions of an explanatory, interpretative, or programmatic kind?

Think it through:

• Perhaps the best way to approach this section is to set down your main insights, hypotheses, hunches, or even hopes about your topic.
• In view of past theory and research, and your emerging issues, what are the areas that you expect to have findings?
• For empirical theses you may need to formulate explicit hypotheses.

Methodology

Describe your proposed methods in sufficient detail so that the reader is clear about the following:

• What kind of information will you be using?
• From what sources will the information be obtained?
• What resources will you require?
• What methodology will you be using?
• Why have you selected this approach?
• What ethical and safety issues have you identified and how do you propose to proceed?

Research program timelines and milestones

Timelines and milestones are important tools for planning your research project effectively and completing your thesis on time.

Milestones are the steps you need to take to meet your goals. Timelines help you plan out when your key goals and milestones will be completed.

Your timeline can be formatted as a table or a list. Include when you will start and finish important aspects of your research, such as: literature research, required training or attending courses, stages of experiments or investigations, beginning and completing chapters, reviews and seminars you will give, and completing the thesis.

The Graduate Research School (GRS) provides resources and seminars on developing effective milestones and preparing for Research Progress Reviews. For more information, visit this page .

Tentative thesis chapter outline

You should check with your supervisor if this is a required section of the thesis proposal. Present the chapter outline as a draft contents page with brief annotations of expected content or stages. Follow the standard sections relevant to your type of research. Look at past theses in your area and discuss your ideas with your supervisor.

List all publications cited in your proposal. Use the style recommended by the school or your supervisor. This may be a standard style the whole school follows or it may be the style of the leading journal in your field.

Recommended reading and acknowledgments

Recommended reading.

Here are some of useful resources and texts that you can consult. Your school may also have a postgraduate handbook or specific guidelines on thesis proposals.

Allen, G.R. (1976) The graduate student's guide to theses and dissertations: A practical manual for writing and research . San Francisco, CA, Jossey-Bass.

Cryer, P. (1996) The research student's guide to success . Buckingham, Open University Press.

Davis, G.B. & Parker, C.A. (1979) Writing the doctoral dissertation: A systematic approach . Woodbury, NY, Barrons Educational Series.

Laws, K. (1995) Preparing a Thesis or Dissertation Proposal. University of Sydney.

Phillips, E.M. & Pugh D.S. (1987) How to get a Ph. D.: A handbook for students and their supervisors. 2nd Ed. Buckingham, Open University Press.

Postgraduate Board, Student Guild (1998) Practical aspects of producing a thesis at the University of New South Wales. 3rd Ed. Available from the Student Guild, First Floor East Wing, Quadrangle Building, The University of New South Wales.

Karathwohl, D.R. (1988) How to prepare a research proposal. Guidelines for funding and dissertations in the social and behavioural sciences. 3rd Ed. New York, Syracuse University Press.

Acknowledgments

Thank you to the following academics, staff and students, for their contributions and advice: Professor David Trimm, Professor John Trinder, Dr. Jacquelyn Cranney, Professor Staffan Kjelleberg, Dr. Tony Partridge, Professor Clive Fletcher, Professor Chris Sorrell, Professor Jason Middleton, Dr. Khosrow Zarrabi, Professor Marilyn Fox, Professor Michael Wootton, Dominic Fitzsimmons, Gwyn Jones, Bianca Azar.

Postgrad Research

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Trove - Australian Theses  

Search the National Library of Australia's discovery service Trove for print and digital theses held in collecting institutions across Australia.

• Tip: Choose Advanced Search.  Select Research & Reports from the the drop down menu. Enter search terms then refine the results by selecting Thesis under the Format heading.

Union list of higher degree theses in Australian university libraries: cumulative edition to 1965  

Find theses submitted for a higher degree at Australian universities between 1959 and 1978 by searching this text.

• Tip: The link goes to the catalogue record for the cumulative edition to 1965 but there are also supplements at the same location.

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Use this web-based search service to search for theses in New Zealand libraries and/or worldwide.

• Tip: Select Thesis/Dissertation under the Format filter to narrow your results.

nzresearch.org.nz  

Search open-access research documents produced at universities, polytechnics, and other institutions in New Zealand at this site.

• Tip: Select Thesis from the Browse by Type menu on the search page.

British Library - EThOS Electronic Thesis Online Service  

Search this site for doctoral theses from the United Kingdom, including many with free full text access.

DART - Europe E-theses Portal  

Search this extensive collection to locate research theses from European countries.

Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations

Find an extensive list of international sites for locating free, electronic theses and dissertations at this site.

OpenDOAR  

Search and browse this authoritative directory of open-access repositories worldwide.

Theses Canada  

Find theses and dissertations from universities across Canada, covering the 1960s to the present, via this searchable collection.

WorldCat  

Search the world's most comprehensive database of information about library collections by performing a search then selecting  the Thesis/Dissertation option from the format list.

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UNSW theses can be found using the institutional repository  UNSWorks.

Some Australian and international theses/dissertations can be found using the Academy Library collection .

• Carry out a search on your topic, author, or thesis title. 
• Refine your results by selecting the tick box next to Dissertations under the Resource Types heading. 

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PhD and Honours student opportunities

We're always looking for talented PhD and Honours students to join us.

About you  .

Students enthusiastic about discovering fundamental principles in biology with an undergraduate degree in relevant disciplines including: molecular/structural/theoretical/cell biology, (bio-)chemistry, (bio-)physics, (bio-)engineering, immunology, virology, and mathematics. We welcome students from all countries, backgrounds and cultures. Contact us if you are interested in PhD positions or Honours projects. Honours is a research year for Bachelor's students at Australian universities. We also offer internships for students who want to gain experience in the lab before embarking on their PhD program.  

About us  

We are the Department of Molecular Medicine within the UNSW Medicine & Health's School of Biomedical Sciences ( SBMS ) at UNSW Sydney. Originally founded in 2015 as the EMBL Australia Node in Single Molecule Science (SMS), we have expanded and continue to host research groups as a part of the EMBL Australia Partner Laboratory Network. We also have links to UNSW Science's School of Physics . We're about 90 researchers from all over the world with different scientific backgrounds. We're committed to people and culture and aim to foster a vibrant and inclusive research environment. Our initiatives include a workplace culture roundtable, professional development programs and creative club. Our student society ( SEAMS ) organises events and retreats to share experience and build a supportive community.

Our labs and microscopes are located in the Lowy Cancer Research building in the biomedical precinct of UNSW Sydney. The campus is located in Kensington, a short distance from the city centre, parks and beaches.

Supervisors and projects

Our core scientific vision is to integrate across length scales how processes at the molecular level – the ‘bottom-up’ perspective of single-molecule biophysics – drive function at the systems level – the ‘top-down’ perspective of cell biology and physiology. We research a broad range of biological questions in areas including molecular self-assembly; intracellular transport; host-pathogen interactions; immune cell activation, migration and swarming; mechanobiology; and development. Our experimental systems range from self-assembly and reconstitution over cells and organoids to whole organisms, with a focus on advanced imaging approaches. The broad aim is to investigate molecular and cellular processes in real-time. We have strengths in theoretical biology that are integrated with laboratory experimentation. Projects also include technology development.

Learn more about our research focus areas.  

Please feel free to contact any of our group leaders if any of these research areas interest you.

PhD program at UNSW

The PhD at UNSW consists of a 3.5 year research project with a final thesis. PhD candidates are accompanied by a PhD panel to review goals, progress and wellbeing.

How to apply

There are three intakes of PhD students per year. Get in touch with potential supervisors at any time and then apply for admission and scholarships in the next available round. Scholarships are available to cover tuition fees and to provide a living allowance.

Step 1: Get in touch with potential supervisors for an interview. This is an informal process for you to meet different supervisors, talk about your interests and motivation, and discuss possible projects. Supervisors can then put you in touch with their students for a chat about their experiences. The aim is to identify a good fit between you and our research groups in the Department of Molecular Medicine. Potential supervisors can also guide you through the application process.  

Step 2: Apply for admission into the PhD program at UNSW and apply for a scholarship. Applications for admission and scholarships are integrated. Find relevant information at the links below. Application deadlines Scholarships for domestic and international students

Honours program at UNSW  

In the Australian system, Honours is a year of research undertaken at the end of an undergraduate degree. If you are a Science or Biomedical Sciences student interested in an Honours project as part of your undergraduate degree, just get in touch with Molecular Medicine group leaders to discuss potential projects. We have (co-)supervised students enrolled in Honours at SBMS  and Schools of Biotechnology & Biomolecular Sciences ( BaBS ) and Physics . Applications are submitted via the respective schools.

UNSW PhD candidates engage in national industry doctoral program

Candidates will undertake co-designed research projects with an industry focus.

UNSW is a national leader in research-industry collaborations, with more than 200 industry-engaged research candidates involved in projects that intersect with companies, federal, state or local government, NGOs and community groups. 

As part of this focus, UNSW has engaged in the Australian government’s National Industry PhD Program (NIPhD), which has been designed to boost university-industry collaborations.

The government is investing in developing research talent that can pivot between academia and industry. The NIPhD subsidises employers to support staff embarking on an industry-engaged PhD.  For Rob Batchelor, a PhD candidate from UNSW Science and mid-career professional in health technologies, this presented a unique opportunity.

“I started my PhD through the NIPhD program because it will be a win-win-win for UNSW, my employer Nutromics and government. My thesis is closely aligned with Nutromics’s research and development goals for our wearable sensor patch. I think this program is beneficial for government as well, as it will upskill scientists like me and strengthen industry-university collaborations,” said Mr Batchelor.

In addition to being actively engaged with businesses and government, many of the researchers are partnering with hospitals, NGOs and community organisations, both domestically and internationally.

"We are excited to kick off the first NIPHD industry-researcher project at the UNSW Business School and hope it will be the first of many. Our project on e thical insurance pricing offers a unique opportunity to establish collaboration with our industry partner, cultivate industry talent through our PhD program in risk and actuarial studies, and tackle an important insurance issue with significant social impact,” said Dr Fei Huang, Academic Lead on a project from the School of Risk and Actuarial Studies.

Looking to the future

UNSW will continue to develop strong industry-engaged PhD programs that make a significant impact across society. The NIPhD is one of a few emerging industry engagement schemes that are shining a light on what has always been a strong area for UNSW.

If you’d like to find out more, contact  Simon Kalucy , Senior Program Manager for Industry at the Graduate Research School.

Outcomes of the NIPHD

2023 NIPHD awardees

Who: Robert Batchelor, UNSW Science Topic: Development and characterisation of DNA aptamers immobilised on gold electrode surfaces for utility in wearable electrochemical biosensors Company:  Nutromics  

Who: Jeanne Altamarino, UNSW Engineering Topic: The development of rapid and sensitive methods for the detection of pathogens in water Company:  Biopoint  

Who: Yifan Wang, UNSW Engineering Topic: Analyzing network traffic using AI and machine learning to enhance online gaming and metaverse experience Company:  Canopus

2024 NIPHD awardees

Who: Victoria Blake, UNSW Medicine & Health Topic: Clinical concept extraction using natural language processing. Company:  Eastern Heart Clinic

Who: Rong Cong, UNSW Engineering Topic: Automated software-hardware integration for safety-critical maintenance in radiology Company:  Imaxeon

Who: Helen Zhang, UNSW Business Topic: This project aims to develop personalised risk management strategies and affordable insurance solutions for Australian travellers Company: This company chose not to be named

Who: Isabella Garay, UNSW Engineering Topic: Using ‘atoms to aeroplanes’ simulation techniques developed by Boeing and UNSW over the last decade, accelerating the material development process Company:  Boeing

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Presubmission: notification of intention to submit (noits) and supervisor's certificate, presubmission.

All students should submit a Notification of Intention to Submit their thesis 2 months prior to their submission date. This time is required to prepare for the submission, as well as selecting and approving examiners. While a student may submit their notification later than this, doing so may delay the sending of their thesis to their examiners. The form is available electronically within this system. As soon as you have submitted your form notifications will be sent all relevant recipients to start preparations for the submission. If you are a Supervisor you will receive a notification that you need to complete a Supervisor's Certificate. Information on that form is also contained within this section of Help.

Follow the navigation instructions in section 1 (Gateways and Enquiries) of the Help pages. Once you are on the main menu page click on the button marked "Submit Notification". Once you are on the Notification form page most of the fields should be pre-filled by the data currently held in the student system. If you believe any of the details are incorrect you should speak to your School and the Graduate research School to ensure that these details are updated prior to submitting your thesis. There are only three steps that you need to take to complete the form. First, enter the date that you intend to submit your thesis. Please note that this is a date field and does not allow for just a month and year to be entered. Then type your thesis title into the "Thesis Title" field. You should then read all of the terms and conditions outlined on the form. The last step is to tick the box which asks you to acknowledge that you have read and understood the information on the form. It is important that you have done so and you cannot lodge the form until this box is marked. Once you have finished just click the button marked "Submit & Return". Your form will be lodged and notification will be sent out automatically.

Follow the navigation instructions in section 1 (Gateways and Enquiries) of the Help pages. Once you are on the main menu page you should see a button marked "Supervisor Certificate". Click on the button to be taken to a page which will allow you to create a Certificate for the student you have selected. Please note that you will not see this button until the student has submitted their Notification of Intention to Submit. Once you are on the "Supervisor Certificate List" page just click on the "Create New" button. Once you have been taken to the "Supervisor Certificate Detail" page please take the time to read the information before recording your decision. Once you have read the information simply choose one of the 2 options to indicate whether you believe that the thesis is in a form suitable for examination or not. You may also record comments on this page. Once you have completed the form click the "Save & Return to Supervisor's Certificate List" button.

Postgraduate Co-ordinator / Faculty Executive / School Administrator

You do not have access to this section of the system. However, you are able to follow the progress of the Supervisor's Certificate via the "Examination Status Enquiry" button on the main menu for the student. You will also be able view the Notification that the student lodged by clicking on the “Notification of Intention to Submit” button on the main menu for the student whom you have selected.

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New strategy against breast cancer wins 3 Minute Thesis

2024-08-28T16:00:00+10:00

Lilly Hatwell from the Faculty of Medicine & Health won the 2024 UNSW 3 Minute Thesis Competition.

Photo: Isabella Moore.

PhD candidate Lilly Hatwell’s presentation on breast cancer treatments targeting the androgen receptor has won the 3MT competition and inaugural UNSW Founders Award.

UNSW’s innovative and world-changing doctoral research was on display at the popular 3 Minute Thesis (3MT) final on Tuesday evening.

This year’s 18 contestants distilled their 100,000-word PhD theses into bite-sized three-minute talks, delivered in front of a packed audience at Leighton Hall in the John Niland Scientia Building.

Topics ranged from modifying food prices to help improve diets, to using AI to improve transport planning, and the 16 traits that make for a charismatic leader.

The winner of the $3000 top prize was Lilly Hatwell from the Garvan Institute of Medical Research and UNSW Medicine & Health. She delivered an engaging presentation on game-changing tactics against breast cancer.

“I am incredibly honoured and thrilled to have received first prize and the UNSW Founders Award. The quality and diversity of research across UNSW is inspiring and it is such an exciting event to be a part of,” Lilly said.

Lilly’s presentation spoke about the ‘hormonal tug of war’ in the fight against the most common form of breast cancer. The hormone estrogen is already known to promote the proliferation of cancer cells, and as such, most current strategies target the estrogen receptor. However, many patients develop resistance to this type of treatment.

Her thesis flips the focus and targets a different hormone receptor – the androgen receptor – using a drug that increases its expression. This approach helps the androgen receptor suppress the tumour and steals genes that the estrogen receptor needs to drive tumour growth. Her research combines this drug with clinically available targeted therapies to hopefully identify effective combinations.

Lilly was also presented with the inaugural UNSW Founders Award that recognises the best story deserving to win an award.

She will now go on to represent UNSW at the Asia-Pacific 3MT Finals at the University of Queensland, as well as the International Universitas 21 competitions.

UNSW Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Attila Brungs, extended his praise to all the PhD researchers who presented.

“My congratulations go out to all 3MT finalists for their ongoing dedication to their fascinating research. Each finalist demonstrated the diverse and forward-thinking research that UNSW is renowned for, and I have been left feeling incredibly inspired,” Prof. Brungs said.

“Lilly Hatwell’s presentation on breast cancer treatments targeting the androgen receptor combined with patient specific treatments was outstanding. She displayed exceptional knowledge in her field of research and communicated it to the audience in a clear and engaging manner.”

This year’s 3MT judges included Director of Marinya Capital and newspaper proprietor John Fairfax AO; Director of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Suzanne Cotter; Co-founder of The Daily Aus, Zara Seidler; UNSW Vice-Chancellor and President, Attila Brungs; and UNSW Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Research and Enterprise Professor Bronwyn Fox.

Professor Jonathan Morris, UNSW’s Pro Vice-Chancellor, Research Training and Dean of Graduate Research, said the highlight of this year’s 3MT competition was seeing the University’s talented PhD candidates demonstrate their ability to communicate their world class research.  

“Our PhD candidates are engaged in high quality research and these presentations demonstrate the impact that their research has on society. The 3MT competition showcases their work in a really engaging and accessible way,” Prof. Morris said. 

“I want to congratulate all our outstanding finalists for their efforts. This competition is the highlight of the higher degree research calendar and it’s one of the University’s premier events because it showcases the people who carry out the research and the quality of their work.” 

3MT awardees

Milad Mousavi from the Faculty of Engineering took second place with his innovative research presentation, ‘The Invisible Guardian of the Underground Galaxy’. His research addresses the many lives lost in the mining sector and aims to use a digital invisible guardian to predict accidents.

Third place was awarded to Ellen Bowden-Reid from The Kirby Institute and UNSW Medicine & Health for her presentation on RNA vaccines: the secret weapon against pandemic viruses.

The audience voted for their favourite 3MT in the People’s Choice award, which was awarded to Sari Puspita Dewi from the Faculty of Arts, Design & Architecture for her presentation on why Indonesian translation of academic textbooks is confusing and how it can be fixed to improve learning.

Media enquiries

For enquiries about this story and interview requests please contact Yolande Hutchinson :

Tel: 0420 845 023 Email: [email protected]

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48 Units of Credit

Geosciences Princeton University

Congratulations to dr. naomi intrator for successfully defending her ph.d. thesis.

The Department of Geosciences, Princeton University on successfully defending her Ph.D. thesis on   Bess B. Ward, Satish Myneni, Xinning Zhang and Julie Granger (University of Connecticut)