dissertation in cv meaning

Stack Exchange Network

Stack Exchange network consists of 183 Q&A communities including Stack Overflow , the largest, most trusted online community for developers to learn, share their knowledge, and build their careers.

Q&A for work

Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search.

Should applicants mention any dissertation or thesis in their CV?

I'm thinking to include my degree dissertations in my CV. I gather that this isn't the norm here in the UK, but they do seem somewhat relevant and seeing as I don't have much experience yet, it looks like a good way to beef up the resume a bit. Another answer suggests mentioning the dissertation as an example of a project that you've worked on, but not on the resume itself.

For example:

BSc in Computer Science 1981 - 1984 University of Oceania Dissertation: Efficient methods for republishing the Newspeak Dictionary

Have you ever done this as an applicant, or come across it as an employer?

• interviewing
• qualification

• 1 This question appears to be off-topic because it is about reviewing your personal Resume/CV. This is off topic. –  IDrinkandIKnowThings Commented Nov 14, 2013 at 18:17
• 6 @Chad I have not attended the University of Oceania, nor have I ever written a paper for the Ministry of Truth . –  rath Commented Nov 14, 2013 at 18:47
• 2 I mentioned my thesis on my CV, and that's the reason I now have my dream job, continuing that line of research. –  mhwombat Commented Jun 25, 2014 at 23:48

2 Answers 2

I have never done this as an applicant, but I have seen it a few times as a hiring manager reviewing resumes.

If the dissertation is directly relevant to the job at hand, I have found it interesting, and have followed up with the candidate during the interview. At the time, I just discussed it with the candidate, and didn't actually read the dissertation.

If the dissertation is not directly relevant to the job at hand, then I just considered it clutter.

My feeling has always been that one should include only items which they feel are relevant to the job on their CV/Resume. (If "Republishing the Newspeak Dictionary" is something that could happen in the job for which you are applying, then it's directly relevant.)

If irrelevant items are included, I tend to wonder why, and mentally "take off points" from my rating. I know people are rightly proud of their accomplishments and want to share them widely, but I don't believe a resume is the proper place for that.

I feel the same way about things like Hobbies, Outside Interests, etc. If they are directly relevant and will help you get that job, include them. If not, leave them off.

• 3 I pretty much agree with Joe S. on this issue, but I would never consider a line about your dissertation to be 'clutter'. That may be because when I interview people I'm looking for their capability to grow an adapt to change. So I'm not bothered if the disseration is not directly related to today's job opening. Someone else may just be looking for the peg that exactly fits today's hole and not want to know anything beyond that. Big companies are often looking for perfectly formed pegs. –  Jim In Texas Commented Nov 14, 2013 at 19:06
• Unless you're applying for academic positions, a few jobs after graduation, it is probably clutter. –  user8365 Commented Nov 14, 2013 at 19:10
• 2 @JeffO but for a masters/phd the thesis is the major part of the work involved in a degree why would you not put the subject of your thesis. –  Neuromancer Commented Nov 14, 2013 at 19:35

If you are at a standing start as a post-grad and creating a thesis and doing the research to support it, you are carrying out a process that looks suspiciously like system design and requirements gathering for a software project. These are nearly identical processes, up to the point where you have to 'make things work' - typos might get past your advisor, but software tolerance for that is zero.

I sent a job application to a research institution in the late 1990s, they sent back a form asking me to list every submission I've had published in an academic journal. In some roles, such work is a baseline employment requirement.

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for browse other questions tagged interviewing resume qualification ..

• Featured on Meta
• Bringing clarity to status tag usage on meta sites
• We've made changes to our Terms of Service & Privacy Policy - July 2024
• Announcing a change to the data-dump process

Hot Network Questions

• Hotspot vs home internet
• How do you hide an investigation of alien ruins on the moon during Apollo 11?
• How is the grammar of this sentence explained?
• When was this photo taken?
• Soft links on Python
• Did US troops insist on segregation in British pubs?
• What's the proper way to shut down after a kernel panic?
• Clarification about a notation (or typo?) in ComplexityZoo for QAM class
• Trying to find an old book (fantasy or scifi?) in which the protagonist and their romantic partner live in opposite directions in time
• Will this be the first time that there are more people aboad the ISS than seats in docked spacecraft?
• Inconsistent “unzip -l … | grep -q …” results with pipefail
• Seth and Cain take turns picking numbers from 1 to 50. Who wins?
• Lucas number multiples of Fibonacci pairs
• Can light become a satellite of a black hole?
• How does current in the cable shield affect the signal in the wires within
• My enemy sent me this puzzle!
• Meaning of “ ’thwart” in a 19th century poem
• How does one go about writing papers as a nobody?
• Electric skateboard: helmet replacement
• young silver maple with severe bark wound
• Sticker on caption phone says that using the captions can be illegal. Why?
• Polyline to polygon
• Will fire still burn well in my atmosphere?: concentration vs partial pressure
• Enable all snapping types in QGIS using Python

How to Put Your Thesis on a Resume

In This Guide:

When it's appropriate to feature your thesis in a resume

A template and example on how to feature a thesis on your resume

Tips to list your thesis on your resume.

A thesis is a statement that explains the general point of a project. Typically, this statement gives the reader a clear idea of the primary points so they can have more context when working through the information to follow. It may also offer a definitive hypothesis, statement, or personal perspective.

The thesis also refers to an academic project that a doctoral candidate completes in pursuit of their professional qualification. We’ll focus on that usage today, looking at how to add this project to a resume.

In this article, you’ll learn

• When it’s appropriate to add a thesis to a resume
• Tips on adding your thesis to a resume
• Key takeaways

When it's appropriate to feature your thesis in a resume

Here are a few instances when you should add your thesis to your resume.

When applying for another degree

Thesis work looks good when you’re applying for other programs. It shows that you’re familiar with academic coursework and have completed significant challenges in your field.

When it’s relevant to the position

A thesis shows that you’ve earned specialized knowledge. When that knowledge pertains to a certain position, the employer must know that. Even if the relevance is a slight stretch, it’s still worth citing on your resume.

When you want to show transferable skills

Gaining a thesis requires refined skills. Those skills are likely transferable . Isolate those skills and think of ways they could apply to your intended position. If the skills relate directly, that’s a great reason to add the thesis to your resume.

Let’s see how you could add your thesis to a resume . It might be challenging to figure out where you should add the information. The following examples should give you some perspective.

Example of a thesis on a resume

Here’s an example of how to cite your thesis under “relevant experience.”

Doctoral Thesis

March 2019 - january 2020.

Produced an accepted thesis on the function of microorganisms in the onset of heart disease. Worked closely with University faculty to achieve insights that have since saved lives. Utilized intense research, communication, and organizational skills to complete the project.

A few concise sentences about impact, structure, and the effort required will help display the work you’ve done.

A thesis on resume template

You could cite your thesis in numerous places in your resume. However, it’s smart to find one place and stick to it.

In a template , you might find space for your thesis under “work experience,” “professional experiences,” “education,” or somewhere in an introduction.

Here are a few things you could note in your description of the thesis.

Make sure to mention your GPA

Your GPA holds a lot of weight. Noting that you could finish a thesis and maintain a solid GPA is smart. You can also note any grading that came from your thesis work, specifically.

List relevant research projects

Cite particular research projects that occurred within your thesis work. These will all highlight different skills or unique knowledge that you have.

A key thing to remember is that you can apply skills gained while earning your thesis. You can also use your thesis in numerous areas of the resume.

Understanding how to add a thesis to your resume intelligently can help you stand out and utilize the skills you gained through your doctoral process.

• Resume Guides

How To Answer The “What Type of Work Environment Do You Prefer?” Interview Question

Imposter syndrome at work: 4 strategies to battle it out, what are red flags on a resume, cover letter spacing – a complete guide, what to do if you don't have any references for a job application, sales director interview questions and answers.

• Create Resume
• Terms of Service
• Privacy Policy
• Cookie Preferences
• Resume Examples
• Resume Templates
• AI Resume Builder
• Resume Summary Generator
• Resume Formats
• Resume Checker
• Resume Skills
• How to Write a Resume
• Modern Resume Templates
• Simple Resume Templates
• Cover Letter Builder
• Cover Letter Examples
• Cover Letter Templates
• Cover Letter Formats
• How to Write a Cover Letter
• Cover Letter Guides
• Job Interview Guides
• Job Interview Questions
• Career Resources
• Meet our customers
• Career resources
• English (UK)
• French (FR)
• German (DE)
• Spanish (ES)
• Swedish (SE)

© 2024 . All rights reserved.

Made with love by people who care.

Internship and Career Center

Curriculum vitae.

Curriculum vitae (CV, also often informally called a “vita”) is a Latin expression loosely translated as "course of life”. In contrast to a resume (also resumé or résumé) from the French meaning “summary”. 

Both a CV and resume represent you as the best qualified candidate, demonstrate your "fit" for a position, and are used in an application process to get you an interview. A CV presents a full history of your academic credentials so length is variable, while a resume presents a concise picture of your qualifications with length prescribed by years of experience. For more information on the differences between a CV and resume .

Many European countries use “CV” to describe all such documents and do not use the term resume. In the United Kingdom, most Commonwealth countries , and Republic of Ireland, for example, a CV is a short document, containing a summary of the job seeker's employment history, qualifications, education, and some personal information. Some parts of Asia also require applicants' photos, date of birth, and most recent salary information. When applying to international positions, be sure to check if you are unsure just what kind of information they want.

Check with your advisor about any discipline specific variations when preparing your CV.

When to use a CV

A CV is used when applying for:

• Graduate school
• Academic (research and teaching) positions in a four-year university, state college, community college, or liberal arts college
• Fellowships and scholarships
• Research funding and grants

Although largely the same format for all academic positions, there is some variation and a difference on emphasis for a CV depending on the type of institution you’re applying to (e.g. community college vs. four-year university).

Review discipline specific CV samples .

CVs for Undergraduates Applying to Graduate School

When applying to graduate school, the application instructions may request that a CV be included in your application packet. You can check with the admissions office at the institution you are applying to, but in general this request is not for a full CV, but rather a more comprehensive resume.

The graduate school application CV will still be no longer than 2 pages. Items to include on the graduate school application CV might include (if applicable):

• Descriptions of academic projects
• Presentations, posters, or publications
• Teaching assistantships
• Academic service, such as mentoring and/or leadership on committees

General tips and guidelines

See our CV/Resume builder to help you get started compiling your information.

General things to consider when developing your CV:

• Readability is important Reviewers will likely read 100s of applications. You want to make this as easy and painless as possible. Use 12 point font (or no smaller then 10). One inch margins (or no smaller then .8). Include a footer starting on the second page with your name and "page 2 of X". See CV samples for footer options.
• Briefly highlight your dissertation or thesis in the Education section When describing your dissertation or thesis in a CV, you typically include the title within the Education section included just under the degree. The details of the work will be include later within the Research Experience section. For those in the Humanities, you will add a Dissertation section with a brief synopsis of your research. See Humanities CV sample .
• Include common CV sections The header with contact information ( see header samples ), Education, Research Experience, Teaching Experience, Publications, Presentations, Grants and Awards, Academic Service (could include mentoring, committee work, journal editing), and References. See additional CV categories for further explanation. Also see CV samples for formatting and layout.
• Use paragraphs instead of bullets When describing your experience a CV generally uses a paragraph structure, compared to a resume which is typically formatted using bullet points. The emphasis for a CV is on academic accomplishment, research inquiry, methods or techniques used, and analytical approaches. A CV could include names of collaborators and your PI, research outcomes or future areas of inquiry. Skills and abilities are also included in a CV. Those skills particular to graduate students and postdocs include the ability to analyze data, conduct archival research, test hypothesis, and reason logically. For additional suggestions and a list of skills, view the CV supplement .
• Include a reference section A Reference section is typically included when applying for a faculty or postdoc position. Follow the instructions. If the position description calls for three references, provide them with three. Be sure to include the name, department, email, address and phone number. Referees for academic appointments generally send the reference letter directly to the institution, so you will want them to know exactly how to contact your references in case the letter does not arrive.

Emphasis Depends Upon the Institution

A CV for an academic teaching position in a:

• Community College Emphasizes teaching over research, pedagogical training and qualifications as a generalist as well as academic service, mentoring and work with undergraduate students. The Teaching Experience section on your CV will follow the Education section and include details about your particular role (e.g., Adjunct, Lead Teaching Assistant, Teaching Assistant) as well as a list of all of the courses (by course title, not course number) you have taught or supported. The Teaching Experience section may include lecture materials you have presented, class size, lab responsibilities, etc. Teaching-focused community college CVs may also have a research section, but will include limited detail. See community college CV sample .
• State or Liberal Arts College Emphasizes a balance of teaching and research, thus will include equal emphasis on the research and teaching sections.
• Four-Year University Emphasizes academic accomplishments, scholarly productivity, research experience, technical expertise, successful grant writing and collaboration potential. The emphasis for a tier one research institution will be placed on the research section, with a less prominent section on teaching and mentoring experience. The Research Experience section should follow the Education Section.

How to Include Thesis in Resume

Do you feel that every time you apply for a job, you feel a lot of pressure and uncertainty? If you are tired of not getting a job interview, then you need to be ready to change something. Logically, the best method would be to improve your knowledge and skills.

However, if they already are at the highest level, then there is something wrong with your resume!

Fortunately for you, multiple options are in front of you, and it is up to you whether you will choose the best one. One thing that will certainly raise your chances of getting a job interview is to put a thesis on your resume. It is a document that confirms your expertise in a particular topic.

Also, you can check this fantastic read about how you should list patents on your resume. But, how to put a thesis on a resume?

Answering that question in one or two sentences is not easy. That is the reason why we decided to provide you with an in-depth guide on how to list a thesis on a resume. We strongly recommend you analyze each tip from the list and apply those that seem most suitable to your career ambitions and goals!

4 Tips on How to Include Thesis on Resume

As you could conclude on your own from the subheading, there are four different ways you can complete this part of the job. Moreover, four different parts of the document you submit are ideal for something like this. Let’s find them out together!

Presenting your thesis effectively on your resume is crucial for the positions you apply for. However, optimizing your resume requires more effort, and our resumesolution reviews can offer valuable insights. Learn more about how ResumeSolution can make your application stand out.

1. Include a Thesis in Resume Education Section

We will start the list with the most common method people use for adding a thesis to their resume. The education section is the ideal place to add a piece of information like this. All you will have to figure out on your own how connected your thesis is with the job position you are applying for.

In case you see there is a strong connection, then you should add more details. For instance, you can say more about the achievements you had, mention the name and the title of the advisor you worked with, etc. On the other hand, if there is no strong bond between the job position and the thesis you possess, then it is going to be enough to add the name and location of the institution as well as the period of education. Everything else is going to be irrelevant to the hiring manager.

2. Include Your Thesis in the Work Experience Section

Another place where you can put a thesis in your resume is the work experience section. However, this time, adding a thesis to your resume is going to be a bit more demanding as you will have to be a bit more creative.

In this section, you will have to create some sort of subheading where you will describe all the projects you worked on. But, the question is – how to list research on a resume ? How difficult is that?

Don’t write a lot of pieces of information there as your document won’t be eye-pleasing that way. Instead of that, you should only highlight a couple of relevant pieces of information there

• Name of the research project/job title
• The name of the institution where you worked
• More information about your supervisor
• The period you worked there
• All the duties, responsibilities, and achievements that can confirm your expertise

As you see, including a thesis on a resume this way is a bit more challenging. However, work experience is usually at the top of the document. Because of that, there is a big chance you will make your expertise more visible by applying this tip.

3. Write about Thesis In Skills Section

Research programs you worked on as a student will certainly help you put a senior thesis on your resume. However, as mentioned, if you decide to put that in the education section, there is no need to talk about a bunch of details. Instead of that, if you want to talk about skills you got there, there is a separate section where you can do that.

Dividing the skills section is the best thing you can do. One subheading should contain all the hard skills you gained through the research you had. On the other hand, there should also be one subheading dedicated to soft skills you improved during that period. Listing a thesis on a resume that way will certainly raise your chances of getting a job interview.

4. Include a Thesis in the Resume Summary Section

All the pieces of advice we mentioned above are going to be valuable for each candidate. We only suggest you put into consideration your career ambitions and goals as well as the job position you are applying for. The answer on how to include a thesis in resume in the best possible way will appear after that.

Yet, as a rule of thumb, all the hiring managers will primarily check the summary of the document. Because of that, whichever method you decide on, not mentioning this information at the beginning of the document would be a huge mistake!

You probably feel right now that you know how to mention your thesis in resume. But, if you truly strive to achieve the best results, then we have some additional information for you! Continue reading if you want to get more valuable pieces of advice!

Avoid Adding Irrelevant Information

People that know how to include a thesis on a resume will always follow the standards! More precisely, they will never add irrelevant pieces of information to boost the word count of their resume. As a rule of thumb, the resume should not be longer than 2 pages. That especially counts for the job positions that a big number of people are applying for. Hiring managers will not have enough time to check all the details of every document they get.

Structure Your Thesis Resume Based on Your Work Experience

We already mentioned that the work experience section is usually the first one after the resume summary. However, that is not the standard that all candidates should strictly follow. If you recently graduated and you lack work experience, then the education section should first appear in the resume. Moreover, the education section is the ideal place to put an honor thesis on a resume.

But, if you have at least three years of work experience, then there is no need to use that structure. Start your story with a work history where you will mention your research projects. After that, add the skills you gained in the Skills Section in the way we previously suggested.

Use Assistance If You Can’t Handle the Obstacles

Even after reading all the pieces of advice, we shared here, some people may not manage to figure out how to put honors thesis on a resume. Because of that, looking for assistance is going to be a smart move.

Keep in mind that the average job-seeking process usually lasts around 5 months . If you want to speed up the entire process, hiring a professional resume writing service will certainly pay off. However, don’t do that immediately! Check out how actually creative you are by exploring how to put a senior thesis on your resume. Giving up immediately should not be your habit!

When Should People Put Thesis on Resume?

No, the answer to the question from the subheading is not “always”. There are particular scenarios when including a thesis on the resume is extremely important. Let’s find them out together!

Whenever a Candidate Applies for Another Degree

Many people do not stop with their education after they conclude their master’s degree. If you are applying for a Ph.D. program, then adding more information about your thesis to your resume would be an amazing thing. If you manage to get Ph.D. ABD, your chances of getting an interview invitation would raise even more! However, we will not analyze how to list Ph.D. ABD on resume in this article; you will manage to find a bunch of posts online analyzing that subject.

Lack of Work Experience

We already analyzed this, so there is no need to talk too much. If you lack work experience, then highlighting your education and confirming your expertise that way is the only option you have. Hiring managers will understand the “flaws” you have, but they will recognize the potential that you have to become a perfect employee one day!

When It Is Not Connected with Job Description/Requirements

Okay, you already know that putting a thesis on a resume is essential if it is relevant for the job position you apply for. However, there are some moments when you can add this piece of information even if it is not connected with the requirements of the company. Some people want to prove their transferable skills with their thesis. Because of that, if you gained skills like time management, work ethic, communication skills, and others, adding a thesis to the skills section would be good!

Matthew T. Cross, an expert that even wrote books about resume writing said an amazing thing.

He said – “No one will ever create a perfect resume on his first try”.

Because of that, do not be desperate if everything you just read seems confusing and challenging. You will probably get refused many times until you realize how to write a kickass resume.

If you need assistance, writing services are always available online. The professionals will know how to boost the quality of the document and represent your skills and mentality in the best possible way. So, are you ready to start this amazing journey? If you need help with your resume writing, then check here our list of the top resume writers online and be sure that you have perfect documents.

Education Writer

One of our team members is Alina Burakova. She has vast experience in reviewing career and education-related websites. Being a little shy, Alina dislikes writing about herself too much, so here is her short bio. In 2010, she graduated from ...

Relevant articles

If you have a security clearance that’s active or you had it earlier in your career at some point, you might be wondering how to list security clearance on your resume. It may all sound like something that’s not very easy, but it does not have to be that way. Here, you will find all…

It is nice if you are a highly skilled person with good grades and college and long work experience. You can be sure all the potential employers will appreciate that. Despite that, they will certainly consider you if you possess some valuable personal characteristics such as loyalty, responsibility, etc. But, will you a unique “sample”…

Getting a job is a task full of uncertainty. Before you impress the potential employers and hiring managers on the job interview, your task is to convince them to invite you to such a meeting. The only way to do that is to write an impressive resume that will split you from the mass of…

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Admission Consulting The Five Best Graduate School Admissions Consultants Reviewed

Resume Writing CompTIA Certification on Resume: How to Put It [+Examples]

Resume Writing Can You Put Udemy On Resume?

CV vs. Resume—Here Are the Differences

“Um, what is a CV?” is a question job seekers often find themselves asking. Approach 10 professionals, and odds are high only one or two can tell you the real answer. Good news, you’re about to be one of those few people who know not just what the letters stand for, but how the CV compares to a resume, and whether or not you should have one.

Curriculum Vitae, more commonly referred to by its shorthand abbreviation CV (a Latin term meaning course of life), got tossed around a lot when I was in graduate school. I’m pretty sure I pretended to know what it meant the first time I heard it, only to go home to Google and educate myself before it came up in casual conversation again.

SEARCH OPEN JOBS ON THE MUSE! See who’s hiring here , and you can even filter your search by benefits, company size, remote opportunities, and more. Then, sign up for our newsletter and we’ll deliver advice on landing the job right to you.

I quickly learned that dissertation-defending PhDs didn’t have resumes, they had CVs. Unlike the resume, which lists work history and experiences, along with a brief summary of your skills and education, the CV is a far more comprehensive document. It goes above and beyond a mention of education and work experience and often lists—in thoughtful detail—your achievements, awards, honors, and publications, stuff universities care about when they’re hiring teaching staff. Unlike a resume, which is rarely longer than a one-sided single page, the CV can be two, six, or 12 pages—depending on your professional achievements.

Let’s go over some basics of the CV versus resume.

Want to skip ahead? Check out:

What Is a CV?

• Does Anyone Besides Academics Use a CV?

What’s the Difference Between a CV and a Resume?

• How Do I Know When to Use Which?

Should I Have a CV Handy?

As touched upon briefly above, CVs are primarily popular among academics, as graduate students often spend a lot of effort getting their work published during these post-grad years. While higher-education institutions undoubtedly evaluate a potential candidate’s grades and test scores, they’re also eager to see where an applicant’s been published.

“Publish or perish” was a popular sentiment during my two years in graduate school, and it appears not much has changed. I spoke with a couple of my former classmates who went on to obtain doctorate degrees long after I’d left with a master’s degree in hand and an I’ve-had-enough-of-that mindset, and they were quick to reiterate how important getting published is to one’s career, and, of course, the standard academic’s CV.

OK, Anyone Besides Academics?

You’re right, they’re not the only ones who choose the long (sometimes, very long) document over a resume. The website Undercover Recruiter explains that U.S. and Canadian residents need a CV if they’re applying to work abroad, specifically in the U.K., Ireland, and New Zealand. In these countries, “a CV is used in all contexts and resumes aren’t used at all.” Moreover, “The CV prevails in mainland Europe and there is even a European Union CV format available for download,” a super helpful template if you’re confused about how to build one.

Short answer: Length.

Long answer: The CV’s static in that it’s not a document needing to be tailored for different positions in the way that a resume is. Rather, according to UNC Writing Center , the CV’s a “fairly detailed overview of your life’s accomplishments, especially those most relevant to the realm of academia,” hence the variance in length; an early-stage grad student’s CV is going to be a lot shorter than a sixth-year student preparing to write a dissertation.

The document only changes as your accomplishments grow—you publish the findings of a scientific study, or a short story, or you receive an award as a Teaching Assistant—whereas a resume can and should be modified often as you job search and apply to different companies and positions. At The Muse, we highly encourage you to tailor your resume for each and every job you apply to, even if the job descriptions are similar. (It’ll not only help you stand out, but also ensure you get through the ATS .)

But, How Do I Know When to Use Which?

Fortunately, if you’re still confused about where to begin, remember that almost any job you apply to will let you know what you need. It’s not typically a guessing game. When you apply for a job in New York City , or Minneapolis , or Austin , there’ll likely be clear language on what’s required with the application. Begin looking into overseas opportunities, and it’s probable that the application will explicitly state that you need to submit a CV or resume for consideration.

Seriously though, if you’re truly dumbfounded about what’s needed, it’s OK to ask the point of contact directly, “Would you prefer a resume or CV?” (And in America, the answer will almost always be “resume” since we know that recruiters don’t spend more than six seconds looking, anyways.)

Read more: The Ultimate Guide to Writing a Curriculum Vitae

If you don’t currently have one, I’d recommend creating the doc just in case. You don’t have to stop everything you’re doing right this second, but the next time you go to modify your resume (a familiar and somewhat ongoing practice, I hope), start building it out. If nothing else, it’ll serve a dual-purpose: Not only can you have it handy if you do ever need it, but you’ll also have a running list of everything you’ve ever accomplished, a.k.a., a master resume to pull from as you tailor your own for specific positions.

And there you go, everything you ever wanted to know (plus more!) about the differences between a CV and a resume.

Center for Career Development

Building Your CV Guide for Graduate Students

This guide is designed for graduate students in all fields and is not tailored to any specific discipline. It offers introductory advice on how to write or update a CV. Before moving forward, we encourage you to:

• Find several sample CVs from your discipline (check assistant professors’ CVs from faculty profiles on your department website)
• Speak with your mentors and advisors to understand specific expectations of CVs in your discipline 
• Request your trusted peers, mentors, or advisers to review your CV draft and collect feedback

The insights you gain from these additional sources along with this guide and sample CVs will help you write and revise your CV based on your goal. You can also make an appointment to meet with a career adviser from the Center for Career Development to review your CV and provide feedback. 

What is a CV

Your CV is a written record of an entire history of your scholarly achievements. It usually includes nearly all aspects of your academic experience. Your CV will continue to grow as you progress in graduate school and beyond. It is a living document with no length limit. It is best to build your CV as early as possible and revise it throughout your doctoral training to capture the developments in your academic career. 

If you are curious about the differences between a CV and a resume, please review our CV vs. Resume Guide .

When do I need a CV?

Your CV is the first of many documents you will be asked to send when you apply for: 

• Academic positions such as tenure-track faculty (e.g., assistant professors), non-tenure track faculty (e.g., visiting assistant professors, teaching assistant professors, lecturers), and postdocs
• Research positions at national laboratories or research institutions 
• Fellowships, scholarships, and awards 
• Research grants 

How can I format my CV?  

There is no single formula to format your CV, though some fields have style preferences. Check the following key rules to design an effective CV that captures your readers’ attention: 

• Choose a layout that allows you to present your accomplishments concisely, clearly and consistently so that readers can easily skim your CV and find the information they need. 
• Make your CV stylistically consistent. For example, if you make one heading in bold and title case (e.g., EDUCATION), all the headings of your CV should follow the same style (e.g., RESEARCH EXPERIENCE). 
• There is no page limit, so do not use fonts smaller than 11 points and keep one-inch margins on all sides. 
• Organize headings in decreasing order of importance to put your most relevant accomplishments on the first and second pages of your CV to capture your readers’ attention.
• Use reverse chronological order when organizing information in each section, with your most recent information at the top and the oldest at the bottom of each section.
• Don’t forget to check for spelling errors and typos to avoid making grammatical mistakes.

Should I tailor my CV for each application?

Even though differences among your CVs won’t be substantial, tweaking your CV based on readers’ specific expectations is important. 

For example, suppose you are applying for faculty positions in different types of institutions (e.g., teaching-focused liberal art college vs. research-focused university). You may need to emphasize different aspects of your academic achievements relevant to each audience (e.g., put teaching experience first over research when applying for a faculty position that primarily involves teaching). 

What information should I include? 

Your CV should be organized with headings to draw your readers' attention. CV headings are the titles of each section to highlight different aspects of your experiences or accomplishments. They help readers quickly locate key information on your CV. 

Getting started

Start building your CV with the common headings suggested below to ensure that you are not overlooking anything relevant. The final headings you need in your CV will be based on your discipline and the positions/fellowships you are applying for.

Please schedule a one-on-one career advising appointment using Handshake for help developing or updating your CV. 

Related documents

Common headings.

• Honors & Awards

Publications

• Experience (e.g., Research Experience, Teaching Experience) 

Conferences & Presentations

• Professional Affiliations/Memberships

Additional Headings

• Research & Teaching Interests

Skills & Languages 

• Student Advising & Mentoring 
• Patents (mostly for Ph.D. students in engineering and natural sciences)
• Media Coverage  
• Professional Experience

List each institution, degree, field concentration and date your degree was (or is expected to be) conferred. You do not need to add starting dates for each degree. 

Remember that your highest degree or degree-in-progress should be listed first since CVs use reserve chronological order. You can also include your dissertation title and the names of your adviser(s) and dissertation committee members. CVs usually do not include high school information. 

Honors & Awards 

Include dissertation awards, scholarships, fellowships, research or teaching-related awards, and other honors relevant to your field. You may consider listing them under “Education” instead of creating a separate heading if you only have a few awards. 

List the names of the awards/honors, the awarding institutions, and the date awarded. If you were selected to receive a fellowship or award but had to turn it down, you may consider listing it here and note it was "declined."

List relevant experience that highlights your scholarly accomplishments. Include your organization/employer, position title, location and employment timeframe.

You can also use one-to-two bullets (also known as accomplishment statements) to describe your significant accomplishments in each position, which offers a good understanding of your unique scholarly contributions to readers. Avoid using too many bullets as they are more commonly used in resumes than CVs.

Instead of using a general "Experience" heading, it is more effective to subdivide it. For example, "Research Experience" and "Teaching Experience" are the most used experience headings in CVs. 

If you’ve worked as a research assistant under a specific faculty member/Principal Investigator (PI), a research group/lab or a research center, list that under research experience. You can include research internships outside academia, such as national labs, government agencies and private companies if they are directly relevant to your field of study. 

Include all full-time, part-time, volunteer and adjunct teaching experiences as a teaching assistant, assistant in instruction, co-instructor, solo-instructor, or lecturer in your teaching experience section. Along with your titles, institutions where you taught, and employment timeframe, include the name of each course taught to demonstrate your competencies. 

If relevant to your goal, you may add additional experience headings such as "Other Professional Experience," "Administrative Experience and "Museum Experience." What you  include may vary depending on your field and the positions/fellowships you are applying for.

If you plan to use your CV for tenure-track faculty positions, postdocs and fellowships that primarily involve research, this is one of the core sections you need to highlight. If possible, include this heading on the first or second page of your CV. 

Please note that your dissertation itself is not considered a publication in academia, so do not include it here. To list your publications, use the citation style of your academic discipline (e.g., APA, MLA, IEEE, Chicago). You can make your name bold to highlight your authorship. 

Since there are prestige hierarchies among academic publications, you can create subheadings to differentiate types of publications. For example, your publications may be categorized as below. 

• Peer-Reviewed Articles or Refereed Journal Articles
• Books 
• Book Chapters 
• Book Reviews
• Conference Proceedings 
• Technical Reports 
• Web-based Publications 
• Other Publications (non-academic publications such as blog posts)

If your work is accepted or/and in the final process of production, it should be considered published work. When listing it, replace the year of publication with the term "accepted," "forthcoming," or "in press." 

If you have several manuscripts you submitted to a journal for review, you could create a "Manuscripts in Submission" subheading.

You may have a "Manuscripts in Preparation" subheading if you have ongoing research projects to submit for publication in the near future. Do not list too many in preparation or submitted items in your CV because they are not officially accepted or published yet.

Along with the publications section, this is another core area to showcase your research accomplishments. Similar to your publications, follow the citation style of your field. In general, you need to include the names of presenters, the presentation or poster titles, the names of conferences, and the dates you presented.

You may subcategorize them to demonstrate different types of scholarly engagement. For example, you may consider subheadings such as:

• Paper Presentations
• Poster Presentations
• Invited Talks & Lectures
• Campus Presentations
• Panels/Workshops Organized

If you have an accepted paper or presentation but a conference was canceled due to COVID, you can list it with an additional note in parentheses (e.g., canceled due to COVID).

List any volunteer work contributed to your department, university and professional associations, such as a committee member, manuscript reviewer, and department representative. 

You may categorize them with the following subheadings:

• Departmental Service such as department student organizations, department committees and department seminars organized
• University Service such as campus-wide committees and graduate student organizations
• Disciplinary Service or Professional Service such as journal/conference paper review, ad hoc or regular committees affiliated with professional associations and conferences organized

If you develop a CV to apply for academic positions (e.g., assistant professors), your readers are interested in your service activities. Even though they are not directly related to research performance, this section highlights the way you’ve volunteered to give back to academic communities.

This section is optional, but if your field requires specific foreign languages or technical skills to conduct research, you may want to consider adding this section to your CV. As for languages, specify the extent of your proficiency (e.g., advanced reading and conversational knowledge) for each language.  

Professional Associations/Memberships

List your memberships in international or national scholarly organizations by including the names of the organizations. 

As a graduate student, it is common to include at least three academics who are willing to write letters of recommendation (e.g., adviser(s), dissertation committee members). Include their names, titles, institutions, and contact information (e.g., email addresses).

Accomplishment statements

To write effective bullets or accomplishment statements in CVs, start with an action verb, then offer detailed descriptions by covering the following aspects:

• What: What did you do exactly? Be detailed and explain each part using quantitative and qualitative terms.
• How: How did you do this? Did you lead or work on a team? 
• Results or Why: Share the outcomes of your action to show the value of your contributions or highlight the purpose of your work. What was the goal of the project? Did this lead to a publication? 

Remember not to overuse bullets since they are optional in CVs. Include one or two most significant and relevant aspects of each work if you decide to use bullets in your CV. If your target readers are scholars with a similar academic background and are familiar with your field-specific jargon, you may use your field vocabulary to describe your work. 

Examples of accomplishment statements include:

• Applied a general circulation model to analyze the regional climate impacts, which led to three conference presentations and one peer-reviewed journal article 
• Examined the relationship between medieval material culture and visual culture in religious communities in southern France 
• Analyzed the effectiveness of anti-corruption audits on governments by examining changes in management and bureaucratic organizational structures
• Collaborated with three graduate research assistants and two postdocs to design novel experiments that assess cell mobility to determine the path of least hydraulic resistance
• Facilitated weekly precepts involving discussion of lectures and readings on 19th-century British and American literature for a total of 30 undergraduate students
• Developed and implemented learning lessons to introduce materials science to 50 first-year undergraduate students, later adopted by the department 
• Integrated multimedia and humanities to offer theoretical and historical understandings of global art history using film and instructional technologies

For more information on creating bullets/accomplish statements (e.g., action verbs), please review the Transforming Your CV to a Resume guide .

The Savvy Scientist

Experiences of a London PhD student and beyond

Thesis Title: Examples and Suggestions from a PhD Grad

When you’re faced with writing up a thesis, choosing a title can often fall to the bottom of the priority list. After all, it’s only a few words. How hard can it be?!

In the grand scheme of things I agree that picking your thesis title shouldn’t warrant that much thought, however my own choice is one of the few regrets I have from my PhD . I therefore think there is value in spending some time considering the options available.

In this post I’ll guide you through how to write your own thesis title and share real-world examples. Although my focus is on the PhD thesis, I’ve also included plenty of thesis title examples for bachelor’s and master’s research projects too.

Hopefully by the end of the post you’ll feel ready to start crafting your own!

Why your thesis title is at least somewhat important

It sounds obvious but your thesis title is the first, and often only, interaction people will have with your thesis. For instance, hiring managers for jobs that you may wish to apply for in the future. Therefore you want to give a good sense of what your research involved from the title.

Many people will list the title of their thesis on their CV, at least for a while after graduating. All of the example titles I’ve shared below came from my repository of academic CVs . I’d say roughly 30% of all the academics on that page list their thesis title, which includes academics all the way up to full professor.

Your thesis title could therefore feature on your CV for your whole career, so it is probably worth a bit of thought!

My suggestions for choosing a good thesis title

• Make it descriptive of the research so it’s immediately obvious what it is about! Most universities will publish student theses online ( here’s mine! ) and they’re indexed so can be found via Google Scholar etc. Therefore give your thesis a descriptive title so that interested researchers can find it in the future.
• Don’t get lost in the detail . You want a descriptive title but avoid overly lengthy descriptions of experiments. Unless a certain analytical technique etc was central to your research, I’d suggest by default* to avoid having it in your title. Including certain techniques will make your title, and therefore research, look overly dated, which isn’t ideal for potential job applications after you graduate.
• The title should tie together the chapters of your thesis. A well-phrased title can do a good job of summarising the overall story of your thesis. Think about each of your research chapters and ensure that the title makes sense for each of them.
• Be strategic . Certain parts of your work you want to emphasise? Consider making them more prominent in your title. For instance, if you know you want to pivot to a slightly different research area or career path after your PhD, there may be alternative phrasings which describe your work just as well but could be better understood by those in the field you’re moving into. I utilised this a bit in my own title which we’ll come onto shortly.
• Do your own thing. Having just laid out some suggestions, do make sure you’re personally happy with the title. You get a lot of freedom to choose your title, so use it however you fancy. For example, I’ve known people to use puns in their title, so if that’s what you’re into don’t feel overly constrained.

*This doesn’t always hold true and certainly don’t take my advice if 1) listing something in your title could be a strategic move 2) you love the technique so much that you’re desperate to include it!

Thesis title examples

To help give you some ideas, here are some example thesis titles from Bachelors, Masters and PhD graduates. These all came from the academic CVs listed in my repository here .

Bachelor’s thesis title examples

Hysteresis and Avalanches Paul Jager , 2014 – Medical Imaging – DKFZ Head of ML Research Group –  direct link to Paul’s machine learning academic CV

The bioenergetics of a marine ciliate, Mesodinium rubrum Holly Moeller , 2008 – Ecology & Marine Biology – UC Santa Barbara Assistant Professor –  direct link to Holly’s marine biology academic CV

Functional syntactic analysis of prepositional and causal constructions for a grammatical parser of Russian Ekaterina Kochmar , 2008 – Computer Science – University of Bath Lecturer Assistant Prof –  direct link to Ekaterina’s computer science academic CV

Master’s thesis title examples

Creation of an autonomous impulse response measurement system for rooms and transducers with different methods Guy-Bart Stan , 2000 – Bioengineering – Imperial Professor –  direct link to Guy-Bart’s bioengineering academic CV

Segmentation of Nerve Bundles and Ganglia in Spine MRI using Particle Filters Adrian Vasile Dalca , 2012 – Machine Learning for healthcare – Harvard Assistant Professor & MIT Research Scientist –  direct link to Adrian’s machine learning academic CV

The detection of oil under ice by remote mode conversion of ultrasound Eric Yeatman , 1986 – Electronics – Imperial Professor and Head of Department –  direct link to Eric’s electronics academic CV

Ensemble-Based Learning for Morphological Analysis of German Ekaterina Kochmar , 2010 – Computer Science – University of Bath Lecturer Assistant Prof –  direct link to Ekaterina’s computer science academic CV

VARiD: A Variation Detection Framework for Color-Space and Letter-Space Platforms Adrian Vasile Dalca , 2010 – Machine Learning for healthcare – Harvard Assistant Professor & MIT Research Scientist –  direct link to Adrian’s machine learning academic CV

Identification of a Writer’s Native Language by Error Analysis Ekaterina Kochmar , 2011 – Computer Science – University of Bath Lecturer Assistant Prof –  direct link to Ekaterina’s computer science academic CV

On the economic optimality of marine reserves when fishing damages habitat Holly Moeller , 2010 – Ecology & Marine Biology – UC Santa Barbara Assistant Professor –  direct link to Holly’s marine biology academic CV

Sensitivity Studies for the Time-Dependent CP Violation Measurement in B 0 → K S K S K S at the Belle II-Experiment Paul Jager , 2016 – Medical Imaging – DKFZ Head of ML Research Group –  direct link to Paul’s machine learning academic CV

PhD thesis title examples

Spatio-temporal analysis of three-dimensional real-time ultrasound for quantification of ventricular function Esla Angelini  – Medicine – Imperial Senior Data Scientist –  direct link to Elsa’s medicine academic CV

The role and maintenance of diversity in a multi-partner mutualism: Trees and Ectomycorrhizal Fungi Holly Moeller , 2015 – Ecology & Marine Biology – UC Santa Barbara Assistant Professor –  direct link to Holly’s marine biology academic CV

Bayesian Gaussian processes for sequential prediction, optimisation and quadrature Michael Osborne , 2010 – Machine Learning – Oxford Full Professor –  direct link to Michael’s machine learning academic CV

Global analysis and synthesis of oscillations: a dissipativity approach Guy-Bart Stan , 2005 – Bioengineering – Imperial Professor –  direct link to Guy-Bart’s bioengineering academic CV

Coarse-grained modelling of DNA and DNA self-assembly Thomas Ouldridge , 2011– Bioengineering – Imperial College London Senior Lecturer / Associate Prof –  direct link to Thomas’ bioengineering academic CV

4D tomographic image reconstruction and parametric maps estimation: a model-based strategy for algorithm design using Bayesian inference in Probabilistic Graphical Models (PGM) Michele Scipioni , 2018– Biomedical Engineer – Harvard Postdoctoral Research Fellow –  direct link to Michele’s biomedical engineer academic CV

Error Detection in Content Word Combinations Ekaterina Kochmar , 2016 – Computer Science – University of Bath Lecturer Assistant Prof –  direct link to Ekaterina’s computer science academic CV

Genetic, Clinical and Population Priors for Brain Images Adrian Vasile Dalca , 2016 – Machine Learning for healthcare – Harvard Assistant Professor & MIT Research Scientist –  direct link to Adrian’s machine learning academic CV

Challenges and Opportunities of End-to-End Learning in Medical Image Classification Paul Jager , 2020 – Medical Imaging – DKFZ Head of ML Research Group –  direct link to Paul’s machine learning academic CV

K 2 NiF 4  materials as cathodes for intermediate temperature solid oxide fuel cells Ainara Aguadero , 2006 – Materials Science – Imperial Reader –  direct link to Ainara’s materials science academic CV

Applications of surface plasmons – microscopy and spatial light modulation Eric Yeatman , 1989 – Electronics – Imperial Professor and Head of Department –  direct link to Eric’s electronics academic CV

Geometric Algorithms for Objects in Motion Sorelle Friedler , 2010 – Computer science – Haverford College Associate Professor –  direct link to Sorelle’s computer science academic CV .

Geometrical models, constraints design, information extraction for pathological and healthy medical image Esla Angelini  – Medicine – Imperial Senior Data Scientist –  direct link to Elsa’s medicine academic CV

Why I regret my own choice of PhD thesis title

I should say from the outset that I assembled my thesis in quite a short space of time compared to most people. So I didn’t really spend particularly long on any one section, including the title.

However, my main supervisor even spelled out for me that once the title was submitted to the university it would be permanent. In other words: think wisely about your title.

What I started with

Initially I drafted the title as something like: Three dimensional correlative imaging for cartilage regeneration . Which I thought was nice, catchy and descriptive.

I decided to go for “correlative imaging” because, not only did it describe the experiments well, but it also sounded kind of technical and fitting of a potential pivot into AI. I’m pleased with that bit of the title.

What I ended up with

Before submitting the title to the university (required ahead of the viva), I asked my supervisors for their thoughts.

One of my well intentioned supervisors suggested that, given that my project didn’t involve verifying regenerative quality, I probably shouldn’t state cartilage regeneration . Instead, they suggested, I should state what I was experimenting on (the materials) rather than the overall goal of the research (aid cartilage regeneration efforts).

With this advice I dialled back my choice of wording and the thesis title I went with was:

Three dimensional correlative imaging for measurement of strain in cartilage and cartilage replacement materials

Reading it back now I’m reminder about how less I like it than my initial idea!

I put up basically no resistance to the supervisor’s choice, even though the title sounds so much more boring in my opinion. I just didn’t think much of it at the time. Furthermore, most of my PhD was actually in a technique which is four dimensional (looking at a series of 3D scans over time, hence 4D) which would have sounded way more sciency and fitting of a PhD.

What I wish I’d gone with

If I had the choice again, I’d have gone with:

Four-dimensional correlative imaging for cartilage regeneration

Which, would you believe it, is exactly what it states on my CV…

Does the thesis title really matter?

In all honesty, your choice of thesis title isn’t that important. If you come to regret it, as I do, it’s not the end of the world. There are much more important things in life to worry about.

If you decide at a later stage that you don’t like it you can always describe it in a way that you prefer. For instance, in my CV I describe my PhD as I’d have liked the title to be. I make no claim that it’s actually the title so consider it a bit of creative license.

Given that as your career progresses you may not even refer back to your thesis much, it’s really not worth stressing over. However, if you’re yet to finalise your thesis title I do still think it is worth a bit of thought and hopefully this article has provided some insights into how to choose a good thesis title.

My advice for developing a thesis title

• Draft the title early. Drafting it early can help give clarity for the overall message of your research. For instance, while you’re assembling the rest of your thesis you can check that the title encompasses the research chapters you’re included, and likewise that the research experiments you’re including fall within what the title describes. Drafting it early also gives more time you to think it over. As with everything: having a first draft is really important to iterate on.
• Look at some example titles . Such as those featured above!
• If you’re not sure about your title, ask a few other people what they think . But remember that you have the final say!

I hope this post has been useful for those of you are finalising your thesis and need to decide on a thesis title. If you’ve enjoyed this article and would like to hear about future content (and gain access to my free resource library!) you can subscribe for free here:

Share this:

• Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)

Related Posts

Minor Corrections: How To Make Them and Succeed With Your PhD Thesis

2nd June 2024 2nd June 2024

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Notify me of follow-up comments by email.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed .

Privacy Overview

How To Write A Dissertation Or Thesis

8 straightforward steps to craft an a-grade dissertation.

By: Derek Jansen (MBA) Expert Reviewed By: Dr Eunice Rautenbach | June 2020

Writing a dissertation or thesis is not a simple task. It takes time, energy and a lot of will power to get you across the finish line. It’s not easy – but it doesn’t necessarily need to be a painful process. If you understand the big-picture process of how to write a dissertation or thesis, your research journey will be a lot smoother.  

In this post, I’m going to outline the big-picture process of how to write a high-quality dissertation or thesis, without losing your mind along the way. If you’re just starting your research, this post is perfect for you. Alternatively, if you’ve already submitted your proposal, this article which covers how to structure a dissertation might be more helpful.

How To Write A Dissertation: 8 Steps

• Clearly understand what a dissertation (or thesis) is
• Find a unique and valuable research topic
• Craft a convincing research proposal
• Write up a strong introduction chapter
• Review the existing literature and compile a literature review
• Design a rigorous research strategy and undertake your own research
• Present the findings of your research
• Draw a conclusion and discuss the implications

Step 1: Understand exactly what a dissertation is

This probably sounds like a no-brainer, but all too often, students come to us for help with their research and the underlying issue is that they don’t fully understand what a dissertation (or thesis) actually is.

So, what is a dissertation?

At its simplest, a dissertation or thesis is a formal piece of research , reflecting the standard research process . But what is the standard research process, you ask? The research process involves 4 key steps:

• Ask a very specific, well-articulated question (s) (your research topic)
• See what other researchers have said about it (if they’ve already answered it)
• If they haven’t answered it adequately, undertake your own data collection and analysis in a scientifically rigorous fashion
• Answer your original question(s), based on your analysis findings

In short, the research process is simply about asking and answering questions in a systematic fashion . This probably sounds pretty obvious, but people often think they’ve done “research”, when in fact what they have done is:

• Started with a vague, poorly articulated question
• Not taken the time to see what research has already been done regarding the question
• Collected data and opinions that support their gut and undertaken a flimsy analysis
• Drawn a shaky conclusion, based on that analysis

If you want to see the perfect example of this in action, look out for the next Facebook post where someone claims they’ve done “research”… All too often, people consider reading a few blog posts to constitute research. Its no surprise then that what they end up with is an opinion piece, not research. Okay, okay – I’ll climb off my soapbox now.

The key takeaway here is that a dissertation (or thesis) is a formal piece of research, reflecting the research process. It’s not an opinion piece , nor a place to push your agenda or try to convince someone of your position. Writing a good dissertation involves asking a question and taking a systematic, rigorous approach to answering it.

If you understand this and are comfortable leaving your opinions or preconceived ideas at the door, you’re already off to a good start!

Step 2: Find a unique, valuable research topic

As we saw, the first step of the research process is to ask a specific, well-articulated question. In other words, you need to find a research topic that asks a specific question or set of questions (these are called research questions ). Sounds easy enough, right? All you’ve got to do is identify a question or two and you’ve got a winning research topic. Well, not quite…

A good dissertation or thesis topic has a few important attributes. Specifically, a solid research topic should be:

Let’s take a closer look at these:

Attribute #1: Clear

Your research topic needs to be crystal clear about what you’re planning to research, what you want to know, and within what context. There shouldn’t be any ambiguity or vagueness about what you’ll research.

Here’s an example of a clearly articulated research topic:

An analysis of consumer-based factors influencing organisational trust in British low-cost online equity brokerage firms.

As you can see in the example, its crystal clear what will be analysed (factors impacting organisational trust), amongst who (consumers) and in what context (British low-cost equity brokerage firms, based online).

Need a helping hand?

Attribute #2:   Unique

Your research should be asking a question(s) that hasn’t been asked before, or that hasn’t been asked in a specific context (for example, in a specific country or industry).

For example, sticking organisational trust topic above, it’s quite likely that organisational trust factors in the UK have been investigated before, but the context (online low-cost equity brokerages) could make this research unique. Therefore, the context makes this research original.

One caveat when using context as the basis for originality – you need to have a good reason to suspect that your findings in this context might be different from the existing research – otherwise, there’s no reason to warrant researching it.

Attribute #3: Important

Simply asking a unique or original question is not enough – the question needs to create value. In other words, successfully answering your research questions should provide some value to the field of research or the industry. You can’t research something just to satisfy your curiosity. It needs to make some form of contribution either to research or industry.

For example, researching the factors influencing consumer trust would create value by enabling businesses to tailor their operations and marketing to leverage factors that promote trust. In other words, it would have a clear benefit to industry.

So, how do you go about finding a unique and valuable research topic? We explain that in detail in this video post – How To Find A Research Topic . Yeah, we’ve got you covered 😊

Step 3: Write a convincing research proposal

Once you’ve pinned down a high-quality research topic, the next step is to convince your university to let you research it. No matter how awesome you think your topic is, it still needs to get the rubber stamp before you can move forward with your research. The research proposal is the tool you’ll use for this job.

So, what’s in a research proposal?

The main “job” of a research proposal is to convince your university, advisor or committee that your research topic is worthy of approval. But convince them of what? Well, this varies from university to university, but generally, they want to see that:

• You have a clearly articulated, unique and important topic (this might sound familiar…)
• You’ve done some initial reading of the existing literature relevant to your topic (i.e. a literature review)
• You have a provisional plan in terms of how you will collect data and analyse it (i.e. a methodology)

At the proposal stage, it’s (generally) not expected that you’ve extensively reviewed the existing literature , but you will need to show that you’ve done enough reading to identify a clear gap for original (unique) research. Similarly, they generally don’t expect that you have a rock-solid research methodology mapped out, but you should have an idea of whether you’ll be undertaking qualitative or quantitative analysis , and how you’ll collect your data (we’ll discuss this in more detail later).

Long story short – don’t stress about having every detail of your research meticulously thought out at the proposal stage – this will develop as you progress through your research. However, you do need to show that you’ve “done your homework” and that your research is worthy of approval .

So, how do you go about crafting a high-quality, convincing proposal? We cover that in detail in this video post – How To Write A Top-Class Research Proposal . We’ve also got a video walkthrough of two proposal examples here .

Step 4: Craft a strong introduction chapter

Once your proposal’s been approved, its time to get writing your actual dissertation or thesis! The good news is that if you put the time into crafting a high-quality proposal, you’ve already got a head start on your first three chapters – introduction, literature review and methodology – as you can use your proposal as the basis for these.

Handy sidenote – our free dissertation & thesis template is a great way to speed up your dissertation writing journey.

What’s the introduction chapter all about?

The purpose of the introduction chapter is to set the scene for your research (dare I say, to introduce it…) so that the reader understands what you’ll be researching and why it’s important. In other words, it covers the same ground as the research proposal in that it justifies your research topic.

What goes into the introduction chapter?

This can vary slightly between universities and degrees, but generally, the introduction chapter will include the following:

• A brief background to the study, explaining the overall area of research
• A problem statement , explaining what the problem is with the current state of research (in other words, where the knowledge gap exists)
• Your research questions – in other words, the specific questions your study will seek to answer (based on the knowledge gap)
• The significance of your study – in other words, why it’s important and how its findings will be useful in the world

As you can see, this all about explaining the “what” and the “why” of your research (as opposed to the “how”). So, your introduction chapter is basically the salesman of your study, “selling” your research to the first-time reader and (hopefully) getting them interested to read more.

How do I write the introduction chapter, you ask? We cover that in detail in this post .

Step 5: Undertake an in-depth literature review

As I mentioned earlier, you’ll need to do some initial review of the literature in Steps 2 and 3 to find your research gap and craft a convincing research proposal – but that’s just scratching the surface. Once you reach the literature review stage of your dissertation or thesis, you need to dig a lot deeper into the existing research and write up a comprehensive literature review chapter.

What’s the literature review all about?

There are two main stages in the literature review process:

Literature Review Step 1: Reading up

The first stage is for you to deep dive into the existing literature (journal articles, textbook chapters, industry reports, etc) to gain an in-depth understanding of the current state of research regarding your topic. While you don’t need to read every single article, you do need to ensure that you cover all literature that is related to your core research questions, and create a comprehensive catalogue of that literature , which you’ll use in the next step.

Reading and digesting all the relevant literature is a time consuming and intellectually demanding process. Many students underestimate just how much work goes into this step, so make sure that you allocate a good amount of time for this when planning out your research. Thankfully, there are ways to fast track the process – be sure to check out this article covering how to read journal articles quickly .

Literature Review Step 2: Writing up

Once you’ve worked through the literature and digested it all, you’ll need to write up your literature review chapter. Many students make the mistake of thinking that the literature review chapter is simply a summary of what other researchers have said. While this is partly true, a literature review is much more than just a summary. To pull off a good literature review chapter, you’ll need to achieve at least 3 things:

• You need to synthesise the existing research , not just summarise it. In other words, you need to show how different pieces of theory fit together, what’s agreed on by researchers, what’s not.
• You need to highlight a research gap that your research is going to fill. In other words, you’ve got to outline the problem so that your research topic can provide a solution.
• You need to use the existing research to inform your methodology and approach to your own research design. For example, you might use questions or Likert scales from previous studies in your your own survey design .

As you can see, a good literature review is more than just a summary of the published research. It’s the foundation on which your own research is built, so it deserves a lot of love and attention. Take the time to craft a comprehensive literature review with a suitable structure .

But, how do I actually write the literature review chapter, you ask? We cover that in detail in this video post .

Step 6: Carry out your own research

Once you’ve completed your literature review and have a sound understanding of the existing research, its time to develop your own research (finally!). You’ll design this research specifically so that you can find the answers to your unique research question.

There are two steps here – designing your research strategy and executing on it:

1 – Design your research strategy

The first step is to design your research strategy and craft a methodology chapter . I won’t get into the technicalities of the methodology chapter here, but in simple terms, this chapter is about explaining the “how” of your research. If you recall, the introduction and literature review chapters discussed the “what” and the “why”, so it makes sense that the next point to cover is the “how” –that’s what the methodology chapter is all about.

In this section, you’ll need to make firm decisions about your research design. This includes things like:

• Your research philosophy (e.g. positivism or interpretivism )
• Your overall methodology (e.g. qualitative , quantitative or mixed methods)
• Your data collection strategy (e.g. interviews , focus groups, surveys)
• Your data analysis strategy (e.g. content analysis , correlation analysis, regression)

If these words have got your head spinning, don’t worry! We’ll explain these in plain language in other posts. It’s not essential that you understand the intricacies of research design (yet!). The key takeaway here is that you’ll need to make decisions about how you’ll design your own research, and you’ll need to describe (and justify) your decisions in your methodology chapter.

2 – Execute: Collect and analyse your data

Once you’ve worked out your research design, you’ll put it into action and start collecting your data. This might mean undertaking interviews, hosting an online survey or any other data collection method. Data collection can take quite a bit of time (especially if you host in-person interviews), so be sure to factor sufficient time into your project plan for this. Oftentimes, things don’t go 100% to plan (for example, you don’t get as many survey responses as you hoped for), so bake a little extra time into your budget here.

Once you’ve collected your data, you’ll need to do some data preparation before you can sink your teeth into the analysis. For example:

• If you carry out interviews or focus groups, you’ll need to transcribe your audio data to text (i.e. a Word document).
• If you collect quantitative survey data, you’ll need to clean up your data and get it into the right format for whichever analysis software you use (for example, SPSS, R or STATA).

Once you’ve completed your data prep, you’ll undertake your analysis, using the techniques that you described in your methodology. Depending on what you find in your analysis, you might also do some additional forms of analysis that you hadn’t planned for. For example, you might see something in the data that raises new questions or that requires clarification with further analysis.

The type(s) of analysis that you’ll use depend entirely on the nature of your research and your research questions. For example:

• If your research if exploratory in nature, you’ll often use qualitative analysis techniques .
• If your research is confirmatory in nature, you’ll often use quantitative analysis techniques
• If your research involves a mix of both, you might use a mixed methods approach

Again, if these words have got your head spinning, don’t worry! We’ll explain these concepts and techniques in other posts. The key takeaway is simply that there’s no “one size fits all” for research design and methodology – it all depends on your topic, your research questions and your data. So, don’t be surprised if your study colleagues take a completely different approach to yours.

Step 7: Present your findings

Once you’ve completed your analysis, it’s time to present your findings (finally!). In a dissertation or thesis, you’ll typically present your findings in two chapters – the results chapter and the discussion chapter .

What’s the difference between the results chapter and the discussion chapter?

While these two chapters are similar, the results chapter generally just presents the processed data neatly and clearly without interpretation, while the discussion chapter explains the story the data are telling  – in other words, it provides your interpretation of the results.

For example, if you were researching the factors that influence consumer trust, you might have used a quantitative approach to identify the relationship between potential factors (e.g. perceived integrity and competence of the organisation) and consumer trust. In this case:

• Your results chapter would just present the results of the statistical tests. For example, correlation results or differences between groups. In other words, the processed numbers.
• Your discussion chapter would explain what the numbers mean in relation to your research question(s). For example, Factor 1 has a weak relationship with consumer trust, while Factor 2 has a strong relationship.

Depending on the university and degree, these two chapters (results and discussion) are sometimes merged into one , so be sure to check with your institution what their preference is. Regardless of the chapter structure, this section is about presenting the findings of your research in a clear, easy to understand fashion.

Importantly, your discussion here needs to link back to your research questions (which you outlined in the introduction or literature review chapter). In other words, it needs to answer the key questions you asked (or at least attempt to answer them).

For example, if we look at the sample research topic:

In this case, the discussion section would clearly outline which factors seem to have a noteworthy influence on organisational trust. By doing so, they are answering the overarching question and fulfilling the purpose of the research .

For more information about the results chapter , check out this post for qualitative studies and this post for quantitative studies .

Step 8: The Final Step Draw a conclusion and discuss the implications

Last but not least, you’ll need to wrap up your research with the conclusion chapter . In this chapter, you’ll bring your research full circle by highlighting the key findings of your study and explaining what the implications of these findings are.

What exactly are key findings? The key findings are those findings which directly relate to your original research questions and overall research objectives (which you discussed in your introduction chapter). The implications, on the other hand, explain what your findings mean for industry, or for research in your area.

Sticking with the consumer trust topic example, the conclusion might look something like this:

Key findings

This study set out to identify which factors influence consumer-based trust in British low-cost online equity brokerage firms. The results suggest that the following factors have a large impact on consumer trust:

While the following factors have a very limited impact on consumer trust:

Notably, within the 25-30 age groups, Factors E had a noticeably larger impact, which may be explained by…

Implications

The findings having noteworthy implications for British low-cost online equity brokers. Specifically:

The large impact of Factors X and Y implies that brokers need to consider….

The limited impact of Factor E implies that brokers need to…

As you can see, the conclusion chapter is basically explaining the “what” (what your study found) and the “so what?” (what the findings mean for the industry or research). This brings the study full circle and closes off the document.

Let’s recap – how to write a dissertation or thesis

You’re still with me? Impressive! I know that this post was a long one, but hopefully you’ve learnt a thing or two about how to write a dissertation or thesis, and are now better equipped to start your own research.

To recap, the 8 steps to writing a quality dissertation (or thesis) are as follows:

• Understand what a dissertation (or thesis) is – a research project that follows the research process.
• Find a unique (original) and important research topic
• Craft a convincing dissertation or thesis research proposal
• Write a clear, compelling introduction chapter
• Undertake a thorough review of the existing research and write up a literature review
• Undertake your own research
• Present and interpret your findings

Once you’ve wrapped up the core chapters, all that’s typically left is the abstract , reference list and appendices. As always, be sure to check with your university if they have any additional requirements in terms of structure or content.  

Psst... there’s more!

This post was based on one of our popular Research Bootcamps . If you're working on a research project, you'll definitely want to check this out ...

20 Comments

thankfull >>>this is very useful

Thank you, it was really helpful

unquestionably, this amazing simplified way of teaching. Really , I couldn’t find in the literature words that fully explicit my great thanks to you. However, I could only say thanks a-lot.

Great to hear that – thanks for the feedback. Good luck writing your dissertation/thesis.

This is the most comprehensive explanation of how to write a dissertation. Many thanks for sharing it free of charge.

Very rich presentation. Thank you

Thanks Derek Jansen|GRADCOACH, I find it very useful guide to arrange my activities and proceed to research!

Thank you so much for such a marvelous teaching .I am so convinced that am going to write a comprehensive and a distinct masters dissertation

It is an amazing comprehensive explanation

This was straightforward. Thank you!

I can say that your explanations are simple and enlightening – understanding what you have done here is easy for me. Could you write more about the different types of research methods specific to the three methodologies: quan, qual and MM. I look forward to interacting with this website more in the future.

Thanks for the feedback and suggestions 🙂

Hello, your write ups is quite educative. However, l have challenges in going about my research questions which is below; *Building the enablers of organisational growth through effective governance and purposeful leadership.*

Very educating.

Just listening to the name of the dissertation makes the student nervous. As writing a top-quality dissertation is a difficult task as it is a lengthy topic, requires a lot of research and understanding and is usually around 10,000 to 15000 words. Sometimes due to studies, unbalanced workload or lack of research and writing skill students look for dissertation submission from professional writers.

Thank you 💕😊 very much. I was confused but your comprehensive explanation has cleared my doubts of ever presenting a good thesis. Thank you.

thank you so much, that was so useful

Hi. Where is the excel spread sheet ark?

could you please help me look at your thesis paper to enable me to do the portion that has to do with the specification

my topic is “the impact of domestic revenue mobilization.

Submit a Comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

• Print Friendly

Stack Exchange Network

Stack Exchange network consists of 183 Q&A communities including Stack Overflow , the largest, most trusted online community for developers to learn, share their knowledge, and build their careers.

Q&A for work

Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search.

Can dissertation be included in publication part in CV

In my CV, I include my dissertation topic within my education part like this:

However, I also see some people include their dissertation in publication part even though it's not published publicly. So, I wonder if doing that is acceptable and advisable.

• publications

5 Answers 5

I think it is best to put your dissertation under its own heading "Dissertation". Even though this wastes a little space it makes the thesis easily identifiable. The value of a dissertation will diminish with time after the PhD so you can change its location later you want to conserve space. But, particularly in your early career many want to be able to clearly see what you wrote up for your thesis work.

• But what is the advantage of separating dissertations into 1 section instead of including them as a part of education history? –  Long Thai Commented Apr 3, 2013 at 20:07
• 1 @LongThai Ok, if you list your bachelors thesis, masters thesis or equivalent then that would make perfect sense as you say. I was not considering listing anything pre-PhD other than as degrees in the educational part of the CV. Any way would be good as long as he thesis is easily found. I would also add that a PhD thesis is usualy what counts afer the PhD. I doubt many would look for any thesis of a lower degree. –  Peter Jansson Commented Apr 3, 2013 at 20:10
• @PeterJansson: does that apply generally or only in specific fields (e.g.: computer science, mathematics)? I wonder if this also applies to social science and humanities. –  deathlock Commented May 1, 2013 at 23:44

I argue for including the dissertation explicitly as a publication item , preferably in a separate section "Theses", or "Theses, technical reports and pre-prints" (including other theses, such as master thesis, if publicly available). Of course the solution also marginally depends on the habits and regulations of the country where you completed the thesis. In countries like Germany, a dissertation thesis is required to be submitted to the university library, subsequently it is catalogued by the German National Library ( Dissonline section ) and receives an ISBN, hence it can be treated as a proper publication. As far as I know, also in the Netherlands, dissertations are published as books with proper ISBN assigned, hence proper archival publications too. In the past (not sure about current situation) some other countries, such as Slovakia, even master theses were required to be archived and made publicly available on request by the university libraries.

• Rather interesting. Did not know this ISBN issue in Germany. In Austria, a dissertation has to be submitted to the university library (after grading) and it will be catalogued in prior (during submission to the educational institute) (but without an ISBN afaik). media.obvsg.at/dissdb –  mnemonic Commented Apr 6, 2013 at 14:17

Some people publish their theses as part of a monograph series. In that case, it could appear under "books," but should still be identified as the PhD thesis.

In other circumstances, I would not include it under "Publications," but instead list it more or less as you suggest. (Under "Dissertation Topic" as part of "Education.")

I think your method (thesis title in the education section) is the standard one. Though I notice your example doesn't have the advisor's name, which should be there too. If the thesis was published separately as a monograph, or several articles, I would still list the thesis title in the education section as well as the papers/monographs in the publication section.

yes, you can include it & you should include it because many persons would be eager to see an information regarding your dissertation. btw If you are using LaTeX to write your cv, BibTeX provides an entry regarding dissertations - phdthesis. when having an ISBN, then you can use the (BibTeX) book entry and your publication part. without an ISBN, use (BibTeX) phdthesis entry within the education area of your cv which was proposed in another prior answer.

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for browse other questions tagged publications cv thesis ..

• Featured on Meta
• Bringing clarity to status tag usage on meta sites
• We've made changes to our Terms of Service & Privacy Policy - July 2024
• Announcing a change to the data-dump process

Hot Network Questions

• Inconsistent “unzip -l … | grep -q …” results with pipefail
• Implementing SHAKE using SHA3
• Uppercase “God” in translations of Greek plays
• High CPU usage by process with obfuscated name on Linux server – Potential attack?
• Resonance structure of aromatic [S4N4]2+
• Antenna speed: slow and fast tracking( explanation of a parameter in comparison table)
• Why does Russia strike electric power in Ukraine?
• Why did Groves evade Robert Oppenheimer's question here?
• Why half in Lagrangian density of Klein-Gordon field?
• Melee Opportunist--making opportunity attacks have some bite for melee characters
• Can my players use both 5e-2014 and 5e-2024 characters in the same adventure?
• Enable all snapping types in QGIS using Python
• Did US troops insist on segregation in British pubs?
• How does current in the cable shield affect the signal in the wires within
• using a tikz foreach loop inside a newcommand
• Seth and Cain take turns picking numbers from 1 to 50. Who wins?
• Why, if gravity were higher, would designing a fully reusable rocket be impossible?
• Lucas number multiples of Fibonacci pairs
• Is there any video of an air-to-air missile shooting down an aircraft?
• How to ensure a BSD licensed open source project is not closed in the future?
• Flight left while checked in passenger queued for boarding
• How can I draw water level in a cylinder like this?
• Submitting a paper as a nonacademic practitioner in a field
• There are at least 3 versions of a quote, with 2 having different attributions. What is the original, who said it, and what does the quote mean?

Have a language expert improve your writing

Run a free plagiarism check in 10 minutes, generate accurate citations for free.

• Knowledge Base
• Dissertation

What Is a Dissertation? | Guide, Examples, & Template

A dissertation is a long-form piece of academic writing based on original research conducted by you. It is usually submitted as the final step in order to finish a PhD program.

Your dissertation is probably the longest piece of writing you’ve ever completed. It requires solid research, writing, and analysis skills, and it can be intimidating to know where to begin.

Your department likely has guidelines related to how your dissertation should be structured. When in doubt, consult with your supervisor.

You can also download our full dissertation template in the format of your choice below. The template includes a ready-made table of contents with notes on what to include in each chapter, easily adaptable to your department’s requirements.

Download Word template Download Google Docs template

• In the US, a dissertation generally refers to the collection of research you conducted to obtain a PhD.
• In other countries (such as the UK), a dissertation often refers to the research you conduct to obtain your bachelor’s or master’s degree.

Instantly correct all language mistakes in your text

Upload your document to correct all your mistakes in minutes

Table of contents

Dissertation committee and prospectus process, how to write and structure a dissertation, acknowledgements or preface, list of figures and tables, list of abbreviations, introduction, literature review, methodology, reference list, proofreading and editing, defending your dissertation, free checklist and lecture slides.

When you’ve finished your coursework, as well as any comprehensive exams or other requirements, you advance to “ABD” (All But Dissertation) status. This means you’ve completed everything except your dissertation.

Prior to starting to write, you must form your committee and write your prospectus or proposal . Your committee comprises your adviser and a few other faculty members. They can be from your own department, or, if your work is more interdisciplinary, from other departments. Your committee will guide you through the dissertation process, and ultimately decide whether you pass your dissertation defense and receive your PhD.

Your prospectus is a formal document presented to your committee, usually orally in a defense, outlining your research aims and objectives and showing why your topic is relevant . After passing your prospectus defense, you’re ready to start your research and writing.

Don't submit your assignments before you do this

The academic proofreading tool has been trained on 1000s of academic texts. Making it the most accurate and reliable proofreading tool for students. Free citation check included.

Try for free

The structure of your dissertation depends on a variety of factors, such as your discipline, topic, and approach. Dissertations in the humanities are often structured more like a long essay , building an overall argument to support a central thesis , with chapters organized around different themes or case studies.

However, hard science and social science dissertations typically include a review of existing works, a methodology section, an analysis of your original research, and a presentation of your results , presented in different chapters.

Dissertation examples

We’ve compiled a list of dissertation examples to help you get started.

• Example dissertation #1: Heat, Wildfire and Energy Demand: An Examination of Residential Buildings and Community Equity (a dissertation by C. A. Antonopoulos about the impact of extreme heat and wildfire on residential buildings and occupant exposure risks).
• Example dissertation #2: Exploring Income Volatility and Financial Health Among Middle-Income Households (a dissertation by M. Addo about income volatility and declining economic security among middle-income households).
• Example dissertation #3: The Use of Mindfulness Meditation to Increase the Efficacy of Mirror Visual Feedback for Reducing Phantom Limb Pain in Amputees (a dissertation by N. S. Mills about the effect of mindfulness-based interventions on the relationship between mirror visual feedback and the pain level in amputees with phantom limb pain).

The very first page of your document contains your dissertation title, your name, department, institution, degree program, and submission date. Sometimes it also includes your student number, your supervisor’s name, and the university’s logo.

Read more about title pages

The acknowledgements section is usually optional and gives space for you to thank everyone who helped you in writing your dissertation. This might include your supervisors, participants in your research, and friends or family who supported you. In some cases, your acknowledgements are part of a preface.

Read more about acknowledgements Read more about prefaces

The abstract is a short summary of your dissertation, usually about 150 to 300 words long. Though this may seem very short, it’s one of the most important parts of your dissertation, because it introduces your work to your audience.

Your abstract should:

• State your main topic and the aims of your research
• Describe your methods
• Summarize your main results
• State your conclusions

Read more about abstracts

The table of contents lists all of your chapters, along with corresponding subheadings and page numbers. This gives your reader an overview of your structure and helps them easily navigate your document.

Remember to include all main parts of your dissertation in your table of contents, even the appendices. It’s easy to generate a table automatically in Word if you used heading styles. Generally speaking, you only include level 2 and level 3 headings, not every subheading you included in your finished work.

Read more about tables of contents

While not usually mandatory, it’s nice to include a list of figures and tables to help guide your reader if you have used a lot of these in your dissertation. It’s easy to generate one of these in Word using the Insert Caption feature.

Read more about lists of figures and tables

Similarly, if you have used a lot of abbreviations (especially industry-specific ones) in your dissertation, you can include them in an alphabetized list of abbreviations so that the reader can easily look up their meanings.

Read more about lists of abbreviations

In addition to the list of abbreviations, if you find yourself using a lot of highly specialized terms that you worry will not be familiar to your reader, consider including a glossary. Here, alphabetize the terms and include a brief description or definition.

Read more about glossaries

The introduction serves to set up your dissertation’s topic, purpose, and relevance. It tells the reader what to expect in the rest of your dissertation. The introduction should:

• Establish your research topic , giving the background information needed to contextualize your work
• Narrow down the focus and define the scope of your research
• Discuss the state of existing research on the topic, showing your work’s relevance to a broader problem or debate
• Clearly state your research questions and objectives
• Outline the flow of the rest of your work

Everything in the introduction should be clear, engaging, and relevant. By the end, the reader should understand the what, why, and how of your research.

Read more about introductions

A formative part of your research is your literature review . This helps you gain a thorough understanding of the academic work that already exists on your topic.

Literature reviews encompass:

• Finding relevant sources (e.g., books and journal articles)
• Assessing the credibility of your sources
• Critically analyzing and evaluating each source
• Drawing connections between them (e.g., themes, patterns, conflicts, or gaps) to strengthen your overall point

A literature review is not merely a summary of existing sources. Your literature review should have a coherent structure and argument that leads to a clear justification for your own research. It may aim to:

• Address a gap in the literature or build on existing knowledge
• Take a new theoretical or methodological approach to your topic
• Propose a solution to an unresolved problem or advance one side of a theoretical debate

Read more about literature reviews

Theoretical framework

Your literature review can often form the basis for your theoretical framework. Here, you define and analyze the key theories, concepts, and models that frame your research.

Read more about theoretical frameworks

Your methodology chapter describes how you conducted your research, allowing your reader to critically assess its credibility. Your methodology section should accurately report what you did, as well as convince your reader that this was the best way to answer your research question.

A methodology section should generally include:

• The overall research approach ( quantitative vs. qualitative ) and research methods (e.g., a longitudinal study )
• Your data collection methods (e.g., interviews or a controlled experiment )
• Details of where, when, and with whom the research took place
• Any tools and materials you used (e.g., computer programs, lab equipment)
• Your data analysis methods (e.g., statistical analysis , discourse analysis )
• An evaluation or justification of your methods

Read more about methodology sections

Your results section should highlight what your methodology discovered. You can structure this section around sub-questions, hypotheses , or themes, but avoid including any subjective or speculative interpretation here.

Your results section should:

• Concisely state each relevant result together with relevant descriptive statistics (e.g., mean , standard deviation ) and inferential statistics (e.g., test statistics , p values )
• Briefly state how the result relates to the question or whether the hypothesis was supported
• Report all results that are relevant to your research questions , including any that did not meet your expectations.

Additional data (including raw numbers, full questionnaires, or interview transcripts) can be included as an appendix. You can include tables and figures, but only if they help the reader better understand your results. Read more about results sections

Your discussion section is your opportunity to explore the meaning and implications of your results in relation to your research question. Here, interpret your results in detail, discussing whether they met your expectations and how well they fit with the framework that you built in earlier chapters. Refer back to relevant source material to show how your results fit within existing research in your field.

Some guiding questions include:

• What do your results mean?
• Why do your results matter?
• What limitations do the results have?

If any of the results were unexpected, offer explanations for why this might be. It’s a good idea to consider alternative interpretations of your data.

Read more about discussion sections

Your dissertation’s conclusion should concisely answer your main research question, leaving your reader with a clear understanding of your central argument and emphasizing what your research has contributed to the field.

In some disciplines, the conclusion is just a short section preceding the discussion section, but in other contexts, it is the final chapter of your work. Here, you wrap up your dissertation with a final reflection on what you found, with recommendations for future research and concluding remarks.

It’s important to leave the reader with a clear impression of why your research matters. What have you added to what was already known? Why is your research necessary for the future of your field?

Read more about conclusions

It is crucial to include a reference list or list of works cited with the full details of all the sources that you used, in order to avoid plagiarism. Be sure to choose one citation style and follow it consistently throughout your dissertation. Each style has strict and specific formatting requirements.

Common styles include MLA , Chicago , and APA , but which style you use is often set by your department or your field.

Create APA citations Create MLA citations

Your dissertation should contain only essential information that directly contributes to answering your research question. Documents such as interview transcripts or survey questions can be added as appendices, rather than adding them to the main body.

Read more about appendices

Making sure that all of your sections are in the right place is only the first step to a well-written dissertation. Don’t forget to leave plenty of time for editing and proofreading, as grammar mistakes and sloppy spelling errors can really negatively impact your work.

Dissertations can take up to five years to write, so you will definitely want to make sure that everything is perfect before submitting. You may want to consider using a professional dissertation editing service , AI proofreader or grammar checker to make sure your final project is perfect prior to submitting.

After your written dissertation is approved, your committee will schedule a defense. Similarly to defending your prospectus, dissertation defenses are oral presentations of your work. You’ll present your dissertation, and your committee will ask you questions. Many departments allow family members, friends, and other people who are interested to join as well.

After your defense, your committee will meet, and then inform you whether you have passed. Keep in mind that defenses are usually just a formality; most committees will have resolved any serious issues with your work with you far prior to your defense, giving you ample time to fix any problems.

As you write your dissertation, you can use this simple checklist to make sure you’ve included all the essentials.

Checklist: Dissertation

My title page includes all information required by my university.

I have included acknowledgements thanking those who helped me.

My abstract provides a concise summary of the dissertation, giving the reader a clear idea of my key results or arguments.

I have created a table of contents to help the reader navigate my dissertation. It includes all chapter titles, but excludes the title page, acknowledgements, and abstract.

My introduction leads into my topic in an engaging way and shows the relevance of my research.

My introduction clearly defines the focus of my research, stating my research questions and research objectives .

My introduction includes an overview of the dissertation’s structure (reading guide).

I have conducted a literature review in which I (1) critically engage with sources, evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of existing research, (2) discuss patterns, themes, and debates in the literature, and (3) address a gap or show how my research contributes to existing research.

I have clearly outlined the theoretical framework of my research, explaining the theories and models that support my approach.

I have thoroughly described my methodology , explaining how I collected data and analyzed data.

I have concisely and objectively reported all relevant results .

I have (1) evaluated and interpreted the meaning of the results and (2) acknowledged any important limitations of the results in my discussion .

I have clearly stated the answer to my main research question in the conclusion .

I have clearly explained the implications of my conclusion, emphasizing what new insight my research has contributed.

I have provided relevant recommendations for further research or practice.

If relevant, I have included appendices with supplemental information.

I have included an in-text citation every time I use words, ideas, or information from a source.

I have listed every source in a reference list at the end of my dissertation.

I have consistently followed the rules of my chosen citation style .

I have followed all formatting guidelines provided by my university.

Congratulations!

The end is in sight—your dissertation is nearly ready to submit! Make sure it's perfectly polished with the help of a Scribbr editor.

If you’re an educator, feel free to download and adapt these slides to teach your students about structuring a dissertation.

Open Google Slides Download PowerPoint

Is this article helpful?

Other students also liked.

• How to Write a Literature Review | Guide, Examples, & Templates
• Dissertation Table of Contents in Word | Instructions & Examples
• How to Choose a Dissertation Topic | 8 Steps to Follow

More interesting articles

• Checklist: Writing a dissertation
• Dissertation & Thesis Outline | Example & Free Templates
• Dissertation Binding and Printing | Options, Tips, & Comparison
• Example of a dissertation abstract
• Figure and Table Lists | Word Instructions, Template & Examples
• How to Write a Discussion Section | Tips & Examples
• How to Write a Dissertation or Thesis Proposal
• How to Write a Results Section | Tips & Examples
• How to Write a Thesis or Dissertation Conclusion
• How to Write a Thesis or Dissertation Introduction
• How to Write an Abstract | Steps & Examples
• How to Write Recommendations in Research | Examples & Tips
• List of Abbreviations | Example, Template & Best Practices
• Operationalization | A Guide with Examples, Pros & Cons
• Prize-Winning Thesis and Dissertation Examples
• Purpose and structure of an advisory report
• Relevance of Your Dissertation Topic | Criteria & Tips
• Research Paper Appendix | Example & Templates
• Shorten your abstract or summary
• Theoretical Framework Example for a Thesis or Dissertation
• Thesis & Dissertation Acknowledgements | Tips & Examples
• Thesis & Dissertation Database Examples
• Thesis & Dissertation Title Page | Free Templates & Examples
• What is a Dissertation Preface? | Definition & Examples
• What is a Glossary? | Definition, Templates, & Examples
• What Is a Research Methodology? | Steps & Tips
• What Is a Theoretical Framework? | Guide to Organizing
• What Is a Thesis? | Ultimate Guide & Examples

What is your plagiarism score?

• Affiliate Program

• UNITED STATES
• 台灣 (TAIWAN)
• TÜRKIYE (TURKEY)
• Academic Editing Services
• - Research Paper
• - Journal Manuscript
• - Dissertation
• - College & University Assignments
• Admissions Editing Services
• - Application Essay
• - Personal Statement
• - Recommendation Letter
• - Cover Letter
• - CV/Resume
• Business Editing Services
• - Business Documents
• - Report & Brochure
• - Website & Blog
• Writer Editing Services
• - Script & Screenplay
• Our Editors
• Client Reviews
• Editing & Proofreading Prices
• Wordvice Points
• Partner Discount
• Plagiarism Checker
• APA Citation Generator
• MLA Citation Generator
• Chicago Citation Generator
• Vancouver Citation Generator
• - APA Style
• - MLA Style
• - Chicago Style
• - Vancouver Style
• Writing & Editing Guide
• Academic Resources
• Admissions Resources

Masters Thesis vs. PhD Dissertation: Key Differences

Whether you are a graduate student just starting out in academia or a professor advising a student, making the distinction between a dissertation and a thesis is critically important to writing a strong dissertation and becoming a stronger writer. Unfortunately, the difference remains unclear since the terms are used interchangeably by graduate students, doctoral researchers, academic publishers & universities.

If you’re not sure whether you’re writing a thesis or a dissertation, this article will help you understand the differences between the two whether you’re a PhD or master’s degree student.

Main Differences Between a Dissertation and a Thesis

While theses and dissertations share many similarities (they are both advanced graduate research papers), they actually refer to two different types of academic writing, and their differences include important concepts such as scope, purpose, length, and research requirements.

Most importantly, the difference between a thesis and a dissertation depends on the level of education. Far beyond being a simple essay, a thesis is for graduate students pursuing a master’s degree while a dissertation is written by doctoral students, also referred to as PhD candidates.

There are a few key differences between a thesis versus a dissertation.

The biggest difference between a thesis and a dissertation is that a thesis makes arguments based on existing research. Meanwhile, a dissertation often requires the PhD candidate to conduct research and then perform an analysis.

More specifically, a thesis often takes the form of a literature review , which is a compilation of research knowledge in a particular field of study that proves one is competent in that subject. On the other hand, a dissertation is a more specific type of research paper written by those working toward a specific doctorate degree that contributes knowledge, theory, or methods to a field of study.

What is a master’s thesis?

A master’s thesis is an academic research paper that requires a greater degree of research than an undergraduate thesis or term paper. It is marked by a higher standard of writing, and students are expected to demonstrate competence, literacy, and mastery of a subject. It usually takes two or three years to complete. Finally, a master’s degree thesis is usually written in order to obtain a research degree and is not intended to be published separately.

What is a PhD dissertation?

A PhD dissertation is a substantial piece of independent research that is required of all students who are pursuing a doctorate degree. It is a piece of original work that has not been published elsewhere and, most importantly, makes a new contribution to the field. This contribution may be a new way of thinking about an existing topic or even a novel theory. The research performed for a dissertation is usually conducted over a period of several years to half a decade.

Features of a Master’s Thesis vs PhD Dissertation

Content and Structural Differences

So how is dissertation writing different from thesis writing?

Now that you know the definitions of a dissertation and thesis, let’s dive into some clear ways in which they differ in structure and other main characteristics.

How long is a thesis vs dissertation?

Length is the most obvious factor in differentiating between writing a thesis or dissertation. 

Generally, a doctoral dissertation has greater breadth, depth, and intention than a master’s thesis since it is based on original research. While the standard length of a master’s thesis is around 100 pages , a doctoral dissertation can be upwards of 400-500 pages. 

While most students can finish their PhD dissertation or thesis in as little as 1-2 years, it can take as long as 7 years depending on the school, program, and dissertation topic. As doctoral programs have their own formatting requirements, check with your school or university to find out what you need for your own dissertation or thesis. Most dissertations are organized into chapters, but the number of chapters varies as well.

Differences in research methods

A thesis and dissertation are both graduate-level research reports. This means they require students to investigate and report on a specific topic. But what is the difference in the scale of research between a master’s versus doctoral degree? The answer comes down to how much and what type of data you collect .

Data sources for a thesis vs dissertation

A master’s thesis is limited to secondary or reported knowledge . This knowledge has already been published, analyzed, and scrutinized in the literature. A thesis does not typically offer anything new in that regard. Your purpose is usually to write a comprehensive literature review on a novel or underreported topic using already-reported data.

On the other hand, a doctoral dissertation reports on  novel data  and is published so it can be scrutinized by others. It culminates in your dissertation defense.

The above lists clearly show that a PhD researcher and dissertation writer must have specific hands-on experience about not only the result of others’ research but also how the researchers obtained the data. A dissertation must venture into criticism of how other studies performed their experiments, whereas a master’s student will only report on and evaluate the results.

Differences in research scope 

As mentioned above, a thesis is more of a literature review written to demonstrate competence and mastery of a field of study. In short, you are a reliable “reporter” of information related to that subject. A thesis shows that you know the technical jargon, understand the subject, are familiar with industry tools, and can translate that information to a general audience. This is why a master’s degree is sufficient and often preferred for industry jobs.

In contrast, a doctoral dissertation goes beyond simply using the building blocks of your subject and actually creates new tools, knowledge, and theories to advance the subject as a whole. If a master’s degree holder is like a seasoned Rolling Stone journalist, then a doctorate is the band/musician who actually makes the music.

So should you pursue a thesis or a dissertation?

The benefits of earning a graduate degree are huge. According to the US Census Bureau , those with an advanced degree earn 3.7 times as much as a high school dropout, and 13.1% hold a master’s, professional, or doctorate degree. If you’re a curious undergraduate student thinking of applying to graduate school, which is the right choice?

In short, a dissertation is more focused and in-depth than a thesis. While a doctoral dissertation is based on original research, a thesis is often an extension or review of others’ research in order to demonstrate literacy. Further, a dissertation can be used as the basis or subject of a thesis, but not vice versa.

Editing a Dissertation vs Thesis

So far, we’ve focused a lot on differences such as research and purpose, but in the end, a thesis or dissertation is a written document that requires skill, focus, discipline, subject knowledge, organization, and scheduling. 

For non-native English speakers, the challenge is especially difficult since English is the lingua franca of academia and research. 

How does an editing service improve your dissertation or thesis ?

From body spacing and pagination, to font size and citation formatting, the dissertation guidelines are exhaustive. Even worse, they vary by school. So besides the actual English writing and grammar, graduate students must worry about consistency, formatting, nomenclature, and terminology. That’s quite the burden!

This is why it’s very common for graduate students, especially ESL and foreign ones, to seek out dissertation editing services that specifically cater to the academic needs of researchers and students.

Here are just a few reasons why dissertation proofreading is so helpful and what these editors do:

• Correct grammar, punctuation, syntax, and structural errors
• Offer suggestions to rewrite, remove, and revise writing
• Ensure formatting and nomenclature are consistent
• Knowledgeable academic editors with master’s and PhD degrees
• Free up your time to focus on research, revisions, and content instead of looking for mistakes
• Provide a  language editing certificate , which may be necessary for non-native English-speaking students

Lastly, most PhD advisors recommend that students seek out professional editing services , specifically thesis editing or dissertation editing , since professors prefer to assess the actual research content of a dissertation, not mundane writing errors. Any graduate student reading this knows professors don’t like their time to be wasted! 

Be sure to check out other academic resources on how to improve your academic manuscript and the benefits of proofreading and editing.

And try the Wordvice FREE Citation Generator, which provides citations for four academic formatting styles:  APA Citation Generator , MLA Citation Generator , Chicago Citation Generator , and Vancouver Citation Generator .

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

Email this link

Thesis / dissertation formatting manual (2024).

• Filing Fees and Student Status
• Submission Process Overview
• Electronic Thesis Submission
• Paper Thesis Submission
• Formatting Overview
• Fonts/Typeface
• Pagination, Margins, Spacing
• Paper Thesis Formatting
• Preliminary Pages Overview
• Copyright Page
• Dedication Page
• Table of Contents
• List of Figures (etc.)
• Acknowledgments
• Text and References Overview
• Figures and Illustrations
• Using Your Own Previously Published Materials
• Using Copyrighted Materials by Another Author
• Open Access and Embargoes
• Copyright and Creative Commons
• Ordering Print (Bound) Copies
• Tutorials and Assistance
• FAQ This link opens in a new window
• Required only for PhD dissertations.
• Brief biographical sketch of the candidate; it is not intended to be a comprehensive resume.
• Includes a listing of the author's degrees and educational achievements with dates and the school where the degree was earned.
• Includes the degree currently being attained.
• May include academic or professional employment, publications, presentations, patents, or other scholarly work, awards, or distinctions.
• Do NOT include personal information such as date or place of birth, addresses (physical or email), phone numbers, marital status, headshots, etc.

Vita example

This is an example of a Vita page from the Template. Note that it is not the same as a resume or a CV that one might use for employment.

• << Previous: Acknowledgments
• Next: Abstract >>
• Last Updated: Aug 26, 2024 11:00 AM
• URL: https://guides.lib.uci.edu/gradmanual

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

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

PhD ABD (All But Dissertation) [the scary doctoral reality]

All but dissertation is the equivalent of academic limbo. The scary reality is that there is a huge portion of students who make it to the dissertation stage but simply do not write up their thesis in order to finish their degree.

ABD stands for all but dissertation and refers to a PhD student who has completed all of the prerequisites (such as coursework, and research) but has not yet written up their dissertation. They have not yet completed their PhD .

There are a variety of reasons why people find themselves as an ABD student in this article will go through all of the important aspects of why people do not qualify despite having done most of the work of their doctoral degree.

What does ABD Mean for a Doctoral Student?

ABD stands for “all but dissertation” and refers to someone who has successfully completed all the coursework and exam requirements for a doctoral program, but has yet to complete their final dissertation.

This means that they have often completed:

• Literature review
• Significant amount of research

…but have still yet to write up their thesis.

ABD status is important because it signifies that someone has made significant progress towards earning their PhD, but it is not the same as having completed the degree program .

It is important to note that even though someone may be ABD, they are not yet a doctoral graduate until they have successfully written and defended their dissertation.

All But Dissertation: Why Do So Many PhD Candidates Quit?

It’s a surprising fact that many PhD candidates quit at the ABD stage, for reasons that vary from personal to systemic.

Here is data I have graphed from the council of graduate schools for various fields showing the attrition rate of PhD students as they progress through their PhD:

The graph illustrates the attrition rates over a ten-year period for three broad fields: Engineering, Life Sciences, and Mathematical & Physical Sciences.

• Engineering shows the highest initial attrition rate, starting at 6.4% in the first year and increasing to 31.0% by the tenth year.
• Life Sciences starts with an 8.1% attrition rate, peaking at 29.0% by the sixth year, and then stabilizing.
• Mathematical & Physical Sciences have the lowest initial attrition rate at 5.1%, reaching 28.9% by the tenth year.

This trend indicates that while Engineering programs have higher early attrition, Life Sciences and Mathematical & Physical Sciences also experience significant attrition over time.

The pressure to complete the dissertation can be daunting and overwhelming. So much so, that many people do not finish and become an “All But Dissertation” PhD! Especially when they are 10 years into a PhD.

There are many reasons why someone may not finish their degree and I have seen multiple students become stuck at the dissertation stage because:

• the supervisor does not help them with revisions
• they have left to get a job and say that they will “write up alongside a full-time job” – often this never ends up happening
• they don’t actually need a PhD for their current career directions so focus on growing and networking in their current role
• being overwhelmed by thought of writing such a large document

One major factor is the pressure and stress that the dissertation process entails.

Writing a dissertation takes a significant amount of time, research, and effort, and requires a student to write diligently every day for multiple weeks to complete.

There are loads of reasons why a PhD is hard to write – check on my YouTube video about the unglamorous truth about writing any graduate thesis.

Additionally, a lack of support from faculty members, financial struggles, and competing priorities, such as work or family, can also contribute to candidates dropping out of their PhD program.

How to complete your dissertation – easy dissertation completion

When you’re a PhD student and have achieved ABD status (All But Dissertation), completing your dissertation can feel like an insurmountable challenge. Here’s a guide packed with insider tips to help you navigate the dissertation stage and finish your dissertation with confidence:

Understand the importance of setting clear, manageable goals. Instead of vaguely aiming to “complete the dissertation,” break it down. For example, aim to draft the literature review by the end of the semester. This not only makes the process less daunting but also provides a sense of accomplishment as you check off each milestone.

Engage actively with your dissertation committee. Regular updates and meetings are crucial. Send them a summary email before each meeting to set the agenda and ensure that discussions are productive. This proactive communication helps align your progress with their expectations, minimizing last-minute surprises during the dissertation defense.

Many doctoral candidates face the dissertation phase alone, leading to a lack of support and imposter syndrome. Combat this by seeking out communities of fellow ABDs, either through online forums or university groups. Sharing struggles and solutions can provide much-needed moral support and practical advice.

Don’t overlook the importance of maintaining a healthy work-life balance. Reward yourself for meeting goals, whether it’s with a coffee break or a Netflix episode. And remember, your social life isn’t just a reward; it’s a necessary part of your well-being.

Consider leveraging resources like a Graduate Writing Lab or a Writing Skills Improvement Program . These services can offer valuable feedback and help you improve your scholarly writing, ensuring your dissertation meets the high standards of your PhD program.

And finally: stay flexible. If your research takes an unexpected turn, communicate this with your committee and adjust your plan.

The best way to avoid burnout is to remain adaptable and recognize that the dissertation process is inherently iterative. By staying organized, seeking support, and maintaining flexibility, you’ll navigate the ABD stage and complete your degree with confidence.

Who is considered an ABD? Dissertation status?

If you are a PhD candidate and have completed all your coursework, passed comprehensive exams, and are now in the process of researching and writing your dissertation, you can consider yourself ABD (All but dissertation).

ABD means that you have finished all the requirements for the PhD except the dissertation. You are then considered a doctoral candidate, and not yet a doctor, until you have defended your dissertation.

ABD is a term used to describe the status of a graduate student who has completed everything for their PhD except the dissertation.

If you have submitted your dissertation proposal, conducted extensive research, and prepared your work for publication, but have yet to defend your dissertation, then you are considered ABD.

Once you have defended and successfully completed your dissertation, you will be awarded your PhD.

How Long Does the All But Dissertation Phase Last on the Doctoral Journey?

The length of the dissertation phase may vary significantly, depending on the program and the individual student’s progress.

Some doctoral programs require their students to complete the dissertation within a certain time frame, while others may not enforce strict deadlines.

I was able to write up my PhD thesis within three months . I had a very tight deadline and I spent eight hours a day in the library working in two sprints until my thesis have been written.

The ABD phase can last for a few months to several years, depending on the research work required, the amount of time the student can dedicate to the project, and the feedback provided by advisors.

I know of one person who took over 10 years to complete their PhD – much of it in the “all but dissertation” stage.

Here is my video on how to write up quickly if you just want to get over the all but dissertation hurdle:

Can You Get a “PhD ABD Degree”?

A PhD ABD degree refers to a student who has completed all the requirements of a PhD program, except for the dissertation.

It is not officially recognized or awarded as a degree but colloquially it is what many people refer to ADB students as.

While it is possible to have a successful career without completing a doctoral program, having an ABD status may limit some potential job opportunities.

Quite often it is recommended that you do not put your ABD degree on your CV if it has been many years of writing.

Should you list PhD ABD on your resume? Academic jobs could be harmed.

Listing PhD ABD (All But Dissertation) on your resume is a personal choice.

It is important to consider what message you want to convey to potential employers and if they see your lack of submission as a negative.

For example, I was able to apply for a job with an ADB because my thesis had been submitted but not yet reviewed. Andy Stapleton

If your thesis is about to be submitted, reviewed, it’s probably okay to put on your resume. However, it is been many years since you had last contact with your PhD program is probably best to leave it off.

Potential employers may view this as incomplete education or lacking the necessary qualifications.

It is your decision whether or not to list PhD ABD on your resume, but it is important to consider the potential impact it may have on your job search.

Endless ABD Status?

Being in an Endless ABD Status can be frustrating for graduate students who have completed their coursework, but have not successfully defended their dissertation.

This can be a difficult phase for students as they are often dealing with limited funding, competing demands on their time, and the pressure of completing their dissertation within a reasonable timeframe.

I know of people who spend up to 6 months waiting for their thesis to be examined which severely limited their career momentum and this is very frustrating.

Graduate school is an already challenging experience, and the ABD phase can make things even more daunting.

Challenges of Being All But Dissertation

Being All But Dissertation (ABD) presents a unique set of challenges for graduate students in a doctoral program.

The pressure to complete the dissertation can be daunting and overwhelming. So much so, that many people do not finish.

The research, writing, and revision required to complete a doctoral dissertation can be time-consuming and mentally exhausting.

ABD status can become a barrier to professional opportunities both inside and outside of academia.

It is difficult to secure academic positions without a completed dissertation, and non-academic employers may not fully recognize the value of an ABD status.

This creates a challenging environment for those trying to navigate this stage of their doctoral program.

My recommendation is that if you are an all but dissertation, you should focus 100% of your efforts on your goal of completion if your circumstances allow.

Many people say that they will return to their thesis after a little break – many people I know and are leaving their thesis for ever after the get a job and move away from academia.

If your current career projection doesn’t require a PhD and you are happy with our PhD there is also no pressure for you to actually finish your dissertation.

Dr Andrew Stapleton has a Masters and PhD in Chemistry from the UK and Australia. He has many years of research experience and has worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow and Associate at a number of Universities. Although having secured funding for his own research, he left academia to help others with his YouTube channel all about the inner workings of academia and how to make it work for you.

Thank you for visiting Academia Insider.

We are here to help you navigate Academia as painlessly as possible. We are supported by our readers and by visiting you are helping us earn a small amount through ads and affiliate revenue - Thank you!

2024 © Academia Insider