Research Services

Higher Degrees by Research - information for students

Submission of your thesis

The procedures require that you give at least three months notice of your intention to submit your thesis for examination. The main reason for giving notice is to allow time for the appointment of examiners.

You give notice by completing the form: Notice of Intention to Submit A Higher Degree Thesis For Examination. The form has several parts and a complete explanation of how it is completed. The information on this page is a brief description; refer to the form for details.

You provide a thesis summary (not more than 300 words) for prospective examiners with the Notice of Intention to Submit. Doctoral candidates are also required to provide a summary with a maximum of three sentences in ‘non-specialist terminology’.

If you are completing a doctoral degree four copies of the thesis are required and three copies for a Masters degree by research. You submit soft bound copies of your thesis for examination.

Form D of the Notice of Intention to Submit is a Certificate From the Supervisor of a Higher Degree Thesis which requires that she or he fill out section 2. Your Head of School's signature is also required. Your supervisor and the Head of School certify that the form of presentation of your thesis complies with the regulations and that the thesis is, in the opinion of your supervisor, your own work. Your supervisor is not responsible for the quality of the argument presented, except in a very general sense. In providing the final certification, your supervisor and Head of School are not making any assessment of the thesis or its prospects of success.

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Format

Use your School or Department handbooks and your supervisors' help you to ensure that you write your thesis with the appropriate scholarly conventions of your discipline, including (but not limited to) presentation of references, bibliographies and quotations.

If English is not your first language, assistance is available from the Academic Language and Learning Unit. There are contacts on each campus and one in each Faculty at Bundoora.

General requirements

• Your thesis must be written as concisely as possible.
• It must conform to the word count and other requirements (see the pages for PhD, Prof Docs and masters for the regulatory details). Some degrees, for example the degree of Master of Visual Arts, have specific requirements. Supervisors are familiar with these specific requirements and you may need to refer to your faculty or program/department's section of the Handbook.
• You must state generally in the preface and bibliography, and specifically in notes, the sources of information used and the extent to which you have used the work of others.
• Where your research work is conducted jointly, the nature and extent of your contribution to that research must be described clearly in your thesis.

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Typing, Copy and Binding

• Make sure you format your thesis as described on the Notice of Intention to Submit form Schedule B.
• All four copies (PhD; three for a masters) of your thesis submitted for examination are bound in a stitched soft cover.  No lettering is required on the soft cover binding.
• After examination, and after you have made any required corrections and amendment, submit a hardbound copy of your thesis in A4 size with stiff covers and cloth.  The spine of the cloth cover will have your name, the title of the thesis and year of submission. 
• You are also required to lodge a digital copy of your thesis in the library's Research Repository as described on the Digital Thesis deposit guidelines page.

Checking

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Contents

Here is a list (as included on Notice of Intention to Submit form) of what must be incorporated in your thesis:

• A title page setting out in order:

1. the full title of the thesis
2. your names and degrees
3. the degree for which the thesis is submitted and a statement whether the thesis is submitted in total or in partial fulfilment of the requirements for that degree
4. the Faculty and its School or other academic organisational unit associated with the work, and
5. the name of the University and its address (regardless of your campus) as follows:

   La Trobe University
   Bundoora, Victoria 3086
   Australia
   
   

6. the month and year when the thesis was submitted for the degree.

• A table of contents and, where applicable, a list of plates, illustrations, symbols or other abbreviations, and details of any supplementary material separate from the bound thesis and submitted as part, or in support, of the thesis such as computer media, films, models, musical scores, tape recordings or other material.
• A summary of not more than 300 words.
• A signed and dated Statement of Authorship in the following form verbatim:

“Except where reference is made in the text of the thesis, this thesis contains no material published elsewhere or extracted in whole or in part from a thesis submitted for the award of any other degree or diploma. No other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the main text of the thesis. This thesis has not been submitted for the award of any degree or diploma in any other tertiary institution.”

• Where applicable, additional paragraphs shall be included in the statement specifying:

  ~ the extent of collaboration with another person or persons;

  
  

  ~ the extent and the nature of any other assistance received in the pursuit of the research and preparation of the thesis; (e.g., processing of statistical data, translation of texts, assistance with English expression, building and operation of equipment) and

  
  

  ~ that all research procedures reported in the thesis were approved by the relevant Ethics Committee or Safety Committee or authorised officer.

  
  

• The main text.
• Appendices, if any.
• Bibliography or list of references, unless lists of works consulted are appended at the end of each chapter.
• Index, if any.
• Supplementary material separate from the bound thesis and submitted as part, or in support, of the thesis such as computer media, films, models, tape recordings or other material.

To submit your thesis (with the required number of copies, see above) you take them to the Research Services office with the check list (Form C) and your Supervisor’s Certificate (Form D), completed with the signatures it requires.

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After Submission

Once you have submitted your thesis for examination, you are no longer an enrolled student of the University.

If you are an international student you have 28 days in which to leave Australia, or to apply to Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) to change your visa. It may be possible for you to remain in Australia on a student visa for the purpose of carrying out corrections on your thesis in the process of it being marked. If you wish to remain in Australia while your thesis is examined you should contact La Trobe International, as soon as possible to discuss your options.