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OATD -- Open access theses and dissertations

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Description

Contents/summary, bibliographic information.

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Dissertation & Thesis Resources

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An Experiment in Document Exploration

The Stanford Dissertation Browser is an experimental interface for document collections that enables richer interaction than search. Stanford's PhD dissertation abstracts from 1993-2008 are presented through the lens of a text model that distills high-level similarity and word usage patterns in the data. You'll see each Stanford department as a circle, colored by school and sized by the number of PhD students graduating from that department.

When you click a department, it becomes the focus of the browser and every other department moves to show its relative similarity to the centered department. The similarity scores are computed using a supervised mixture model based on Labeled LDA : every dissertation is taken as a weighted mixture of a unigram language model associated with every Stanford department. This lets us infer, that, say, dissertation X is 60% computer science, 20% physics, and so on. These scores are averaged within a department to compute department-level statistics (the similarities shown), and need not be symmetric. For instance, Economics dissertations at Stanford use more words from Political Science than vice versa. Essentially, the visualization shows word overlap between departments measured by letting the dissertations in one department borrow words from another department. Which departments borrow the most words from which others? The statistics are computed for each year in the data.

When you zoom in two-levels (click on a department twice), individual dissertations are plotted on a line between each dissertation's home department and its next highest scoring department, in proportion to how much that dissertation uses words from each of those two departments. The relative position of two dissertations is only meaningful when they are on the same radial line. Dissertations from other departments that have a high score for the central, focused department are also shown, colored. For instance, take a look at Computer Science in 2005. You'll see three dissertations along the radial line to Linguistics - those are the three students that graduated from the Stanford NLP group that year. There are plenty of other places you find similar things that work, and a few places that don't. In particular, small departments have less data and so are more susceptible to noise.

Our experience building this browser emphasized the ways that good interactive visualizations can improve text modeling, and vice versa. For instance, the visualization allowed us to experiment with many model variations (LDA, tf-idf, etc.) to see how well each matched our intuitions, and the contours of the models informed our choices in presentation. The model and visualization shown are our best so far, but both leave plenty of room for improvement.

The browser is build using Flare Visualization Library for Flash. Adobe Flash Player is required to view the browser.

Launch the Stanford Dissertation Browser »

Terms of Deposit

Stanford digital repository.

Long term preservation of scholarly works at Stanford

Go to the SDR Dashboard

To create or manage deposits.

Do you have 15 minutes to help with user testing for a new SDR feature? Email us at [email protected] to volunteer!

The process is simple

• Describe your work and upload your file(s).
• Choose a license and access settings.
• Click "Deposit" to submit.

Small effort for large payoff

• Persistent link for sharing your content
• Preserved by the Libraries
• Discoverable by all via SearchWorks

Latest SDR news

Who can deposit?

Members of the Stanford community:

What can I deposit?

Material of scholarly value:

• Research data in any format, including data for publications
• Articles, working paper, pre-prints, technical reports, etc
• Student works, such as honors theses and course research projects
• Artistic works
• Conference materials, like slides and posters
• Archival documents, recordings, oral histories, etc.

Why should I deposit?

Features of SDR:

• Shareable, persistent link for citing your work
• Findable in SearchWorks, the library catalog, which is crawled by Google
• Easily shareable via social media and embeddable in other websites
• Available to the world or just Stanford -- you decide!
• Embargos available up to 3 years
• Your choice of licenses
• Digital preservation by Stanford Libraries
• DOIs also available

When should I deposit?

Deposit your works:

• When they are complete and ready to share
• To accompany an article at the time of the article's publication
• To fulfill the sharing requirements of a grant
• Before you or your colleagues move on from Stanford

The SDR is not designed as working space or backup storage.

M.S. and Ph.D. Theses Database

Search the database.

The database contains files for most MS, Engineer, and PhD theses from 1970 to the present, but not all theses can be made available until permission has been received from the authors.

Alumni: Please submit the permission form to make your thesis available through the database.

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Communication : Databases

Journal article databases.

• Communication & mass media complete Offers information from over 600 journals in communication, mass media and related fields; includes abstracts, indexing, bibliographical citations and author profiles, as well as full text from more 240 titles.
• ACM Digital Library This site provides access to ACM journals and magazines, as well as conference proceedings.
• ProQuest. Research library Provides online access to an extensive collection of full-text articles from journals across a wide range of subject areas, including business, education, literature, political science, and psychology. User interface available in Chinese, English, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, and Turkish.
• ProQuest dissertations & theses global Searchable and browsable database of dissertations and theses from around the world, spanning from 1743 to the present day. It also offers full text for graduate works added since 1997, along with selected full text for works written prior to 1997. It contains a significant amount of new international dissertations and theses both in citations and in full text. Designated as an official offsite repository for the U.S. Library of Congress, PQDT Global offers comprehensive historic and ongoing coverage for North American works and significant and growing international coverage from a multiyear program of expanding partnerships with international universities and national associations.
• << Previous: Selected Publications
• Next: Online U.S. newspapers (Stanford-wide access) >>
• Selected Publications
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• Last Updated: Sep 26, 2023 1:24 PM
• URL: https://guides.library.stanford.edu/communication

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ESE Publications

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Within Stanford ESE, faculty works closely with affiliates, research staff and students to  prepare reports, presentations, and to produce peer-reviewed articles for publication. Many of our faculty serve as advisors for, or co-author publications for multiple research groups. 

Search publications by faculty name or research group publications.

Basin and Petroleum System Modeling

• Tapan Mukerji

Benson Lab: Carbon Storage

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Stanford Center for Carbon Storage

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Environmental Assessment & Optimization

Geothermal program.

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Multiscale Physics Energy Systems

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Physics-based Energy Control Lab

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SCERF: Stanford Center for Earth Resources Forecasting

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• Khalid Aziz

SUETRI-A: Subsurface Engineering for the Energy Transition

Suteri-b: reservoir simulation, suetri-d: innovation in well testing, supri-tides: analysis of earth tides, stanford earth sciences algorithms and architectures initiative.

All East Asian Studies M.A. students must submit a Master's Thesis representing a substantial piece of original research.  

Requirements

The submitted thesis must meet the following requirements:.

• 10,000 words minimum, excluding references, citations, appendices, etc.
• If the faculty adviser also requires a printed, bound version to be submitted, theses should be bound using "strip binding" with a clear plastic cover and black plastic back cover (can be done at Kinko's on campus)
• Containing the adviser's signature on the Standard Thesis Title Page

Thesis Proposal

Students must submit an approved thesis proposal and literature review by the end of the quarter prior to the quarter in which they intend to graduate.  The proposal is the statement of the research question, the rationale for the research, the theoretical and empirical background that the student is bringing to bear, and the methodology.  The 5-10 page proposal must be reviewed and approved by the student's adviser.  The Thesis Proposal and Literature Review Guidelines contain the cover page for the proposal, which must be printed out, approved, and signed by the student's adviser, and submitted to CEAS.  

• Thesis Proposal and Literature Review Guidelines

Campus Resources

• Graduate Workshops
• Dissertation Boot Camp
• EFS Courses for International Students
• VPGE Workshops

Students may find it valuable to review past submitted thesis topics in our thesis database .  Submitted theses are also available to read in the CEAS Offices.

Recent Thesis Topics

Undergraduate Contacts

Student Services Specialist

Director Undergraduate Studies

choosingphysics [at] stanford.edu (Pre-Major Advising)

Senior Thesis and Honors

All Physics majors who pursue research with a faculty member have the opportunity to complete a Senior Thesis. Completing a Senior Thesis is not required for a Bachelor’s degree in Physics but is required for graduation with Honors.

On this page, we provide guidelines for applying to graduate with Honors, applying to complete a Senior Thesis, choosing a thesis research topic, writing the Senior Thesis, and preparing the thesis presentation.

Honors Requirements

Physics majors are granted a Bachelor of Science in Physics with Honors if they satisfy these two requirements beyond the general Physics major requirements.

• The student completes a Senior Thesis by meeting the deadlines and requirements described in the Senior Thesis guidelines section below. 
• The student completes course work with an overall GPA of 3.30 or higher, and a GPA of 3.50 or higher in courses required for the Physics major.

The student applies for the Honors Program by completing an Honors Program Application Form by mid-May.  Eligibility is confirmed by the Director of Undergraduate Studies.

Senior Thesis Guidelines

• Students must submit a Senior Thesis Application Form once they identify a research project in consultation with a faculty member with whom they are conducting theoretical, computational, or experimental physics research. The application form is attached to this webpage and is also available from the Student Services Specialist. The application must be submitted by 4 pm on Friday prior to the Thanksgiving break of the academic year in which the student plans to graduate. 
• Credit for the project is assigned by the research advisor within the framework of PHYSICS 205 , Senior Thesis Research. A minimum of 3 units of PHYSICS 205 must be completed for a letter grade during the student’s Senior year. Work completed in the Senior Thesis program may not be used as a substitute for regular required courses for the Physics major.
• A written thesis and presentation of the work at its completion are required for the Senior Thesis. The Senior Thesis candidate is required to present the project at the department's Senior Thesis Presentation Program in mid to late May. The expectation is that the student's advisor, second reader, and all other Senior Thesis candidates attend. Students may invite their family and friends as guests. 

Timeline for Completing a Senior Thesis & Applying for Honors in Physics

• First week of October: Students receive information about Senior Thesis Application via email (sent from the Student Services Specialist).
• Mid-November, before Thanksgiving break: Senior Thesis Application is due by 4pm on the Friday before Thanksgiving break. No late submissions will be accepted. Students will be notified if their application is approved after Thanksgiving break.
• First week of April: Students sign up for a date/time to present their Senior Thesis; presentations are scheduled in May. At this point, you should have your thesis title and abstract ready for submission.
• Students present their Senior Thesis in front of their advisor, second reader, other presenters, and guests. 
• Students submit the final version of their Senior Thesis shortly after the presentation; the precise deadline will be announced in early May.
• Students who present their Senior Thesis AND meet the GPA requirements must complete the Honors Program Application by mid-May to graduate with Honors. 

Choosing a thesis topic and writing the thesis

No later than the autumn quarter of your senior year, but preferably earlier, during a summer research position.

No later than winter quarter of your senior year.

When you have completed your senior thesis, you should be an expert on the particular area of research discussed in your thesis. Some projects are independent of the advisor’s research; some projects are a well-defined sub-area within the advisor’s broader research program.

Your thesis advisor, as well as graduate students and/or postdocs with whom you have worked closely, can provide advice. The Hume Center for Writing and Speaking is also a useful resource:  http://undergrad.stanford.edu/tutoring-support/hume-center

Students normally find a Senior Thesis topic and advisor through the Summer Research Program. Other sources are courses such as Physics 59 (Frontiers in Physics Research), faculty web pages and resources on the Undergraduate Research and Independent Projects web page: https://undergrad.stanford.edu/opportunities/research

Broad “review articles” in the field and references therein provide valuable background information. Your advisor and group members should also be able to point you to relevant papers.

You are required to enroll in Physics 205 (Senior Thesis Research) under your advisors’ section during your senior year for a minimum of 3 units. The course must be taken for letter grade. 1 unit = 3 hours of research per week.

No, you cannot earn course credit and get paid for the same work.

An advisor may occasionally have funds to support you during the academic year, but you cannot earn course credit for the same work.

The following links contain information on how to apply for funding during the academic year and during the summer term – Student Grants:  https://undergrad.stanford.edu/opportunities/research/get-funded Physics Summer Research Program:  https://physics.stanford.edu/academics/undergraduate-students/summer-research

The length of the thesis varies, depending on the type of thesis. A more theoretical thesis, perhaps fairly dense with equations, may be shorter than an experimental thesis containing a number of figures showing the experimental setup, plots of the data, fits to the data, etc. Most theses are between 20 and 60 pages long.

Electronic versions of Physics Senior Theses written in 2010 or later are available online here: http://searchworks.stanford.edu/catalog?f[collection][]=ds247vz0452

The thesis should contain the following elements:

• A title page listing the title, the student author, the primary and secondary readers, and the date.
• An abstract, which could be on the title page or inside the document.
• An acknowledgment at the beginning or after the abstract.
• Table of contents.
• A body, divided into sections and subsections.
• A bibliography of references at the end. Include page numbers.

Each table should have a caption above the table and each figure should have a caption below the figure. Include a reference to each table and figure in the text.  If you have a large number of detailed plots, or a very long detailed derivation, consider putting it in an Appendix so that the text flows better.

One-and-a-half spacing is best. It makes it easier to read and easier for your readers to mark up.

Yes, but it must be physics related and you must have a faculty member in Physics as the second reader.

Yes, a literature review should be included.

Your target audience should be students in your major. Other Physics majors should be able to follow the thesis and understand what you did – although they might not follow all the details.

Yes, as long as you include a citation to the publication.

Several Stanford professors have done research based on the results of my research. May I include some of their results because they greatly enrich my overall project or does the thesis have to be 100% on data I took myself? It is definitely OK to include other data as long as you provide credit and appropriate citations.

Preparing the thesis presentation

It is typical to use slides prepared with the presentation software of your choice.

Students should bring their own laptop and any necessary adapters.

•  PRACTICE!!
• The   presentation s   are   15 minutes and 5 minutes for questions . The next presenter will be asked to set up at the 20-minute mark.
• Practice presenting from your laptop in the same room well before the actual presentation. In this way, you can avoid embarrassing delays due to technical problems or missing connectors, etc. Any technical delays will only reduce your speaking time.
• Make sure you start your presentation with an  accessible  overview. The audience will contain mainly non-experts in the field you are going to discuss. This is often the most difficult aspect of any presentation since you must bring along the non-experts while explaining later technical results and their importance without losing the audience.
• PRACTICE!! (A good strategy is to do timed 15-minute practice sessions in front of your classmates, especially those who will also be presenting a thesis. Encourage your audience to give you feedback and to ask questions afterward about anything that was not clear.)