university of bristol phd thesis template

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File metadata and controls, university of bristol dissertation template.

This template is compatible with the Bristol regulations for both Postgraduate Taught (e.g. MSc) and Research Degrees (e.g. PhDs). These may be found at the following links:

http://www.bristol.ac.uk/media-library/sites/academic-quality/documents/taught-code/annexes/dissertations.pdf http://www.bristol.ac.uk/academic-quality/pg/pgrcode/annex4/

The template also seems appropriate for undergraduate dissertations (for integrated masters degrees), as the format of these is not strictly specified.

Using xparse

The template is based around xparse , which we recommend all students learn, by reading the manual .

Using latexmk

The template supports latexmk for compilation. After installing your favourite TeX distribution, just run

to compile, and

to clean the repository.

Bibliography

The template has been prepared to use biber to generate citations from BibTeX.

Put your BibTeX source in refs.bib . Then, within the main text of your thesis, use

or get a textual or parenthetical citation respectively.

The default style is ACM citation style . The document class option ieee switches the style to the IEEE reference style .

Finally, if you would like to use Unicode characters, latexmk can be instructed to use xelatex by changing the relevant line of the latexmkrc file:

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Dissertations and theses

To find a university of bristol thesis:.

Use  Library Search  as if you were trying to find a book, using either the author's name, the title or a combination of the two. When your search results display, you can refine your search by using the 'Resource type - Thesis' option.

If the thesis you wish to consult is not held on open shelves, you can request it using the 'reserve a copy' button.

To find theses from other institutions:

UK’s national thesis service providing records of all doctoral theses awarded by UK Higher Education institutions and free access to the full text of as many theses as possible. Please note: UK theses not available on EThOS can be requested via the Inter-Library Loan service.

Includes citations to dissertations and theses from 1861 to the present day. Full-text is available for most dissertations added since 1997. The official digital dissertations archive for the Library of Congress, it also includes UK & Ireland content.

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Careers Service Blog

Helping you get to where you want to be when you graduate

Writing a PhD research proposal

If you’re looking to apply for a phd program, one of the key requirements is writing a research proposal..

This document is essential, as it outlines your plans and will serve as a roadmap for the next few years. 

You won’t be completely bound to the contents of your proposal if you are successful in your application, there are many reasons your project might change and evolve over time.

You will be expected to stick broadly to what you originally proposed though, especially if you secure external funding.

Read on to find our top tips and advice on how to write a successful research proposal for your PhD application.

Once you’ve pulled a draft together, you may want someone at the Careers Service to check this over for you. If so, book a Careers Information and Advice appointment with us, or drop in to see us at 5 Tyndall Avenue.

What are your intentions?

Your research proposal needs to be convincing as a statement of intent and convey that you are serious about taking on a research project and training as a researcher. This means your proposal also needs to be tailored to the specific University and position you are applying for. Make sure you check their own specific advice and guidance on applications

Start early

Writing a research proposal can be a lengthy process, so it’s crucial to start early.

Give yourself plenty of time to conduct background research, refine your research question, and write the proposal itself.

Don’t leave it close to the deadlines for applying, as this could lead to unnecessary stress and a weaker proposal.  Try to think through how you might structure your PhD thesis in advance.

The more work you do to define the scope and approach of your research upfront, the less time you’ll need to spend on doing this during the PhD itself when the clock will already be ticking towards submission.

Conduct thorough background research 

Before you can write a research proposal, you must first conduct thorough background research on your chosen topic. This will enable you to refine your research question, identify gaps in the existing literature, and establish the importance of your research. It’s crucial to use and highlight credible sources such as peer-reviewed journal articles and books from reputable publishers. 

You will also need to research the University you are applying to and tailor your application to them. Do they have a specific research focus or purpose? Do they favour certain methodologies over others? 

Define your research question 

Once you have conducted your background research, you should be able to clearly define a research question.

It’s important to make sure your research question is clear, specific, achievable within the time and resources available to you, and contributes something new to your field of study. 

Be aware that PhD-level research needs to make an original contribution. This is the main criteria that will be assessed at the end of the process, so in a way, this is the most important part of your proposal. 

Justify your research 

Originality is not enough, especially in today’s competitive research environment, so you’ll also need to provide a clear justification for why your research is important and why it should be undertaken. This could involve discussing the gap in the literature that your research aims to fill, and why.  

Depending on your project and discipline you may also want to outline a hypothesis about your results, covering potential outcomes you expect in terms of practical applications or contributions to theory. 

Outline your methodology 

Your research methodology is the approach you’ll take to answer your research question. You’ll need to provide a clear outline of this in your proposal, including details of any data collection methods, sampling techniques, and data analysis methods you plan to use.

This can be refined over time, but make sure you choose an appropriate methodology for your question, and justify your choice. 

If there are any budgetary implications to your research, you should also include these. If you think this will be the case, talk to academics in your field to get a sense of what the appropriate spend looks like. 

Consider any ethical implications 

Depending on your topic and methodology, there may be ethical implications to consider. For example, if you’re conducting research with human participants, you’ll need to obtain ethical approval from your university’s ethics committee, and possibly elsewhere. It’s crucial to be aware of any ethical issues related to your research and address them appropriately in your proposal. 

Provide a timeline

Finally, you’ll need to provide a timeline for your research.

This should include details of when you plan to complete each stage of your research, from data collection to data analysis to writing up your findings.

Ensure your timeline is realistic and includes some slack to account for potential delays and unexpected issues that may arise (they will).

Writing a research proposal can be a challenging task but with sufficient time and awareness of the requirements you will get there.

By following the tips and advice outlined in this blog post, you’ll be well on your way to writing a successful proposal that showcases your research plan and sets you up for success in your PhD program. 

Best of luck!

Template for a Masters or Doctoral Thesis

This LaTeX template is used by many universities as the basis for thesis and dissertation submissions, and is a great way to get started if you haven't been provided with a specific version from your department.

This version of the template is provided by Vel at LaTeXTemplates.com , and is already loaded in Overleaf so you can start writing immediately.

Checkout this short video to see how to easily create and edit new chapters as your thesis develops.

Please read the unofficial quick guide to the template; it contains some tips and suggestions on how to modify certain things.

(Updated 27/08/17)

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Theses: Templates

• Finding theses @ Soton
• Deposit - Faculty Office
• Deposit - PGR Manager & Pure
• Thesis Data Deposit
• Restricting Access
• Info. for Faculty Admin
• Info. for Supervisors

Useful Links

Library Research Services  home page

Guidance from Quality Handbook :

• Producing your thesis
• Submitting your thesis
• Permission to Deposit Thesis Form
• Permission to Deposit Thesis - Guidance
• Declaration of authorship form
• Submission of a Research Paper PhD Thesis: Guidance
• Intention to submit research thesis form

There are also examples of the thesis title and abstract pages in submission and completion section of the Quality Handbook . 

Data Management Plan for your PhD

Data Management Plans for Doctoral Students (Blackboard Course)

Data Management Plan guidance

For open access and institutional repository enquiries [email protected]

For research data management queries please email [email protected]

Need further help? Use our L ibrary Research Skills support service   

Thesis Templates

The University provides templates in Word and LateX which meet the requirements set out in the Regulations.  

Training : iSolutions also offer sessions on using Word to work with text, graphics and page layout in your thesis and turning your thesis into a PDF/A. The full course schedule and booking links can be found in the PGR Development Hub

Word or LaTeX?

LaTeX is extensively used by engineers and scientists because it handles maths and equations brilliantly, and by linguists because it can cope with multiple (and obscure) languages.  The University now offers Professional Accounts via Overleaf. Sign up for an account via the University of Southampton portal .

Word is the most widely used word processing software in the university. Unless you will be including lots of special character sets or equations, we would recommend using Word.

Whole thesis template

Use this to produce the whole thesis in one long Word document. It contains all of the required sections from title page to bibliography, with refreshable Tables of Contents, Table of Figures and Table of Tables.

• Word template help
• Always  use in conjunction with the Quality Handbook Producing your thesis guidance

Separate Chapter, Front Matter & End Matter templates for Word & Mac

If you don’t wish use the whole document template then use these to create each chapter of the thesis and the front matter. It comes ready made with usable styles that meet the University’s thesis Guidance requirements

• Chapter template for Word 2007 /2010 /2013 /2016 (PC) or 2008 /2011 /2016 (Mac)
• Front matter template for Word 2007 /2010 /2013 /2016 (PC) or 2008 /2011 /2016 (Mac)
• End Matter for Word 2007 /2010 /2013 /2016 (PC) or 2008 /2011 /2016 (Mac)

Copyright Statement coversheet

All e-theses require the University thesis copyright statement  is included in front of the main title page in the final e-version submitted.  The wording of the statement should not be altered in any way. 

The Word template (PC or Mac) above has the statement included but earlier versions did not. Should the statement be missing from your file it should be:

• added before creating the final pdf version 
• located in front of the main title page using the document below 
• should not be included in the numbering of the thesis.

LaTeX templates currently do not include instruction on how to add the statement so it will need it to be added individually as a single double-sided page. Alternatively, add the pdf version into your final pdf file using Adobe Acrobat Pro.

The statement is not required in the print copies submitted for examination or as a final copy.

• Thesis Copyright Statement Thesis copyright statement cover sheet
• Thesis Copyright Statement PDF version of the thesis copyright statement to be included in every thesis

The following guides outline how this can be done in Word documents. 

• Adding copyright statement in Word (PC) Guide to adding the statement in Word on a PC
• Adding copyright statement in Word (Mac) Guide to adding the statement in Word on a Mac

Visual guides are also available on YouTube:

Print & e-thesis equivalence

University Regulations do not state that e-theses must be directly equivalent to paper versions so your e-thesis could, if desired and your Faculty agrees, include 3-d models, audio or video files, or you could move commercially sensitive or third-party copyright material to a separate appendix which could be restricted.

The e-thesis should normally be submitted as a single PDF file or other format as agreed by the main supervisor. Where there are appendices containing restricted material these should be submitted a separate file.

The electronic copy must include all front material (title page, abstract, acknowledgements, table of contents etc) but should not include a scan of the signature under the declaration of authorship.

Please note: During the Covid-19 pandemic if you want to submit an enhanced ethesis PDF,  you must also provide must provide a PDF copy of your thesis which is exactly the same as the printed, examined version and is an accessible and archival PDF, PDF/A-3.. See our practical tips for deposit during Covid-19 for more information.

Using UoS Thesis Templates

iSolutions have created a training guide to introduce the Word template for theses and show you how to use a range of useful Word features to make creating and working with your thesis easier. These also direct you to relevant LinkedIn Learning.com videos on the use of features in Word.

• Thesis guidance 

iSolutions also offer sessions on using Word to work with text, graphics and page layout in your thesis. The full course schedule and booking links can be found in the PGR Development Hub

LaTeX Templates

Support for the use of LaTeX can be found on the Overleaf website . LaTeX is  also supported by a wide online community - see LaTeX Project .

How to make sure your thesis is an archival PDF/A

Your final University e-thesis must submitted in an accessible and archival format so that it will be readible in years to come, currently this format is PDF/A-3 .

• Mac users If you are using Word for Mac then start by using the Save As PDF facility. This produces a really good baseline file to continue working on in Adobe Acrobat Pro DC. If for any reason you are not happy with the output as this process, then try converting the file by using Adobe Acrobat Pro's own 'Create a PDF from'. If you are still not happy with the result then contact serviceline to discuss other options.
• PC users For PC users the Adobe Acrobat Pro DC facility will produce the best output. You'll find the steps below under the heading  Create the PDF for PC  below.
• LaTeX to PDF/A-3 If you are using Overleaf, the automatic pdf conversion will be create a PDF/A file. Overleaf have created instructions on how to make sure your LaTeX PDF conforms to the archival standards . Please note we would prefer that you chose a-3b (propritising display) or a-3u (prioritising searchability) rather than a-1b. You may find the following paper helpful: Moore, R. (2014). PDF/A-3u as an Archival Format for Accessible Mathematics . In: Watt, S.M., Davenport, J.H., Sexton, A.P., Sojka, P., Urban, J. (eds) Intelligent Computer Mathematics. CICM 2014. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 8543. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-08434-3_14 , also available as an ArXiv pre-print .

Checking you PDF/A accessibility: You can check how well your PDF meets the PDF/A accessibility standards using the Abode Acrobat Pro preflight checker and the accessibility checker .

How to download Abode Acrobat Pro: Details of how to access or download Adobe Acrobat Pro DC can be found at iSolutions' How to install Adobe Acrobat DC Advice page .

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University of Bristol Law School

How to write a phd proposal.

We are delighted to consider applications for PhD research. We have a fantastic, diverse and energetic student body who are making the most of fabulous resources for postgraduate students. We welcome you to join us.

In order to help you with your application, the information below aims to give some guidance on how a typical research proposal might look.

Please be aware that if you are applying for   ESRC funding  then the proposal  must be no longer than 1,300 words ,  and if you are applying for  University of Bristol Postgraduate Research Scholarship  then the proposal  must be no longer than 1,000 words (incl. footnotes).

Your aim here is to showcase your ability to carry out postgraduate research. PhD research often travels and what you apply to study for may differ from your ultimate PhD. It is perfectly acceptable for research to move over time in response to findings or changes in preference/supervision.

Please note:  we do not generally have the expertise to supervise PhD proposals that are exclusively in a jurisdiction outside UK, EU or international law. We have many expert supervisors in comparative, international and regional law but if your proposal is only to study the law in your home country, we may not be able to offer you supervision even if you meet the admission requirements.

Title. A short, indicative title is best.

Abstract. This is a succinct summary of your research proposal that will present a condensed outline, enabling the reader to get a very quick overview of your proposed project, lines of inquiry and possible outcomes. An abstract is often written last, after you have written the proposal and are able to summarise it effectively.

Rationale for the research project. This might include a description of the question/debate/phenomenon of interest, and the context(s) and situation in which you think the research will take place; an explanation of why the topic is of interest to you; and an outline of the reasons why the topic should be of interest to research and/ or practice (the 'so what?' question).

Issues and initial research question. What legal or governance question(s) do you intend to investigate? (This may be quite imprecise at the application stage); what might be some of the key literatures that might inform the issues (again, indicative at the application stage); and, as precisely as you can, what is the question you are trying to answer? A research proposal can and should make a positive and persuasive first impression and demonstrate your potential to become a good researcher. In particular, you need to demonstrate that you can think critically and analytically as well as communicate your ideas clearly.

Intended methodology. How do you think you might go about answering the question? At Bristol we supervise an incredibly wide range of PhDs, including doctrinal, theoretical, empirical, historical, comparative or policy-focused work. Even if your methods are, for example, doctrinal, please do make this clear and give some indication why you think this is the best methodology for your proposed study. If you have a key theorist in mind, do please outline this in your application, together with some understanding of any critiques that have been raised. If you are planning to do empirical work, do please give some indication of what your methods might be (quantitative (surveys, statistics etc); qualitative (interviews, ethnography etc)

Expected outcomes and impact. How do you think the research might add to existing knowledge; what might it enable organisations or interested parties to do differently? Increasingly in academia (and this is particularly so for ESRC-funded studentships) PhD students are being asked to consider how their research might contribute to both academic impact and/or economic and societal impact . This is well explained on the ESRC website if you would like to find out more.

Timetable. What is your initial estimation of the timetable of the dissertation? When will each of the key stages start and finish (refining proposal; literature review; developing research methods; fieldwork; analysis; writing the draft; final submission). There are likely to overlaps between the stages.

Why Bristol? Why –specifically - do you want to study for your PhD at Bristol? How would you fit into our research themes and research culture (please see the ’10 reasons to study for a PhD at Bristol’ section on the website for more information). You do not need to identify supervisors at the application stage.

Bibliography. Do make sure that you cite what you see as the key readings in the field. This does not have to be comprehensive but you are illustrating the range of sources you might use in your research.

Scholarships

A  number of scholarships  are available to study for a PhD at Bristol. You can see more information regarding scholarships on our  fees and funding  page. If you have any questions about which scholarship to apply for and how your research might fit in please contact the PGR Director, Yvette Russell   [email protected] .

Tips on writing a successful application