skip to content
 

Instructions and guidelines for submitting your Ph.D. thesis

Writing up

  1. Thesis typography
  2. Before submitting, please read the helpful advice from the Student Registry on  Research Best Practice.
  3. Appointment of Examiners and Intention to Submit
    Your supervisor will need to arrange for the appointment of examiners at least two months before you submit. Please let your supervisor and the Secretary of the Degree Committee know your expected date of submission and the title of your thesis. There is a form which your supervisor should use. Examiners are appointed by the Degree Committee upon the recommendation of the supervisor.
  4. Submitting your thesis to the Degree Committee   Please follow the instructions to upload your thesis via the department's filer, and send a copy of your abstract and declaration to the Secretary of the Degree Committee (degree-committee-secretary at cst.cam.ac.uk). The upload page  allows you to deposit a source-code package that you can leave with the department, for example to archive any software that you wrote in association with your thesis, and an editable source version of the thesis document. These will be deposited on the departmental filer at /anfs/www-uploads/phd = \\filer\www-uploads\phd.
  5. Viva voce examinations by video conference and adjustments If you require any special arrangements for the viva voce examination, the Degree Committee will need to know well in advance. Many viva voce examinations for the Ph.D. Degree are being conducted by video conference and there is no requirement to have a trusted person with you during the examination. It is hoped that the department might return to in-person vivas soon but please let the Secretary know if you will need your examination to be held via video conference.
  6. Impact of Coronavirus   The University is aware that during the COVID-related lockdowns student experienced some difficulties. You are invited, therefore, to also submit an impact statement to the Secretary of the Degree Committee along with the declaration and abstract. See Guidance for students for further details. The form may be downloaded from here.
  7. The Internal Examiner will arrange the date and time of your examination, a 'viva'. This should take place within around ninety days of submission.
  8. After you have defended your thesis in the viva, the Examiners' recommendations go to the next meeting of the Degree Committee for approval subject to any corrections recommended by the Examiners.
  9. Degree Committee papers and the Examiners' reports and the outcome of the examination then go to the Student Registry's Records and Examination Office. The Student Registry will send you copies of the reports and instructions about submitting corrections, the hard-bound UL thesis copy, and the Apollo Repository version.
  10. Once all corrections have been made and approved by the Examiners, and notification has been sent to the Student Registry, the hard-bound University Library copy of your thesis, summary and declaration form, may be submitted to the Student Registry at the New Museums Site. See the submission information and Student Union's binding services information.
  11. You should also replace your uploaded electronic version of the thesis on the Lab's filer with the corrected version AND also submit an electronic copy via the Apollo repository.
  12. Once the conditions of the approval of the Ph.D. Degree have been met, including submission of the hard-bound thesis, you will receive a letter informing you that you may arrange with your College Praelector to graduate at the next appropriate Congregation. You will remain on the Register of Postgraduate Students until you receive your degree certificate at the Congregation.
  13. The Department of Computer Science and Technology will expect you to submit your thesis as a Technical Report. Once you have done this, the electronic version of your thesis is removed from the filer.

If you have any questions not covered above, please consult the Secretary of the Degree Committee.

Secretary of the Degree Committee, October 2017, updated June 2023