unsw thesis guide

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Finding UNSW theses

UNSW PhD or Masters by Research theses can be located via  UNSWorks . For honours theses, contact the UNSW faculty, school or the author directly.

For more information on rights of use and removing material in UNSWorks see  Copyright - UNSWorks .

Finding Australian and international theses

Australian theses.

Library collection To find UNSW Library’s collection of Australian and international theses in print, search Library collection for a title or keywords. Refine your results by selecting Refine my results > Resource types > Dissertations  in the column on the left.

Trove - Australian print and digital theses Trove includes theses at all levels, including PhD, masters and honours. To limit your search to Australian theses only, use Trove - Research & Reports  search. Tick the Australian content box. Next to format select Thesis from the drop-down list.

International theses

BASE BASE academic search engine provides access to the repositories of 8,000 institutions. 60% of the full-text documents are open access.

CORE CORE aggregates open access research outputs from repositories and journals worldwide.

DART-Europe e-theses portal DART-Europe is a partnership of research libraries and library consortia working to improve global access to European research theses.

EBSCO open dissertations Includes the content from American Doctoral Dissertations in addition to theses and dissertations from around the world. Coverage from 1955.

Open access theses and dissertations OATD provides access to open access graduate theses from over 1100 colleges, universities, and research institutions. This index is limited to records of graduate-level theses that are freely available online.

Theses Canada Theses and dissertations in the Library and Archives Canada (LAC) collection.

NZ Research.org.nz Gathers information about documents stored in research repositories from around New Zealand and assembles them in one database. Search open access research documents produced at universities, polytechnics and other institutions in New Zealand at this site. Select Thesis from the Browse by Type menu on the search page. Includes doctoral and masters theses.

Web of Science - ProQuest Dissertations & Theses The Web of Science ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Citation Index is a curated collection of multi-disciplinary, international dissertations and theses, including over 5 million citations and 3 million full-text works from thousands of universities. To search for thesis citations, change the search from Web of Science Core Collection to ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Citation Index .

Note: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses can be searched at no cost. Researchers can purchase individual theses using a credit card. Beware of paying for theses that are available for free electronically.

Worldcat An international database of library collections. When searching, select the Thesis/Dissertation option form the format list.

Obtaining theses

Many non-UNSW theses are available to download via the open access institutional repositories listed above. Beware of paying for theses that are available for free electronically.

• Some print copies are available for loan and can be accessed via the interlibrary loan service .
• Theses held in closed collections of other libraries and not available for download or loan cannot be accessed via the interlibrary loan service.
• Conditions of access to a thesis are determined by the author and holding library, and are outside the control of UNSW Library.
• Contact the owning library or institution directly to enquire about purchasing a thesis.

Related links

Your Thesis

The goal of all higher degree research (HDR) programs is to write a thesis that demonstrates how you have made an original contribution to knowledge. While the task of writing a thesis can be daunting, there are several things you can do to stay on track and complete your thesis on time while producing your best work.  

The Graduate Research School (GRS) runs two seminars that will help you prepare for your thesis submission:

Thesis Submission Seminar   Outlines the submission and examination process

Using Publications in Your Thesis Seminar Examines how publications may be incorporated into your thesis, including how authorship is determined, and when to seek permission to use published work

The GRS also offers a weekly HDR writing group and a Thesis Writing Boot Camp to help you build a regular writing practice. For information on the seminars and events available, please visit this page .  

Can’t make it to a Seminar or event? Watch a recording of the last session and download a copy of the slides here . 

Additional Resources

UNSW Resources Thesis Submission and Examination Applying for Restricted Access   iThenticate  Thesis Format Guide Thesis Examination Procedure

Finding other HDR theses in your field UNSW digital thesis collection Trove – Australian print and digital theses ProQuest dissertations and theses global (UNSW sign in required for access) EThOS e-theses online service

Writing Your Thesis The Writing Center - University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 10 Tips for writing a PhD thesis – Times Higher Education  How to write 10,000 words a day – The Thesis Whisperer

Thesis Plans Free Thesis Plan templates – iThinkwell Sample Thesis Plan - The University of Edinburgh

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Information about research theses

Key information and requirements

Whether you're writing a traditional thesis, or a reserch article, your work needs to have an argument and follow a particular format. The argument is your answer to your research question/s, and the structure of your thesis should support the argument.

The following information will provide you with the tools necessary to meet your research thesis requirements. Each postgraduate research course will have different requirements and we urge you to read the policies and guidelines carefully.

The MSc degree program provides a basic training in research. The thesis submitted for an MSc degree must describe the results obtained from the project undertaken as part of the MSc program.

The degree of PhD is awarded for a research program that makes a substantial contribution to knowledge. The thesis submitted for a PhD must describe the research undertaken and the results obtained.

Full details of the conditions are available via Procedures and Policies for Research Candidates .

Physical format of thesis

The UNSW rules governing the physical format of the thesis for either the PhD or MSc degree can be found in the UNSW Postgraduate Research Handbook provided by The Graduate Research School . This guide contains information regarding the submission and examination of research degree theses.

An important point, buried deep in the regulations, is that initially you submit the required number of copies of your thesis in temporary binding, preferably a spiral-bound format. While the initial binding is temporary, the format of the text, mathematics and other material must meet the standards specified in the UNSW regulations.

School of Mathematics and Statistics practice

All research degrees within the School of Mathematics and Statistics are supervised by a member of the academic staff of the School. A co-supervisor is also assigned to the student to assist with the research project as needed. The co-supervisor is usually also a member of the School, but under various circumstances the co-supervisor may be from outside the School, or even outside UNSW, if certain expertise is required.

The appointment of a supervisor for a given student is made after informal discussions between the student and members of the School with interests similar to those expressed by the student in their application for admission to the research degree.

The Director of Postgraduate Studies (Research) facilitates these discussions and generally assists the student in finding an appropriate supervisor and co-supervisor for the project proposed. This procedure is designed to minimise changes of supervisor and project during the student's candidature.

UNSW policies

For a list of UNSW policies for research candidates, see Forms, Procedures and Policies for Research Candidates .

The School of Mathematics and Statistics follows the UNSW policies on the selection of examiners for research theses in all respects and imposes some extra constraints. Firstly it is a well established School practice that members of the School of Mathematics and Statistics do not examine research theses submitted by students from within the School. Secondly, wherever possible, the examiners are selected from high calibre research intensive universities or institutions outside Australia.

See the Policy on Examination of Research Degrees for the UNSW policy on examination of research theses. The Thesis Submission and Examination guide contains some of this information as well.