The Thesis
At the end of the degree program each candidate will present a thesis for examination by experts in
the field. The thesis usually involves a substantial
written document. In most cases, the award of the degree depends
entirely on the thesis. As discussed further under
Examination in the Graduate Resource Book, the University of Tasmania appoints
two or more experts outside the University as
examiners. The examiners know nothing about
the candidate or the way that the research project
proceeded other than what is contained in the
thesis presented for examination. It is important,
therefore, that the thesis is self-contained and
conveys clearly the description of the project,
how it relates to the field as a whole, how the
project was pursued, what techniques were used
and how successful they were, and the outcomes
of the research. All this must be presented in
an integrated, coherent form that displays the
competence of the candidate and demonstrates
that a substantial and original contribution to
knowledge has been made.
The time to start writing the thesis is early
in candidature. This gives the candidate an
opportunity to discuss the appropriate style,
structure, format and content with the supervisor. For more information see Chapter 5 of the Graduate Research Book pages 43-46.
Thesis Order of Contents
The written thesis must incorporate in the following order –
a) a title page (QMS template). Note that the logos are not a requirement and that you can acknowledge CSIRO and UTAS in your acknowledgement. Should the thesis require corrections, the month
and year on the title page must be the month and year of submission of the
final copies following all examinations and corrections;
b) a signed statement that the thesis contains no material which has been
accepted for a degree or diploma by the University or any other institution,
except by way of background information and duly acknowledged in the
thesis, and to the best of the candidate’s knowledge and belief no material
previously published or written by another person except where due
acknowledgement is made in the text of the thesis, nor does the thesis
contain any material that infringes copyright.
c)a signed statement setting out the extent to which the Library copy of the
final thesis can be copied and communicated. This statement should
reflect any agreement which exists between the University and an external
organisation (such as a sponsor of the research) regarding the work.
Examples of appropriate statements are included in the Graduate Research Book, p.44 - statement of authority of accessy.
d) where the candidate has co-authored a published paper(s) that is included in the body of the text or is included in whole or in part in the appendix, a statement of authorship should be prepared by the candidate's supervisors for inclusion in the thesis. This statement attests to the contribution of the candidate and the co-authors and makes reference to signed statements that have been made by the co-authors and which are held on file within the School. Candidates may contact the Secretary of the Board for an example of a statement of co-authorship;
e) an abstract of up to 400 words;
f) an acknowledgement of any help given or work carried out by another
person or organisation;
g) a table of contents;
h) an introduction, which may include a statement of conditions which have
imposed limitations on the work;
i) the main text; and
j) bibliography or reference list of all books, articles and other sources
mentioned in the body of the thesis.
Examination
Candidates should notify their head of school of
their intention to submit their thesis eight weeks
before they expect to submit it. This allows time
for the examiners to be nominated by the school
and appointed by the Board of Graduate Research
before the thesis is submitted. The notice must be
accompanied by a summary or an abstract of the
thesis which has been approved by the supervisors.
The abstract should not exceed 400 words,
and should have a heading which includes the
candidate’s name, school, thesis title and the name
of the degree.
At this time the candidate may, under the Rules
of Higher Degrees by Research, specify any person
whom they believe should not be appointed
as an examiner. This should only be done after
careful consideration and discussion with the
supervisors and head of school. The request
must be made to the Secretary of the Board and
include the reasons why the appointment should
not be made.
For more information about Examination see Chapter 6 of the Graduate Research Book , pp 47-49.
Thesis Format Template
The below file (Windows and Linux) is a QMS thesis template created by Ben Galton-Fenzi for the QMS PhD program.
QMS Thesis template.zip (Windows)
QMS Thesis template.tgz (Linux)
Logos
You can only use CSIRO and UTAS logos in your final thesis, not the QMS logo.
School of Zoology Thesis Submission
For students enrolled through the School of Zoology, the submission of a PhD involves 2 keys steps: 1. Intent to submit
Eight weeks before submitting the thesis for examination the candidate is required to give the Head of School notice in writing of the intention to submit which includes:
(a) the title of the thesis;
(b) a summary of the thesis up to 400 words;
(c) the intended date of submission
The Head of School will pass the abstract to the Graduate Research Unit. This serves to notify that submission is near and begins the process of the finding examiners. The head of School (after consultation with all academic staff) is required to nominate 3 expert examiners in the field. Examiners will all be internationally recognised experts in their field and will include examiners from outside the Australasian region (typically the US or Europe). These examiners are nominated initially by the supervisory team of the student and ratified by the Head of School after consultation with other academics. The names of the examiners must remain confidential to the student during the process (i.e., it is not appropriate for students to know who they are). However, there is scope for the student to identify non-preferred examiners the student would prefer not to have (i.e, in case of personal and/or professional conflicts). This is best discussed in advance with the supervisory team. The GRU then formally invites the examiners to examine the thesis when it is submitted.
2. Formal submission
This happens via the Head of School who together with supervisors and graduate research coordinator(s) has to approve the thesis submission. To assist the Head of School at this stage and to ensure that theses were of the standard required for outside assessment (and to maximise the chances of smooth sailing through the assessment process), the School of Zoology has a process of formal thesis assessment by the Research Committee in the School. All theses ready for submission (as judged by the student and supervisor) are presented to the Chair of the Research Committee (Craig Johnson), and then a member of the committtee reviews the thesis. Essentially, we are confirming the thesis is of the standard we expect, i.e., it is well put together, it contains enough examinable material, it has been carefully proof-read by the student and reviewed by supervisors, figures are sensible and required. Given that many theses now contain already published papers or papers submitted for publication, the committtee pays particular attention to the general introduction and general discussion to confirm they are wide in scope and provide the intellectual scope required for either a PhD or Masters (this is often where the external examiners make the most strong comments if chapters are already published).
This process of internal assessment should be relatively straightforward for the majority of students (but not in all cases) and students can expect to receive feedback (via their supervisor) within 1-2 weeks. The student is then expected to make any changes suggested so the thesis can be submitted with the appropriate signatures of approval from the Head of School. It is important that students nearing this stage take this process into account in their timetables for submission.
The thesis (3 copies) are then submitted to the School and these are sent to the Graduate Research Unit for sending to assessors. The assessment process can take anywhere from 6 weeks to 3-4 months, although the university asks examiners to be as efficient as possible. For more information on the process after assessments are received, talk to your supervisors.
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