Thesis

It may take a couple of months to write the dissertation, or less time for students who have published papers that will form the core of the dissertation. The dissertation should describe the scholarly work of the student only (since the only author of the dissertation is the student). 

Results produced by collaborators should be excluded. If these results provide context for the student’s original work, they can be briefly described in the text (but not shown in Figures unless the student actively participated in producing these results), and the contribution should be properly acknowledged. In addition, the student should draw their own illustrative diagrams rather than using or modifying published ones, unless the diagrams were originally published by the student. Note that the student may need to obtain permission from the publishers prior to reproducing published materials (even if it is from the student) in his or her dissertation. 

The dissertation typically consists of a minimum of two first-authored research chapters. Each research chapter should follow the scientific format of Introduction, Results, and Discussion. Methods and references ideally should be presented as separate sections at the end of the thesis. One or more of the chapters should be published or accepted for publication. This does not imply that any combination of chapters would be acceptable. It is expected that the chapters represent a cohesive, coherent, and integrated body of work. The final thesis must include introductory and discussion chapters to summarize and integrate the research chapters. Optional additional sections are Acknowledgements, Appendix, and Lay Summary. 

A typical thesis will consist of 100-250 pages, containing the following sections: 

• Abstract 
• Acknowledgements 
• Table of contents 
• Non-standard abbreviations 
• List of Figures and Tables 
• Chapter 1: General Introduction 
• Chapter 2: Research Chapter 1 
• Chapter 3: Research Chapter 2 
• Chapter 4: Research Chapter 3 
• Chapter 5: final preliminary study (optional) 
• Chapter 6: General Discussion 
• Materials and Methods References 
• Appendix 
• Lay Summary 

• Should provide the relevant background to the thesis work. 
• Should be a scholarly review that clearly outlines the state of knowledge in the field of research and emphasizes the outstanding questions in the field, especially those that are specifically addressed by the thesis research. 
• An excellent Introduction will be interesting to read and will propose a hypothesis 28  (possibly novel) to explain data in the literature. This is the student’s chance to demonstrate mastery of the subject matter of the thesis studies. Students should not be afraid to express their opinions. This is the student’s thesis, and their opportunity to write their own story. The Introduction should end with a brief outline and rationale for the thesis research. The Introduction should generally not exceed 50 pages. 

• The research chapters should describe the experiments performed by the student. 
• Work of collaborators may be included when this work is crucial for the understanding of the student’s own data. When work by collaborators is included, those experiments done by collaborators should be clearly indicated. There must be a general explanation on the cover page of each data chapter outlining the contributions from each person. 
• In the body of the chapter, use “I” to describe the student’s experiments, and the name of the collaborator(s) (or “we”, if appropriate) to describe others’ experiments/data. The chapter must be written to emphasize the student’s own work. 
• The introduction to a research chapter should not repeat material already presented in the general introduction of the thesis. 
• Figures and tables not exceeding three pages in length should be placed in the body of the chapter, on the page following its first introduction. Where possible, the legend should be on the same page as the display item. Very large items can be included as an appendix. 
• Aside from very large data sets or movies, there should be no reference to supplemental materials/figures/tables; all relevant data should be presented in the results section of the data chapter. 
• Students must ensure that all figures within a thesis are at least 300 dpi. 
• It is encouraged to not include a published or unpublished manuscript as a data chapter without some alteration. Even in the case of a single author paper by the student, the introduction must be modified to avoid repetition with the thesis introductory chapter, and all supplementary materials will be incorporated into the results section of the chapter as described above. 
• Finally, the term ‘data not shown’ does not belong in a thesis. Arguments that rely on casual observation because no data was collected should not be present in a data chapter because this provides evidence of poor scientific method. Speculation based on casual observation is permissible within a concluding chapter, so long as it is clearly stated that the argument relies on casual observation and not on real data. 

Should begin with an overall summary of the work that explains how it has advanced the field. Students should refer to questions and hypotheses raised in the General Introduction and explain how the research has solved (or maybe not solved) these problems. This chapter can propose hypotheses and models and should emphasize the student’s own view of the field. The thesis should finish by suggesting several future investigations that would further address the key issues in the field.