thesis template university of leeds

Dissertation Format Regulations

Please click on each of the seven headings below to see the regulations which must be followed to format your dissertation correctly:

1. Number of copies

One electronic copy must be uploaded to the Assessed Assignment Submission area, within the module section of Minerva.

A hard copy of the Dissertation is not required.  

If you need to upload any additional data in a separate document, there is an additional submission area to upload this.

2. Indicative length

The main body of the Dissertation must not exceed the word limit.

Does Count toward word count

The word count covers everything within the main text of the Dissertation, including:

• the abstract and contents page
• lists of tables and illustrative material
• any tables, diagrams, subtitles, footnotes and references which are included within the main text.

Does not Count toward word count

The word count does not include;

• the title page and front cover
• any acknowledgements
• bibliographies
• end lists of references

Words presented as images

Any words presented in graphs, tables, or other graphics must be included in the word count.

Words displayed in these formats may need to be counted manually, as they will not be detected by the word count function on most word processing software.

Appendix Abuse

You must not use appendices to present matters of substance which should be included in the main body of the text.

The text must remain understandable without reference to any appendices.

3. Text and Layout

Font and size.

Dissertations should be presented using a standard font, and a font size of between 10 and 12 points.

Text must not be presented using only upper case letters.

Line Spacing

All standard text must be presented using double or one and a half line spacing.

Indented quotations and footnotes have an exception to the above rule, and may use single spacing.

For Microsoft Word this means standard dissertation text should have a spacing setting of either 2.0 or 1.5

Margins along all sides of the document (left, right, top and bottom) should not be less than 2.5cm (25mm).

For reference, the "normal" margins setting on a Microsoft Word document is 2.54cm on all sides - this is acceptable.

4. Pagination

All pages of text and appendices in your dissertation should be numbered consecutively.

Images and diagrams should also have their own consecutive numbering where possible.

5. Title Page

You must use the Leeds University Business School Dissertation / Project coversheet as your title page.

This can be downloaded from the Forms and Guidance Page

6. Table of Contents

Your dissertation document must include a contents page.

The contents page should list all main numbered chapter headings (such as 1, 2 , 3).

It is good practice to break down chapters into numbered sections, and these should also be listed on your contents page (such as 1.1, 1.2, 1.3).

Please carefully check the section above on word counts (2. indicative length) for information on which text contributes to your maximum permitted word count.

7. Acknowledgements

It is common to include a list of acknowledgements at the start of your dissertation, but you do not have to do so.

Students may wish to acknowledge the help their Supervisor provided, as well as the support of others such as family members or friends.

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A LaTeX template for preparing PhD theses at the University of Leeds

stonerlab/Thesis-template

Folders and files.

Repository files navigation

University of leeds, condensed matter physics group thesis latex template.

This repository contains LaTeX templates for creating MPhys Reports. Transfer Reports and PhD theses at the University of leeds. It is maintained by members of the Condensed Matter Physics Group.

Instructions

Select the branch that most closely matches your degree/report

Download the .zip archive, clone or fork this repository. If you fork the repository then you could use github to keep a copy of your thesis with backups and full revision control - albeit at the expense of being a little bit public in your writing!

If you use Overleaf then you can use New Project->Upload Project and upload the zip file. The paid for version of Overleaf also offers github integration.

Fill in the .tex files in the various sub-directories with your content. You may need to uncomment the \include lines in the main template TeX file for your additional chapters.

Add figure files for your thesis to the Capter_#_Fig folders. We recommend that you use pdflatex to compile the thesis and use eps2pdf to convert your figures to pdf on the fly.

Replace library.bib file with your BibTeX library file

Print and bind

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University of Leeds

Approved by publishing and review experts on SciSpace, this template is built as per for University of Leeds Thesis Template formatting guidelines as mentioned in University of Leeds author instructions. The current version was created on and has been used by 883 authors to write and format their manuscripts to this journal.

SciSpace is a very innovative solution to the formatting problem and existing providers, such as Mendeley or Word did not really evolve in recent years.

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As a graduate student, you may need to complete a thesis or dissertation as part of your program's graduation requirements. While theses are common among master’s students and dissertations among doctoral students, this may not apply universally across all programs. We encourage you to reach out to your program adviser to determine the specific requirements for your culminating project.

Office of Theses and Dissertations

The Office of Theses and Dissertations is the unit of the Graduate School responsible for certifying that theses and dissertations have been prepared in accordance with formatting requirements established by the Graduate School, the University Libraries, and the graduate faculty of Penn State. We are here to help you navigate the review and approval process to ensure you are able to graduate on time.

The Thesis and Dissertation Handbook explains Penn State formatting requirements for all master’s theses and doctoral dissertations. It covers the submission process and approval deadlines, the responsibilities of each student, and provides page examples. We highly recommend all students doing theses or dissertations to carefully review the handbook.

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Theses and dissertations faqs, thesis and dissertation payment portal.

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Among these resources, you can get help from the Graduate Writing Center and the Statistical Counseling Center, notify the University of your intent to graduate, and prepare for Commencement.

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• Faculty of Social Sciences
• School of Politics and International Studies

Professor Richard Beardsworth

• Position: Professor of International Politics and Head of School
• Areas of expertise: The Politics of Climate Change; Progressive State Leadership; Cosmopolitan Realism; International Theory
• Email: [email protected]
• Phone: +44(0)113 343 4902
• Location: Social Sciences Building
• Website: Twitter | LinkedIn | Researchgate | ORCID

Richard joined the University of Leeds in 2019 as Professor of International Relations and Head of School. Graduating with a PhD in Political Philosophy from the University of Sussex, he moved to Paris in 1991, teaching at the American University of Paris and researching at the Institut des Etudes Sociales . He was appointed professor of International Theory at Florida International University in 2012 and Head of Department and EH Carr Chair of International Politics in the Department of International Politics, University of Aberystwyth from 2016-2019. He retains a research associateship in Paris at SciPo.

Responsibilities

• Head of School

Research interests

Richard’s main research interest lies in normative international vision and state responsibility towards global challenges, in particular the politics of climate change. He has published widely on cosmopolitan realism (that is, a cosmopolitan approach to international relations grounded in progressive state agency) and has increasingly addressed the vital importance of ‘joining the dots’ among national interest, national security and cosmopolitan responsibilities in an age divided between populist nationalism, on the one hand, and the international vision of ‘sustainable development’, on the other. In a recent series of online publications he has argued for a theory and practice of ‘progressive state leadership’, particularly in the fields of national and global climate mitigation and adaptation.  His present research distinguishes between the politics of climate change and general sustainability practices and lays out a political vision of sustainable development beyond techno-economic solutionism.

Qualifications

• BA (Hons), MA (Cambridge)
• MA (Sussex)
• D.Phil (Sussex)

Professional memberships

• International Studies Association
• British International Studies Association
• European International Studies Association

Student education

My teaching focuses on the politics of climate change and climate leadership.

Research groups and institutes

• Centre for Contemporary Political Theory

Current postgraduate researchers

• Susan Ann Samuel

Publications:

My five most recent selected publications, my other selected publications, journal articles, conference papers, presentation (conference/workshop etc), conference presentations, internet publications, performances, compositions, exhibitions, scholarly editions, software / code, thesis / dissertations, working papers.

• Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures
• School of Philosophy, Religion and History of Science

Dr Joanna Leidenhag

• Position: Associate Professor in Theology and Philosophy
• Areas of expertise: Christian theology; analytic theology; panpsychism; autism; science-engaged theology.
• Email: [email protected]
• Location: G.05 Michael Sadler
• Website: Academia.edu | Googlescholar | ORCID

After leaving school, I did a foundation year in Fine Art from the University of the Creative Arts, and I still like to paint with oils in my freetime. However, I realized that I was passionate about the ideas that mould soceities and shape lives, and so decided to go to university. I originally intended on studying English Literature, but during undergraduate at the University of St Andrews (2009–2013) I discovered theology for the first time – the exploration of ideas about God and everything in relation to God from within a particular religious tradition. I paired this with modern history, as a way to understand how philosophical ideas, the scientific revolution, and Christian theology are interwoven in modern Western soceity to inform our beliefs about how we are, what matters in life, and how we should act. These questions continue to animate me. 

I went to Princeton Theological Seminary (2013–14) for a taught master’s programme where I was enriched by reading and discussing some of the most important theologians in Western history – Augustine of Hippo, Thomas Aquinas, Hans von Balthasar, and Karl Barth. After a year off, I started a PhD with Prof David A.S. Fergusson at the University of Edinburgh (2015–2019). I discovered a recent work in analytic philosophy of mind regarding the idea of panpsychism, and I decided to explore its implications for the doctrine of creation; how Christianity views God’s relationship to the world and how human should interact with the natural environment. 

After compelting my PhD, I got my first job as a postdoctoral research fellow, and then a lecture, in science-engaged theology at the University of St Andrews (2018–2021). I worked on two large grants from the John Templeton Foundation, the St Andrews Fellows in Science & Religion and the New Visions in Theological Anthropology  . At St Andrews, I developed and taught undergraduate modules on “Science, Religion and the Mind”, “The Problem of Evil,” “Holy Scripture, Sacred Earth: The Bible and The Environoment”, and “Saints and Cyborgs: The Imagination in Theology and Science”, as well as assisted in teaching on the taught postgraduate masters programme in Analytic and Exegetical Theology. 

I was thrilled to join the School of Philosophy, Religion, and History of Science at the University of Leeds in 2021. Since coming to Leeds I have mostly taught on the BA in Liberal Arts. 

Responsibilities

• Deputy Director of Liberal Arts

Research interests

I am a Christian theologian interested in interdisciplinary engagment with analytic philosophy and with the natural and psychological sciences. 

My doctoral research and first book developed a vision of theological panpsychism , which pairs classical Christian doctrine (i.e. doctrine of creation ex nihilo, the incarnation, the resurrection of the body, etc.) with the metaphysics of panpsychism. Panpsychism is the idea that consciousness is not unique to human beings or even animals, but comes in gradients as a fundamental and ubiqutious feature of reality. I argue that this recent revival in panpsychism is something Christian theologians should welcome as way to articulate creation’s value and praise of the unique Creator. I have also published a short popular level book called Creation and Ecology   introducing readers to the Christian doctrine of creation with Grove Books. 

I then worked as a postdoctoral researcher in science-engaged theology at the University of St Andrews for three years. With Dr John Perry, I co-wrote a book on  Science-Engaged Theology , exploring how this idea differs from previous trends in the field of science-and-religion, considering what it means for the standing of theology in modern research universities, and offering some guidelines for theologians wanting to use empirical studies as a resource within their work. You can find a special issue I co-edited in the journal  Modern Theology on this topic, which gives concrete examples of scientifically engaged theological research. 

My current research project is a monograph on exploring what neurodiversity, and autistic people in particular, can teach theologians and the church about what it means to be human, a child of God, and members of the body of Christ. I have published three articles on autism and theology to date: 

• ‘The Challenge of Autism for Contemporary Theological Anthropology,’ International Journal of Systematic Theology (2020)
• ‘Autism, Doxology, and the Nature of Christian Worship,’ Journal of Disability & Religion (2021) 
• ‘Accountability, Autism and Friendship with God,’ Studies in Christian Ethics, Vol. 34, Is. 3 (2021). 

I have also published on other topics, many of them beginning with “p”: pantheism, panentheism, participation, pnematology, and pica (ok, the last one really refers to an article looking at eating disorders more widely, not just pica). If you want to read more about these publications you can find my CV and many pre-publication drafts on my academia.edu cite. 

• God, Language and Diversity: Spiritual Flourishing in Neurodiverse and Multilingual Communities

Qualifications

• PhD in Systematic Theology, University of Edinburgh
• M.A. Theological Studies, Princeton Theological Seminary
• M.A. Modern History and Theology, University of St Andrews
• Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy

Professional memberships

• American Academy of Religion
• Society for the Study of Theology
• European Society for the Study of Science and Theology
• Centre for Theology and Public Issues
• International Society for Science and Religion

Student education

I teach core modules on the Liberal Arts BA.

You can read more about the BA in Liberal Arts at Leeds online .

Research groups and institutes

• Centre for Philosophy of Religion and Theology

Current postgraduate researchers

• Keiran Bateman

Publications:

My five most recent selected publications, my other selected publications, journal articles, conference papers, presentation (conference/workshop etc), conference presentations, internet publications, performances, compositions, exhibitions, scholarly editions, software / code, thesis / dissertations, working papers.

Made in Leeds

In an exclusive interview with Leeds Magazine in October 2023, Sir Keir Starmer discusses how his three years at university changed his life.

I n 1982, a young Keir Starmer (Law 1985, Hon LLD 2012) “rocked up” to Leeds “with fairly long hair, a Boomtown Rats album under one arm, and Status Quo under the other”.

Quickly, the city and people began to influence him. “I absolutely fell in love with Leeds, and I’ve been in love with it ever since. It absolutely formed me, and changed my life.

“I was the first of my family to go to university. My dad worked in a factory, my mum was a nurse. It was a huge step for me and my family. We didn’t know any lawyers. I’d never met a lawyer, I’d never been in court, I didn’t really know that much about what lawyers did. And then suddenly I was here and there were the solicitors and the barristers.”

Away from his life in rural Surrey, the young Keir’s passion for social justice was formed by Leeds academics, who introduced him to the law. “It really drove me, particularly when I studied international human rights law, which had an incredible impact. In fact, it shaped my career in the early days of being a lawyer. I was already thinking how can I use this in my life to bring about social change?”

In October 2023, we sat down with the man who could be Leeds’s first prime minister, to speak to him about the three years that changed his life.

Video transcript — Made in Leeds: Keir Starmer discusses his time at university

Leeds was absolutely forming of me in terms of who I am.

With his university friends he immersed himself in the indie rock Scene in Leeds where he saw the likes of Orange Juice, Aztec Camera, and The Smiths. “We were always at gigs at Leeds, that had a huge impact on me, and my haircut.”

Keir’s love of Leeds is apparent, he comes back to the city regularly to see friends. He fondly remembers evenings in the Hyde Park and Faversham pubs, and running through Hyde Park from his digs in Chestnut Avenue.

Those formative experiences and lifelong connections were coupled with the rigors of academia, and Keir was an exceptional student. In his final year he was a co-recipient of the Hughes Prize, given to the law student with the best final year dissertation. Modules on human rights law left an indelible mark.

“As I got more and more interested, grades started improving. I arrived not really knowing what a lawyer was, and ending up with a first class degree.”

After leaving Leeds, Keir became a barrister and worked pro bono to represent prisoners on death row in former Commonwealth countries, a role for which he is lionised in the legal profession.

He said: “Commonwealth countries, because of the constitutions they adopted, do have a final right of appeal to the Privy Council, and therefore people on death row in Caribbean countries were appealing to a court in London. I got instructed to do some of those cases. After I did a number of them, I got frustrated we were going case-by-case.”

This frustration led to more strategic litigations, the biggest led to 417 people’s convictions being overturned in Uganda in 2005.

The pomp and ceremony of the courtroom was a far cry from Keir’s humble beginnings. “Growing up there was always this sense of is this really for you? I didn’t really know whether law was for me until I got here. By the end of the first year I probably thought I’d be a solicitor. But then I became really interested in the advocacy and arguing a case.

“The court is a pretty intimidating place to work. I would say, particularly to any students, if somewhere in their mind they think this isn’t really for me, put that to one side because I did and then went on the most incredible journey.”

Many media commentators believe the Labour leader will be the UK’s next prime minister.

“I didn’t think when I was at Leeds I’d go into politics, I didn’t think as a lawyer I’d go into politics.” But, the lawyer-turned politician explained, his ambitions evolved from his determination to change things for the better.

“If things are really going to change the only place that’s big enough for that change is politics.

“In the end, the only meaningful change would come through politics.” So he put aside the law for the Palace of Westminster.

After becoming the MP for Holborn and St Pancras, Keir swiftly moved up the ranks and in 2020 became party leader, like his namesake. But unlike Keir Hardie’s time as party leader in the early 1900s, modern day politicians have to navigate the barrage of criticism from social media. “For me, because I came to politics late, I bring a resilience and sense of purpose. If you come into politics that late – and I could’ve done other things – you only do it because you’ve got a driving sense of purpose [and] sense of service.

“You have to have shutters on either side. Almost everybody thinks they can do the job better than you, it’s a bit like being a football manager. You have to just shut that noise out, you can’t get dragged into it.”

If things are really going to change the only place that’s big enough for that change is politics.

Many commentators believe Keir Starmer could be the next resident of 10 Downing Street. Does he believe he will be Leeds’s first prime minister? “Complacency is the enemy,” he said.

“We have to keep focusing on the prize. In a sense Leeds gave me such an incredible platform to stand on in my life and my career, that the idea of returning here one day in a different capacity would be fantastic. But, as I say, no complacency, every vote has to be earned.”

After the interview we walk Keir to his old student digs, and he jokes about cooking bolognese – a student staple – for his friends, going to gigs, and racing to get to lectures. We then make that same journey to campus, the weather breaking just in time for us to walk through the tree-lined avenue to the Liberty Building.

Keir opened the home of the School of Law in 2011. He returned as a Labour MP in 2020, and as leader of the opposition just three years later. Maybe the next time he enters the building, he will return as prime minister.

The story so far...

• 1985: Keir Starmer graduates from Leeds with a first class degree in law
• 2002: Starmer is appointed to the Queens Counsel, and becomes human rights advisor to the Northern Ireland Policing Board
• 2005: He helps overturn 417 death sentences in Uganda, and successfully represents two defendants in the decade-long McLibel trial.

• 2008: The lifelong defence barrister becomes director of public prosecutions
• 2012: Sir Keir receives an honorary doctorate from the University
• 2014: Sir Keir is awarded a knighthood in the New Years Honours list

• 2015: He becomes Labour MP for Holborn and St Pancras
• 2016: Sir Keir becomes shadow Brexit secretary
• 2020: Starmer becomes leader of the Labour Party

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