Preparing a dissertation is a responsible stage in the professional development of postgraduate students. It is important to clearly comply with the established requirements for the formatting and structure of the work, as ignoring them may result in a postgraduate student being denied admission to the defence. In this article, we have compiled the current requirements for a PhD dissertation to help you prepare a high-quality piece of work.
Doctor of Philosophy
A Doctor of Philosophy degree candidate is a person who undertakes an educational and research programme at the third (educational and research) level of higher education at a higher education institution with the aim of obtaining the Doctor of Philosophy degree.
According to Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 44 of 12 January 2022, in order to obtain the Doctor of Philosophy degree, the candidate must acquire theoretical knowledge, skills, abilities, and competences defined by the higher education standard for the third (educational and research) level in the relevant speciality. In addition, they must conduct their own research, presented in the form of a dissertation, and publish its main scientific results.
What is a PhD dissertation?
A PhD dissertation is a qualification research work that contains research results and is completed independently by the candidate to obtain the Doctor of Philosophy degree.
The dissertation must contain original, scientifically substantiated results that correspond to a specific research task and make a significant contribution to the development of a particular field of knowledge. The work may be written in the state language or in English.
Structure of a PhD dissertation
The requirements for formatting a dissertation are established by the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine. The volume of the work is determined by the educational and research programme of the institution in accordance with the specifics of the field of knowledge or speciality.
The dissertation must include the following structural elements:
- title page
- abstract
- contents
- list of abbreviations (if necessary)
- main body
- references
- appendices
Each of these elements, as well as the sections of the main body and the appendices, must begin on a new page.
To familiarise readers with the results and content of the dissertation, an abstract in the state language and in English is provided, offering a general brief summary of the main provisions of the work. It is necessary to present the key research results concisely and indicate the scientific novelty and practical significance, where applicable.
The abstract must specify:
- the candidate’s surname and initials
- the title of the dissertation
- the type of dissertation and the academic degree the candidate is applying for
- the speciality (code and name)
- the name of the higher education institution or research institution where the dissertation was prepared
- the name of the research institution or higher education institution in whose specialised academic council the defence will take place
- city, year
The abstract is 0.2-0.3 author’s sheets in length.
At the end of the abstract, keywords must be provided in the relevant language. The keywords should correspond to the main content of the research work, reflect the topic of the study, and enable thematic searching of the work.
The recommended number of keywords is from five to fifteen. They should be given in the nominative case and in one line, separated by commas.
After the keywords, it is necessary to provide a list of the candidate’s scientific publications that correspond to the topic of the dissertation. It includes works:
- in which the main scientific results of the dissertation are published
- that confirm the approbation of the dissertation materials
- that additionally reflect the scientific results of the dissertation
The contents of the dissertation must include the titles of all structural elements, headings and subheadings (if any), indicating their numbering and the page numbers on which they begin.
If necessary, a list of conventional symbols, units of measurement, and abbreviations should be provided as a separate list. Their explanations should also be given in the text at the first mention. Abbreviations, symbols, and designations that occur no more than twice do not need to be included in the list.
The main body of the dissertation must include:
- introduction
- dissertation chapters
- conclusions
The volume of the main text of the dissertation is calculated in author’s sheets.
The references list is compiled at the candidate’s discretion. Sources may be arranged:
- in the order in which citations appear in the text
- in alphabetical order of the surnames of the first authors or titles
- in chronological order
The bibliographic description of the references list in the dissertation may be formatted by the degree candidate at their discretion, taking into account the National Standard of Ukraine DSTU 8302:2015 “Information and documentation. Bibliographic reference. General provisions and rules for compilation”. The candidate may also format the references list using one of the styles from the recommended list.
The appendices may include supplementary material necessary for a complete understanding of the dissertation:
- intermediate formulae and calculations
- tables of supplementary numerical data
- protocols and acts of testing and implementation, calculations of economic effect, letters of support for the results of the dissertation work
- instructions and methods, descriptions of algorithms that are not the main results of the dissertation, descriptions and texts of computer programmes for solving tasks using electronic computing means that were developed in the course of completing the dissertation
- illustrations of a supplementary nature
- other data and materials
A mandatory appendix to the dissertation is the list of the candidate’s publications on the dissertation topic and information on the approbation of the dissertation results.
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