A LaTeX template for PhD dissertations that conforms to the MSE (Materials Science & Engineering) department's requirements.
This is a template for a CMU MSE dissertation/thesis overview. This template was modified from cmuthesis.cls, published by David Koes (www.cs.cmu.edu/~dkoes), and subsequently modified by Raja Sambasivan to conform to ECE standards. This version is forked from an updated version by Ryan Cohn (https://github.com/rccohn), which was changed to conform to MSE standards. See that version for more document history.
As of 2021, the MSE department now requires these documents to follow the overall department of engineering standards. These are currently available online (https://engineering.cmu.edu/education/academic-policies/graduate-policies/thesis-dissertation.html). In case of link rot, they are recorded verbatim below:
Your title is the first thing your readers read. It should announce the topic and communicate the conceptual framework of the thesis or dissertation using keywords that provide information to both the reader and potential search algorithms.
Choose a single, readable and widely available typeface/font, such as Times New Roman, Arial or Helvetica. If using a less common typeface, embed the font in the electronic file. Avoid ornamental typefaces. In general, use at least ten-point or twelve-point font for the body of the text.
The first page of the pdf will be a title page. The title page of the dissertation should follow the format specified in the template. Note that the title page must follow the template and not include additional information.
Note: The title page requirements are shown in a linked document. All text is the same size and horizontally centered on the page. The title is in bold and capitalized, and may have a subtitle separated by a colon (:). If the title runs across multiple lines, it should be single-spaced. It is followed by a long break and then the text: "Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for \ the degree of \ Doctor of Philosophy in \ Department of Enginering" with line breaks at the '\'s. Then after a line break: the author's first, middle, and last names, another line break, and a list of degrees obtained in the format "B.S., Engineering Department, University degree was obtained". This is followed by a long break and then the text "Carnegie Mellon University \ Pittsburgh, PA". The final line on the title page should be the month and year when the degree is expected to be awarded or the thesis overview will take place.
If the student asserts their copyright then the second page of the pdf will be the copyright page, according to the template. If the student does not wish to assert copyright then they must indicate that choice on the submission checklist page.
All theses and dissertations must include an Acknowledgments section. This section is used to thank mentors and colleagues or name the individuals or institutions that supported your research or provided special assistance, such as consultation or aid. Acknowledge any owners of copyrighted materials that have granted you permission to reproduce their work. Describe all sources of funding from outside grants, fellowships, awards, or self-supported funding. For any grants, include the identifying number. Acknowledgment of the source(s) of support is important ethically in all research publications and presentations, including theses, to give the sponsors the recognition they deserve, and also to disclose publicly the organization or persons funding the research.
For doctoral submissions, the doctoral committee must also be listed in the Acknowledgments, and the chair of the committee must be identified. The doctoral committee should not be listed on the title page.
The abstract will be made available in the ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database (PQDT). Do not include footnotes, references, or unexplained abbreviations. There is no word limit on the abstract, however it should be concise.
The table of contents should include page references.
Include titles and page references.
Include titles and page references.
The body of the thesis or dissertation should be broken into the following sections:
- Introduction
- Main body — with larger divisions and more important minor divisions indicated by suitable, consistent headings
- Summary and conclusions — highlighting the key findings and conclusions of the work presented. For engineering and science theses and dissertations, this section often also includes recommendations for follow-up research.
- References — see below
- Appendices — each appendix should have a title and be listed in the Table of Contents
Each page in a thesis or dissertation should be assigned a number. The following plan of page numbering generally is accepted:
- Do not number the Title or Copyright Page, although these pages will be included in the page count
- Preliminaries: Use small Roman numerals (i, ii, iii, iv, etc.). The numbering begins with iii; the title page counts as page i and the copyright page as ii, but the number does not appear.
- Rest of the thesis or dissertation: the body of the thesis, including text, illustrations, appendices, and bibliography, use Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3, 4, etc.). Each page must be numbered. Try to avoid use of letter suffixes such as 10a, 10b. The numbering begins with 1 and runs consecutively to the end of the dissertation.
If footnotes are needed, they should be placed at the bottom of the page below a 1.5 inch underscore (starting at the left border). The first line of each footnote should be indented 0.5 inches and identified by a raised numeral corresponding to that used in the test. Footnotes should be numbered consecutively throughout each chapter.
The data on which the thesis or dissertation is based should be made accessible to the reader in substantially complete form. Generally, this means that raw data should be reproduced in a convenient manner in one or more appendices to the main document and made available in the Carnegie Mellon repository, on a web site that will be supported by the advisor or department, or an external repository related to the pertinent field. In the case of extensive data gathered from readily available published sources, specific detailed citations will suffice, provided that that data is included in an Appendix of the document pdf, if available, or otherwise a stable url is included. Deviations from a procedure of full disclosure must be specifically approved by the M.S. thesis advisor(s) or Ph.D. Dissertation Committee and explained fully in the thesis or dissertation.
All instruments, analytic procedures, apparatus, or other critical elements in the execution of the study should be described in detail. Apparatus normally should be described in an engineering drawing and by photograph. Instruments normally should be reproduced in full in pictures or drawings, unless they are easily available from other sources. Procedures of analysis should be specified fully either by citation or by detailed discussion in one or more appendices. Computer calculations that are essential to the central arguments of the research must be fully and clearly explained. If the computer programs which provide the basis for these calculations are originated by the student, the student is required to provide a program listing and minimal documentation on the program in the thesis or dissertation.
The program listing and documentation normally would be included in a separate appendix to the thesis or dissertation. However, in the case of extensive computer work considered by the student and his or her advisor to be too long to include in the thesis or dissertation, presentation in the form of tables elucidating important components is acceptable. In this case, the student is advised to submit a separate internal report giving further details. Standard subroutines or packaged programs which are routinely included as software support to a computer installation and which can be readily obtained are exempted from this requirement, but these should be clearly cited and the source of these programs made apparent in the thesis.
Citations of the professional literature should be standardized throughout the thesis or dissertation. The form of citation should be consistent with the form used in a standard professional journal of the candidates' field. The Harvard Citation Style is used commonly in engineering and science. The following journals are recommended as samples in each field of engineering:
Note: I've omitted this list; see the citation / bibliography style documentation on Overleaf (https://www.overleaf.com/learn/latex/Biblatex_bibliography_styles)
Refer to the ProQuest document “Guide 1: Preparing Your Manuscript for Submission to ProQuest” for margins, paper type, line spacing and additional formatting guidelines that have not been noted above.