Your thesis is the culmination of your research studies with us. It is essential to follow the guidance regarding deadlines and submissions.
To submit your thesis for examination you must submit an electronic copy of the thesis to the Research Degrees Office in the approved format (a digital (PDF) file) by email to researchdegrees@qmul.ac.uk. The email submitting the thesis must be received in the RDO by 23:59 hours on the thesis submission deadline.
The thesis may be submitted by email to researchdegrees@qmul.ac.uk
If the file is too large you may send us a link to a shared OneDrive file. Please email researchdegrees@qmul.ac.uk letting us know that you have done this. If you have any issues please contact us.
Please complete the PGR Thesis Submission Form (RD02) [DOC 39KB] and attach this to your email to RDO.
The two bound copies of the thesis are NOT required. The thesis must be submitted as a single combined document, preferably PDF. Appendices must not be submitted as separate documents. If you have any questions or need to submit additional material with your thesis, e.g. digital material, please contact researchdegrees@qmul.ac.uk so that we can advise.
The date of thesis submission recorded on MySIS is the date on which the electronic copy of the thesis is submitted to RDO.
The thesis submission deadline is determined by programme length and whether a student is studying full-time or part-time. Please see the table below for general guidance.
Programme length
Thesis submission deadline from initial date of enrolment
Four years full-time
3 years 364 days
Five years full-time
4 years 364 days
Seven years part-time
6 years 364 days
Students who have changed their mode of study from full-time to part-time (and vice versa), interrupted their studies, or have been granted an extension to their period of registration will have a different thesis submission deadline to the guide above. A student’s thesis submission deadline is published in the MySIS Research Student Data view on the student’s home page. The submission deadline date is shown in the “Thesis” section.
Please contact the Research Degrees Office (RDO) to confirm the thesis submission deadline.
The formal entry for examination is the submission of the thesis to the Research Degrees Office before the thesis submission deadline.
You must also submit a completed PGR Thesis Submission Form (RD02) [DOC 39KB] with the electronic copy of your thesis. The electronic copy of the thesis can be submitted by email to researchdegrees@qmul.ac.uk, or you can share via OneDrive. The date of thesis submission is recorded on MySIS by the Research Degrees Office.
Once the Research Degrees Programmes and Examinations Board has approved your examiners (please see our page on the nomination of examiners for more information about this process), the Research Degrees Office will formally invite your examiners to act. Once the examiners have accepted the formal invitation, RDO will send the thesis to them electronically.
Your thesis will not be sent until both examiners have accepted the formal invitation.
The two bound copies of the thesis will not be required. The thesis must be submitted as a single combined document, preferably PDF. Appendices must not be submitted as separate documents. If you have any questions or need to submit additional material with your thesis, e.g. digital material, please contact researchdegrees@qmul.ac.uk
If you do not wish your thesis to be available online, you will be able to indicate it on the online form when you submit the final version of the thesis to the library (post-viva).
The thesis must be presented in the format set out in the Thesis Presentation Notes updated November 2024 [PDF 122KB]Bound copies of the thesis are not required unless the examiners request a paper copy. Please see the above guidance about thesis submission.
Queen Mary policy on editorial assistance for research degree theses
The thesis must not exceed the following word limits:
[The bibliography is excluded from the word count; footnotes are included within the word count; appendices are excluded from the word count and should only include material which the examiners are not required to read in order to examine the thesis, but to which they may refer if they wish.]
Your supervisor is responsible for arranging the viva and keeping you and the Research Degrees Office informed of these arrangements. If you have any queries about the viva, please speak to your supervisor in the first instance.
Research degree oral examinations may be held remotely with all participants attending online or face-to-face on a Queen Mary campus, in line with health and safety and travel guidance in place on the day of the viva. All participants must agree the format of the viva. One examiner can attend remotely if the student and other examiner can attend in person together. The student’s supervisor is responsible for organising the viva and will contact the examiners to liaise with them about these arrangements. This is subject to change according to Government guidelines.
PGR Exam Guidance Notes August 2023 [DOC 67KB]
You must not contact the examiners yourself. You or your supervisor must not send the thesis to the examiners. Your examination may be declared invalid if you do. Please ensure that you or your supervisor(s) make it clear if your thesis needs to be printed and a hardcopy is to be dispatched to the examiner.
Students who have received financial support from external funding bodies such as Research Councils should acknowledge this according to the format stipulated by their funding body. Research Councils require the following to be included on the appropriate page:
This work was supported by the [NAME of funding body] [grant NUMBER, if applicable]
Multiple grant numbers should be separated by a comma and a space. Where the research was supported by more than one agency, the different agencies should be separated by a semi-colon, with "and" before the final funder.
For example:
This work was supported by the [NAME of funding body] [grant NUMBERS e.g.1234, 11223344];the [NAME of funding body] [grant NUMBER, 12345];and the [NAME of funding body] [grant NUMBER 000]
After the viva, your examiners will inform the Research Degrees Office of the outcome. They are required to do this within two weeks of the viva. They may inform you of the outcome of the examination at the end of the viva, but are not required to do so.There are eight possible outcomes:
The Research Degrees Office will write to you to formally notify you of the outcome of the examination and advise you of the post-viva procedure. The RDO will send you a copy of the examination outcome form, a copy of the examiners’ report on the examination, and a list of amendments required by the examiners, unless you have passed outright or have already been provided with a list of amendments. You are responsible for submitting the revised thesis to the examiner(s) responsible for checking your amendments by the date stipulated on the examination outcome form. Please ensure that you keep your personal details up-to-date in MySIS to ensure that you receive this correspondence.
The outcome will need to be ratified by the Research Degrees Progression and Examinations Board which is held once a month.
Find out more about our frontline services for Research students.