search for phd dissertations

Librarians/Admins

• EBSCOhost Collection Manager
• EBSCO Experience Manager
• EBSCO Connect
• Start your research
• EBSCO Mobile App

Clinical Decisions Users

• DynaMed Decisions
• Dynamic Health
• Waiting Rooms
• NoveList Blog

EBSCO Open Dissertations

EBSCO Open Dissertations makes electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs) more accessible to researchers worldwide. The free portal is designed to benefit universities and their students and make ETDs more discoverable. 

Increasing Discovery & Usage of ETD Research

EBSCO Open Dissertations is a collaboration between EBSCO and BiblioLabs to increase traffic and discoverability of ETD research. You can join the movement and add your theses and dissertations to the database, making them freely available to researchers everywhere while increasing traffic to your institutional repository. 

EBSCO Open Dissertations extends the work started in 2014, when EBSCO and the H.W. Wilson Foundation created American Doctoral Dissertations which contained indexing from the H.W. Wilson print publication, Doctoral Dissertations Accepted by American Universities, 1933-1955. In 2015, the H.W. Wilson Foundation agreed to support the expansion of the scope of the American Doctoral Dissertations database to include records for dissertations and theses from 1955 to the present.

How Does EBSCO Open Dissertations Work?

Your ETD metadata is harvested via OAI and integrated into EBSCO’s platform, where pointers send traffic to your IR.

EBSCO integrates this data into their current subscriber environments and makes the data available on the open web via opendissertations.org .

You might also be interested in:

EBSCO Open Dissertations

Search millions of electronic theses and dissertations (etds).

With EBSCO Open Dissertations, institutions and students are offered an innovative approach to driving additional traffic to ETDs in institutional repositories. Our goal is to help make their students’ theses and dissertations as widely visible and cited as possible.

This approach extends the work started in 2014, when EBSCO and the H.W. Wilson Foundation created American Doctoral Dissertations which contained indexing from the H.W. Wilson print publication, Doctoral Dissertations Accepted by American Universities, 1933-1955. In 2015, the H.W. Wilson Foundation agreed to support the expansion of the scope of the American Doctoral Dissertations database to include records for dissertations and theses from 1955 to the present.

Get involved in the EBSCO Open Dissertations project and make your electronic theses and dissertations freely available to researchers everywhere. Please contact Margaret Richter for more information.

How to find resources by format

Why use a dissertation or a thesis.

A dissertation is the final large research paper, based on original research, for many disciplines to be able to complete a PhD degree. The thesis is the same idea but for a masters degree.

They are often considered scholarly sources since they are closely supervised by a committee, are directed at an academic audience, are extensively researched, follow research methodology, and are cited in other scholarly work. Often the research is newer or answering questions that are more recent, and can help push scholarship in new directions. 

Search for dissertations and theses

Locating dissertations and theses.

The Proquest Dissertations and Theses Global database includes doctoral dissertations and selected masters theses from major universities worldwide.

• Searchable by subject, author, advisor, title, school, date, etc.
• More information about full text access and requesting through Interlibrary Loan

NDLTD – Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations provides free online access to a over a million theses and dissertations from all over the world.

WorldCat Dissertations and Theses searches library catalogs from across the U.S. and worldwide.

Locating University of Minnesota Dissertations and Theses

Use  Libraries search  and search by title or author and add the word "thesis" in the search box. Write down the library and call number and find it on the shelf. They can be checked out.

Check the  University Digital Conservancy  for online access to dissertations and theses from 2007 to present as well as historic, scanned theses from 1887-1923.

Other Sources for Dissertations and Theses

• Center for Research Libraries
• DART-Europe E-Thesis Portal
• Theses Canada
• Ethos (Great Britain)
• Australasian Digital Theses in Trove
• DiVA (Sweden)
• E-Thesis at the University of Helsinki
• DissOnline (Germany)
• List of libraries worldwide - to search for a thesis when you know the institution and cannot find in the larger collections

University of Minnesota Dissertations and Theses FAQs

What dissertations and theses are available.

With minor exceptions, all doctoral dissertations and all "Plan A" master's theses accepted by the University of Minnesota are available in the University Libraries system. In some cases (see below) only a non-circulating copy in University Archives exists, but for doctoral dissertations from 1940 to date, and for master's theses from 1925 to date, a circulating copy should almost always be available.

"Plan B" papers, accepted in the place of a thesis in many master's degree programs, are not received by the University Libraries and are generally not available. (The only real exceptions are a number of old library school Plan B papers on publishing history, which have been separately cataloged.) In a few cases individual departments may have maintained files of such papers.

In what libraries are U of M dissertations and theses located?

Circulating copies of doctoral dissertations:.

• Use Libraries Search to look for the author or title of the work desired to determine location and call number of a specific dissertation. Circulating copies of U of M doctoral dissertations can be in one of several locations in the library system, depending upon the date and the department for which the dissertation was done. The following are the general rules:
• Dissertations prior to 1940 Circulating copies of U of M dissertations prior to 1940 do not exist (with rare exceptions): for these, only the archival copy (see below) is available. Also, most dissertations prior to 1940 are not cataloged in MNCAT and can only be identified by the departmental listings described below.  
• Dissertations from 1940-1979 Circulating copies of U of M dissertations from 1940 to 1979 will in most cases be held within the Elmer L. Andersen Library, with three major classes of exceptions: dissertations accepted by biological, medical, and related departments are housed in the Health Science Library; science/engineering dissertations from 1970 to date will be located in the Science and Engineering Library (in Walter); and dissertations accepted by agricultural and related departments are available at the Magrath Library or one of the other libraries on the St. Paul campus (the Magrath Library maintains records of locations for such dissertations).  
• Dissertations from 1980-date Circulating copies of U of M dissertations from 1980 to date at present may be located either in Wilson Library (see below) or in storage; consult Libraries Search for location of specific items. Again, exceptions noted above apply here also; dissertations in their respective departments will instead be in Health Science Library or in one of the St. Paul campus libraries.

Circulating copies of master's theses:

• Theses prior to 1925 Circulating copies of U of M master's theses prior to 1925 do not exist (with rare exceptions); for these, only the archival copy (see below) is available.  
• Theses from 1925-1996 Circulating copies of U of M master's theses from 1925 to 1996 may be held in storage; consult Libraries search in specific instances. Once again, there are exceptions and theses in their respective departments will be housed in the Health Science Library or in one of the St. Paul campus libraries.  
• Theses from 1997-date Circulating copies of U of M master's theses from 1997 to date will be located in Wilson Library (see below), except for the same exceptions for Health Science  and St. Paul theses. There is also an exception to the exception: MHA (Masters in Health Administration) theses through 1998 are in the Health Science Library, but those from 1999 on are in Wilson Library.

Archival copies (non-circulating)

Archival (non-circulating) copies of virtually all U of M doctoral dissertations from 1888-1952, and of U of M master's theses from all years up to the present, are maintained by University Archives (located in the Elmer L. Andersen Library). These copies must be consulted on the premises, and it is highly recommended for the present that users make an appointment in advance to ensure that the desired works can be retrieved for them from storage. For dissertations accepted prior to 1940 and for master's theses accepted prior to 1925, University Archives is generally the only option (e.g., there usually will be no circulating copy). Archival copies of U of M doctoral dissertations from 1953 to the present are maintained by Bell and Howell Corporation (formerly University Microfilms Inc.), which produces print or filmed copies from our originals upon request. (There are a very few post-1952 U of M dissertations not available from Bell and Howell; these include such things as music manuscripts and works with color illustrations or extremely large pages that will not photocopy well; in these few cases, our archival copy is retained in University Archives.)

Where is a specific dissertation of thesis located?

To locate a specific dissertation or thesis it is necessary to have its call number. Use Libraries Search for the author or title of the item, just as you would for any other book. Depending on date of acceptance and cataloging, a typical call number for such materials should look something like one of the following:

Dissertations: Plan"A" Theses MnU-D or 378.7M66 MnU-M or 378.7M66 78-342 ODR7617 83-67 OL6156 Libraries Search will also tell the library location (MLAC, Health Science Library, Magrath or another St. Paul campus library, Science and Engineering, Business Reference, Wilson Annex or Wilson Library). Those doctoral dissertations still in Wilson Library (which in all cases should be 1980 or later and will have "MnU-D" numbers) are located in the central section of the third floor. Those master's theses in Wilson (which in all cases will be 1997 or later and will have "MnU-M" numbers) are also located in the central section of the third floor. Both dissertations and theses circulate and can be checked out, like any other books, at the Wilson Circulation desk on the first floor.

How can dissertations and theses accepted by a specific department be located?

Wilson Library contains a series of bound and loose-leaf notebooks, arranged by department and within each department by date, listing dissertations and theses. Information given for each entry includes name of author, title, and date (but not call number, which must be looked up individually). These notebooks are no longer current, but they do cover listings by department from the nineteenth century up to approximately 1992. Many pre-1940 U of M dissertations and pre-1925 U of M master's theses are not cataloged (and exist only as archival copies). Such dissertations can be identified only with these volumes. The books and notebooks are shelved in the general collection under these call numbers: Wilson Ref LD3337 .A5 and Wilson Ref quarto LD3337 .U9x. Major departments of individual degree candidates are also listed under their names in the GRADUATE SCHOOL COMMENCEMENT programs of the U of M, available in University Archives and (for recent years) also in Wilson stacks (LD3361 .U55x).

• << Previous: Dictionaries and encyclopedias
• Next: E-books >>

Global ETD Search

Search the 6,476,495 electronic theses and dissertations contained in the NDLTD archive:

The archive supports advanced filtering and boolean search.

• Enroll & Pay

American Doctoral Dissertations

This freely accessible database indexes thousands of theses and dissertations by American universities from 1902 to the present and provides links to full text where available.

Ask Yale Library

My Library Accounts

Find, Request, and Use

Help and Research Support

Visit and Study

Explore Collections

Resources to Find Dissertations: Home

Description.

This page provides links to databases and websites to find dissertations. This includes links to general databases to find dissertations, databases focused on the humanities, foreign dissertations, dissertations on religion, and dissertations hosted by other universities.

General Databases

Humanities dissertations, foreign dissertations, religion dissertations, dissertations of universities, yale divinity library.

Science Dissertations

• Last Updated: Aug 22, 2023 5:35 PM
• URL: https://guides.library.yale.edu/dissertations

Site Navigation

P.O. BOX 208240 New Haven, CT 06250-8240 (203) 432-1775

Yale's Libraries

Bass Library

Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library

Classics Library

Cushing/Whitney Medical Library

Divinity Library

East Asia Library

Gilmore Music Library

Haas Family Arts Library

Lewis Walpole Library

Lillian Goldman Law Library

Marx Science and Social Science Library

Sterling Memorial Library

Yale Center for British Art

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER

@YALELIBRARY

Yale Library Instagram

Accessibility       Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion      Giving       Privacy and Data Use      Contact Our Web Team    

© 2022 Yale University Library • All Rights Reserved

Open Access Theses and Dissertations

Direct Link

Theses and Dissertations

Check Cornell’s library catalog , which lists the dissertations available in our library collection.

The print thesis collection in Uris Library is currently shelved on Level 3B before the Q to QA regular-sized volumes. Check with the library staff for the thesis shelving locations in other libraries (Mann, Catherwood, Fine Arts, etc.).

ProQuest Dissertations and Theses

According to ProQuest, coverage begins with 1637. With more than 2.4 million entries,  ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global  is the starting point for finding citations to doctoral dissertations and master’s theses. Dissertations published from 1980 forward include 350-word abstracts written by the author. Master’s theses published from 1988 forward include 150-word abstracts. UMI also offers over 1.8 million titles for purchase in microfilm or paper formats. The full text of more than 930,000 are available in PDF format for immediate free download. Use  Interlibrary Loan  for the titles not available as full text online.

Foreign Dissertations at the Center for Research Libraries

To search for titles and verify holdings of dissertations at the Center for Research Libraries (CRL), use the CRL catalog . CRL seeks to provide comprehensive access to doctoral dissertations submitted to institutions outside the U. S. and Canada (currently more than 750,000 titles). One hundred European universities maintain exchange or deposit agreements with CRL. Russian dissertation abstracts in the social sciences are obtained on microfiche from INION.  More detailed information about CRL’s dissertation holdings .

Please see our resource guide on dissertations and theses for additional resources and support.

News alert: UC Berkeley has announced its next university librarian

Secondary menu

• Log in to your Library account
• Hours and Maps
• Connect from Off Campus
• UC Berkeley Home

Search form

Dissertations & theses: life & health sciences: find dissertations & theses.

• Find Dissertations & Theses
• Copyright & Publishing Your Dissertation This link opens in a new window

Find UCB Dissertations & Theses

UCB Dissertations & Theses Online:

• Dissertations & Theses @ University of California A subset of ProQuest Dissertations and Theses. Nearly all of the University of California dissertations filed since 1996 are available full-text; citations are provided for UC dissertations filed prior to 1996. Limit to UC Berkeley dissertations using the University/Institution field, however limiting to individual departments is only available for dissertations published starting in 2009.

UC Berkeley dissertations may also be found in eScholarship , UC's online open access repository.

Please note that it may take time for a dissertation to appear in one of the above online resources. Embargoes and other issues affect the release timing.

Finding UCB Life & Health Sciences Dissertations in the Library Using UC Library Search :

Dissertations have been cataloged using various subject terms. To find these dissertations, try a keyword search University of California, Berkeley [Department/School/Group Name] Dissertations ; this works best if you change the search option to 'UC Berkeley catalog' -  select this in the search box as you type,or make the selection above the search box in Advanced Search.

• University of California, Berkeley. Vision Science Dissertations 
• University of California, Berkeley. Dept. of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management Dissertations.
• University of California, Berkeley. Dept. of Molecular and Cell Biology Dissertations.
• University of California, Berkeley. School of Public Health Dissertations.

You may find your search results improve by placing the Department/School/Group Name as an exact phrase subject in Advanced Search. Example:

• Any field contains University of California, Berkeley. Dissertations
• AND Subject contains exact phrase Vision Science

Finding Master's Theses using UC Library Search (catalog) :

• Currently, only Master's theses older than 2020 are available in UC Library Search.
• Click Advanced Search, to the right of the search box.
• Change the drop down menu to the left of the search box to Subject and type (for example) University of California Berkeley public health in the search box.
• In the next search box, keep the default Any field and type master* in the search box (adding the * searches for both "master" and "masters").
• Click Search.

Master's theses from 2020 onwards are available via UC Berkeley Library's Digital Collections .

Dissertations Databases

• Next: Writing >>
• Last Updated: Mar 11, 2024 9:20 AM
• URL: https://guides.lib.berkeley.edu/dissertations

Jump to navigation

• Off-Campus Login
• My Library Account
• My ILL Requests
• My Special Collections Research Account
• Collections
• Articles & Databases
• Journal Search
• Archives & Manuscripts
• Digital Collections
• Special Research Collections
• Scholarly Communication
• Awards & Fellowships
• Subject & Course Guides
• Course Reserves
• Interlibrary Loan
• Instruction
• Research Data Services
• Ask a Librarian
• Call Numbers & Floor Plans
• Study Spaces
• Computers & Printing
• Events & Exhibitions
• Directions & Parking

Open Access Dissertations

You are here.

UC Policy on Open Access for Theses and Dissertations

On March 25, 2020, the University of California issued a Policy on Open Access for Theses and Dissertations. The systemwide policy, which aligns with those already in place at individual UC campuses, “requires theses or dissertations prepared at the University to be (1) deposited into an open access repository, and (2) freely and openly available to the public, subject to a requested delay of access (“embargo”) obtained by the student.” Theses and dissertations already made open access can be read in eScholarship, UC’s open access repository and scholarly publishing platform.

Alexandria Digital Research Library (ADRL) 

Some UCSB open access theses and disserations are in ADRL. Due to copyright restrictions and a need to obtain permission from the authors, not all years are available.

eScholarship   

UC's institutional repository and journal publishing platform. Not all campuses have electronic theses and disseartations in eScholarship. Due to copyright restrictions and the need to obtain permissions from authors, not all years are available online. UC campuses began accepting electronic theses and disserations (ETDs) submissions different years. For details see  ETD Preservation and Access Sevice: California Digital Library . UCSB's open access ETDS are in  ADRL . 

Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations

An international organization dedicated to promoting the adoption, creation, use, dissemination, and preservation of electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs). The website includes resources on how to find, create, and preserve ETDs; how to set up an ETD program; legal and technical questions; and the latest news and research in the ETD community.

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

OATD.org aims to be the best possible resource for finding open access graduate theses and dissertations published around the world. Metadata (information about the theses) comes from over 1100 colleges, universities, and research institutions. OATD currently indexes 5,031,307 theses and dissertations.

PQDT Open (Proquest):

Provides the full text of open access dissertations and theses free of charge. The authors of these dissertations and theses have opted to publish as open access. 

Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9010

UCSB Library - Main  (805) 893-2478 | Music Library  (805) 893-2641

Copyright © 2010-2024. The Regents of the University of California, All Rights Reserved.

Terms of Use

• Harvard Library
• Research Guides
• Faculty of Arts & Sciences Libraries

Research Guide for CES Visiting Scholars

• Dissertations & Theses
• HOLLIS (and other) Catalogs
• Finding Primary Sources Online
• Outline of Primary Sources for History
• Periodicals/Articles
• Policy Reports
• Foreign Government & International Organization Documents
• News Sources

Dissertations

General sources, german, dutch, and scandinavian dissertations, electronic dissertations.

• Statistics/Data
• Archives and Manuscripts
• Visual Resources
• Other Collections at Harvard
• Research Centers
• Citing Sources & Organizing Research

This page lists resources for dissertations (general and RLL-related) along with information on electronic dissertations. In general, Harvard's Interlibrary Loan service cannot obtain dissertations; in many cases you'll need to acquire directly from the institution where the work was submitted. 

To find doctoral dissertations from North American universities and some European institutions, search:

Dissertations and Theses Full Text

This is the largest database with 2.7 million citations for Masters and PhD dissertations. Full text for most dissertations from 1997 on (at this writing, 1.2 million full text dissertations available for download in PDF format). Hosted by ProQuest. Use Harvard's Get It Interlibrary Loan link to request print dissertations.

  Harvard dissertations and theses

As above, most of these from 1997 are available via ProQuest.

Havard dissertations and theses since 2012 are also available in our online repository, DASH , and in HOLLIS. If a dissertation from 2012 forward is not available in full text, the author has placed an embargo on it (up to 5 years) and the library won't be able to obtain it, but you may be able to ask the author.

Use Harvard's Interlibrary Loan to obtain any theses and dissertations found by searching

Center for Research Libraries Catalog: Dissertations

Request item through Get It (ILL link)

To find print sources, search HOLLIS Classic: Subject beginning with... e.g. Dissertations, Academic--France--Bibliography.

dissonline.de Search for German and Swiss electronic dissertations and "Habilitationen." For dissertations that have not been digitized, search the catalog of the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek .

Gegnir (IS) Click on "Námsritgerðir" (Icelandic interface) or "Thesis search" (English interface) to limit to dissertations.

HELKA (FI) Select the Advanced Search and "Väitöskirja/Dissertation or Thesis" from the search box.

Det Kongelige Bibliotek/The Danish Royal Library (DK) Search on "thesis," "dissertation," or "afhandling" (the latter if you want dissertations in Danish) together with your search terms.

Libris (SE) Select "Dissertations" under "Type of publication" box to limit your search to dissertations.

Nasjonalbiblioteket (NO) Select "Post graduate theses" in the search box to limit your search to dissertations.

National Academic Research and Collaborations Information System (NARCIS): Promise of Science   (NL) The "Promise of Science" provides access to over 21,000 full-text doctoral e-theses from all Dutch universities. It is a subset of NARCIS and DAREnet. Dates of coverage vary, but dissertations are mostly from recent years.

Österreichische Dissertationsdatenbank (AU) This database references over 55,000 dissertations and theses held at Austrian Universities; select dissertations are available online.

Ongoing research and development in the e-sphere:

Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (NDLTD) , an inter national organization dedicated to promoting the adoption, creation, use, dissemination, and preservation of electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs).

The Guide for Electronic Theses and Dissertations A wiki maintained by the NDLTD ETD Revision Team. Addresses issues for submission and administration of e-dissertations, whether born-digital or digital versions of print documents.

The European Working Group of the NDLTD is the DART-Europe E-theses Portal (DEEP). Intended to be the single European portal for dissertations, DART-Europe is a collaboration of research libraries and library consortia, endorsed by LIBER (Ligue des Bibliothèques Européennes de Recherche).

• << Previous: News Sources
• Next: Biography >>
• Last Updated: Apr 14, 2024 9:25 PM
• URL: https://guides.library.harvard.edu/ces

Harvard University Digital Accessibility Policy

Doctoral Theses

Academic Commons holds the full text of doctoral theses written since 2011 at Columbia and of theses written for a Doctorate of Education at Teachers College since mid 2018. A selection of dissertations from Union Theological Seminary, and from Columbia before 2011, are also available. You can start exploring theses by selecting one of the doctoral programs below.

• Anthropology (125)
• Anthropology and Education (26)
• Applied Anthropology (27)
• Applied Behavior Analysis (79)
• Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics (131)
• Architecture (36)
• Art History and Archaeology (182)
• Arts and Humanities (125)
• Astronomy (63)
• Behavioral Nutrition (32)
• Biobehavioral Sciences (25)
• Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics (35)
• Biological Sciences (221)
• Biomedical Engineering (219)
• Biomedical Informatics (58)
• Biostatistics (66)
• Business (205)
• Cellular Physiology and Biophysics (20)
• Cellular, Molecular and Biomedical Studies (189)
• Cellular, Molecular, Structural, and Genetic Studies (12)
• Chemical Engineering (116)
• Chemical Physics (34)
• Chemistry (269)
• Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics (118)
• Classical Studies (15)
• Classics (32)
• Clinical Psychology (78)
• Cognitive Studies in Education (92)
• Communication, Media, and Learning Technologies Design (2)
• Communications (44)
• Comparative and International Education (43)
• Computer Science (250)
• Counseling Psychology (65)
• Counseling and Clinical Psychology (4)
• Curriculum and Teaching (89)
• Developmental Psychology (14)
• Earth and Environmental Engineering (89)
• Earth and Environmental Sciences (186)
• East Asian Languages and Cultures (109)
• Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology (65)
• Economics (285)
• Economics and Education (70)
• Education Leadership (17)
• Education Policy (16)
• Electrical Engineering (273)
• English Education (76)
• English and Comparative Literature (179)
• Environmental Health Sciences (47)
• Epidemiology (128)
• French and Romance Philology (49)
• Genetics and Development (66)
• Geological Sciences (1)
• Geology (1)
• Germanic Languages (44)
• Health and Behavior Studies (115)
• History (264)
• History and Education (12)
• Human Development (8)
• Industrial Engineering and Operations Research (131)
• Intellectual Disabilities-Autism (13)
• Interdisciplinary Studies in Education (26)
• International and Transcultural Studies (8)
• Italian (44)
• Kinesiology (14)
• Latin American and Iberian Cultures (58)
• Materials Science and Engineering (34)
• Mathematics (141)
• Mathematics Education (76)
• Mathematics, Science, and Technology (61)
• Measurement and Evaluation (37)
• Mechanical Engineering (150)
• Microbiology, Immunology, and Infection (44)
• Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies (73)
• Music (140)
• Neurobiology and Behavior (200)
• Neuroscience (4)
• Nursing (78)
• Nutritional and Metabolic Biology (55)
• Ophthalmology (1)
• Organization and Leadership (136)
• Pathobiology and Molecular Medicine (53)
• Pathology and Cell Biology (6)
• Pharmacology and Molecular Signaling (39)
• Philosophy (77)
• Philosophy and Education (42)
• Physical Disabilities (13)
• Physics (215)
• Political Science (218)
• Politics and Education (25)
• Population and Family Health (20)
• Psychology (148)
• Pure Science (1)
• Religion (69)
• School Psychology (51)
• Science Education (68)
• Slavic Languages (25)
• Slavic Languages and Literatures (19)
• Social Work (180)
• Social-Organizational Psychology (42)
• Sociology (94)
• Sociology and Education (19)
• Sociomedical Sciences (77)
• Speech and Language Pathology (28)
• Statistics (103)
• Sustainable Development (59)
• Teaching of Social Studies (26)
• Theatre (29)
• Union Theological Seminary (5)
• Urban Planning (44)

• Cambridge Libraries

Physical & Digital Collections

Theses & dissertations: home, access to theses and dissertations from other institutions and from the university of cambridge.

This guide provides information on searching for theses of Cambridge PhDs and for theses of UK universities and universities abroad. 

For information and guidance on depositing your thesis as a cambridge phd, visit the cambridge office of scholarly communication pages on theses here ., this guide gives essential information on how to obtain theses using the british library's ethos service. .

On the last weekend of October, the British Library became the victim of a major cyber-attack. Essential digital services including the BL catalogue, website and online learning resources went dark, with research services like the EThOS collection of more than 600,000 doctoral theses suddenly unavailable. The BL state that they anticipate restoring more services in the next few weeks, but disruption to certain services is now expected to persist for several months. For the latest news on the attack and information on the restoration of services, please follow the BL blog here:  Knowledge Matters blog  and access the LibGuide page here:  British Library Outage Update - Electronic Legal Deposit - LibGuides at University of Cambridge Subject Libraries

A full list of resources for searching theses online is provided by the Cambridge A-Z, available here .

University of Cambridge theses

Finding a cambridge phd thesis online via the institutional repository.

The University's institutional repository, Apollo , holds full-text digital versions of over 11,000 Cambridge PhD theses and is a rapidly growing collection deposited by Cambridge Ph.D. graduates. Theses in Apollo can be browsed via this link . More information on how to access theses by University of Cambridge students can be found on the access to Cambridge theses webpage.   The requirement for impending PhD graduates to deposit a digital version in order to graduate means the repository will be increasing at a rate of approximately 1,000 per year from this source.   About 200 theses are added annually through requests to make theses Open Access or via requests to digitize a thesis in printed format.

Locating and obtaining a copy of a Cambridge PhD thesis (not yet available via the repository)

Theses can be searched in iDiscover .  Guidance on searching for theses in iDiscover can be found here .   Requests for consultation of printed theses, not available online, should be made at the Manuscripts Reading Room (Email:  [email protected] Telephone: +44 (0)1223 333143).   Further information on the University Library's theses, dissertations and prize essays collections can be consulted at this link .

Researchers can order a copy of an unpublished thesis which was deposited in print form either through the Library’s  Digital Content Unit via the image request form , or, if the thesis has been digitised, it may be available in the Apollo repository. Copies of theses may be provided to researchers in accordance with the  law  and in a manner that is common across UK libraries.  The law allows us to provide whole copies of unpublished theses to individuals as long as they sign a declaration saying that it is for non-commercial research or private study.

How to make your thesis available online through Cambridge's institutional repository

Are you a Cambridge alumni and wish to make your Ph.D. thesis available online? You can do this by depositing it in Apollo the University's institutional repository. Click here for further information on how to proceed.    Current Ph.D students at the University of Cambridge can find further information about the requirements to deposit theses on the Office of Scholarly Communication theses webpages.

UK Theses and Dissertations

Electronic copies of Ph.D. theses submitted at over 100 UK universities are obtainable from EThOS , a service set up to provide access to all theses from participating institutions. It achieves this by harvesting e-theses from Institutional Repositories and by digitising print theses as they are ordered by researchers using the system. Over 250,000 theses are already available in this way. Please note that it does not supply theses submitted at the universities of Cambridge or Oxford although they are listed on EThOS.

Registration with EThOS is not required to search for a thesis but is necessary to download or order one unless it is stored in the university repository rather than the British Library (in which case a link to the repository will be displayed). Many theses are available without charge on an Open Access basis but in all other cases, if you are requesting a thesis that has not yet been digitised you will be asked to meet the cost. Once a thesis has been digitised it is available for free download thereafter.

When you order a thesis it will either be immediately available for download or writing to hard copy or it will need to be digitised. If you order a thesis for digitisation, the system will manage the process and you will be informed when the thesis is available for download/preparation to hard copy.

See the Search results section of the  help page for full information on interpreting search results in EThOS.

EThOS is managed by the British Library and can be found at http://ethos.bl.uk . For more information see About EThOS .

World-wide (incl. UK) theses and dissertations

Electronic versions of non-UK theses may be available from the institution at which they were submitted, sometimes on an open access basis from the institutional repository. A good starting point for discovering freely available electronic theses and dissertations beyond the UK is the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (NDLTD) , which facilitates searching across institutions. Information can also usually be found on the library web pages of the relevant institution.

The DART Europe etheses portal lists several thousand full-text theses from a group of European universities.

The University Library subscribes to the ProQuest Dissertations and Theses  (PQDT) database which from August 31 2023 is accessed on the Web of Science platform.  To search this index select it from the Web of Science "Search in" drop-down list of databases (available on the Documents tab on WoS home page)

PQDT includes 2.4 million dissertation and theses citations, representing 700 leading academic institutions worldwide from 1861 to the present day. The database offers full text for most of the dissertations added since 1997 and strong retrospective full text coverage for older graduate works. Each dissertation published since July 1980 includes a 350-word abstract written by the author. Master's theses published since 1988 include 150-word abstracts.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The University Library only subscribes to the abstracting & indexing version of the ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database and NOT the full text version.  A fee is payable for ordering a dissertation from this source.   To obtain the full text of a dissertation as a downloadable PDF you can submit your request via the University Library Inter-Library Loans department (see contact details below). NB this service is only available to full and current members of the University of Cambridge.

Alternatively you can pay yourself for the dissertation PDF on the PQDT platform. Link from Web of Science record display of any thesis to PQDT by clicking on "View Details on ProQuest".  On the "Preview" page you will see an option "Order a copy" top right.  This will allow you to order your own copy from ProQuest directly.

Dissertations and theses submitted at non-UK universities may also be requested on Inter-Library Loan through the Inter-Library Loans department (01223 333039 or 333080, [email protected] )

• Last Updated: Dec 20, 2023 9:47 AM
• URL: https://libguides.cam.ac.uk/theses

© Cambridge University Libraries | Accessibility | Privacy policy | Log into LibApps

Princeton University Library

SPECIAL COLLECTIONS

You are here.

• Conducting Research
• Services & Policies

Theses & Dissertations

• Master's Theses and Ph.D. Dissertations: Submission Guidelines
• Senior Thesis Submission Information for Students
• Senior Thesis Submission Information for Academic Departments

senior_thesis_stacks.jpg

The Princeton University Archives located within the Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library is the official repository for Undergraduate Senior Theses, Master's Theses and Ph.D. Dissertations. Princeton University undergraduate senior theses range from 1924 to the present.

The following page includes all information for submission, searching & accessing copies of a Princeton University Undergraduate Senior Theses, Princeton University Ph.D. Dissertations or Master's Theses.

Searching for & Ordering a copy of a Princeton University Undergraduate Senior Theses

The Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library is the central repository for Princeton University undergraduate senior theses from 1924 to the present.

• Members of the University community with an active NetID can access digital theses in Dataspace when connected to any Princeton-networked computer (if you’re not on campus, please first connect to the campus network via the GlobalProtect or SonicWall desktop applications).
• Independent researchers who are not members of the University community (including Princeton alumni) should use DataSpace to browse senior theses. Please create a Special Collections Research Account prior to submitting the Senior Thesis Order Form. In some cases we will be unable to digitize the senior thesis due to an embargo that prohibits digital access. Copyright of the theses are held by the author.
• Senior Thesis Order Form

Searching for & Ordering a copy of a Princeton University Ph.D. Dissertation or Master's Theses

All researchers, prior to contacting Mudd Library, should search the following platforms for the dissertation they are in need of: 

For Princeton Ph.D. Dissertations from 2011 - present, please search and access via the Dataspace repository for Princeton University Doctoral Dissertations . These are accessible to everyone for free, regardless of Princeton University association.

To obtain Princeton Ph.D. Dissertations from 2010 and earlier, if you are associated with an institution that has a ProQuest Library Subscription, the dissertation may be available to download for free through the ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global search .

If a circulating copy is available via the Princeton University Catalog , those within the United States and Canada who have access to a local Interlibrary Loan service (ILL ) or Borrow Direct can request physical delivery through their library. 

If you are not associated with an institution with a ProQuest Library Subscription, you can purchase the dissertation through ProQuest Dissertation Express .

For Master’s Theses search the Princeton University Library Catalog and contact Mudd Library to discuss digitization of the original.

If the dissertation is unavailable in any of the above platforms, please contact Mudd Library to discuss digitization of the original. Mudd Library is only able to digitize those that are out of copyright or unavailable via ProQuest. In some cases we will be unable to digitize the dissertation due to an embargo placed by the student that prohibits digital access. If this is the case, the dissertation can only be viewed in the Mudd Library Reading Room after placing a request via the Princeton University Catalog . Copyright of the dissertations are held by the author.

/images/cornell/logo35pt_cornell_white.svg" alt="search for phd dissertations"> Cornell University --> Graduate School

Doctoral alumna selected for suny chancellor distinguished ph.d. graduate dissertation award.

By Katya Hrichak

Created to recognize outstanding doctoral candidates in the SUNY system, the awards were granted to one first place winner, four finalists, and three honorable mentions.

Brown, who received her doctorate in genetics, genomics, and development, was selected for her dissertation, titled, “Function and evolution of seminal fluid components in Drosophila.”

“My thesis work was focused on understanding the function and evolution of a major class of male reproductive proteins called seminal fluid proteins, which are important for fertility in many species, including humans,” said Brown. “Understanding the functions of insect reproductive proteins can lead to better approaches for controlling human disease vectors like mosquitos, and can even provide insight into human infertility.”

Finalists were awarded $1,000 to support engagement in professional development opportunities. With the funds, Brown hopes to attend a conference where she can make connections with other researchers in her field or take courses to develop new skills.

“I’m very grateful and honored to have been selected as a finalist for this award among all of the amazing researchers in the SUNY community,” said Brown. “This recognition means a lot, as I think a lot of fundamental biology can be better understood, or even discovered, through an evolutionary lens.”

The State University of New York’s doctoral-granting campuses eligible for this award include University at Albany, Binghamton University, University at Buffalo, Downstate Health Sciences University, SUNY ESF, SUNY College of Optometry, SUNY Polytechnic Institute, Stony Brook University, and Upstate Medical, as well as statutory campuses within Alfred University and Cornell University.

Oxford theses

The Bodleian Libraries’ thesis collection holds every DPhil thesis deposited at the University of Oxford since the degree began in its present form in 1917. Our oldest theses date from the early 1920s. We also have substantial holdings of MLitt theses, for which deposit became compulsory in 1953, and MPhil theses.

Since 2007 it has been a mandatory requirement for students to deposit an electronic copy of their DPhil thesis in the Oxford University Research Archive (ORA) , in addition to the deposit of a paper copy – the copy of record. Since the COVID pandemic, the requirement of a paper copy has been removed and the ORA copy has become the copy of record. Hardcopy theses are now only deposited under exceptional circumstances. 

ORA provides full-text PDF copies of most recent DPhil theses, and some earlier BLitt/MLitt theses. Find out more about Oxford Digital Theses, and depositing with ORA .

Finding Oxford theses

The following theses are catalogued on SOLO (the University’s online library catalogue) :

• all DPhil and BLitt and MLitt theses
• all BPhil and MPhil theses 
• Science theses

SOLO collates search results from several sources.

How to search for Oxford theses on SOLO

To search for theses in the Oxford collections on SOLO :

• navigate to the SOLO homepage
• click on the 'Advanced Search' button
• click the 'Material Type' menu and choose the 'Dissertations' option
• type in the title or author of the thesis you are looking for and click the 'Search' button.

Also try an “Any field” search for “Thesis Oxford” along with the author’s name under “creator” and any further “Any field” keywords such as department or subject. 

Oxford University Research Archive (ORA)

ORA was established in 2007 as a permanent and secure online archive of research produced by members of the University of Oxford. It is now mandatory for students completing a research degree at the University to deposit an electronic copy of their thesis in this archive. 

Authors can select immediate release on ORA, or apply a 1-year or 3-year embargo period. The embargo period would enable them to publish all or part of their research elsewhere if they wish. 

Theses held in ORA are searchable via  SOLO , as well as external services such as EThOS and Google Scholar. For more information, visit the Oxford digital theses guide , and see below for guidance on searching in ORA.

Search for Oxford theses on ORA

Type your keywords (title, name) into the main search box, and use quotes (“) to search for an exact phrase.

Refine your search results using the drop-downs on the left-hand side. These include:

• item type (thesis, journal article, book section, etc.)
• thesis type (DPhil, MSc, MLitt, etc.)
• subject area (History, Economics, Biochemistry, etc.)
• item date (as a range)
• file availability (whether a full text is available to download or not)

You can also increase the number of search results shown per page, and sort by relevance, date and file availability. You can select and export records to csv or email. 

Select hyperlinked text within the record details, such as “More by this author”, to run a secondary search on an author’s name. You can also select a hyperlinked keyword or subject. 

Other catalogues

Card catalogue  .

The Rare Books department of the Weston Library keeps an author card index of Oxford theses. This includes all non-scientific theses deposited between 1922 and 2016. Please ask Weston Library staff for assistance.

ProQuest Dissertations & Theses

You can use ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global  to find bibliographic details of Oxford theses not listed on SOLO. Ask staff in the Weston Library’s Charles Wendall David Reading Room for help finding these theses. 

Search for Oxford theses on ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global

Basic search.

The default Basic search page allows for general keyword searches across all indexes using "and", "and not", "and or" to link the keywords as appropriate. Click on the More Search Options tab for specific title, author, subject and institution (school) searches, and to browse indexes of authors, institutions and subjects. These indexes allow you to add the word or phrase recognised by the database to your search (ie University of Oxford (United Kingdom), not Oxford University).

Advanced search

The Advanced search tab (at the top of the page) enables keyword searching in specific indexes, including author, title, institution, department, adviser and language. If you are unsure of the exact details of thesis, you can use the search boxes on this page to find it by combining the key information you do have.

Search tools

In both the Basic and Advanced search pages you can also limit the search by date by using the boxes at the bottom. Use the Search Tools advice in both the Basic and Advanced pages to undertake more complex and specific searches. Within the list of results, once you have found the record that you are interested in, you can click on the link to obtain a full citation and abstract. You can use the back button on your browser to return to your list of citations.

The Browse search tab allows you to search by subject or by location (ie institution). These are given in an alphabetical list. You can click on a top-level subject to show subdivisions of the subject. You can click on a country location to show lists of institutions in that country. At each level, you can click on View Documents to show lists of individual theses for that subject division or from that location.

In Browse search, locations and subject divisions are automatically added to a basic search at the bottom of the page. You can search within a subject or location by title, author, institution, subject, date etc, by clicking on Refine Search at the top of the page or More Search Options at the bottom of the page.

Where are physical Oxford theses held?

Bodleian library.

The B odleian Libraries hold all doctoral theses and most postgraduate (non-doctoral) theses for which a deposit requirement is stipulated by the University:

• DPhil (doctoral) theses (1922 – 2021)
• Bachelor of Divinity (BD) theses
• BLitt/MLitt theses (Michaelmas Term 1953 – 2021)
• BPhil and MPhil theses (Michaelmas Term 1977 – 2021)

Most Oxford theses are held in Bodleian Offsite Storage. Some theses are available in the libraries; these are listed below.

Law Library

Theses submitted to the Faculty of Law are held at the Bodleian Law Library .

Vere Harmsworth Library

Theses on the United States are held at the Vere Harmsworth Library .

Social Science Library

The Social Science Library holds dissertations and theses selected by the departments it supports. 

The list of departments and further information are available in the Dissertations and Theses section of the SSL webpages. 

Locations for Anthropology and Archaeology theses

The Balfour Library holds theses for the MPhil in Material and Visual Anthropology and some older theses in Prehistoric Archaeology.

The Art, Archaeology and Ancient World Library holds theses for MPhil in Classical Archaeology and MPhil in European Archaeology.

Ordering Oxford theses

Theses held in Bodleian Offsite Storage are consulted in the Weston Library. The preferred location is the Charles Wendell David Reading Room ; they can also be ordered to the Sir Charles Mackerras Reading Room .

Find out more about requesting a digitised copy, copyright restrictions and copying from Oxford theses .

• Education Home
• Medical Education Technology Support
• Graduate Medical Education
• Medical Scientist Training Program
• Public Health Sciences Program
• Continuing Medical Education
• Clinical Performance Education Center
• Center for Excellence in Education
• Research Home
• Biochemistry & Molecular Genetics
• Biomedical Engineering
• Cell Biology
• Microbiology, Immunology, & Cancer Biology (MIC)
• Molecular Physiology & Biological Physics
• Neuroscience
• Pharmacology
• Public Health Sciences
• Office for Research
• Clinical Research
• Clinical Trials Office
• Funding Opportunities
• Grants & Contracts
• Research Faculty Directory
• Cancer Center
• Cardiovascular Research Center
• Carter Immunology Center
• Center for Behavioral Health & Technology
• Center for Brain Immunology & Glia
• Center for Diabetes Technology
• Center for Immunity, Inflammation & Regenerative Medicine
• Center for Public Health Genomics
• Center for Membrane & Cell Physiology
• Center for Research in Reproduction
• Myles H. Thaler Center for AIDS & Human Retrovirus Research
• Child Health Research Center (Pediatrics)
• Division of Perceptual Studies
• Research News: The Making of Medicine
• Core Facilities
• Virginia Research Resources Consortium
• Center for Advanced Vision Science
• Charles O. Strickler Transplant Center
• Keck Center for Cellular Imaging
• Institute of Law, Psychiatry & Public Policy
• Translational Health Research Institute of Virginia
• Clinical Home
• Anesthesiology
• Dermatology
• Emergency Medicine
• Family Medicine
• Neurosurgery
• Obstetrics & Gynecology
• Ophthalmology
• Orthopaedic Surgery
• Otolaryngology
• Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation
• Plastic Surgery, Maxillofacial, & Oral Health
• Psychiatry & Neurobehavioral Sciences
• Radiation Oncology
• Radiology & Medical Imaging
• UVA Health: Patient Care
• Diversity Home
• Diversity Overview
• Student Resources
• GME Trainee Resources
• Faculty Resources
• Community Resources

School of Medicine Doctoral Students Among Grad Thesis SLAM Winners

April 24, 2024 by [email protected]

Cori Espelien (left), Aleksandra Cwiek, Caroline Riedstra

On Tuesday, April 16, nine doctoral candidates — five of whom are from the School of Medicine — met up on the Grad Thesis SLAM stage in Alumni Hall to compete for a $1,000 prize and bragging rights.

In what was one of the closest competitions in the 11-year history of the event, Cori Espelien, in the School of Engineering’s Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department took home the top prize, followed closely by the SOM’s Aleksandra Cwiek from the Department of Cell Biology and Caroline Riedstra from the Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Cancer Biology. Aleksandra also won the coveted Audience Choice Award. Also performing strong in the final competition were the SOM’s Alexys Riddick, Rossymar Rivera Colón, and Yuang Sun. Rounding out the nine presenters were Juliana Trujillo from the School of Engineering, and Melle Scholten and Natalie Thompson from the School of Arts and Sciences. Congratulations to all!

The Grad Thesis SLAM, hosted by PhD Plus and the Office of Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs , challenges students to communicate their research in under 3 minutes in an engaging and understandable way for a general audience. Students may use a prop and only one PowerPoint slide (with animations, sound, or video) to help them convey their research story, so they must be strategic in their use of visuals and words.

To make it to the final stage, students first compete in a preliminary judging round, which took place the first week of April. At this stage, 18 students from across the university presented to a panel of judges and received constructive feedback on their presentations. The top nine got a chance to apply that feedback to their presentations for the final round.

Filed Under: Education , Research

• Submit News/Event
• Subscribe to News
• Call for Nominations
• Dean's Message
• Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
• Honors & Awards
• Media Highlights
• Philanthropy

• Future Students
• Parents and Families

Rhody Today

Graduate students recognized with ‘three minute thesis’ awards for influential research.

KINGSTON, R.I., – April 22, 2024 – Three Ph.D. students at the University of Rhode Island have been recognized for their ability to communicate their research effectively to the public as part of URI’s inaugural Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition. Each student who entered the competition was challenged to present the content and contributions of their research in a 3-minute “ elevator pitch ” that attempted to  capture the attention of a non-specialist audience in a vivid, cogent, jargon-free style – without reverting to academic language – while relying on only a  single static slide as a visual aid.  

“An 80,000 word Ph.D. thesis would take 9 hours to present.  Your time limit… 3 minutes” according to the University of Queensland , which founded the 3MT competition in 2008.  3MT is now replicated at over 900 universities around the world.  “3MT cultivates students’ academic, presentation, and research communication skills, . . . and supports their capacity to effectively explain their research in 3 minutes, in a language appropriate to a non-specialist audience,” according to University of Queensland.

The finals of URI’s 3MT competition took place last month, in Lippitt Hall before an audience of nearly 100 spectators. Winners are: Sarah Davis, who is studying biological and environmental sciences; Md Abdullah Al Rumon, a student in electrical engineering; and Helani Singhapurage, who is studying physics.

“Graduate programs are the secret sauce that makes URI such a great place to study and work, and the Three Minute Thesis competition was an incredible opportunity to showcase the innovative work that our graduate students do every day,” said Professor of Chemistry and Graduate School Dean Brenton DeBoef.

Davis’ first-place presentation, “A Crab’s Eye View of the Plastic Pollution Crisis,” about the New England native Jonah crab, highlighted the urgent threat that pollution poses to ocean life. 

According to Davis, the greatest threat to this species is the level of plastic pollution in the ocean. When the plastic refuse breaks down, becoming microplastics, ingesting these synthetic materials becomes unavoidable for ocean-floor scavengers like crustaceans. 

Second-place winner Al Rumon, wrote his thesis on a device that would more efficiently monitor the vital signs of infants in neonatal intensive care units. His “smart belt” device is a “softer” non-invasive way to gather essential medical information from infants and newborns in delicate conditions. 

Current standard equipment for taking vital signs in infant intensive care units is composed of equipment, including leads for monitors and tubes that are fastened directly to the baby’s skin, which has many drawbacks, says Rumon. Not only can the wires damage or irritate the skin of a newborn, causing bleeding and contact dermatitis, they can prevent the baby from moving freely, making it more difficult for mothers and nurses to hold them. Al Rumon’s belt design is simpler than what exists now for taking vital signs. An article on the $2.6 million grant awarded by the National Institutes of Health to al Rumon and the team developing this device was featured in Rhody Today on Oct. 19, 2023.

Singhapurage, was voted winner of the people’s choice award by the audience, for her research in the field of physics. Singhapurage’s thesis explores light refraction on the microscopic level, and compares the refractions of different kinds of light on different materials by measuring the vibrations emitted. 

Studies of this sort have been conducted before, but Singhapurage’s methods of light and vibration measurement allowed her to discern minute variations in the emitted frequencies that speak to the chemical differences of the material, and perceived differences in its color.

“Analyzing scattered light from Raman active vibrations of materials provides vital information,” Singhapurage said. “Ultimately, findings of my research will help to develop more efficient semiconductors and high-powered lasers.”

DeBoef, who judged the event, along with Jen Riley, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences; Vinka Oyanedel-Craver, professor and associate dean of research in the College of Engineering; and Christopher Lavan, associate vice provost for the advancement of teaching and learning, called the event a resounding success.

You can view the presentations of all the winners and see the list of the 10 finalists HERE

This story was written by Samantha Melia, a senior journalism and political science major at the University of Rhode Island and an intern in the Department of Marketing and Communications.