Current Students

Students in the fields of Fine Art, Design, Architecture and Town Planning may submit in A3 and/or double sided format without seeking specific permission to do so.

Practice-led PhD Examination:
Students submitting for a Practice-Led PhD must include a presentation of practical work, submit a written report of 15,000-40,000 words accompanied by CD/DVD of visual documentation of the practical work and undertake a viva voce examination. 

The practice-led PhD examination will include a presentation of practical work, the submission of a written report of 15,000-40,000 words accompanied by CD/DVD of visual documentation of the practical work, and a viva voce examination.

For the viva voce final examination, candidates will normally be required to present their research thesis at UCL: this may take the form of an installation, exhibition, performance or other form approved by the supervisors. A discussion of both the presentation and written report will form the basis of the PhD viva voce. The permanent record of the thesis, which may include an archival box of visual material, should be available at the viva.

Permanent Record of the Thesis:
After the PhD award students are required to submit their work for permanent storage in the Library. The thesis may consist of a written report plus CD/DVD bound into the cover (see UCL regulations). When submitting practical work, the permanent record of the thesis may also take the form of an archival box.

The archival box must:

• fit within either a standard large library crate (H29 x 32 x 50 cm) or the special large carrying cases (86 x 64 x 6 cm)
• fit onto shelving (H64 x D54 cm)
• weigh no more than 10kg
• include the written report
• include the visual material.

The box can be made from any archival material or decorated in any way, but the exterior must be robust enough to cope with transit.

The box may contain the following: the written report plus for example, video, photographic records, musical scores, audio works, publications, diagrams and drawings and other elements approved by the supervisors. The box should contain a list of contents securely fastened to its cover. It need not conform to UCL’s standard thesis colouring (blue with gold lettering) but must provide the student’s name, year and degree level clearly on the outside.

All elements in the box must be scanned and made available for the library e-thesis facility and comply with copyright legislation.

Your thesis must be presented in a permanent and legible form in print.  Illustrations should be permanently mounted on A4 size paper and bound in with the thesis; you may not use sellotape or similar materials.

A4 size paper (210 x 297 mm) should be used. Plain white paper must be used, of good quality and of sufficient opacity for normal reading. Only one side of the paper may be used.

Margins at the binding edge must be not less than 40 mm (1.5 inches) and other margins not less than 20 mm (.75 inches). Double or one-and-a-half spacing should be used in typescripts, except for indented quotations or footnotes where single spacing may be used.

All pages must be numbered in one continuous sequence, i.e. from the title page of the first volume to the last page of type, in Arabic numerals from 1 onwards. This sequence must include everything bound in the volume, including maps, diagrams, blank pages, etc. Any material which cannot be bound in with the text must be placed in a pocket inside or attached to the back cover or in a rigid container similar in format to the bound thesis (see also section 9 below).

The title page must bear the following:
•    the officially-approved title of the thesis
•    the candidates full name as registered
•    the institution name 'UCL'
•    the degree for which the thesis is submitted

The title page should be followed by a signed declaration that the work presented in the thesis is the candidate’s own e.g.
‘ I, [full name] confirm that the work presented in this thesis is my own. Where information has been derived from other sources, I confirm that this has been indicated in the thesis.'

The signed declaration should be followed by an abstract consisting of no more than 300 words. An extra copy of the abstract typed on the special form provided with the entry form is required for publication in the Index to Theses. The should be submitted with the final copy of your theses.

In each copy of the thesis the abstract should be followed by a full table of contents (including any material not bound in) and a list of tables, photographs and any other materials. 

Illustrative material may be submitted on a CD ROMs. If you wish to submit material in any other form, your supervisor must contact Reseach Degrees well in advance of submission of the thesis.

Any material which cannot be bound in with the text must be placed either in a pocket inside or attached to the back cover or in a rigid container similar in format to the bound thesis. If it is separate from the bound volume it must be clearly labelled with the same information as on the title-page (see Title Page above). Each copy of the thesis submitted must be accompanied by a full set of this material.