thesis advisor significado

Dissertation Advisor 101

How to get the most from the student-supervisor relationship

By: Derek Jansen (MBA) | Expert Reviewer: Dr Eunice Rautenbach | January 2024

Many students feel a little intimidated by the idea of having to work with a research advisor (or supervisor) to complete their dissertation or thesis. Similarly, many students struggle to “connect” with their advisor and feel that the relationship is somewhat strained or awkward. But this doesn’t need to be the case!

In this post, we’ll share five tried and tested tips to help you get the most from this relationship and pave the way for a smoother dissertation writing process.

Overview: Working With Your Advisor

• Clarify everyone’s roles on day one
• Establish (and stick to) a regular communication cycle
• Develop a clear project plan upfront
• Be proactive in engaging with problems
• Navigate conflict like a diplomat

1. Clarify roles on day one

Each university will have slightly different expectations, rules and norms in terms of the research advisor’s role. Similarly, each advisor will have their own unique way of doing things. So, it’s always a good idea to begin the engagement process by clearly defining the roles and expectations in your relationship.

In practical terms, we suggest that you initiate a conversation at the very start of the engagement to discuss your goals, their expectations, and how they would like to work with you. Of course, you might not like what you hear in this conversation. However, this sort of candid conversation will help you get on the same page as early as possible and set the stage for a successful partnership.

To help you get started, here are some questions that you might consider asking in your initial conversation:

• How often would you like to meet and for how long?
• What should I do to prepare for each meeting?
• What aspects of my work will you comment on (and what won’t you cover)?
• Which key decisions should I seek your approval for beforehand?
• What common mistakes should I try to avoid from the outset?
• How can I help make this partnership as effective as possible?
• My academic goals are… Do you have any suggestions at this stage to help me achieve this?

As you can see, these types of questions help you get a clear idea of how you’ll work together and how to get the most from the relatively limited face time you’ll have.

Need a helping hand?

2. Establish a regular communication cycle

Just like in any relationship, effective communication is crucial to making the student-supervisor relationship work. So, you should aim to establish a regular meeting schedule and stick to it. Don’t cancel or reschedule appointments with your advisor at short notice, or do anything that suggests you don’t value their time. Fragile egos are not uncommon in the academic world, so it’s important to clearly demonstrate that you value and respect your supervisor’s time and effort .

Practically speaking, be sure to prepare for each meeting with a clear agenda , including your progress, challenges, and any questions you have. Be open and honest in your communication, but most importantly, be receptive to your supervisor’s feedback . Ultimately, part of their role is to tell you when you’re missing the mark. So, don’t become upset or defensive when they criticise a specific aspect of your work.

Always remember that your research advisor is criticising your work, not you personally . It’s never easy to take negative feedback, but this is all part of the learning journey that takes place alongside the research journey.

3. Have a clear project plan

Few things will impress your supervisor more than a well-articulated, realistic plan of action (aka, a project plan). Investing the time to develop this shows that you take your project (and by extension, the relationship) seriously. It also helps your supervisor understand your intended timeline, which allows the two of you to better align your schedules .

In practical terms, you need to develop a project plan with achievable goals . A detailed Gantt chart can be a great way to do this. Importantly, you’ll need to break down your thesis or dissertation into a collection of practical, manageable steps , and set clear timelines and milestones for each. Once you’ve done that, you should regularly review and adjust this plan with your supervisor to ensure that you remain on track.

Of course, it’s unlikely that you’ll stick to your plan 100% of the time (there are always unexpected twists and turns in a research project. However, this plan will lay a foundation for effective collaboration between yourself and your supervisor. An imperfect plan beats no plan at all.

4. Engage with problems proactively

One surefire way to quickly annoy your advisor is to pester them every time you run into a problem in your dissertation or thesis. Unexpected challenges are par for the course when it comes to research – how you deal with them is what makes the difference.

When you encounter a problem, resist the urge to immediately send a panicked email to your supervisor – no matter how massive the issue may seem (at the time). Instead, take a step back and assess the situation as holistically as possible. Force yourself to sit with the issue for at least a few hours to ensure that you have a clear, accurate assessment of the issue at hand. In most cases, a little time, distance and deep breathing will reveal that the problem is not the existential threat it initially seemed to be.

When contacting your supervisor, you should ideally present both the problem and one or two potential solutions . The latter is the most important part here. In other words, you need to show that you’ve engaged with the issue and applied your mind to finding potential solutions. Granted, your solutions may miss the mark. However, providing some sort of solution beats impulsively throwing the problem at your supervisor and hoping that they’ll save the day.

Simply put, mishaps and mini-crises in your research journey present an opportunity to demonstrate your initiative and problem-solving skills – not a reason to lose your cool and outsource the problem to your supervisor.

5. Navigate conflict like a diplomat 

As with any partnership, there’s always the possibility of some level of disagreement or conflict arising within the student-supervisor relationship. Of course, you can drastically reduce the likelihood of this happening by implementing some of the points we mentioned earlier. Neverthless, if a serious disagreement does arise between you and your supervisor, it’s absolutely essential that you approach it with professionalism and respect . Never let it escalate into a shouting contest.

In practical terms, it’s important to communicate your concerns as they arise (don’t let things simmer for too long). Simultaneously, it’s essential that you remain open to understanding your supervisor’s perspective – don’t become entrenched in your position. After all, you are the less experienced researcher within this duo.

Keep in mind that a lot of context is lost in text-based communication , so it can often be a good idea to schedule a short call to discuss your concerns or points of contention, rather than sending a 3000-word email essay. When going this route, be sure to take the time to prepare a clear, cohesive argument beforehand – don’t just “thought vomit” on your supervisor.

In the event that you do have a significant disagreement with your advisor, remember that the goal is to find a solution that serves your project (not your ego). This often requires compromise and flexibility. A “win at all costs” mindset is definitely not suitable here. Ultimately, you need to solve the problem, while still maintaining the relationship .

If you feel that you have already exhausted all possible avenues and still can’t find an acceptable middle ground, you can of course reach out to your university to ask for their assistance. However, this should be the very last resort . Running to your university every time there’s a small disagreement will not serve you well.

Recap: Key Takeaways

To sum up, a fruitful student-supervisor relationship hinges on clear role definition , effective and regular communication , strategic planning , proactive engagement , and professional conflict resolution .

Remember, your dissertation supervisor is there to help you, but you still need to put in the work . In many cases, they’ll also be the first marker of your work, so it really pays to put in the effort and build a strong, functional relationship with them.

Psst... there’s more!

This post was based on one of our popular Research Bootcamps . If you're working on a research project, you'll definitely want to check this out ...

Submit a Comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

• Print Friendly

Tips on Finding a Primary Thesis Advisor

Here are some tips for finding and approaching a potential project advisor.

• Do online research to scout potential advisors and projects: Read a prospective advisor's website, paying particular attention to recent or ongoing work done with students. Familiarize yourself with the work they do before you meet with them.  
• Attending research seminar talks:  Seminars such as the Symbolic Systems Research Seminar (SYMSYS 280, 1 unit S/NC only, repeatable, offered Autumn, Winter, and Spring Quarters) and other department-based seminar series are good places to learn about faculty research, and you may want to speak with them afterward about current opportunities for students to work with them.
• Talk to other students: Ask in-project students about their project advisors, research groups, and how they found their thesis advisor.
• Take a course and go to office hours: Your primary advisor will ideally be someone with whom you have taken a course. Generally, enrolling in smaller seminars is recommended as seminars provide more opportunity for interaction and discussion. Take advantage of office hours to get to know the faculty member better and potentially start a conversation about their area of study and your own research interests. The best courses for leading into a research relationship are graduate courses with a research project component.
• Talk to faculty on an informational basis before you ask to work with them: Most faculty are willing to talk about their research during their office hours, but you should approach this with as much information before the meeting as you can get (e.g. by reading their website and published research ahead of time). It is okay to talk about your own interests, but you should relate them to what you know about the professor with whom you are meeting, and ask questions before deciding that this is someone you want to work with.  
• Do Independent Research/Independent Study courses and/or limited commitment research projects with faculty before asking them to commit to being your thesis advisor : Once you have established a common research interest with a faculty member, through informational meetings and prior reading, you can ask a faculty member if they are willing to supervise you to do a one-quarter project with a well-defined goal, which might serve as a lead-in to a thesis project. Ideally, this should be something that will be useful to the faculty member regardless of whether it continues past this stage. Good research and communication style/personality fit is important, and both you and a prospective advisor will be in a better position to judge this after working together for a while. It is best to do this early in your M.S. career, before the PAS is due.
• Ask for recommendations: Some faculty may be unavailable because they have too many advisees already, have other commitments, or may have planned leaves of absence. If a faculty member is unavailable to serve as your advisor, you may ask them if they can recommend another potential advisor, and then you can repeat the process.    
• Get to know others who are working with a prospective advisor: Through further discussions, you can ask a faculty member about joining lab meetings, and/or see about working together with others (graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, or other collaborators) who are working with the person you are interested in advising you. Your M.S. project may wind up being a collaboration with one of these people, with the professor supervising both/all of you and your collaborators.
• Follow up: you may need to follow up a few times if you do not get a response to your first email. Find out their office hours or make an appointment to discuss whether they are willing to serve as your advisor.  

• Dissertation & Thesis Editing
• Books and Journal Articles
• Coaching and Consultation
• Research Assistance
• Quantitative
• Qualitative
• Coaching & Consultation
• Document Review Service
• Pricing & Payments
• Make Payment
• Editing and Statistics Packages
• Self-Publication Services Pricing
• Meet The Team
• Client Testimonials

What does a Dissertation Advisor, Dissertation Chair, or Thesis Advisor do?

20th October 2016

Tagged under: Uncategorized  

I could not have been as successful without the help of the Dissertation Editor.

Read More Client Testimonials

Dissertation Editor

+1 857-600-2241 info@dissertation-editor.com 1 Mifflin Place, Suite 400, Cambridge, MA 02138

© 2024 PhD Advantage, LLC , all rights reserved.

Academic Integrity Policy   Policies, Terms & Conditions   Referral Rewards   Privacy Policy   Site map

• Visit the University of Nebraska–Lincoln
• Apply to the University of Nebraska–Lincoln
• Give to the University of Nebraska–Lincoln

Search Form

Advising a thesis - best practices.

Guidelines from an Ad Hoc Committee, Spring 2017

The committee encourages departments to use this as a starting point for their own department’s guidelines.

Thesis Advisors’ Responsibilities

• Help student identify a second thesis advisor.
• Work with your student and thesis co-advisor to develop shared expectations for the project in terms of scope of topic, methods and resources to be used.
• Sign the student’s prospectus (if you agree to advise and approve of the project as described) and make sure it is approved by the student’s major department chair or director and is then delivered to the Dean’s office.
• Make sure you and your student are aware of college-level policies concerning theses and distinction, especially the following: “To determine the level of distinction, the committee uses the cumulative grade point average based on all credit hours taken at UNL prior to the beginning of the term in which the student receives his or her degree.” Details on college-level policies are available online. Please note, the college requirements are distinct from the Honors program’s requirements .
• Make sure you and your student are aware of any department-level policies, guidelines, and options concerning theses. For example, some departments allow students writing a thesis to enroll in 3-6 credit hours of independent research.
• If your student is planning to conduct research that involves human or animal subjects, you should initiate (or work with your student to initiate) the appropriate University review processes (e.g. IRB, IACUC) prior to data collection.
• Communicate with your student and thesis co-advisor about the project as it is in progress.
• Check in with the student if you haven’t heard from him or her as planned.
• Read the thesis with care prior to the thesis defense. In many departments, it is critical to give students feedback on an early draft.
• Hold a thesis defense (30 minutes to 1.5 hour) in which you and the co-advisor ask questions about the thesis (topic, question, scope of project, methods, findings, implications, etc). Schedule the defense with enough time for the student to complete revisions prior to the college deadline.
• Complete the Thesis Evaluation Form (final form on the site) and submit it to the college by the deadline.

Student’s Responsibilities

• Talk with faculty about advising your thesis before asking them to sign the prospectus form.
• Ask both thesis co-advisors to sign the prospectus form, submit it to your major department or program for the chair/director to sign and submit to the college.
• Check with your department’s major advisor to see if the department has its own guidelines for theses.
• Meet with both thesis advisors early (a year before the thesis is due) to discuss their expectations for the thesis and to make sure you submit the prospectus by the college deadline.
• Develop a timeline with your advisors in which you set deadlines for completing portions of the work and sharing it with both (if they co-advise) or one (if there is a primary advisor).

Suggestions for faculty working with the thesis co-advisor

Thesis Co-Advisors should meet to determine

• What roles will you play? Will you operate as co-advisors or as a primary advisor and reader?
• Who is responsible for keeping student apprised of deadlines and requisite forms?
• How often do you plan to meet? With one or both thesis advisors?
• What are your shared expectation for this work? (This list may be discipline-specific)
• Scope of project
• Page length / range
• Resources / sources used

Other resources students might use

The Writing Center In addition to encouraging ongoing one-on-one appointments to discuss undergraduate theses, the Writing Center has begun helping students form thesis writing groups. Email [email protected] to find out more about thesis writing groups and visit the center's website to learn more about working with a writing consultant.

Library Subject specialist librarians are available to meet with students to identify scholarly resources, to organize research articles using citation tools, and open a Delivery account to request article delivery. This will save students time in the long run. The library also created research guides for classes and subject areas that will allow students to help themselves. Visit their website for more information.

IRB/Human Subjects research The University of Nebraska requires all research personnel, including investigators, students and other project staff, who conduct research with human participants, tissue samples, or data to complete and maintain training before and during any research conducted with human subjects. Students should talk with their advisors about training and submitting proposals to IRB.

IACUC/Animal Subject Research The University of Nebraska requires review and approval by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) of all research and educational activities involving vertebrate animals (including wild mammals and birds) before projects are initiated, to assure compliance with all laws, regulations and rules governing the care and use of animals. Faculty should lead this process for undergraduates.

Things to look for in a thesis adviser

On the scale of human interactions, the relationship between a graduate student and his or her thesis adviser ( a.k.a. major professor) lies somewhere between that of roommates locked into a long-term lease and a marriage. Finding a good match among the faculty typically is the single most important determinant of the quality of a graduate-school experience. It is therefore critical that entering students get to work early and diligently to learn all they can not only about potential mentors and their research programs but about themselves. Ask the following questions:

•  Is this potential adviser someone you respect, someone you would like to model yourself after?  
•  Where are the potential adviser’s former students? Do they tend to transition to the types of postgraduate and professional opportunities that appeal to you?  
• What kinds of skills are you likely to develop in this lab?  
•  Do students from this lab get their work published in quality journals?  
• What is the lab group like? Are they hard-working and enthusiastic? Do they get along with one another?  
•  What do you need from a mentor? What are your strengths and weaknesses?  
•  Are you likely to respond well to this person’s particular training and managerial style?  

Notice that the list does not ask questions about the potential adviser’s area of research. The biggest mistake a student can make in selecting a major professor is ignoring the signs of a potentially poor match because he or she is enamored of the faculty member’s area of research. A research project is a tool, a vehicle for transforming curious and committed students into capable, independent research scientists whose skills are translatable and evolving. As long as a student finds a project interesting and challenging, labels matter little in the long run. A student–mentor relationship based on mutual respect, good communication and shared expectations offers a richness and depth that will animate your entire career.

Enjoy reading ASBMB Today?

Become a member to receive the print edition monthly and the digital edition weekly.

Peter Kennelly is a professor of biochemistry at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

Related articles

Featured jobs.

from the ASBMB career center

Get the latest from ASBMB Today

Enter your email address, and we’ll send you a weekly email with recent articles, interviews and more.

Latest in Careers

Careers highlights or most popular articles.

Making the most of meetings with your mentor

Everyone has a slightly different relationship with their mentor, including how often they meet. Careers columnist Courtney Chandler dives into how to make meetings with your grad school adviser useful and productive.

Growing a chapter for grad students and postdocs

At Penn State, the ASBMB is building a community to help provide these early-career researchers with the tools they need to excel in science and life.

Upcoming opportunities

Celebrate NPAW with ASBMB! Plus: Present your work at our virtual event on exploring AI tools in BMB education.

Upcoming ASBMB events for future industry scientists — and others

ASBMB offers webinars aimed at a variety of member groups, including scientists who have taken time off for caregiving or members who want to start their own labs. These three will be useful to postdocs and graduate students.

Save the date for ASBMB's webinar on success in graduate school! Just added: A fellowship for journalists and a virtual event on data management.

On Sept. 19, join ASBMB's public affairs department for a LinkedIn chat with organizations that provide resources and support for the postdoc community.

Advice and Resources for Mathematics Graduate Students

Finding a Thesis Advisor

Choosing an advisor is a critical decision you will face in graduate school. It is normal to sometimes feel overwhelmed by this choice. Still, there are many specific things you can do to make the process less stressful. It is hard to give general advice, because every student is different. Nonetheless, in this document, I will give some “generic advice” culled from talking with students through thirty years of finding advisors. You should get advice from many people; much of it may be contradictory, so you’ll have to pick what fits you best. For this reason, my advice list is followed by further advice from some professors and (current and former) graduate students.

• You can change your mind: Remember that choosing an advisor is not a final, immutable decision. Sometimes it is important to get going with someone , even if your interests later change and you wind up working more closely with someone else.
• You are an individual: The right advisor for your office mate might be the wrong advisor for you. How much independence do you want/need? How much support do you want/need? Every advisor has their own style, just like every student does. Ask other students about their meetings with their advisors: do they meet every week? Do they have to find their own problems? Are they comfortable discussing a personal topic? Have they been offered financial support? Can they work on whatever they want or are they expected to focus on specific things suggested by their advisor? Different students may have different experiences with the same advisor, but it is good to hear as many perspectives as possible on the professors you are considering.
• Do not compare yourself to others:  Although it is wise to get working with someone as soon as possible, some students, especially those who have taken less math in college or who came to math late, will need more time to get through the QR process. This is fine. Do not panic just because peers have found an advisor and you haven’t.
• Choose the person, not the topic: Most students do better choosing a person (within some broad area, for example, algebra or PDEs, say) whose style of mathematical communication they like/understand/relate to/admire/respect on a personal level. Students who are already committed to a specific specialized topic may struggle to find an advisor willing to advise them on that subject, or may later decide that they don’t get along personally with the one faculty member in that speciality.
• Talk to professors : Coming to office hours, attending seminar and colloquium dinners, tea, other social events, are great ways to get to know potential mentors on a personal and mathematical level. Ask them what their students are working on. Ask them about their favorite theorem, or their favorite colloquium talk. Snoop around professor’s web pages, arxiv postings, math genealogy listing—all these can provide possible topics of conversation. Successful mathematicians have many mentors and contacts—not every conversation has to be a high stakes advisor-courting one.
• Take courses with homework:  Alpha and beta courses provide ready-made reasons to talk regularly to faculty. Usually, 500 and 600 level courses are more effective at getting students going in research than the enticing 700 level courses where the goal might be “exposure” to a highly specialized area rather than training in techniques.
• Talk to more people: The Chair of the Doctoral Committee or AIM Director are officially charged with helping you find an advisor. Ask for advice! Ask about specific people, styles, former students, etc.  Ask other students, ask alumni, ask post-docs, ask your undergraduate mentors or current professors about how they made this choice or what they know about who might be a good advisor for you.
• Don’t believe everything you hear:  Students often get discouraged because “they heard” that Professor Z is not taking any more students, or that Professor X expects his prospective PhD students to complete every exercise in Textbook Y before being approached to serve as a mentor. Find out for yourself! Often, the story is quite different from what “you heard.”
• Go to junior colloquium : here you will see what professors are doing, and also meet students who will have insight/advice/opinions about different advisors. Do not restrict yourself only to those meetings you think are in an area of interest! Go to all. Be open-minded. Be broad. Strong mathematicians are familiar with what is happening outside their own narrow expertise. And you might find an advisor in an area you didn’t expect.
• Make a habit to attend and give talks : Regularly attend colloquia. Become part of a student seminar community or create your own. Attend a regular seminar in your area of interest, and try to learn something from each talk, even if you barely follow the first five minutes. It will get easier. It takes babies 2 years or so to learn the language of their parents;  I think it’s about the same for students to learn the language of a seminar. Socialize with participants. Take advantage of subsidized dinners!
• Pick someone sooner rather than later : It is never a waste of time to get going on learning some good math. It is a great idea to read some material suggested by a professor (or tentative advisor) in the summer, ideally even meeting with them regularly.  Everyone will be more committed if it is clearly an “ advising relationship ”, even a tentative one. Even realizing that this subject or person is not right for you is progress toward finding your advisor.

Advice from PhD Students on Studying for QR Exams

Master's Program Graduate Thesis

While a thesis is not mandatory for the M.S. INTA program, the School encourages students to consider the thesis option if they plan to pursue Ph.D. programs after the M.S. INTA degree. The thesis is a 6 credit research project resulting in a paper of significant length and quality. The student's research is supervised by a thesis advisor and reviewed by a committee of INTA faculty.

The thesis is a significant undertaking that is often more demanding than taking the usual two courses for 6 credits. Students pursue this option to gain a solid foundation in research methods, to demonstrate proficiency in academic writing and research to graduate schools or to pursue a specific topic not normally covered through coursework.

Before deciding on the thesis option, students are advised to read the Georgia Tech thesis policies to understand the significant requirements of this endeavor and discuss their plans with faculty members and academic advisors.

• Rules/Help/FAQ Help/FAQ
• Members Current visitors
• Interface Language

Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.

Note: This feature may not be available in some browsers.

• Spanish-English / Español-Inglés
• Spanish-English Vocabulary / Vocabulario Español-Inglés

Thesis advisor

• Thread starter AnotherGuiri
• Start date Jul 16, 2021

AnotherGuiri

• Jul 16, 2021

How would you say thesis advisor in Spanish? Specifically, I'm looking for the word for the main point person (a professor) who helped me through my undergraduate thesis. Thanks!  

Senior Member

Director de tesis.  

Amapolas said: Director de tesis. Click to expand...

Moderator: EHL, Arabic, Hebrew, German(-Spanish)

• Jul 17, 2021

I've also heard "tutor."  

Marsianitoh

Tamara lacayo barquero.

• Jul 21, 2021

AnotherGuiri said: How would you say thesis advisor in Spanish? Specifically, I'm looking for the word for the main point person (a professor) who helped me through my undergraduate thesis. Thanks! Click to expand...

En México es asesor metodológico (al menos en algunas universidades, no sé si en todas)  

• Utility Menu

GA4 Tracking Code

fa51e2b1dc8cca8f7467da564e77b5ea

• Make a Gift
• Join Our Email List
• Advising Senior Theses

Every thesis writer and thesis project is unique, and arguably the single most important thing that you can do as a thesis adviser is to get to know your student well and to be supportive and attentive as they work towards their spring deadline. The amount of structure that different concentrations offer their students can also have a significant impact on how you think about your role as an adviser. In some cases you may feel like an extension of the department’s undergraduate office, encouraging your student to follow its well-articulated pathway towards completion and nudging your student to heed (albeit perhaps with some discretion) its recommended proposal or draft deadlines. In other cases you may be the one responsible for translating the concentration’s somewhat vague guidelines into an actionable roadmap of recommended thresholds and dates. It’s well worth establishing a healthy line of communication with the concentration’s undergraduate office (and with anyone else involved in advising your student’s academic work) from the start of your advising relationship.

Regardless of the precise structure and obligations surrounding your position as an adviser, there are a number of things which you can do to help just about any student have a meaningful, and successful, experience with the senior thesis. Here are five key contributions which you can make:

Manage expectations

In an ideal world, every student would enter the thesis process fully prepared for every aspect of scholarly work. They all would know how to ask an analytical question suitable for a 60- or 100-page paper, how to find relevant data, how to draw lucid figures, how to format every footnote or methods section, … . Likewise, we might wish that every thesis topic lent itself equally well to the particular constraints of Harvard’s resources and academic calendar. If only that essential cache of Russian manuscripts existed in a published English translation in Widener! If only this experimental protocol took two weeks rather than four months! In reality, however, every thesis involves some compromise—perhaps significant compromise. One of your most important jobs as a thesis adviser is to roleplay your student’s future audience, and to help your student understand that the most successful theses ask questions that are not only meaningful, but that can be answered at least somewhat plausibly by the set of skills, resources, and time that is available to a Harvard undergraduate. Insofar as a student is determined to tackle a dissertation-sized question, the adviser can at least remind the student that it will be important to frame the results as a “partial” answer or a “contribution towards” an answer in the introduction.

Encourage self-knowledge

As with the previous point about managing expectations, it is important that an adviser be able to remind their student that the senior thesis is not, and will not be, the moment when students magically become “better” people than they already are. Students who have been night owls during their first three years of college are unlikely to transform miraculously into the type of scholars who rise at 6am and write 1000 words before breakfast—no matter how much they yearn to emulate some academic role model. Students who have participated actively in a sport or other extracurricular are unlikely to be able to simply recoup those hours for thesis work—cutting back three hours/week at The Crimson is at least as likely to translate into three more hours spent bantering in the dining hall as it is into three hours spent poring over the administrative structure of the Byzantine Empire. The point is that students can benefit from being reminded that they already know how to do the kind of work expected of them on the thesis, and that it may be counterproductive—if not downright unhealthy—to hold themselves to new or arbitrary standards.

Motivate to start writing early

With relatively few exceptions, most of the writing projects assigned in college are sufficiently modest that students can wait to start writing until they have figured out the full arc of what they want to say and how they want to say it. It’s possible, in other words, to plan and hold the entirety of a five-page essay in one’s head. This is simply not true of a senior thesis. Theses require the author to take a leap of faith—to start writing before the research is done and long before they know exactly what they want to say. Students may be reluctant to do this, fearing that they might “waste” precious time drafting a section of a chapter that ultimately doesn’t fit in the final thesis. You can do your student a world of good by reminding them that there is no such thing as wasted writing. In a project as large as a thesis, writing is not merely about reporting one’s conclusions—it is the process through which students come to figure out what their conclusions might be, and which lines of research they will need to pursue to get there.

Model strategies

While academic research and writing can and should be a creative endeavor, it is also undeniably true that even professional scholars draw upon a relatively constrained set of well-known strategies when framing their work. How many different ways, after all, are there to say that the conventional wisdom on a topic has ignored a certain genre of evidence? Or that two competing schools of thought actually agree more than they disagree? Or that fiddling with one variable has the power to reframe an entire discussion? Students may struggle to see how to plug their research into the existing scholarly conversation around their topic. Showing them models or templates that demystify the ways in which scholars frame their interventions can be enormously powerful.

Keep contact and avoid the "shame spiral"

As noted above, the senior thesis is a long process, and while it’s rarely a good idea for students to change their work habits in an effort to complete it, it is important that they be working early and often. Occasionally students do become overwhelmed by the scope of the project, and begin to feel defeated by the incremental nature of progress they are making. Even a good week of work may yield only a couple of pages of passable writing. Ideally a student feeling overwhelmed would come to their adviser for some help putting things into perspective. But for a student used to having a fair amount of success, the struggles involved in a senior thesis may be disorienting, and they may worry that they are “disappointing” you. For some, this will manifest as a retreat from your deadlines and oversight—even as they outwardly project confidence. They may begin bargaining with themselves in ways that only serve to sink them deeper into a sense of panic or shame. (“I’m long past the deadline for my first ten pages—but if I give my adviser a really brilliant fifteen-page section, he won’t mind! Surely I can turn these four pages into fifteen if I stay up all night!”) One of the best things that you can do as an adviser is keep contact with your student and make sure to remind them that your dynamic is not one of “approval” or “disapproval.” It is important that they maintain a healthy and realistic approach to the incremental process of completing the thesis over several months.

For more information...

The Art of Thesis Writing: A handout for students

Harvard's Academic Resource Center on Senior Theses

Senior Thesis Tutors at the Harvard College Writing Center

• Designing Your Course
• In the Classroom
• Getting Feedback
• Equitable & Inclusive Teaching
• Artificial Intelligence
• Writing Letters of Recommendation
• Teaching and Your Career
• Teaching Remotely
• Tools and Platforms
• The Science of Learning
• Bok Publications
• Other Resources Around Campus

Making educational experiences better for everyone.

Immersive learning for 25 languages

Marketplace for millions of educator-created resources

Fast, easy, reliable language certification

Fun educational games for kids

Comprehensive K-12 personalized learning

Trusted tutors for 300+ subjects

35,000+ worksheets, games, and lesson plans

Adaptive learning for English vocabulary

• Look up in Linguee
• Suggest as a translation of "advisor"

Linguee Apps

• Translate as you type
• World-leading quality
• Drag and drop documents

▾ Dictionary English-Spanish

Advisor noun ( plural: advisors ) —, asesor m (often used) ( plural: asesores m ), consejero m ( plural: consejeros m ), consejera f, senior advisor n —, financial advisor n —, trusted advisor n —, sales advisor n —, policy advisor n —, academic advisor n —, faculty advisor ae n —, business advisor n —, service advisor n —, student advisor n —, customer advisor n —, thesis advisor n —, political advisor n —, strategic advisor n —, external advisor n —, spiritual advisor n —, personal advisor n —, energy advisor n —, advisor team n —, independent advisor n —, mortgage advisor n —, tax advisor n —, legal advisor n —, ▾ external sources (not reviewed).

• This is not a good example for the translation above.
• The wrong words are highlighted.
• It does not match my search.
• It should not be summed up with the orange entries
• The translation is wrong or of bad quality.

• Cambridge Dictionary +Plus

Translation of tesis – Spanish-English dictionary

(Translation of tesis from the GLOBAL Spanish–English Dictionary © 2021 K Dictionaries Ltd)

Translation of tesis | PASSWORD Spanish–English Dictionary

(Translation of tesis from the PASSWORD Spanish–English Dictionary © 2014 K Dictionaries Ltd)

Examples of tesis

Word of the Day

Your browser doesn't support HTML5 audio

a child's toy in the shape of a small person or baby

Treasure troves and endless supplies (Words and phrases meaning ‘source’)

Learn more with +Plus

• Recent and Recommended {{#preferredDictionaries}} {{name}} {{/preferredDictionaries}}
• Definitions Clear explanations of natural written and spoken English English Learner’s Dictionary Essential British English Essential American English
• Grammar and thesaurus Usage explanations of natural written and spoken English Grammar Thesaurus
• Pronunciation British and American pronunciations with audio English Pronunciation
• English–Chinese (Simplified) Chinese (Simplified)–English
• English–Chinese (Traditional) Chinese (Traditional)–English
• English–Dutch Dutch–English
• English–French French–English
• English–German German–English
• English–Indonesian Indonesian–English
• English–Italian Italian–English
• English–Japanese Japanese–English
• English–Norwegian Norwegian–English
• English–Polish Polish–English
• English–Portuguese Portuguese–English
• English–Spanish Spanish–English
• English–Swedish Swedish–English
• Dictionary +Plus Word Lists
• GLOBAL Spanish–English    Noun
• PASSWORD Spanish–English    Noun
• All translations

To add tesis to a word list please sign up or log in.

Add tesis to one of your lists below, or create a new one.

{{message}}

Something went wrong.

There was a problem sending your report.

In this section

• Graduate Program-Specific Contacts
• Doctoral Dissertation Policies and Procedures
• Master’s Thesis Policies and Procedures
• Thesis and Dissertation Release and Embargo Options

Thesis and Dissertation Formatting Guidelines & Deep Blue Archiving

• Graduate Studies Forms
• Three Minute Thesis Competition
• Graduate Student Appreciation Week

The purpose of these Formatting Guidelines is to make all dissertations and theses legible, accessible, preservable, and uniform in presentation. The steps you take now to format your dissertation and thesis will improve the file for future readers.

See The Mardigian Library’s  Formatting Your Thesis or Dissertation with Microsoft Word  for video tutorials designed to help you get most of the formatting of your thesis correct the first time. It is recommended that you use the dissertation/thesis template available in this guide which has most of the guidelines already incorporated.

For questions about formatting beyond what is covered in these resources, please check with your dissertation or thesis advisor.

File Format

• Submit the dissertation or thesis as a PDF file

Structure/Accessibility

Techniques for creating accessible documents, including adding alternative text for images, can be found on this  website.

Set Document Title:  Set the document title (note: this is a document property, not the filename) as your dissertation or thesis title.

Set Document Language

Set the Language of Parts (Quotations, Sections) That Are Different from the Main Language (required if applicable)

Use Correct Headings:  Use appropriate heading levels for section and subsection titles. Use “Heading 1” for main section titles (e.g. a Chapter), “Heading 2” for subsection titles (e.g. a Chapter section), and so on.

Create Lists, Columns, and Other Structures by Using the Appropriate Structural Element.  Do not use space bar, tab, or enter to arrange text in apparent tables, lists, or columns.

Images, Figures, Tables, Media

• Include descriptive alt text for all images and figures to convey the meaning and context of a visual item in a digital setting (do not use images of tables.)
• Use at least 2-inch top margin on the Title Page.
• Use 2-inch top margin on the first page of every chapter and major section (Acknowledgements, List of Figures, Bibliography, etc.…)
• Use at least 1-inch margins (top, bottom, left, right) on all pages. 

Text, Fonts, Color, Spacing

• Use a legible font, size 12 point, black color for all body text. Recommended fonts include Times or Times New Roman (serif fonts) or Arial (sans-serif font). Images and text within images may be in color.
• Headings may be visually different than body text (bigger, bold) and no bigger than size 16 point.
• Font size for footnotes, endnotes, captions, tables, figures, and equations may be smaller than the body text and no less than 9 point.
• Text in the Front Matter that links to a location within the dissertation or thesis (from the Table of Contents, for example) should not be underlined or outlined as hyperlinks.
• Use embedded fonts to ensure all font information in your document is secured in your PDF.
• Use either 1.5-line or double-line spacing throughout for all body text. 
• Use single-line spacing for text in tables, lists, footnotes/endnotes, figure/table legends/captions, and bibliographic entries (with a blank line between each citation or entry). 

Numbering and Page Numbering

• Number chapters consecutively and name them as follows: Chapter [#] [Title of Chapter]. For example, Chapter 1 Introduction. 
• Include the chapter number and name as a heading on the first page of chapter and in the Table of Contents.
• Number all tables, figures, appendices, etc. consecutively and name them as follows: Table [#] [Caption/Title/Legend]. 
• Tables, Figures, etc. may be numbered simply using whole numbers throughout the document (Figure 1, Figure 2, Figure 3) or by combining the chapter number and table, figure, etc. number per chapter (Figure 2.1, Figure 2.2, Figure 3.1). Choose one system from an appropriate style guide and use it consistently.
• Include a List of Figures, List of Tables, etc. in the front matter if the dissertation or thesis includes more than one figure, table, illustration, appendix, etc. (required if applicable)
• List of Figures (or List of Tables, List of Illustrations, List of Appendices, etc.) includes the title of each, its caption/title/legend, and page number on which it begins.
• Include page numbers in the front matter, centered in the footer, using lowercase Roman numerals, beginning on page ii (the first page after the Identifier/Copyright page).
• Include page numbers in the dissertation text and following sections, centered in the footer, using Arabic numerals, beginning on page 1.

Components of the Dissertation and Thesis

Include the following components, in the following order. All required components must be included.

Use the page numbering conventions given below. Every section below starts on a new page with 2-inch top margin.

Title Page (required)

No page number. No page count.

• See the section below for details of component requirements.

Frontispiece (Illustration or Epigraph) (optional)

Identifier/Copyright Page (required)

• No page number. Start page count here.
• See section below for details of component requirements.

Dedication (optional)

• Page numbers required. Start lowercase Roman numerals (starting with ii) here.
• Acknowledgments (optional)

Page numbers required. Lowercase Roman numerals.

Preface (optional)

Table of Contents (required)

List of Tables, List of Figures, etc. (required if applicable)

• List of Tables required if there is more than one table, etc.

List of Illustrations/Photos (required if applicable)

List of Appendices (required if applicable)

List of Abbreviations, List of Acronyms, List of Symbols (optional)

Abstract (required)

Dissertation or Thesis Text (required)

• Page numbers required. Start Arabic numerals here.
• Appendices (optional)

Bibliography or Reference section(s). (required)

Page numbers required. Arabic numerals. Insert at the end of each chapter, or the end of the dissertation/thesis, in the format preferred by the discipline.

Title Page Components

Include the following components on the title page, in the following order. Begin each item on a new line.

• At least 2 inch top margin on Title Page. 
• Complete dissertation  or master’s thesis title, centered, and capitalized in title case. 
• Your author name should match your legal name or preferred name in Wolverine Access
• You may use initial(s) for middle name(s).
• The following text, including line breaks, centered and single line-spaced. 

A dissertation (thesis) submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Name of Degree (Name of Program) in The University of Michigan-Dearborn YEAR

• The text, “Doctoral Committee  or Master’s Thesis Committee:” left justified. 
• List chair or co-chairs first (in alphabetical order by surname if more than one) with “Chair” or “Co-Chair” after their titles and names.
• List other committee members in alphabetical order, by last name.
• Professor rank (e.g., Professor, Associate Professor, Assistant Professor, Emeritus Professor) or title (e.g., Dr.)
• Complete full name
• Affiliation, if not affiliated with University of Michigan (e.g., name of university, college, corporation, or organization)

Identifier/Copyright Page Components

Include the following components on the identifier/copyright page, in the following order. Begin each item on a new line, centered.

• Your full legal name (Required)
• Your @umich.edu email address (Required)
• Your ORCID iD (required only for PhD candidates)

ORCID iD is a unique digital identifier that you control and that distinguishes you from other researchers.

• ORCID iD profile URL (Recommended)
• Copyright notice. (Recommended)

Copyright notice notifies readers that you hold the copyright to this work and when it was established.

Use the following format: © Full Name YEAR

Final Formatting Checks

Before submission, double-check the following:

• All numbered series (pages, chapters, tables, figures, etc.) are consistently formatted and consecutive throughout the document.
• All entries in the table of contents and lists match contents as titled/ordered in the dissertation text.
• References/Bibliography entries are complete and match the formatting preference of your discipline.

Thesis or Dissertation Embargo

The thesis or dissertation is submitted as public evidence of your scholarly research and accomplishment. A thesis or dissertation and abstract is normally made publicly available upon degree conferral when it is deposited electronically in Deep Blue. If a student wishes to postpone public release of the final product, also called an embargo, the student should discuss this option with his or her faculty advisor. It has always been the university's expectation that every dissertation and abstract will be released upon conferral of the degree. Only in specific circumstances may release of a thesis or dissertation be deferred, and then only for a limited period of time. The student is responsible for requesting an embargo.

Embargo forms can be found at:  "Thesis and Dissertation Release and Embargo Options”

Deep Blue Archiving 

Required for doctoral dissertations and highly recommended for Master’s Thesis. The final pdf document of your dissertation or thesis must be submitted electronically to the Mardigian Library. This digital PDF will be the copy of record and will be archived in  Deep Blue . Deep Blue is a digital repository that is part of the University of Michigan Library. 

To submit your document, you need to provide:

• Your ORCID iD  
• Keywords that describe the subject, concepts, theories, and methods used in your document, to help others find and retrieve your document
• A copy of your thesis or dissertation in PDF format
• Optional – up to two supplementary files (no larger than 50 MB each), such as an audio file, spreadsheet, or a software program

To maintain the usability and appearance of your document, please review the  Best Practices for Producing High Quality PDF Files , available on Deep Blue.

If you have supplemental materials (such as data) that should also be made publicly available and associated with your dissertation or thesis, consider reaching out to  [email protected]  for help determining whether these should be deposited into one of the Deep Blue repositories.

Once your document is submitted to Deep Blue by the library, you will receive an email containing the DOI and a URL to access the document. It will also be added to the Mardigian Library catalog and made available on Google Scholar. If no embargo is requested, it may take three to four weeks for your document to become available.

Submit Final Thesis/Dissertation to Deep Blue

More support.

• Library Guide to  Formatting Your Thesis or Dissertation with Microsoft Word  and Video Tutorials.
• UM IT accessibility guide for  creating accessible documents .
• Guide for  embedding all fonts in PDFs generated with LaTeX or PDFLaTeX .

Contact your  subject librarian  for assistance on a wide range of topics including literature searching, citation management, and much more.

Download the Formatting Checklist

Office of graduate studies.