Submitting your thesis

You are not required to submit printed copies of your thesis as the examination will be conducted using an electronic copy of your thesis obtained from the copy you submit for the plagiarism check via Canvas. For details on how to submit via Canvas, please contact the PGR administrator in your School.

On submission of your thesis for the plagiarism check, please send an email to pgrstudentrecords@contacts.bham.ac.uk with “ELECTRONIC THESIS SUBMISSION” and your ID number in the subject field.  In the email you should confirm the date that you submitted your thesis for the plagiarism check (attaching a receipt if you have one) and attach the documents detailed in the 'Forms for submission' section below'.

If you have any concerns about the quality of the copy you have submitted for the plagiarism check please advise Research Student Administration.

If the examiners specifically request a printed copy, Research Student Administration will contact you and you will then be required to submit a printed copy.

On submitting your thesis for examination you are required to complete a declaration form confirming the word length of your thesis. You should therefore be aware of the maximum word length for your thesis. See Regulation 7.4.2 (d).

The stated maximum number of words excludes tables, diagrams (including associated legends), appendices, list of references, footnotes and endnotes, the bibliography and any bound published material. For information on referencing styles see the iCite – referencing at the University of Birmingham webpages.

A thesis that exceeds the maximum number of words will not be accepted for examination unless permission to exceed the stated word count has been granted by the Research Progress & Awards Sub Panel. Permission to exceed the stated word count is only granted in exceptional circumstances. If you consider that you will not be able to meet the stated word limited, you are advised to discuss this with your supervisor at an early stage.

Before you are ready to submit your thesis for examination you are advised to contact your College/School PGR administrator for information on the process to be followed for submitting the examination copy of your thesis for the plagiarism check.

The date you submit your thesis for the plagiarism check will be recorded as your actual thesis submission date. Unless you have been granted early submission, this must be after the end of your minimum period of registration and on or before the end of your maximum period of registration.

If you find that you are unable to submit by the end of your maximum period of study you must apply for an extension.

Please ensure that you submit a Notice of Intention to Submit form (Word - 40KB) at least three months before you plan on submitting your thesis. Details of the intention to submit process can be found on the notice of intention to submit webpage.

On submission of your thesis for the plagiarism check, please send an email to pgrstudentrecords@contacts.bham.ac.uk with “ELECTRONIC THESIS SUBMISSION” and your ID number in the subject field.  In the email you should confirm the date that you submitted your thesis for the plagiarism check (attaching a receipt if you have one) and attach the following documents:

• Declarations form (Word - 31KB)
  To declare that the work you are submitting is your own to confirm the word length of your thesis, that the examination copy is an exact copy of the copy submitted to Turnitin and to declare whether you have used a third party editor.
  Please see thesis word limits.

• Degree congregation choice form (Word - 44KB)
  

  The University holds degree congregations in July and December each year. The degree congregation choice form advises us of your choice for conferrment of your degree and whether you wish to:

  • • attend the degree congregation and have your degree conferred in person; or

    • have your degree conferred in absence and your certificate posted to you after the degree congregations have been held; or

    • defer graduation until the next set of degree congregations

For futher information and Terms and Conditions, please see the Confirming your Graduation preference web page.

• Third party declaration form (Word - 21KB) (if applicable). Please see the statement on editorial help for postgraduate research theses (Word - 36KB) for further information.

You may apply to the Research Progress & Awards Sub Panel for an extension to your maximum period of study.

Further information and an extension request form and guidance notes can be found at on the extensions web page.

Your thesis will be sent to the examiners once Research Student Administration have received confirmation that the thesis is fit for examination (outcome of the plagiarism check) and the nominated examiners have been approved. The Research Student Administration team will formally notify you by email when your thesis has been sent to the examiners and this will include the names of the examiners and the chairperson for the viva.

It is normally expected that the examination process will take approximately two months. However, it should be stressed that this is dependent on individual examiners and their availability, and therefore it may not always be possible for the examination to be concluded within this timeframe.

To contact the Research Student Administration team with general enquiries relating to the submission of your thesis please submit an online enquiry.