Getting your thesis ready
For those approaching the final stages of preparing their thesis (4-6 months from submission), the Getting Your Thesis Ready workshop covers thesis presentation, the submission process and copyright considerations.
Copyright law applies to theses and dissertations written by students as part of their studies in the same way as it applies to other copyright works.
Forms and other thesis enquiries
You can find information on submitting your thesis, including forms and queries about content, submission dates, examination and degree-awarding procedures, from Research Student Administration (RSA).
Library deposit copies
We have changed our thesis deposit requirements for students graduating after 1 January 2024 and updated the information on these pages accordingly. More information about this can be found at 'Changes to thesis deposit'.
After your thesis has been examined and your degree awarded, an electronic copy of the final thesis must be submitted to the UBIRA eTheses Repository. Your Supervisor or School may also request a copy. As of 1 January 2024 you are no longer required to deposit a hard copy with the library.
In most cases, the electronic copy will be available via the internet, to any readers interested in your work. Your thesis will be listed in FindIt@Bham, and indexed by various theses discovery services, such as ProQuest Dissertations and Theses. UK theses are also indexed and made available via the British Library EThOS service. Making your theses openly available in this way has many advantages and in particular helps to raise awareness and the profile of your research.
Restricting thesis access
If your thesis meets specific criteria, it may be appropriate to restrict access to it for a designated period, during which the full text (and occasionally further metadata about the thesis) are not publicly available via eTheses. Our 'Restricting access to your thesis' guidance has more information about when this may be appropriate and how to go about applying for such an embargo.