hec mphil thesis format

Phase III – PhD dissertation

Maximum duration: 3 years, approval by the ethics committee.

Any PhD dissertation proposal, whether or not it involves human subjects, must be declared to the Research Ethics Board (REB) before Phase III approval.

Approval of Phase III

Your Phase III must be approved in the term following the comprehensive exam . To do so:

• Log in to   the portal   with your HEC Montréal ID number and password.
• Fill out the Phase III Form.

Supervisory committee

The role of the Phase III committee is to supervise your research and the writing of your dissertation. It may be different from the Phase II committee, but the rules for committee membership are the same. The chair of the committee (dissertation director) must be an associate or full professor at HEC Montréal.

Dissertation proposal

The dissertation proposal is a public oral presentation of your progress on your dissertation, supported by a written report approved and read by each member of the Phase III Committee before the proposal submission. For this purpose, the student must complete the form Approval Form - Public Presentation of a Dissertation Proposal at HEC Montréal .

You must submit your proposal in writing to each of the committee members and jointly agree on the date and time of your public presentation.

The Notice of submission of a dissertation proposal  must be submitted at least three weeks in advance to the program administration .

Validation of the presentation of your dissertation

When preparing your initial version of your dissertation, you must contact a documentation technician at the HEC Montréal library , who will ensure that your dissertation meets presentation standards.

There are three models available to help you write your dissertation:

• Conventional model
• Dissertation consisting of papers
• LaTeX model

You are responsible for ensuring that your dissertation meets the established presentation standards.

Initial thesis submission

To do your initial dissertation submission, contact the progam administrative assistant at least three weeks before the term ends.

Complete the Notice of submission of a PhD dissertation  and make sure you complete all items on the checklist.

Your director must submit the  Appointment Form of a Doctoral Thesis Jury  in the portal .

If your deadline for completing your PhD has expired, you may be re-admitted in order to submit your dissertation, under certain conditions. Complete the Short Administrative Request form .

You will have to pay the tuition fees for this extra term. 

The thesis jury may accept your dissertation for defence, reject it or allow you to submit it only once more, after corrections, within at most one year.

The date of the defence cannot be set until the jury has accepted your dissertation for defence purposes. It will take at least one month to organize the defence.

Your defence consists of a 45-minute public presentation, followed by a question period by the jury and audience.

Final thesis submission

In order to complete your final thesis submission you must:

• Fill out the Notice of final submission of a PhD dissertation form.
• Fill out the Authorisation to index, reproduce and distribute a dissertation form.
• Answers to the end of program questionnaire .

The dissertation will be filed and kept in the HEC Montréal archives.

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MPhil by thesis Rules and Regulations

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University Regulations

The MPhil by thesis is subject to General Regulations and course-specific Special Regulations in the Statutes & Ordinances ( Ordinances, Chapter VII ). Special Regulations specify word limit and format of the thesis. Word limits must be strictly observed.

Astronomy MPhil by thesis : A thesis of not more than 15,000 words in length, exclusive of tables, footnotes, bibliography, and appendices, on a subject approved by the Degree Committee for the Faculty of Physics and Chemistry.

Chemistry MPhil by thesis : A thesis of not more than 15,000 words in length, including summary/abstract, tables and footnotes, but excluding table of contents, photographs, diagrams, figure captions, list of figures/diagrams, list of abbreviations/acronyms, bibliography, appendices and acknowledgements, on a subject approved by the Degree Committee for the Faculty of Physics and Chemistry

Materials Science and Metallurgy MPhil by thesis : A thesis of not more than 15,000 words in length, exclusive of tables, footnotes, bibliography, and appendices, on a subject approved by the Degree Committee for the Faculty of Physics and Chemistry.

Physics MPhil by thesis : A thesis of not more than 15,000 words in length, exclusive of tables, footnotes, bibliography, and appendices, on a subject approved by the Degree Committee for the Faculty of Physics and Chemistry. 

Terms of study and residence

Full time students must complete at least three terms of study AND keep three terms of residence (find more information here ).

Code of Practice for Research Students

Students taking the MPhil by thesis are subject to the University's Code of Practice for Research Students . Do not look at the Code of Practice for Masters students as this is for taught/by Advanced Study courses only. All candidates must make themselves aware of the content of the  Code of Practice and of the University's rules on  Good practice in research and the avoidance of plagiarism .

If you can't find the page you are looking for or find a broken link do let us know (please use the email link in the 'Contact us' section below).

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Coronavirus advice from the University

Office closures

The Degree Committee for the Faculty of Physics & Chemistry will be closed from 5pm on Thursday 28 March 2024 and will reopen again on Tuesday 2 April 2024. Research degree theses should still be submitted by your submission deadline even if that falls over the holiday period.

Meetings schedule

Meetings of the Degree Committee and Degree Ceremonies

Essential Links

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Degree Committee for Physics & Chemistry, School of Physical Sciences, 17 Mill Lane, Cambridge, CB2 1RX. Tel: 01223 746764 / 746766

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Writing a good dissertation or thesis

The learning center team is at your disposal to assist you in your documentary research via our research assistance service ..

Identifying your project

Taking the time to define the right topic is a very important step in the essay process. With the answers to the 3QPOC questions, you will be able to extract the concepts that will define your subject. Mind maps can also help you to have an overview of your project. In addition, it is essential to review existing research. This should allow you to see if there is enough material to address your topic, if its scope is realistic, and if anyone has already answered your question.

The Learning Center has student papers that have been awarded an A or B grade and are not confidential. From our search portal, select "HEC PhD Theses" or "HEC Dissertations and theses"  in the tab "New items-selections".

Preparing your research

To begin, make a list of keywords using dictionaries, thesauri, encyclopedias, manuals, etc. Break down each concept into a series of keywords, search for synonyms or equivalent terms. Once you have defined all your keywords, we recommend that you use Boolean operators to filter the results, combining or excluding specific words from your search "(AND/ET, NOT/SAUF, OR/OU)".

You can conduct your research using the Learning Center's resources (databases, news articles, journals, books and ebooks, dissertations and theses).

Managing your bibliographic references

Citation management software allows you to keep a database of the sources you use (books, journal articles, websites, etc.) when doing research. You can then select them when you cite your sources in your written work and automatically produce bibliographies from the citations you have included.

The Learning Center offers an article on the use of citation management software: Zotero.

Writing your bibliography

The bibliography is a very important part of your thesis. It allows you to confirm your knowledge of the subject and to recognize the people behind the ideas you have developed in your research. It also allows the reader of your work to deepen it by identifying the documents you have consulted.

The Learning Center has produced a guide to help you build your bibliography in a consistent and standardized way.

Citing bibliographic references

Plagiarism is presenting someone else's words or ideas as your own without acknowledging the source. Thus, when writing your dissertation or thesis, it is important to indicate the various sources that were used to fuel your thinking. Even when summarizing or paraphrasing information found in books, articles or web pages, you must credit the original author.

To assist you in this process, the Learning Center provides a document on plagiarism and how to cite your sources.