acknowledgment of phd thesis

• Acknowledgements for PhD Thesis and Dissertations – Explained
• Doing a PhD

The Purpose of Acknowledgements

The acknowledgement section of a thesis or dissertation is where you recognise and thank those who supported you during your PhD. This can be but is not limited to individuals, institutions or organisations.

Although your acknowledgements will not be used to evaluate your work, it is still an important section of your thesis. This is because it can have a positive (or negative for that matter) influence the perception of your reader before they even reach the main body of your work.

Who Should I Acknowledge?

Acknowledgements for a PhD thesis will typically fall into one of two categories – professional or personal.

Within these categories, who you thank will ultimately be your decision. However, it’s imperative that you pay special attention to the ‘professional’ group. This is because not thanking someone who has played an important role in your studies, whether it be intentional or accidental, will more often than not be seen as a dismissal of their efforts. Not only would this be unfair if they genuinely helped you, but from a certain political aspect, it could also jeopardise any opportunities for future collaborations .

Professional Acknowledgements

This may include, but is not limited to:

• Funding bodies/sponsorship providers
• Supervisors
• Research group and lab assistants
• Research participants
• Proofreaders

Personal Acknowledgements

• Key family members and friends
• Individuals who inspired you or directly influenced your academic journey
• Anyone else who has provided personal support that you would like to mention

It should be noted that certain universities have policies which state only those who have directly supported your work, such as supervisors and professors, should be included in your acknowledgements. Therefore, we strongly recommend that you read your university guidelines before writing this section of your thesis.

How to Write Acknowledgements for PhD Thesis

When producing this section, your writing style can be more informal compared to the rest of your thesis. This includes writing in first person and using more emotive language. Although in most cases you will have complete freedom in how you write this section of your thesis, it is still highly advisable to keep it professional. As mentioned earlier, this is largely because it will be one of the first things your assessors will read, and so it will help set the tone for the rest of your work.

In terms of its structure, acknowledgements are expected to be ordered in a manner that first recognises the most formal support before moving onto the less formal support. In most cases, this follows the same order that we have outlined in the ‘Who Should I Thank’ section.

When thanking professionals, always write out their full name and provide their title. This is because although you may be on a first-name basis with them, those who read your thesis will not. By providing full names and titles, not only do you help ensure clarity, but it could also indirectly contribute to the credibility of your thesis should the individual you’re thanking be well known within your field.

If you intend to include a list of people from one institution or organisation, it is best to list their names in alphabetical order. The exception to this is when a particular individual has been of significant assistance; here, it would be advisable to list them.

How Long Should My Acknowledgements Be?

Acknowledgements vary considerably in length. Some are a single paragraph whilst some continue for up to three pages. The length of your acknowledgement page will mostly depend on the number of individuals you want to recognise.

As a general rule, try to keep your acknowledgements section to a single page. Although there are no word limits, creating a lengthy acknowledgements section dilutes the gratitude you’re trying to express, especially to those who have supported you the most.

Where Should My Acknowledgements Go?

In the vast majority of cases, your acknowledgements should appear directly after your abstract and before your table of contents.

However, we highly advise you to check your university guidelines as a few universities set out their own specific order which they will expect you to follow.

Phrases to Help You Get Started

We appreciate how difficult it can be to truly show how grateful you are to those who have supported you over the years, especially in words.

To help you get started, we’ve provided you with a few examples of sentences that you can complete or draw ideas from.

• I am deeply grateful to XXX…
• I would like to express my sincere gratitude to XXX…
• I would like to offer my special thanks to XXX…
• I would like to extend my sincere thanks to XXX…
• …for their assistance at every stage of the research project.
• …for their insightful comments and suggestions.
• …for their contribution to XXX.
• …for their unwavering support and belief in me.

Thesis Acknowledgement Examples

Below are three PhD thesis acknowledgment samples from which you can draw inspiration. It should be noted that the following have been extracted from theses which are freely available in the public domain. Irrespective of this, references to any individual, department or university have been removed for the sake of privacy.

First and foremost I am extremely grateful to my supervisors, Prof. XXX and Dr. XXX for their invaluable advice, continuous support, and patience during my PhD study. Their immense knowledge and plentiful experience have encouraged me in all the time of my academic research and daily life. I would also like to thank Dr. XXX and Dr. XXX for their technical support on my study. I would like to thank all the members in the XXX. It is their kind help and support that have made my study and life in the UK a wonderful time. Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to my parents, my wife and my children. Without their tremendous understanding and encouragement in the past few years, it would be impossible for me to complete my study.

I would like to thank my supervisors Dr. XXX and Dr. XXX for all their help and advice with this PhD. I would also like to thank my sisters, whom without this would have not been possible. I also appreciate all the support I received from the rest of my family. Lastly, I would like to thank the XXX for the studentship that allowed me to conduct this thesis.

I would like to thank my esteemed supervisor – Dr. XXX for his invaluable supervision, support and tutelage during the course of my PhD degree. My gratitude extends to the Faculty of XXX for the funding opportunity to undertake my studies at the Department of XXX, University of XXX. Additionally, I would like to express gratitude to Dr. XXX for her treasured support which was really influential in shaping my experiment methods and critiquing my results. I also thank Dr. XXX, Dr. XXX, Dr. XXX for their mentorship. I would like to thank my friends, lab mates, colleagues and research team – XXX, XXX, XXX, XXX for a cherished time spent together in the lab, and in social settings. My appreciation also goes out to my family and friends for their encouragement and support all through my studies.

Browse PhDs Now

Join thousands of students.

Join thousands of other students and stay up to date with the latest PhD programmes, funding opportunities and advice.

The Savvy Scientist

Experiences of a London PhD student and beyond

Thesis acknowledgements: Samples and how to write your own thesis or dissertation acknowledgements

Writing a thesis can be tricky. That’s why I’m starting a new series covering each section of the thesis, from thesis acknowledgements all the way to conclusions. I’ll be guiding you through the whole process, from what to include in your thesis to how to write it, along with examples from defended theses to help you to write your own.

We’ll begin by covering thesis acknowledgments. The acknowledgements section appears at the start of the thesis so it is often one of the first parts that everyone tries to tackle. As this will likely be your first taste of your thesis it can often feel quite intimidating to write!

Thankfully it’s also one of the easiest parts of the thesis to complete, which may help to give you a boost for the rest.

In this post we’ll cover everything to do with thesis acknowledgements: samples, what to include and how to write them. At the end I’ll also outline a 60 minute exercise which will get you preparing a first draft of your own! I’ve also got a similar post to craft your thesis title, which you can check out here .

I’m writing this post with a PhD thesis in mind but it could work just as well if you’re looking for help including acknowledgements in your Master’s or undergraduate thesis/ dissertation.

What is the purpose of the acknowledgements section in a thesis?

The acknowledgements section of your thesis is an opportunity to reflect on the people who have supported and shaped your PhD experience.

Don’t worry, although your examiners will be interested to read your acknowledgements section, you won’t really get judged on it in your PhD viva. This section is for you to share as little, or as much, as you want about everyone involved in your PhD journey.

The acknowledgements are a very personal section of your thesis and each PhD student will have different things they want to include. For example, many people wonder: How do I thank my family in a thesis? And the acknowledgements section is the answer!

Note – You can also use a thesis dedication to thank your family. This is a separate section to your thesis acknowledgements and is entirely optional. It’s usually just a single line, just like you might find at the front of some books. Most people don’t include a separate dedication section but you can if you want to go that extra step.

What to include in your thesis acknowledgements

There are usually no formal requirements dictating what to include in your acknowledgements. However, do double check for any potential rules at your specific institution.

In general the acknowledgements are the section of your thesis where you have some creative liberty and are not bound by rigid research protocols or guidelines.

Many students choose to use the acknowledgements section to thank people (or organisations) who:

• Introduced them to the topic
• Helped with their PhD application
• Funded the project
• Supervisors
• Technicians
• Partners, friends or family
• Or anyone else who made an impression along the way!

But remember, you can include whatever you want! For example in my own PhD acknowledgements, which you’ll read further down this post, I thanked the university for providing a green outdoor space for us.

Acknowledge whoever and whatever influenced your own PhD experience.

You may find it helpful to start by writing a list of everyone you wish to thank.

How do you write an acknowledgements section?

Since there are no guidelines to worry about, it is really up to you how you write your own thesis acknowledgements. You have a lot of freedom for what to include and how to write it.

However you may find the following suggested phases helpful as a starting point.

Who you want to thank…

• “First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to…”
• “I must thank…”
• “A special thanks to…”
• “I would like to highlight two truly exceptional people from…”
• “I want to thank…”
• “In addition, I would like to mention”
• “I would also like to extend my thanks to…”
• “I want to give my deepest appreciation to…”
• “Finally, but the most importantly, I would like to thank…”

…then, why you want to thank them

It can be nice to also include why you’re thanking these people, using phrases such as:

• “…for the opportunity to be a part of this project”
• “…for always being there when I needed his support, reviewing my progress constantly, and guiding me through my PhD studies”
• “….for being a great bunch of people in and out of the lab”
• …”for all the guidance, support and outstanding feedback”
• “… who took their time to help teach me…”
• “…for her unlimited support and unconditional guidance during my PhD journey”
• “…were always there for discussions about anything that I was unsure on”
• “…whom has offered invaluable advice that will benefit me throughout my life”
• “…for supporting me since my undergraduate, and for the valuable discussions we had along the road”
• “…for making the past 4 years much more enjoyable and keeping me sane throughout the whole process”

Here is a whole example from an accepted PhD thesis:

Firstly, I want to thank [supervisor’s name(s)] for giving me the opportunity to work on this project, providing valuable guidance and feedback, and challenging me to grow as a scientist.  Excerpt from Dr Wane’s thesis acknowledgements, available via this page or use this direct download link .

Some people will choose to use full names and titles for any professional acknowledgements and first names for any personal ones. Again, this is up to you.

To help illustrate the variety of thesis acknowledgement formats, we’ll shortly be coming on to some examples of acknowledgment sections from successfully defended theses.

Before then I want to cover some of the main questions relating to how to write your own thesis acknowledgements section:

How long should you spend writing your thesis acknowledgements?

My suggestion is to spend only an hour or two making a first draft. I suggest doing this well ahead of your final deadline so that you have time to come back to it. Even so, I’d certainly look to spend far less than one day’s work on it in total.

It is a “nice to have” and means a lot to a lot of people, but remember you’re really only writing this section for yourself. I probably spent about two hours writing mine in total, simply because it wasn’t a priority for me.

What order should you write your acknowledgements in?

A typical way to write your acknowledgements is to go from the most formal/academic relationships to the least.

It is normal to start with any funding bodies, then formal people like your PhD supervisors, then move through labmates, friends and family. But again, there are generally no rules!

How long should the acknowledgements section be?

You can include as much or as little as you want. My own PhD acknowledgements section was just under a page long and it consisted of 386 words or 1892 characters (without spaces).

Here is how it was formatted:

But let’s not just look at my thesis. Using Imperial’s publicly accessible database I went through 25 published PhD theses for you.

The average (mean) length of these 25 theses was 365 words and 1793 characters without spaces. Writing an acknowledgements section of length 350-450 words was the most common:

The shortest acknowledgements sections was 122 words(653 characters) long. The longest one consisted of 1022 words and 5082 characters. Hopefully this illustrates that you’re not really bound by any limits. Write as much or as little as you want for this section.

Sample thesis acknowledgements

My own phd thesis acknowledgement.

My own PhD thesis is available here *, the acknowledgements section is on page 5. Here is the complete version of my acknowledgements section:

I would like to acknowledge both EPSRC and the Class of 1964 Scholarship for their financial support. It has been an honour to be the inaugural recipient of the Class of 1964 Scholarship and I am indebted to the donors in providing me complete academic freedom in this research. An immense thank you to my PhD supervisors: Jonathan Jeffers, Ulrich Hansen and Julian Jones. Support and guidance throughout the project from you all has been invaluable. JJ in particular you’ve been a fantastic primary supervisor. Thank you to all the academics who helped me get to this stage. The late Dr Kajal Mallick and his Biomedical Materials course at the University of Warwick was a huge influence and without which I would have never followed this path. My “pre-doc” supervisors in Dr Helen Lee of University of Cambridge and in particular the remarkable Prof Judith Hall OBE of Cardiff University from whom I learned so much. Thanks to Alison Paul and Michael Lim for being so supportive when I was considering applying for PhDs. It has been an amazing experience working between two research groups across different departments, thanks to everyone from the Biomechanics and JRJ groups I’ve worked with and from whom I’ve learned so much. Thank you of course to the Hybrids team I’ve worked so closely on this project with: Fra, Gloria, Agathe, Maria, Silvia, it’s been great fun working with you all! Gloria in particular thanks for you all your help, support and friendship: your inclusivity is appreciated by many. Saman, I’ve been so pleased to have you working on DVC with me and being able to discuss ideas with you really has been invaluable. I am grateful to everyone I’ve collaborated with externally: Farah, Amin and Brett (Natural History Museum) plus Andy and Behzad (Royal Veterinary College), thank you all for your support and input. Thanks also to everyone I’ve met through the Environmental Society at Imperial in particular Chelcie: your friendship and support have added a lot to my life. Thanks to Imperial for providing space for the ESoc garden, taking a break and enjoy nature in this space has certainly improved my work. Thanks of course to my family for their support. Finally, thank you Jo for always being so supportive and helping me every step of the way. My PhD thesis, available here . Acknowledgements are on page 5.

*For me the thesis was a means to an end. I wanted my PhD and didn’t want to spend too long agonising over each page. Therefore, it is possible there are typos in there, if you read any of it: firstly well done, I haven’t looked at it much since submitting the final copy, secondly, please don’t tell me about any typos you find!

Other PhD thesis acknowledgement examples

Below are the other 24 published and openly accessible STEM PhD theses I found for this article.

For each person’s thesis, either follow the first link to be taken to the landing page or follow the second link to directly download their thesis: I gave you a choice in case you don’t want stuff to start downloading automatically from a random text link!

The list is formatted as follows:

• [Link to thesis page on repository], [which page the acknowledgements appear on], [direct link to download the thesis]
• Dr Shipman’s thesis , for the acknowledgements go to page 3. Direct download here .
• Longest acknowledgements section of the list at 1022 words.
• Dr Li’s thesis , page 11. Direct download here .
• Dr Podgurschi’s thesis , page 5. Direct download here .
• Dr Medjeral-Thomas’ thesis page 3. Direct download here .
• Dr Sztuc’s thesis , page 5. Direct download here .
• Dr Yap’s thesis , page 5. Direct download here .
• Dr Sukkar’s thesis , page 9. Direct download here .
• Dr Lo’s thesis , page 11. Direct download here .
• Dr Sullivan’s thesis , page 5. Direct download here .
• Dr Tawy’s thesis , page 3. Direct download here .
• Dr Wane’s thesis , page 2. Direct download here .
• Dr Addison’s thesis , page 4. Direct download here .
• Dr Wang’s thesis , page 5. Direct download here .
• Dr Sebest’s thesis , page 3. Direct download here .
• Dr Hopkins’ thesis , page 7. Direct download here .
• Dr Bates’s thesis , page 4. Direct download here .
• Dr Somuyiwa’s thesis , page 6. Direct download here .
• Dr Reynolds’ thesis , page 5. Direct download here .
• My labmate’s thesis, who wrote the acknowledgements in a different style to the rest by using bullet points.
• Shortest acknowledgements section of the list at 122 words.
• Dr Manca’s thesis , acknowledgements on page 5. Direct download here .
• Dr Liu’s thesis , page 5. Direct download here .
• Dr Hotinli’s thesis , page 7. Direct download here .

My top tips for writing your own thesis acknowledgements

• Don’t spend too long on them. The acknowledgements section is really not worth spending too much time on. Even worse, since they appear at the start of your thesis, it is tempting to write your acknowledgements first. This can be fine, or, it can be an opportunity for lots of unnecessary procrastination. Which I why I instead suggest that you…
• Write your acknowledgements at the end of your first draft of the thesis. There is no need to write your thesis in the order it is presented. If you write your acknowledgements at the end you’ll be less likely to spend precious time on a section which really doesn’t warrant too much brain power.
• Don’t stress about it. The acknowledgements are merely for yourself and for anyone close to you that you want to thank. There are far more important sections for you to be particular about!
• Remember: You can make changes after you submit the copy for your viva. As with everything in your thesis, you can make changes after you submit the thesis for your viva. The real “final” copy is when you submit your thesis to the university for archiving. Which is even more reason to not spend too much time writing it the first time around.

Draft your own thesis or dissertation acknowledgements in 60 minutes

Hopefully you now feel inspired to start writing your own thesis acknowledgments!

For the exercise below I’d suggest setting a stop-watch on your phone and move on to the next section when the alarm goes, even if you’ve not fully finished. The aim is to have a rough draft at the end which you can polish off at a later point in time.

• Read a few of the example thesis acknowledgements above to get a feel for the structure ( 15 mins )
• List everyone (or everything!) you wish to thank – including any personal and professional acknowledgements in addition to funding bodies if relevant ( 10 mins )
• Decide on a rough order in which to thank them ( 5 mins )
• Craft some sentences using the phrases mentioned above ( 30 mins )

Congratulations you’re now well on your way to having one section of your PhD thesis completed!

I hope this post has been useful for constructing your own thesis or dissertation acknowledgements. It is the first in a series of posts aiming to help your thesis writing by delving into each section in depth. Be sure to let me know if you have any questions or suggestions for other content which you would find useful.

Subscribe below to stay updated about future posts in the series:

Share this:

• Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)

Related Posts

How to Master Data Management in Research

25th April 2024 27th April 2024

Thesis Title: Examples and Suggestions from a PhD Grad

23rd February 2024 23rd February 2024

How to Stay Healthy as a Student

25th January 2024 25th January 2024

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

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

Notify me of follow-up comments by email.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed .

Privacy Overview

Reference management. Clean and simple.

Dissertation acknowledgments [with examples]

What are dissertation acknowledgements?

What to consider when writing your dissertation acknowledgments, who to thank in your dissertation acknowledgments, what (and what not) to write in your dissertation acknowledgments, good examples of dissertation acknowledgments, a final word on writing dissertation acknowledgments: have fun, frequently asked questions about dissertation acknowledgments, related articles.

While you may be the sole author of your dissertation, there are lots of people who help you through the process—from your formal dissertation advisors to the friends who may have cooked meals so that you could finish your last chapter . Dissertation acknowledgments are a chance to thank everyone who had a hand in the completion of your project.

Dissertation acknowledgments are a brief statement of your gratitude to advisors, professors, peers, family, and friends for their help and expertise.

In this guide, we’ll cover:

• the most important things to consider when you’re writing your dissertation acknowledgments
• who to thank in your dissertation acknowledgments
• what (and what not) to write in your dissertation acknowledgments
• short examples of dissertation acknowledgments

Once you’re at the stage where you’re writing your dissertation acknowledgments, you may be tempted to kick back and relax. After all, the hard part of writing the dissertation itself is over and a list of thanks should be simple to churn out.

However, the acknowledgments are an important part of your overall work and are something that most people who read your dissertation, including prospective employers, will look at.

Tip: The best dissertation acknowledgements are concise, sincere, and memorable.

Approach this part of the process, brief as it may be compared to the long haul of writing the dissertation, with the same high level of care and attention to detail. It’s an explicit and permanent statement of who made a real impact on your work and contributed to your academic success.

Plus, the people you thank are often deeply moved by being included—some even go so far as to frame the acknowledgments. Aim to make yours sincere, memorable and something that people will be touched by.

First things first: who should you include in your dissertation acknowledgments? If you’re not sure who to thank, try the brainstorming technique to generate some ideas. Consider these two approaches:

• Make a list of everyone, both professional and personal, who was involved at any point during your work on your dissertation, and then thin down the list from there.
• Make a list of the pivotal aspects of your process and think about who was involved and how they helped.

As you select the people and groups to include in your dissertation acknowledgments, keep in mind that it’s essential to acknowledge your supervisor and anyone else with a visible connection to your work.

It’s an unfortunate reality that not every supervisor goes above and beyond to provide feedback and guidance to the students they are supposed to supervise. However, leaving them out, even if you personally felt disappointed by their involvement or lack thereof, could be seen as a snub.

You should end up with a fairly short list of people to thank. While being mindful of professional etiquette and personal feelings, be choosy about who makes the final cut since your acknowledgments should be limited to no more than a page.

Now that you have your list of people and groups to thank, it’s time to start writing. Before your first pen or keystroke, however, check your university’s guidelines as your institution may have specific rules around what can and cannot be included.

The standard practice is to begin with the formal and then progress to the informal, so the first people to mention would be:

• supervisors
• committee members
• other professional contacts

Use their full names and titles and go into brief detail about how they contributed to your work.

Once those are done, you can move on to the personal thanks, which can include friends, family, even pets. If you are so inclined, it is also considered appropriate to thank God or make mention of spiritual support.

You may also choose to inject a little humor at this point, but don’t get carried away and definitely don’t include sarcasm or critical comments of any kind, including self-critical ones. Remember that the acknowledgments precede your dissertation, so you want to be taken seriously.

A couple more basics that are essential when creating your acknowledgments:

• Position: Acknowledgments should be placed after the title page and before the abstract.
• Perspective: Write from the first-person perspective and speak in your own voice.

A really good way to get a sense of how to write your own dissertation acknowledgments is to read ones written by others. Notice which ones you respond particularly well to and use them as a model upon which to base your own.

Here are some good examples to help you get started:

I couldn’t have reached this goal without the help of many people in my life. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank them for their support.

First, my sincere thanks to my dissertation committee. The value of their guidance cannot be overstated. Dr. Elaine Gooding and Dr. Matthew Hunter provided much wisdom that helped me chart my course. I couldn’t have asked for a better supervisor than Dr. Fiona Moore, whose knowledge and experience guided me every step of the way.

Next, I’d like to thank my partner, Elliott. Your votes of confidence kept me going when my spirits dipped. I couldn’t have done this without you.

Last but not least, I’d like to acknowledge the emotional support provided by my family and friends. We made it to the top of the mountain! I look forward to celebrating with all of you.

This example is shorter, but still contains the key components:

Several people played a decisive role in my success and I would like to take this opportunity to thank them.

My chair, Dr. Ronald Saulk, provided invaluable support and infinite patience and I am truly grateful for all of his wisdom and guidance. I also owe the entire staff of the Wilhelm Library a debt of gratitude. From tracking down books and arranging for interlibrary loans to keeping the coffee maker in the lobby well-stocked and in good working order, they offered the practical help and kind gestures that made all the difference.

I’d also like to thank my family and God, for always being there for me.

One final piece of advice: enjoy this process. Writing a dissertation doesn’t happen every day, and the opportunity to acknowledge the important people in your life in a published format is as rare as it is wonderful.

What’s more, this part of your dissertation is unlike any other. It’s unbounded by the conventions that apply to the formal work. It’s a chance to really flex some creative muscle and let your personality shine through. So make the most of it and have fun!

In your dissertation acknowledgments, you thank everyone who has contributed to your work or supported you along the way. Who you want to thank is a very personal choice, but you should include your supervisors and anyone else with a visible connection to your work. You may also thank friends, family, and partners.

First, you need to come up with a list of people you want to thank in your dissertation acknowledgments. As a next step, begin with the formal and then progress to the informal, so the first people to mention would be supervisors, mentors, committees, and other professional contacts. Then, you can move on to the personal thanks, which can include friends, family, even pets.

Who you acknowledge in your dissertation is ultimately up to you. You should, however, thank your supervisor and anyone else with a visible connection to your work. Leaving them out, even if you personally felt disappointed by their involvement or lack thereof, could be seen as a snub. In addition, you can thank friends, partners or family.

There are many ways so you can acknowledge your dissertation supervisor. Some examples can be found in this article above. If you need more examples, you can find them here .

While acknowledgments are usually more present in academic theses, they can also be a part of research papers. In academic theses, acknowledgments are usually found at the beginning, somewhere between abstract and introduction. In research papers, acknowledgments are usually found at the end of the paper.

How to write acknowledgements in a thesis or dissertation

Navigating the intricate process of writing a thesis or dissertation can be challenging.

One crucial, yet often overlooked part is the thesis acknowledgement. It is also the only bit of my thesis that anyone really reads.

This section allows you to express gratitude to those who contributed to your academic journey. From supervisors and professors to family and friends, the acknowledgement section provides a platform to thank all who played a part in your work.

Whether you’re unsure about how to begin or looking for the best ways to acknowledge your mentors, this blog will provide valuable insights and practical advice to help you create an impactful thesis acknowledgement.

What is your thesis acknowledgement?

A thesis acknowledgement is a section in your thesis where you express gratitude to those who helped and supported you during your research and writing process.

It typically comprises two parts: professional and personal acknowledgements.

• Professional acknowledgements include your supervisor, colleagues, other academics, funding bodies, or institutions that significantly contributed to your work.
• Personal acknowledgements encompass your family and friends who provided emotional support or helped with editing and proofreading.

The acknowledgements section is usually more informal than the rest of your thesis , and it’s acceptable to write in the first person. It’s typically placed at the beginning of your thesis, either before the abstract or the table of contents.

Although the length may vary, it usually doesn’t exceed one page. It’s crucial to plan ahead, listing everyone you wish to thank and consider their specific contribution to your work.

Who to thank in your acknowledgements

In your acknowledgements, you should first thank the members of academia who contributed to your research, including:

• funding bodies,
• supervisors,
• professors,
• proofreaders,
• and research participants.

Mention them using their full names and titles.

If an authoritative figure in your field provided feedback, their acknowledgement adds weight to your research.

Despite the circumstances, a brief thank you to your supervisor is necessary.

Personal acknowledgements can include friends, family members, or even pets who provided inspiration or support during the writing process. Always refer to your university’s guidelines on acknowledgements.

Creating an acknowledgement can be slightly subjective, as the order and individuals to be thanked can vary greatly depending on the circumstances of the work and the author’s preferences.

However, generally, this example follows a common structure:

The order can be customized based on the importance of the roles these individuals played in the author’s journey.

Some may prefer to thank family or significant others first, while others might start with professional relationships such as advisors or collaborators.

It’s also crucial to keep in mind that the way of expressing gratitude can differ significantly between cultures and individuals.

How Long Should My Acknowledgements Be?

The length of an acknowledgement section varies depending on the individual and the nature of the project.

Some people prefer to keep their acknowledgements brief and only thank those individuals who made significant contributions to their work.

Others may choose to include a more extensive list of people, such as mentors, colleagues, and friends, who provided support and encouragement throughout the process.

In general, it is recommended to keep your acknowledgements concise and focused on those who had a direct impact on the project

. Including a heartfelt thank you to these individuals is a meaningful way to show appreciation for their efforts.

However, it is important not to get carried away and turn the acknowledgement page into a long list of names. Remember that the focus should be on quality rather than quantity, as the acknowledgement section should not overshadow the main content of the project. 

Where Should My Acknowledgements Go?

The placement of your acknowledgements can vary, but it’s typically located in the first part of your thesis.

Mine is right after the abstract and before the introduction of my PhD thesis. 

You can place it right before your dissertation abstract or before the table of contents. However, the exact positioning may depend on the guidelines and requirements provided by your university.

Always ensure to check your university’s formatting requirements to be sure you’ve chosen the correct location for your acknowledgements section. 

Thesis acknowledgement examples

Here is my PhD thesis acknowledgement.

Here are some sentence starters that you can use for inspiration:

1. “This thesis acknowledgement is a tribute to all the people who made my academic journey worthwhile.” 2. “I would like to thank my supervisor, whose unwavering support has been instrumental in the completion of this thesis.” 3. “In this acknowledgement section, I extend my deepest gratitude to all who have walked with me on this challenging but fulfilling journey.” 4. “Firstly, I would like to express my sincere thanks to the academic staff who provided their invaluable expertise and guidance.” 5. “My thesis would not have been possible without the endless help and support from my colleagues.” 6. “Special thanks go to my family, whose constant encouragement fueled my perseverance during the completion of this dissertation.” 7. “In the professional acknowledgements, I would like to acknowledge the significant contributions made by my research participants.” 8. “I would also like to thank the funding bodies, whose financial support made this research possible.” 9. “Through this acknowledgment, I express my heartfelt gratitude to my friends who have been my pillars of strength.” 10. “The completion of this thesis or dissertation is the culmination of efforts from various individuals whom I would like to express my sincere appreciation.” 11. “This thesis acknowledgement section is an opportunity to give thanks to those who made this journey less daunting.” 12. “I would like to express my gratitude to my editor, whose meticulous proofreading greatly improved my thesis.” 13. “Without their dedication, this thesis would not have been possible.” 14. “I express my sincere gratitude to all those whose names appear in this acknowledgement for their invaluable input.” 15. “In this acknowledgement for my thesis, I extend my appreciation to all those who have been part of this journey.”

Top tips to write acknowledgements

• Plan Ahead : Make a list of the people you want to acknowledge and their specific contributions to your work.
• Follow University Guidelines : Check your university’s formatting and content guidelines to ensure your acknowledgements adhere to them.
• Use First Person : Unlike the rest of your thesis, the acknowledgements can be written in the first person.
• Keep it Brief : The acknowledgement section should generally not exceed one page. Be concise and precise in expressing your gratitude.
• Maintain Professional-Personal Order : Start with professional acknowledgements (e.g., supervisors, colleagues, funders) before moving on to personal ones (e.g., friends, family).
• Be Specific : Highlight the specific contributions each person or organization made to your thesis.
• Use Full Names and Titles : When acknowledging academic contributors, use their full names and appropriate titles.
• Use Informal Language : Acknowledgements can be written in a more informal style, but avoid colloquial language.
• Proofread : Ensure your acknowledgements are free of spelling and grammar errors.
• Be Genuine and Sincere : The acknowledgements section should sincerely reflect your gratitude to the people who helped you in your academic journey.

Wrapping up – writing your acknowledgements section

As we reach the conclusion of this informative journey into the art of writing acknowledgements for a thesis or dissertation, it’s clear that this often-overlooked section carries significant emotional and professional weight.

A dissertation acknowledgements page is more than just a list of names; it’s a chance to express genuine gratitude and give due credit to all who have contributed to your academic journey. 

Remember, writing this section of your thesis isn’t an obligatory chore but a genuine opportunity to thank those who supported you.

From the tireless members of your thesis committee to the friends and family who offered emotional support, it’s a platform to acknowledge all the people who helped.

From mentors who provided expert guidance, colleagues who offered invaluable insights, to the institutions that funded your research – everyone deserves a heartfelt note of thanks.

Sample acknowledgements in a thesis often include both professional acknowledgements first, followed by personal ones, ensuring that all contributors are recognized appropriately. Always remember to use full names and titles for professional acknowledgements, and express your gratitude sincerely.

The acknowledgement page isn’t a place for long tales, jokes or anecdotes; instead, keep your acknowledgements concise, specific, and heartfelt.

As shown in the thesis acknowledgement examples, you should reflect on the people and organizations that significantly contributed to your research or writing, whether in a substantial technical manner or through support and guidance throughout the process. 

Studentship that allowed you to pursue your research, faculty who guided your studies, even friends who provided distractions when they were most needed – all these contributors deserve your thanks. Remember, it’s okay to use their first names for those who’ve been part of your personal journey, but for professional acknowledgments, full names and titles are recommended. 

As a PhD student, your acknowledgements should reflect your journey – the struggles, the triumphs, and most importantly, the people who have helped you along the way. Whether you include a list of names in alphabetical order, or you decide to group people or organizations, remember to be genuine, concise, and respectful. 

Whether it’s a thesis dedication to a mentor, expressing gratitude to your parents, thanking your friends for their love and encouragement, or even including certain political aspects that influenced your research, the acknowledgments section is yours to personalize. 

Writing a thesis or dissertation is a monumental task, and the people who support you through it are worth acknowledging. Keep this guide in mind when you write your thesis acknowledgements, and don’t forget to thank those who’ve been there for you – for in the journey of research and writing, no one truly walks alone. 

The last sentence may be a heartfelt statement, “I would like to express my gratitude to all those who walked with me throughout my research journey – your support was my strength, and this achievement is as much yours as it is mine.”

Dr Andrew Stapleton has a Masters and PhD in Chemistry from the UK and Australia. He has many years of research experience and has worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow and Associate at a number of Universities. Although having secured funding for his own research, he left academia to help others with his YouTube channel all about the inner workings of academia and how to make it work for you.

Thank you for visiting Academia Insider.

We are here to help you navigate Academia as painlessly as possible. We are supported by our readers and by visiting you are helping us earn a small amount through ads and affiliate revenue - Thank you!

2024 © Academia Insider

How to write a unique thesis acknowledgement (+ FAQs)

Crafting a thesis acknowledgement is typically one of the final steps in completing a thesis. This post aims to assist you in gaining insights and guidance by addressing common questions related to thesis acknowledgements. By doing so, it enables you to create a distinct and meaningful acknowledgment section that reflects your gratitude and appreciation.

What is a thesis acknowledgement?

Do i need a thesis acknowledgement, who should i thank in my thesis acknowledgment, how can i make my thesis acknowledgement uniquely personal, how formal should a thesis acknowledgement be, to what extent should i express personal sentiments in my thesis acknowledgement, how should i structure my thesis acknowledgement, how long should a thesis acknowledgement be, where is the thesis acknowledgement located, where can i find examples of thesis acknowledgements.

A thesis acknowledgement is a special section commonly included at the beginning of a thesis or dissertation. In this section, the author of the thesis expresses gratitude and appreciation to individuals or groups who have contributed to the successful completion of their academic work. It is a way for the author to acknowledge the support, guidance, and assistance they received during the research and writing process.

While a thesis acknowledgement is typically not a mandatory requirement, omitting it might not be seen positively. Writing a thesis almost always involves some form of assistance or support, whether from a supervisor, family, or friends.

Acknowledging these contributions is not only considerate but also showcases your gratitude and reflects well on your character. Including a thesis acknowledgement demonstrates your appreciation for the help you received throughout your academic journey, underscoring the collaborative nature of research and academic pursuits.

• Yes, it is strongly recommended to include a thesis acknowledgement.

The thesis acknowledgement offers flexibility, but thanking your thesis supervisor/s is an absolute must—non-negotiable. It would be highly unusual to omit their appreciation.

Additionally, it’s customary to thank those who contributed data, such as interviewees or survey participants. While listing every individual may be impractical, acknowledging their assistance shows respect and gratitude. If someone went above and beyond to help you establish contacts for your case study, it’s worth mentioning.

Apart from these essentials, you have the freedom to thank anyone you desire. Common mentions include parents, partners, friends, peers, and colleagues. Some may even extend gratitude to pets or coffee! Injecting humor is acceptable, but maintaining a certain level of formality is advised, as explained in the subsequent section.

• Acknowledging your thesis supervisor/s is a non-negotiable requirement.
• Show appreciation to those who contributed data or support, like interviewees or survey participants.
• Feel free to thank parents, partners, friends, and colleagues.

How to deal with a thesis supervisor with whom I had a challenging relationship in my thesis acknowledgement?

Regrettably, not everyone shares a positive relationship with their thesis supervisor. Nevertheless, it is important to acknowledge them in your thesis.

When doing so, maintain a concise approach while ensuring a respectful and diplomatic tone, refraining from any negative aspects or conflicts. Instead, emphasize the professional aspects of their contribution, such as supporting the development of the theoretical framework or providing valuable critical feedback that enhanced the quality of your work.

• Acknowledge your thesis supervisor, even if your relationship was challenging.
• Maintain a concise and respectful tone.
• Focus on the supervisor’s professional contributions.

Once you have decided whom to thank in your thesis acknowledgement, consider going beyond generic expressions of gratitude. Making your acknowledgements more personal and specific can make them truly special. Instead of simply thanking someone for their guidance and support, include examples that highlight the unique contributions of those individuals.

For instance, if you are thanking your fellow thesis writers, you can say something like: “Long study sessions at the library with John and Sabine made thesis writing a joyful experience.” This demonstrates the specific way they contributed to your journey.

Similarly, if you had engaging conversations during walks in the park with someone, you can mention: “Our thoughtful discussions while strolling through the park were a crucial aspect of getting excited about my thesis topic.”

By providing concrete examples, your acknowledgements become more heartfelt and memorable, showing the genuine impact of each person you thank.

• If possible, make thesis acknowledgements personal and specific.
• Include examples of how each person contributed uniquely.
• Highlight specific interactions or experiences that made a difference in your thesis journey.

While there are no strict rules for writing a thesis acknowledgement, it’s essential to consider its significance as one of the first things readers encounter in your thesis. Therefore, maintaining a certain level of formality is advised.

Avoid including details of personal experiences like drinking excesses with friends or lavish parties to cope with thesis stress. Such content could create a negative impression and should be avoided.

Remember that your thesis is an academic work, and the acknowledgement should not detract from its academic merit. Focus on expressing gratitude to those who contributed to your academic journey in a professional and appropriate manner.

• Keep a level of formality, as your acknowledgement section is one of the first things readers see.

People have different boundaries in terms of how open they are, and you should do what you feel comfortable with. But don’t forget that your thesis will likely be a document open to the public. So make sure that you will be comfortable with the information out there, also 2, 5 or ten years from now.

That said, the thesis acknowledgement is there to showcase your human side and your gratitude for your loved ones. So don’t hold back when you really want to thank someone deep from your heart.

And of course make sure that the information you reveal about the people you thank, they are also comfortable with it. You should not, for instance, describe your messy breakup with a person and even worse naming the person by name. Instead, you can write something more neutral in a way that people who know you well still know what you mean. For instance, you could thank your friends for always being there for you during challenging times, which you are grateful for.

• Remember that your thesis is public, so ensure you’ll be okay with the information long-term.
• Thank people genuinely but avoid sharing sensitive or personal details about others.

When writing a thesis acknowledgement, there are several acceptable ways to structure it, each serving its purpose. Three commonly used approaches stand out.

The first method is the chronological structure, typically employed in longer theses like PhD dissertations. In a chronological acknowledgement, you express gratitude to those who supported you throughout your entire thesis journey . For instance, you can start by thanking your supervisor for their guidance from the very beginning, then acknowledge the organizers of the PhD summer school you attended in year two, followed by appreciation for your friends who encouraged you during the challenging writing phase in year three, and so on.

The second approach involves structuring the acknowledgement based on the nature of relationships, ranging from formal to personal. Here, you begin by expressing thanks to your formal supervisors and professors who played a significant role in shaping your research, then move on to more informal yet professional mentors. Subsequently, you extend your gratitude to friends, family, and, if applicable, your partner or spouse.

The third common method is essentially the reverse of the second one, starting with personal relationships and ending with formal ones. In this arrangement, you begin by thanking your close friends and family members for their unwavering support, then move on to acknowledge professional mentors who contributed to your academic growth, and finally conclude the acknowledgement with appreciation for your thesis supervisor.

• Thesis acknowledgements can be structured chronologically.
• Thesis acknowledgements can be structured from formal to personal.
• Thesis acknowledgements can be structured from personal to formal.

The general guideline is that the length of the thesis acknowledgement can vary depending on the length of the thesis itself. However, this doesn’t imply that it must be excessively long.

For bachelor or master theses, the average length typically ranges from 100 to 250 words, equivalent to about half a page.

PhD thesis acknowledgements, on the other hand, tend to be longer, given the extended duration of PhD research. The average length for a PhD thesis acknowledgement ranges from 250 to 1000 words, or approximately half a page to 2 pages.

• Bachelor’s theses: usually 100-250 words
• Master’s theses: usually 100-350 words
• PhD theses: usually 250 – 1000 words

The thesis acknowledgement is typically positioned right at the beginning of the thesis, following the title page and preceding the table of contents. This placement ensures that it remains distinct from the academic content of the thesis.

When formatting your document, it’s advisable to insert blank pages to maintain a proper layout in the printed version, especially when double-paged printing is used. To achieve this layout, page 1 is reserved for the title page, page 2 is often left empty, and page 3 contains the thesis acknowledgement. Additionally, page four is frequently left blank as well. This arrangement enhances the reading experience of the printed version and provides a more polished appearance to the document.

• The thesis acknowledgement is typically placed at the beginning of the thesis, after the title page and before the table of contents.
• Leaving empty pages, such as page 2 and often page 4, helps in maintaining a visually pleasing layout, when double-sided printing is used.

Many universities maintain thesis repositories, providing students access to previous years’ theses. This serves a twofold purpose: firstly, it helps students gain clarity on the university’s expectations, preferred style, and required length for a thesis. Secondly, it offers a valuable opportunity to explore a diverse array of thesis acknowledgements, serving as a source of inspiration for crafting one’s own acknowledgment section.

In addition to utilizing the university’s repository, I have created five examples of PhD thesis acknowledgements that you can review for further guidance and ideas.

• Check your university’s thesis repository.
• Find five PhD thesis acknowledgement examples here .

Master Academia

Get new content delivered directly to your inbox.

Subscribe and receive Master Academia's quarterly newsletter.

How to thrive in academia as an extrovert

How to end a professional email in a university setting, related articles.

5 inspiring PhD thesis acknowledgement examples

Better thesis writing with the Pomodoro® technique

PhD thesis types: Monograph and collection of articles

How to write a literature review introduction (+ examples)

Overview: Acknowledgements Template

This template provides a basic structure for the acknowledgements section of a typical dissertation, thesis or research project.

In line with academic best practice , the acknowledgements are structured from most formal (supervisor, committee, etc.) to least formal (family and friends). Each section has easy to use placeholders that allow you to create your acknowledgements section in just a few minutes. 

The cleanly formatted Google Doc can be downloaded as a fully editable MS Word Document (DOCX format), so you can use it as-is or convert it to LaTeX.

PS – if you’d like a high-level template for the entire thesis, you can we’ve got that too .

Dissertation & Thesis Conclusion FAQ

What format is the template (doc, pdf, ppt, etc.).

The acknowledgements section template is provided as a Google Doc. You can download it in MS Word format or make a copy to your Google Drive. You’re also welcome to convert it to whatever format works best for you, such as LaTeX or PDF.

Is this template for an undergrad, Master or PhD-level thesis?

This template can be used for a dissertation, thesis or research project at any level of study. As always, be sure to check your university’s requirements and norms in terms of document structure.

What types of dissertations/theses can this be used for?

The acknowledgements section template template follows the standard format for academic research projects, which means it will be suitable for the majority of dissertations, theses and research projects (especially those within the sciences).

Keep in mind that the exact requirements for the conclusion chapter/section will vary between universities and degree programs. So, be sure to double-check your university’s requirements before you finalize your structure.

How long should the acknowledgement section be?

Typically, the acknowledgements section comprises a few paragraphs at most. Keep it short and sweet.

Can I share this template with my friends/colleagues?

Yes, you’re welcome to share this template in its original format (no editing allowed). If you want to post about it on your blog or social media, please reference this page as your source.

Do you have templates for the other chapters?

Yes, we do. We are constantly developing our collection of free resources to help students complete their dissertations and theses. You can view all of our template resources here .

Want to Get your Dissertation Accepted?

Discover how we've helped doctoral students complete their dissertations and advance their academic careers!

Join 200+ Graduated Students

Get Your Dissertation Accepted On Your Next Submission

Get customized coaching for:.

• Crafting your proposal,
• Collecting and analyzing your data, or
• Preparing your defense.

Trapped in dissertation revisions?

How to write acknowledgments for a dissertation, published by steve tippins on april 23, 2020 april 23, 2020.

Last Updated on: 2nd February 2024, 05:46 am

If you are wondering how to write your dissertation acknowledgments, that means you are basically finished. Congratulations! You have done the hard work and are just putting the finishing touches on your masterpiece and deciding who to thank.

Seriously though, deciding whom to acknowledge and how to do it is important.

How to Write Dissertation Acknowledgements

There are a few things to keep in mind when writing your dissertation acknowledgements:

• Know your school’s requirements
• Thank the right people from your institution
• Thank the right people from your personal life
• Add a touch of humor (when appropriate)
• Keep it the appropriate length

Jump to: Dissertation Acknowledgements Example

Know Your School’s Requirements

The first thing to do is check with your university to see if there are any requirements for or limitations on what to write in the acknowledgments for your dissertation. Some schools have page or word limits. 

Others may limit the types of things that you can say, but for the most part I have seen few limitations. Universities recognize that it takes a village, so to speak, and they want to give you ample opportunity to recognize those who’ve played a part in your success.

Know Whom to Thank

Finishing a dissertation is a celebration. Go ahead and tell those who are meaningful that you appreciate them. 

It is generally best to start with the most formal relationships and move from there to the personal. Keep in mind that there is a certain political aspect to your list of acknowledgements, so be careful to avoid leaving out anyone at your institution who made a contribution. These are some of the people to consider thanking as a courtesy:

• Committee members
• Supervisors
• Librarians (generalists and specialists)
• Other academics
• Professional colleagues
• Classmates who contributed in some way
• Research participants

The acknowledgement section of your dissertation is also a great place to thank those in your personal life who contributed to your ability to go to school and take the time to write this tome. These can include:

• Past teachers
• Family — parents, spouses, children, extended family members
• If you are religious, thanking God (using whatever name is appropriate to your religion) is acceptable as well
• Pets (I saw a student thank her cat for keeping her company during the many long nights of writing in her office)

I once had someone ask about thanking a therapist. This is fine, but I would suggest asking their permission first.

Should I Add Humor in my Dissertation Acknowledgements?

Dissertations can be somewhat dry, so adding a little bit of humor may make it more fun for both you and the reader — and a degree of humor is appropriate in the acknowledgements section. I once read an acknowledgement that said, “And now that I will have time to tend to relationships, I want to thank my three unborn children for being patient.” 

Another student recounted a cute family story in one sentence that captured the sacrifices his family made to support him.

With regard to humor, remember to maintain a level of professionalism and avoid straying too far into the weeds. Avoid critical (including self-critical) humor or presenting anyone in a bad light. Remember that prospective employers will likely be perusing this document.

Dissertation Acknowledgements Length

I have never seen an acknowledgement section go beyond one page. Keep it to those who really helped you through the process.

Sample Dissertation Acknowledgement 

The best way to learn how to write acknowledgements for a dissertation is by reading the acknowledgements section in dissertations previously published by your institution. However, to help you get started, here is an example of an acknowledgement for a dissertation.

Acknowledgements

There are many who helped me along the way on this journey. I want to take a moment to thank them.

First, I wish to thank my dissertation committee . Without their guidance, I would not have made it. Dr. Betty Rubble and Dr. Colin Slate served as wise committee members, and Dr. Barney Rubble, my Chair, went above and beyond to help me reach my goal.

To my friends, my parents, and my siblings: you put up with me being distracted and missing many events. I am forever grateful for your patience and understanding. I hope to have time now to reconnect with each of you.

Finally, to my wife, Charlotte, and my daughter, Jane: your love and understanding helped me through the dark times. Without you believing in me, I never would have made it. It is time to celebrate; you earned this degree right along with me.

When to Write Dissertation Acknowledgements

I’ve seen a surprising number of students turn in drafts of their proposals with the acknowledgements section already written. I suppose the thinking goes, “the more sections I complete now, the less I’ll have to do later.” And it must be tempting to fill out a section that doesn’t require any citations.

While there’s nothing wrong with drafting the acknowledgements section ahead of time, it’s best to keep it saved separately from the draft of your proposal. Acknowledgements are supposed to be written retroactively, and your Chair and committee members may find it strange to be thanked before they’ve finished the work of guiding you through the dissertation process. 

How to Write Dissertation Acknowledgements: Summary

The acknowledgement section of your dissertation is the least controlled area of the document. There are no special headings needed or word counts. I suggest you take your time and really think about those who helped you complete this journey and give them the thanks they deserve.

You can give them a card or take them out to dinner, and that’s a great idea. But an acknowledgement in your dissertation is a permanent reminder and an announcement to the wider world that these people really made a difference in your life and your future. Some proud parents have framed their child’s acknowledgement page! Try to make yours worthy of framing. 

And remember, though this is your opportunity to thank others, the way that you do so (and the care you put into it) is a reflection of who you are. As much as you might be tired of writing, it’s worth putting genuine effort into this section, as it will speak to everyone who reads it about who you are as a person.

Wondering what’s next after you have your PhD? As a PhD coach, I help recent graduates reach their goals , whether that’s landing their dream job at a university, diving into research, creating your own business, or beginning a career outside of academia.

Steve Tippins

Steve Tippins, PhD, has thrived in academia for over thirty years. He continues to love teaching in addition to coaching recent PhD graduates as well as students writing their dissertations. Learn more about his dissertation coaching and career coaching services. Book a Free Consultation with Steve Tippins

Related Posts

Dissertation

What makes a good research question.

Creating a good research question is vital to successfully completing your dissertation. Here are some tips that will help you formulate a good research question.  What Makes a Good Research Question? These are the three Read more…

Dissertation Structure

When it comes to writing a dissertation, one of the most fraught questions asked by graduate students is about dissertation structure. A dissertation is the lengthiest writing project that many graduate students ever undertake, and Read more…

Choosing a Dissertation Chair

Choosing your dissertation chair is one of the most important decisions that you’ll make in graduate school. Your dissertation chair will in many ways shape your experience as you undergo the most rigorous intellectual challenge Read more…

Make This Your Last Round of Dissertation Revision.

Learn How to Get Your Dissertation Accepted .

Discover the 5-Step Process in this Free Webinar .

Almost there!

Please verify your email address by clicking the link in the email message we just sent to your address.

If you don't see the message within the next five minutes, be sure to check your spam folder :).

Academia Bees

Acknowledgement for Thesis (10 Samples and Writing Tips)

October 22, 2023

No Comments

By Mohsin Khurshid

Acknowledging those who contributed to your thesis is a gracious gesture, reflecting your appreciation for their support, both moral and material. This article delves into the art of crafting a meaningful acknowledgment in your thesis, highlighting its importance, and offering valuable samples.

Table of Contents

• 1 Tips on Writing Acknowledgement for Thesis
• 2.1 Acknowledgement Sample for Thesis
• 2.2 Acknowledgement for Thesis Submission
• 2.3 Acknowledgement for Thesis Report
• 2.4 Beautiful Thesis Acknowledgement
• 2.5 Acknowledging God in Thesis
• 2.6 Funny Thesis Acknowledgement
• 2.7 Acknowledgement in Thesis Writing
• 2.8 Thesis Acknowledgement Sample
• 2.9 Example of Acknowledgement in Thesis
• 2.10 Sample Acknowledgement Letter for Thesis
• 4 Conclusion

Tips on Writing Acknowledgement for Thesis

• Sincerity is Key: Ensure your acknowledgment reflects genuine gratitude.
• Be Specific: Mention names and their roles clearly.
• Professional Tone: Maintain a formal but heartfelt tone.
• Brevity Matters: Keep it concise, focusing on key contributors.

Best Acknowledgement for Thesis Samples

In this article, you’ll find ten meticulously crafted thesis acknowledgment examples, showcasing diverse styles and sentiments to help inspire your own. Whether it’s mentors, family, or colleagues, you’ll discover the perfect way to convey your gratitude.

Acknowledgement Sample for Thesis

I extend my sincere appreciation to everyone who played a role in guiding and supporting me throughout this thesis journey. I owe a special debt of gratitude to my thesis supervisor, Dr. [Supervisor’s Name], whose invaluable insights and guidance were instrumental in shaping this work. Their unwavering dedication to academic excellence was a constant source of motivation.

I must also express my heartfelt thanks to my family and friends who provided me with unwavering emotional support during the ups and downs of this project. Your unwavering belief in me, along with constructive feedback, was essential in navigating the challenges that arose throughout the process.

Acknowledgement for Thesis Submission

As I submit this thesis, it’s only fitting to express my heartfelt gratitude to those who contributed to its realization. My deepest thanks to my thesis advisor, [Advisor’s Name], whose expert guidance and unwavering support made this journey possible. Their dedication to nurturing academic excellence inspired me throughout.

I’m also indebted to my family and friends for the unwavering encouragement and emotional support they provided during this academic endeavor. Their steadfast belief in my abilities carried me through challenging times, and I am deeply appreciative of their contributions to my success.

Acknowledgement for Thesis Report

The completion of this thesis report is a significant milestone, and it wouldn’t have been attainable without the contributions of many. I am profoundly grateful to my thesis supervisor, Dr. [Supervisor’s Name], whose expertise and guidance were critical in the development of this work. Their unwavering commitment to scholarly excellence served as a constant source of inspiration.

I also wish to convey my appreciation to my family and friends for their enduring support and encouragement throughout this journey. Their belief in me provided the motivation to persevere during challenging periods, and I am truly thankful for their unwavering support.

Beautiful Thesis Acknowledgement

In this moment of achievement, it’s essential to express my gratitude to those who made this thesis journey beautiful. I extend my deepest appreciation to my thesis mentor, [Mentor’s Name], whose profound wisdom and continuous support have transformed my academic path. Their unwavering dedication to academic excellence was a shining example.

My heartfelt thanks go out to my family, friends, and loved ones, who have been a source of motivation and joy throughout this thesis project. Your unwavering belief in me, combined with your uplifting presence, painted this journey with beautiful colors and made it truly remarkable.

Acknowledging God in Thesis

As I complete this thesis, I wish to acknowledge the divine presence that guided me throughout this scholarly endeavor. My sincerest gratitude to the Almighty for granting me the strength, wisdom, and determination to bring this work to fruition. I acknowledge the blessings that have enabled me to pursue knowledge and produce this thesis.

Funny Thesis Acknowledgement

Completing this thesis was no easy feat, and I’d like to offer a lighthearted acknowledgment to those who contributed to the humor in this journey. My gratitude goes to my witty friends, who provided comic relief during stressful times, and my family, who managed to lighten the mood when needed. Laughter truly was the best medicine!

Acknowledgement in Thesis Writing

Acknowledging the completion of this thesis is a momentous task, and I want to express my appreciation for everyone who played a role. To begin, I’d like to thank my thesis advisor, [Advisor’s Name], whose expert guidance and patience were invaluable. Their wisdom and insights greatly contributed to the quality of this thesis.

I would also like to extend my gratitude to my colleagues and friends who offered support and encouragement. Their discussions and shared experiences enriched my work, and I’m grateful for their camaraderie.

Thesis Acknowledgement Sample

In writing this thesis, I’ve learned that acknowledgment is a fundamental part of scholarly work. With this sample, I aim to express my thanks to those who influenced and supported me. Firstly, I’m deeply indebted to my thesis supervisor, [Supervisor’s Name], whose unwavering commitment to research excellence has been a guiding light.

Additionally, I would like to acknowledge the contributions of my peers and the resources offered by the university. Their combined efforts have molded this thesis into what it is today.

Example of Acknowledgement in Thesis

For your reference, here’s an example of how acknowledgments can be included in a thesis. I am profoundly thankful to my thesis advisor, [Advisor’s Name], for their invaluable support and mentorship throughout this research journey. Their guidance was instrumental in shaping the research’s direction.

I also appreciate the guidance from my colleagues and the research resources that this institution provided. The synergy of all these factors, including my hard work and dedication, culminated in the completion of this thesis.

Sample Acknowledgement Letter for Thesis

Dear [Advisor’s Name],

I wish to extend my heartfelt gratitude for your unwavering support and guidance throughout the completion of my thesis. Your expertise, patience, and commitment to academic excellence have been a cornerstone of my research journey. Your thoughtful feedback and constant encouragement have not only honed my skills but also enriched the quality of this thesis.

I’d also like to acknowledge the contributions of my fellow researchers and the resources provided by our institution. Their collaborative efforts and the wealth of research materials and opportunities available have significantly influenced the outcome of this thesis.

This acknowledgement extends to my family and friends, whose belief in my abilities and encouragement have provided the emotional sustenance needed to complete this challenging task. Their unwavering support has been my motivation.

With gratitude,

[Your Name]

How to Write Acknowledgement for Thesis?

Writing an acknowledgement for your thesis involves expressing gratitude to the individuals and institutions that supported your research. Start by acknowledging your primary thesis advisor, followed by other mentors, colleagues, and family. Keep it concise and heartfelt, focusing on the contributions and support they provided. Remember to include any funding sources or institutions that aided your research.

What to Put in Acknowledgement Section of Thesis?

In the acknowledgement section of your thesis, you should express gratitude to the people and organizations who contributed to your research. This includes your thesis advisor, mentors, colleagues, and family. Be sure to mention any funding sources, grants, or institutions that supported your work. Keep the acknowledgements concise and focus on the assistance, guidance, and encouragement you received during your research.

What Are Some Thesis Acknowledgement Quotes?

“I can no other answer make but thanks, and thanks, and ever thanks.” – William Shakespeare

“Gratitude is the fairest blossom which springs from the soul.” – Henry Ward Beecher

“Acknowledging the good that you already have in your life is the foundation for all abundance.” – Eckhart Tolle

“Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.” – William Arthur Ward

“In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” – Martin Luther King Jr.

“Acknowledgment is the first step of paying it forward.” – Robert Bach

An acknowledgement of thesis is more than just a formality; it embodies your gratitude and appreciation. As you explore the samples and gather inspiration from the tips provided, remember that thanking those who’ve played a part in your academic journey is not only courteous but also profoundly meaningful.

Acknowledgement to God for Project and Thesis (5 Samples)

Acknowledgement sample for undergraduate thesis (5 samples), leave a comment cancel reply.

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

• Bibliography
• More Referencing guides Blog Automated transliteration Relevant bibliographies by topics
• Automated transliteration
• Relevant bibliographies by topics
• Referencing guides

How to write acknowledgements for a thesis

Create a spot-on reference in APA, MLA, Chicago, Harvard, and other styles

What is an acknowledgement and what is its purpose.

The acknowledgement section is one of the sections of a bachelor’s or master’s thesis, dissertation, research paper, etc. destined to show your appreciation of the persons who took part in your research, contributed to your project, or provided any kind of support. In other words, this section is a way for the author to say a thank you to all those whose contribution they recognise as important.

How to write the acknowledgement section for a PhD thesis or dissertation

We are going to provide the basic guidelines below but please make sure to review the style guide of your university or department, as each institution might have some specific requirements as regards the contents and/or formatting of the acknowledgement section in your thesis.

So, here are several key recommendations for writing the acknowledgement section.

Whom to thank in the acknowledgement

This is up to you to decide whom to acknowledge. Select those persons who indeed contributed to your research or helped you perform your duties. In general, there are two main groups of persons to consider: professionals and personal acquaintances.

Professional acknowledgements

You can say a thank you to your:

• Thesis supervisor.
• Thesis opponents.
• Co-authors of your scientific papers.
• Research participants.
• Colleagues.
• Companies providing funding.
• Any other individuals or entities who anyhow contributed to the effective process of writing the dissertation.

Acknowledging the contribution of professionals is important from the perspective of academic integrity but also in terms of scientific ethics.

When addressing professionals, make sure to write their names in full and include their titles (e.g. associate professor at the Department…, PhD , etc.). This is important for identifying the contributors unequivocally. At the same time, it also makes your research look more credible and professional.

Personal acknowledgements

These include any persons other than professionals whom you would like to thank, e.g.:

• Parents or relatives (father/mother, grandparents, husband/wife, children, etc.).
• People who inspired or supported you.

Do not include any personal details, except the first name and last name (e.g. avoid giving the age, the place of living, etc.).

Language and style

The acknowledgement section differs from the rest of your PhD thesis, as it does not relate directly to the research, is addressing your readers, and thus can be less formal.

• Keep your language simple. Avoid complex and long phrases. Keep everything simple and straightforward.
• Your writing can be more informal. In the acknowledgement section, you can use more appealing and emotive language. Furthermore, you can use sentences in the first person (while you should use the impersonal or the passive form when presenting the results of your research in the body of your thesis).
• Remain within the academic framework. While the acknowledgement section is more informal, do not push too hard and remain within the framework of academic writing.
• Do not use dotted lists for names. Mention all the persons in sentences, do not present their names as dotted or numbered lists.

Length of the acknowledgement section

Your acknowledgement section should never be too long. As a rule, it should be at most 1 page. Do not try to overextend this section if less is sufficient for thanking your contributors.

Where to put the acknowledgement in the thesis

Most often, your acknowledgement goes after the abstract and before the table of contents or between the declaration and the table of contents. Please check the guidelines of your university or department.

Structure of the acknowledgement section

While it is up to you to choose (remember that your university might also have some guidelines for this), we can generally recommend the following structure for your acknowledgement:

• Brief introduction (one or a few sentences: why you are writing this section and why you need to acknowledge someone).
• Gratitude to your supervisor.
• Recognition of the other professional contributors.
• Recognition of personal supporters.

Thesis acknowledgement examples

Here are a few sample acknowledgements to give you an idea of how you can do it in your thesis.

Sample acknowledgement – supervisors

First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisors who guided, instructed, and motivated me. Your feedback allowed me deepening and refining my research, and the results presented in my thesis would be impossible without your supervision.

Sample acknowledgement – companies and entities

I would like to acknowledge the financial and organisational support provided by Company X. I would also like to thank the Economics Department of University Y for the technical support.

Sample acknowledgement – individuals and relatives

Finally, I express my profound gratitude to my beloved husband James who continuously supported me, sacrificed his time, and always believed in me.

• Write the acknowledgement section in the end – once you have written the body of your thesis and have completed your research. This will allow avoiding redundant work.
• While the acknowledgement section is important, remember that the main part is the body of your thesis. In addition to running an in-depth research and achieve academic results, you also need to reference correctly the sources you have used. This is where Grafiati can help you: use our service to get perfect references, avoid unintentional plagiarism, and cite your sources correctly.

Other publications:

MHRA 4th vs. 3rd Edition: List of All Changes

MHRA 4th Edition Reference Generator (2024)

Manual de Citación Uniforme (Puerto Rico) reference generator

Top 10: The Most Cited Scientific Sources in 2023

Cell Style Easy Reference Generator

How to Properly Reference Software in a Research Paper?

ABNT NBR 10520:2023 online citation generator [NEW]

World pioneers: new citation styles added by Grafiati

ASCE reference generator

ASA (7th ed.) reference generator

New Zealand Law Style Guide (NZLSG) reference generator

AGLC (Australian Guide to Legal Citation) reference generator

How to reference video games in a research paper

DGPs (5th ed.) reference generator: Deutsche Gesellschaft für Psychologie – Richtlinien zur Manuskriptgestaltung (5. Aufl.)

GSA (Geological Society of America) reference generator

Ηλεκτρονική γεννήτρια παραπομπών APA

CEUR-WS reference generator

RSC (Royal Society of Chemistry) reference generator

AIP (American Institute of Physics) reference generator

How to cite an Instagram post?

ASABE reference generator

Top 10 most cited papers in 2022 (global ranking)

Cite Them Right Harvard referencing generator

Bluebook footnote generator (Whitepages / Law Reviews) online

Chicago 16 citation generator online

ANSI/NISO Z39.29-2005 (R2010) reference generator

Australian Government Style Manual reference generator

APA引用ジェネレーターオンライン

APA-citeringsgenerator online

APA alıntı oluşturucu çevrimiçi

Generator de citate APA online

Generátor citací APA online

Harvard Australia (AGPS) reference generator

APA 6 citation generator online

CSE citation generator online

How to cite a tweet?

NP 405 reference generator online

Uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals citation generator

NLM citation generator

Unified Style Sheet for Linguistics reference generator

ISO 690:2021 references generator online

How to cite a YouTube video?

MHRA reference generator online

ACS citation generator online

How to cite a Tumblr post?

ICONTEC references generator online

Online legal citations generator

BibGuru – a free alternative

NoodleTools – a free alternative

Turabian citation generator online

A guide to citation styles: which one to choose?

ABNT citation generator online [Update 2023]

OSCOLA citation generator online

AMA citation generator online

MLA 9 citation generator online – NEW 2021!

IEEE referencing generator online

Vancouver referencing generator online

ISO 690:2010 references generator online

Paperpile – a free alternative

Chegg – a free alternative

RefWorks – a free alternative

RefMe – a free alternative

KnightCite – a free alternative

Endnote – a free alternative

Mendeley – a free alternative

ZoteroBib – a free alternative

Zotero – a free alternative

Citavi – a free alternative

MyBib – a free alternative

Citefast – a free alternative

Scribbr – a free alternative

EasyBib – a free alternative

BibMe – a free alternative

Citation Machine – a free alternative

Citethisforme – a free alternative

Chicago Style citation generator online

Harvard referencing generator online

MLA citation generator online

APA citation generator online

• What we check
• Proofreading jobs
• Terms & Conditions
• Privacy Policy
• Academic Proofreading
• Essay Proofreading
• Thesis Proofreading
• Dissertation Proofreading
• 3 Hour Proofreading Service
• 24 hour proofreading service
• 48 hour proofreading service
• PhD proofreading
• Personal statement proofreading
• Document formatting
• Proofreading Website
• Blog Proofreading
• Report Proofreading
• Novel editing services
• Book proofreading service
• Journal Article Editing
• Law Journal Formatting

14 Dissertation Acknowledgements Examples

Dissertation acknowledgements examples.

Here are 14 dissertation acknowledgements examples to inspire you. They cover a range of academic subjects and are all from UK students. Note how they vary in length, style and substance. 

Note – all samples have been taken from documents available in the public realm. 

Remember to always keep your acknowledgements to a maximum of a page .

So let’s dive right in!

Thank you to my supervisor, Dr Andrew R., for providing guidance and feedback throughout this project. Thanks also to my wife Anna, for putting up with me being sat in the office for hours on end, and for providing guidance and a sounding board when required.

I would like to thank the following people for helping with this research project: Representatives from Historic England, Historic Scotland, the Society for the Protection of Scottish Buildings and the Sustainable Buildings Alliance for their willingness to impart their knowledge. All the conservation officers and heritage team members who took the time to complete my questionnaire and who contributed so thoroughly through their further comments and emails. I would particularly like to thank those conservation officers who agreed to be interviewed. Brenda P., my tutor, who guided me so positively and who always made me feel confident in my abilities after coming off the phone to her. Jan W. for his help with statistics. My husband and children for their patience and encouragement.

I would like to thank the following people, without whom I would not have been able to complete this research, and without whom I would not have made it through my masters degree! The XYZ team at Johnson University, especially to my supervisor Dr Paul C., whose insight and knowledge into the subject matter steered me through this research. And special thanks to Linda T., whose support as part of her PhD allowed my studies to go the extra mile (sorry for all the extra work Linda!). The residents of Dundee, who took the time to return surveys and allowed me into your homes for follow up surveys, and without whom I would have no content for my thesis. My colleagues at the Old Building Trust and Old Building Foundation, who have supported me and had to put up with my stresses and moans for the past three years of study! And my biggest thanks to my family for all the support you have shown me through this research, the culmination of three years of distance learning. For my kids, sorry for being even grumpier than normal whilst I wrote this thesis! And for my wife Jenny, thanks for all your support, without which I would have stopped these studies a long time ago,. You have been amazing, and I will now clear all the papers off the kitchen table as I promised!

I would like to thank the following people who have helped me undertake this research: My supervisor Dr. Peter B., for his enthusiasm for the project, for his support, encouragement and patience; The Institute of Energy and Sustainable Development, Johnson University, for input throughout this MSc programme. For their contributions to data collection: David K at Tech David K, VS Limited Steven M Conal M., Engineer, County Council The good people of Brighton who were so generous with their time in completing the questionnaire surveys. My partner Billy – I simply couldn’t have done this without you, special thanks. Dear friends and family and Hattie. And to my parents, who set me off on the road to this MSc a long time ago.

I would like to thank Mr. Joe Smith for guiding me to his important publications and for the stimulating questions on artificial intelligence and automation. The meetings and conversations were vital in inspiring me to think outside the box, from multiple perspectives to form a comprehensive and objective critique.

First of all, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Beauville Scholarships, the UK government’s global scholarship programme, funded by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and partner organisations, for letting me be part of this incredible leaders’ network. Further, I would like to thank my supervisor Alejandro for the thoughtful comments and recommendations on this dissertation. I am also thankful to the School of Engineering and all its member’s staff for all the considerate guidance. To conclude, I cannot forget to thank my family and friends for all the unconditional support in this very intense academic year.

I would like to thank my supervisor Prof. Mark W. and Liam H. for their consistent support and guidance during the running of this project. Furthermore I would like to thank the rest of the undergraduate research team for their collaborative effort during data collection. I would also like to acknowledge the school in Bradford for their participation and engagement in the study.

I would like to thank my supervisor Gina K. for her dedicated support and guidance. Gina continuously provided encouragement and was always willing and enthusiastic to assist in any way she could throughout the research project. I would also like to thank Andrew P. for providing advice regarding analysis.Finally, many thanks to all participants that took part in the study and enabled this research to be possible.

With many thanks to my supervisor Dr Martyn G. for his guidance during this research. To Jennie R., the dissertation module leader, for her support and encouragement throughout the process. Furthermore, to my mentor, Josh B. for providing access and introductions to women leaders, without this, the research would not have been possible. Finally, to all of the women who sacrificed their time, and the support of these well-known companies for their participation.

I would like to express my gratitude and appreciation for Barbara S. whose guidance, support and encouragement has been invaluable throughout this study. I also wish to thank the team an CIL who have been a great source of support.

Firstly, I’d like to express my thanks to my patient and supportive supervisor, Tao J., who has supported me throughout this research project. I am extremely grateful for our friendly chats at the end of our meetings and your personal support in my academic and business endeavours. I’d also like to thank my participants and customers who took the time to reflect on their consumption choices. Thank you for expressing your thoughts so eloquently and your feminism so unapologetically.

I would like to say a special thank you to my supervisor, Jennie R. Her support, guidance and overall insights in this field have made this an inspiring experience for me. I would also like to thank all of the women who participated in the study’s interviews. Finally, I would like to thank my family for supporting me during the compilation of this dissertation.

I would like to thank Rik B. for his continued support throughout this project. Guy R., through Dyesol and Philip L. for their SIM images of porous stone. I would also like to thank Dr. Steven M. for his advice throughout the project. Finally I would like to thank Maureen H. at the University of Freetown for allowing me to visit her and her explanation of various techniques.

From the bottom of my heart I would like to say big thank you for all the bioelectronics research group members for their energy, understanding and help throughout my project, especially to Mr D. N. for the guidance throughout the gel extraction, Mr Andrew L. for the help with AFM imaging and Mr Samuel D. H. for advice on the DNA analysis process. It truly has been very, very good time in this lab. I also would like to say special thank you to Professor P. W.and Dr R. S., without your help and wise guidance this project would have not been the same!

Visit our blog for more topics including Harvard referencing and Youtube

Rated 4.9/5 On Trustpilot…Read Our Reviews

Pay with debit/credit card with paypal or stripe.

100% Confidential

We take confidentiality seriously, read our privacy policy to find out how we keep your document safe and secure.

What our customers say

Read more…

Contact Us Today

Proofreading samples.

We are a professional UK proofreading and editing company and we use two proofreaders on every document. Our service goes beyond mere proofreading and includes editing for sentence structure, lexis, repetition and more.

• PhD proofreading service
• Thesis proofreading service
• Academic Proofreading Service
• Personal statement checker
• Universities

Customer Support Hours:

Monday to Friday: 08:00-19:00

Saturday: CLOSED.

Sunday: CLOSED.

Copyright 2023 | London Proofreaders is a trading name of MK Media Limited, a company registered in England and Wales.

Terms & Conditions

Have a language expert improve your writing

Run a free plagiarism check in 10 minutes, automatically generate references for free.

• Knowledge Base
• Dissertation
• Thesis & Dissertation Acknowledgements | Tips & Examples

Thesis & Dissertation Acknowledgements | Tips & Examples

Published on 4 May 2022 by Tegan George . Revised on 4 November 2022.

The acknowledgements section is your opportunity to thank those who have helped and supported you personally and professionally during your thesis or dissertation process.

Thesis or dissertation acknowledgements appear between your title page and abstract  and should be no longer than one page.

In your acknowledgements, it’s okay to use a more informal style than is usually permitted in academic writing , as well as first-person pronouns . Acknowledgements are not considered part of the academic work itself, but rather your chance to write something more personal.

To get started, download our step-by-step template in the format of your choice below. We’ve also included sample sentence starters to help you construct your acknowledgments section from scratch.

Download Word doc Download Google doc

Instantly correct all language mistakes in your text

Be assured that you'll submit flawless writing. Upload your document to correct all your mistakes.

Table of contents

Who to thank in your acknowledgements, how to write acknowledgements, acknowledgements section example, acknowledgements dos and don’ts, frequently asked questions.

Generally, there are two main categories of acknowledgements: professional and personal .

A good first step is to check your university’s guidelines, as they may have rules or preferences about the order, phrasing, or layout of acknowledgements. Some institutions prefer that you keep your acknowledgements strictly professional.

Regardless, it’s usually a good idea to place professional acknowledgements first, followed by any personal ones. You can then proceed by ranking who you’d like to thank from most formal to least.

• Chairs, supervisors, or defence committees
• Funding bodies
• Other academics (e.g., colleagues or cohort members)
• Editors or proofreaders
• Librarians, research/laboratory assistants, or study participants
• Family, friends, or pets

Typically, it’s only necessary to mention people who directly supported you during your thesis or dissertation. However, if you feel that someone like a secondary school physics teacher was a great inspiration on the path to your current research, feel free to include them as well.

Professional acknowledgements

It is crucial to avoid overlooking anyone who helped you professionally as you completed your thesis or dissertation. As a rule of thumb, anyone who directly contributed to your research should be mentioned.

A few things to keep in mind include:

• Even if you feel your chair didn’t help you very much, you should still thank them first to avoid looking like you’re snubbing them.
• Be sure to follow academic conventions, using full names with titles where appropriate.
• If several members of a group or organisation assisted you, mention the collective name only.
• Remember the ethical considerations around anonymised data. If you wish to protect someone’s privacy, use only their first name or a generic identifier (such as ‘the interviewees’).

Personal acknowledgements

There is no need to mention every member of your family or friend group. However, if someone was particularly inspiring or supportive, you may wish to mention them specifically. Many people choose to thank parents, partners, children, friends, and even pets, but you can mention anyone who offered moral support or encouragement, or helped you in a tangible or intangible way.

Some students may wish to dedicate their dissertation to a deceased influential person in their personal life. In this case, it’s okay to mention them first, before any professional acknowledgements.

The only proofreading tool specialized in correcting academic writing

The academic proofreading tool has been trained on 1000s of academic texts and by native English editors. Making it the most accurate and reliable proofreading tool for students.

Correct my document today

After you’ve compiled a list of who you’d like to thank, you can then sort your list into rank order. Separate everyone you listed into ‘major thanks’, ‘big thanks’, and ‘minor thanks’ categories.

• ‘Major thanks’ are given to people who your project would be impossible without. These are often predominantly professional acknowledgements, such as your advisor , chair, and committee, as well as any funders.
• ‘Big thanks’ are an in-between, for those who helped you along the way or helped you grow intellectually, such as classmates, peers, or librarians.
• ‘Minor thanks’ can be a catch-all for everyone else, especially those who offered moral support or encouragement. This can include personal acknowledgements, such as parents, partners, children, friends, or even pets.

How to phrase your acknowledgements

To avoid acknowledgements that sound repetitive or dull, consider changing up your phrasing. Here are some examples of common sentence starters you can use for each category.

Note that you do not need to write any sort of conclusion or summary at the end. You can simply end the acknowledgements with your last thank-you.

Here’s an example of how you can combine the different sentences to write your acknowledgements.

A simple construction consists of a sentence starter (in purple highlight ), followed by the person or entity mentioned (in green highlight ), followed by what you’re thanking them for (in yellow highlight .)

Acknowledgements

Words cannot express my gratitude to my professor and chair of my committee for her invaluable patience and feedback. I also could not have undertaken this journey without my defense committee, who generously provided knowledge and expertise. Additionally, this endeavor would not have been possible without the generous support from the MacArthur Foundation, who financed my research .

I am also grateful to my classmates and cohort members, especially my office mates, for their editing help, late-night feedback sessions, and moral support. Thanks should also go to the librarians, research assistants, and study participants from the university, who impacted and inspired me.

Lastly, I would be remiss in not mentioning my family, especially my parents, spouse, and children. Their belief in me has kept my spirits and motivation high during this process. I would also like to thank my cat for all the entertainment and emotional support.

• Write in first-person, professional language
• Thank your professional contacts first
• Include full names, titles, and roles of professional acknowledgements
• Include personal or intangible supporters, like friends, family, or even pets
• Mention funding bodies and what they funded
• Appropriately anonymise or group research participants or non-individual acknowledgments

Don’t:

• Use informal language or slang
• Go over one page in length
• Mention people who had only a peripheral or minor impact on your work

You may acknowledge God in your thesis or dissertation acknowledgements , but be sure to follow academic convention by also thanking the relevant members of academia, as well as family, colleagues, and friends who helped you.

Yes, it’s important to thank your supervisor(s) in the acknowledgements section of your thesis or dissertation .

Even if you feel your supervisor did not contribute greatly to the final product, you still should acknowledge them, if only for a very brief thank you. If you do not include your supervisor, it may be seen as a snub.

In the acknowledgements of your thesis or dissertation, you should first thank those who helped you academically or professionally, such as your supervisor, funders, and other academics.

Then you can include personal thanks to friends, family members, or anyone else who supported you during the process.

The acknowledgements are generally included at the very beginning of your thesis or dissertation, directly after the title page and before the abstract .

In a thesis or dissertation, the acknowledgements should usually be no longer than one page. There is no minimum length.

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the ‘Cite this Scribbr article’ button to automatically add the citation to our free Reference Generator.

George, T. (2022, November 04). Thesis & Dissertation Acknowledgements | Tips & Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved 6 May 2024, from https://www.scribbr.co.uk/thesis-dissertation/acknowledgements/

Is this article helpful?

Tegan George

Other students also liked, dissertation title page, how to write an abstract | steps & examples, dissertation table of contents in word | instructions & examples.

15+ Samples of Acknowledgement for Thesis and Dissertation

Here, in this blog post, you can find some of the samples of acknoweldgement for thesis written by students all over the world on different topics. These acknowledgement examples are to inspire you and to show how the thesis is written.

These thesis are written for different subjects by different students from different countries. The examples vary in length, style, and substance depending upon the writer.

Acknowledgement Examples for School/College Projects

Most popular Acknowledgement For School/College Projects [7 Examples] Acknowledgement for English Project [5 Examples] Acknowledgement for Project Class 11 and 12 Acknowledgement for Project of Class 8, 9 and 10 By subjects Acknowledgement for Accounting Project [3 Examples] Acknowledgement for Business Studies Project [5 Examples] Acknowledgement for Chemistry Project [5 Examples] Acknowledgement for Computer Project [5 Examples] Acknowledgement for Economics Project [5 Examples] Acknowledgement for English Project [5 Examples] Acknowledgement for Geography Project [5 Examples] Acknowledgement for History Project [5 Examples] Acknowledgement for Maths Project for Students [5 Examples] Acknowledgement for Physics Project [5 Examples] Acknowledgement for Social Science Project [5 Examples] Others Acknowledgement for Group Project [5 Examples] Acknowledgement for Graduation Project [5 Examples] Acknowledgement for Disaster Management Project [3 Examples] Acknowledgement for Yoga Project [3 Samples]

You can get some idea of how you can write your own acknowledgement with these samples. All of these are samples are one of the best acknowledgement for thesis for masters and PHDs .

For Acknowledgement for your school/college project you can check out out other posts.

All of these samples of acknowledgement is taken from publicly available documents. Some of these samples are from award winning thesis writings. Here are some beautiful thesis acknowledgement from different writers.

Saying thank you with style

How to write an acknowledgement: the complete guide for students, thesis acknowledgement – sample 1.

This sample of acknowledgement is presented by University of Illinois Graduate College. You can check the full thesis sample here.

University: University of Illinois Graduate College Author: Sample Full Thesis Sample: https://grad.illinois.edu/sites/default/files/pdfs/samplethesispages.pdf

Acknowledgement For Thesis – Sample 2

This short acknowledgement is written by Christopher Sipola from University of Edinburgh for his thesis. You can check the full thesis sample here.

University: University of Edinburgh Author: Christopher Sipola Full Thesis Sample: https://project-archive.inf.ed.ac.uk/msc/20172438/msc_proj.pdf

Example of Acknowledgement For Thesis – Sample 3

This short acknowledgement is written by Matthew Brillinger from University of Ottawa for his thesis. You can check the full thesis sample here.

University:   University of Ottawa Author: Matthew Brillinger Full Thesis Sample: https://ruor.uottawa.ca/bitstream/10393/35312/1/Brillinger_Matthew_2016_Thesis.pdf

Acknowledgement Sample For Thesis – Sample 4

University:   Columbia University Author: Julien Saint Reiman Full Thesis Sample: https://history.columbia.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2016/06/Reiman-Julien-Thesis.pdf

Acknowledgement Example For Thesis – Sample 5

University:   University of Ottawa Author: Heather Martin Full Thesis Sample: https://ruor.uottawa.ca/bitstream/10393/32518/3/Martin_Heather_2015_thesis.pdf

Thesis Acknowledgement Example – Sample 6

University: University of Ottawa Author: Guillaume Thekkadath Full Thesis Sample: https://ruor.uottawa.ca/bitstream/10393/36669/3/Thekkadath_Guillaume_2017_thesis.pdf

Thesis Acknowledgement – Sample 7

University: Author: Bruno Buchberger Full Thesis Sample: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747717105001483

Example of Thesis Acknowledgement – Sample 8

University: Sample Thesis Author: Full Thesis Sample: https://www.cs.siu.edu/files/thesis.pdf

Acknowledgement for Thesis – Sample 9

University: Kathmandu University Author: Sample Thesis Full Thesis Sample: http://old.ku.edu.np/aec/Docs/General%20Guidelines%20for%20Master.pdf

Sample Acknowledgement for Thesis – Sample 10

University: The University of Toledo Author: Sample Thesis Full Thesis Sample: https://etd.ohiolink.edu/apexprod/rws_etd/send_file/send?accession=toledo1333741245&disposition=attachment

Sample Acknowledgement for Thesis – Sample 11

University: IOWA STATE University Author: Varsha Ravichandra Mouli Full Thesis Sample: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/cs_etd/

Acknowledgement for Thesis – Sample 12

University: IOWA STATE University Author: Full Thesis Sample: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=8730&context=etd

Acknowledgement Samples for Thesis – Sample 13

University: IOWA STATE University Author: Jenna Mertz Full Thesis Sample: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=8273&context=etd

Acknowledgement for Thesis – Sample 14

University: Nottingham University Author: Jean D. M. Underwood. Full Thesis Sample: http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/11711/1/325961.pdf

Acknowledgement Samples – Sample 15

University: The University of Western Ontario Author: Katie Hart Full Thesis Sample: https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=9356&context=etd

Acknowledgement Samples for Thesis – Sample 16

University: Author: Sristi Karmacharya Full Thesis Sample: https://bura.brunel.ac.uk/bitstream/2438/15029/1/FulltextThesis.pdf%20

Thesis Acknowledgement Samples – Sample 17

University: Brunel Business School Brunel University Author: Kinana Ahmad Jammoul Full Thesis Sample: http://107.170.122.150:8080/xmlui/bitstream/handle/123456789/95/Shristi%20Karmacharya%20Thesis%209881.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

You can take inspiration from these acknowledgement samples to write your own acknowledgement for your project. All these acknowledgement samples are taken from publicly available documents and you can use these as a sample to take inspiration for your project acknowledgement.

More on thesis statements

• Can a Thesis Statement Be Two Sentences?
• Can a Thesis Statement Be an Opinion?
• Can a Thesis Statement Be a Question?
• Can a Thesis Statement Be a Quote?

Jump into these quick guides to write a strong thesis statement in no time. We have included tons of good (and bad) examples to show you how to do it right. A simple formula is included in each article to help you create your strong thesis statement with suggested wordings.

• How to Write a Strong Expository Thesis Statement?
• How to Write a Strong Argumentative Thesis Statement?
• How to Write a Strong Analytical Thesis Statement?
• 40 Strong Thesis Statement Examples

Other Popular Acknowledgement Examples

For work or business Acknowledgement Receipt of Payment [4 Examples] Acknowledging Receipt of Documents: A Quick Guide with Examples Acknowledgement for Presentation [9 Examples] Acknowledgement for Job Offer [3 Examples] Acknowledgement for Business Plan [4 Examples] Acknowledgement for Work Immersion [5 Examples] Acknowledgement of Receipt of Appraisal [3 Examples] Acknowledegment of Debt [5 Examples] Resignation Acknowledgement for Employers [5 Examples]

Academic Acknowledgement for Research Paper [5 Examples] Acknowledgement for Internship Report [5 Examples] Acknowledgement for Thesis and Dissertation [15 Examples] Acknowledgement for Portfolio [5 Examples] Acknowledgement for Case Study [4 Examples] Acknowledgement for Academic Research Paper [5 Examples] Acknowledgement for College/School Assignment [5 Examples] Acknowledgemet to God in Reports [5 Examples]

Others Acknowledgement to Funeral Attendees [5 Examples] Funeral Acknowledgement Templates (for Newspapers and Websites) Common Website Disclaimers to Protect Your Online Business Notary Acknowledgement [5 Examples]

6 thoughts on “15+ Samples of Acknowledgement for Thesis and Dissertation”

Thank you for creating this. It help us a lot, specially students.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR EFFORT

Thank you for sharing. Quite helpful.

A profpund geatitude for your sample research acknowledfement! It is of great help in the success of my thesis study. God bless!

Thanks for sharing valuable information. These article site links are really helpful for us!

Great read, now following!

Comments are closed.

How to tackle the PhD dissertation

Finding time to write can be a challenge for graduate students who often juggle multiple roles and responsibilities. Mabel Ho provides some tips to make the process less daunting

• More on this topic

Created in partnership with

You may also like

Popular resources

.css-1txxx8u{overflow:hidden;max-height:81px;text-indent:0px;} Analytical testing is the key to industry collaborations

Is it time to turn off turnitin, use ai to get your students thinking critically, taming anxiety around public speaking, emotions and learning: what role do emotions play in how and why students learn.

Writing helps you share your work with the wider community. Your scholarship is important and you are making a valuable contribution to the field. While it might be intimidating to face a blank screen, remember, your first draft is not your final draft! The difficult part is getting something on the page to begin with. 

As the adage goes, a good dissertation is a done dissertation, and the goal is for you to find balance in your writing and establish the steps you can take to make the process smoother. Here are some practical strategies for tackling the PhD dissertation.

Write daily

This is a time to have honest conversations with yourself about your writing and work habits. Do you tackle the most challenging work in the morning? Or do you usually start with emails? Knowing your work routine will help you set parameters for the writing process, which includes various elements, from brainstorming ideas to setting outlines and editing. Once you are aware of your energy and focus levels, you’ll be ready to dedicate those times to writing.

While it might be tempting to block a substantial chunk of time to write and assume anything shorter is not useful, that is not the case. Writing daily, whether it’s a paragraph or several pages, keeps you in conversation with your writing practice. If you schedule two hours to write, remember to take a break during that time and reset. You can try:

• The Pomodoro Technique: a time management technique that breaks down your work into intervals
• Taking breaks: go outside for a walk or have a snack so you can come back to your writing rejuvenated
• Focus apps: it is easy to get distracted by devices and lose direction. Here are some app suggestions: Focus Bear (no free version); Forest (free version available); Cold Turkey website blocker (free version available) and Serene (no free version). 

This is a valuable opportunity to hone your time management and task prioritisation skills. Find out what works for you and put systems in place to support your practice. 

• Resources on academic writing for higher education professionals
• Stretch your work further by ‘triple writing’
• What is your academic writing temperament?

Create a community

While writing can be an isolating endeavour, there are ways to start forming a community (in-person or virtual) to help you set goals and stay accountable. There might be someone in your cohort who is also at the writing stage with whom you can set up a weekly check-in. Alternatively, explore your university’s resources and centres because there may be units and departments on campus that offer helpful opportunities, such as a writing week or retreat. Taking advantage of these opportunities helps combat isolation, foster accountability and grow networks. They can even lead to collaborations further down the line.

• Check in with your advisers and mentors. Reach out to your networks to find out about other people’s writing processes and additional resources.
• Don’t be afraid to share your work. Writing requires constant revisions and edits and finding people who you trust with feedback will help you grow as a writer. Plus, you can also read their work and help them with their editing process.
• Your community does not have to be just about writing!  If you enjoy going on hikes or trying new coffee shops, make that part of your weekly habit.  Sharing your work in different environments will help clarify your thoughts and ideas.

Address the why

The PhD dissertation writing process is often lengthy and it is sometimes easy to forget why you started. In these moments, it can be helpful to think back to what got you excited about your research and scholarship in the first place. Remember it is not just the work but also the people who propelled you forward. One idea is to start writing your “acknowledgements” section. Here are questions to get you started:

• Do you want to dedicate your work to someone? 
• What ideas sparked your interest in this journey? 
• Who cheered you on? 

This practice can help build momentum, as well as serve as a good reminder to carve out time to spend with your community. 

You got this!

Writing is a process. Give yourself grace, as you might not feel motivated all the time. Be consistent in your approach and reward yourself along the way. There is no single strategy when it comes to writing or maintaining motivation, so experiment and find out what works for you. 

Suggested readings

• Thriving as a Graduate Writer by Rachel Cayley (2023)
• Destination Dissertation by Sonja K. Foss and William Waters (2015)
• The PhD Writing Handbook by Desmond Thomas (2016).

Mabel Ho is director of professional development and student engagement at Dalhousie University.

If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week,  sign up for the Campus newsletter .

Analytical testing is the key to industry collaborations

A framework to teach library research skills, contextual learning: linking learning to the real world, how hard can it be testing ai detection tools, chatgpt’s impact on nursing education and assessments.

Register for free

and unlock a host of features on the THE site

RIT graduate pursues Ph.D. across time zones

Nastaran Nagshineh, center, defended her Ph.D. thesis at RIT in April. Faculty from RIT’s Rochester and Dubai campuses served on her thesis committee and include, from left to right, Kathleen Lamkin-Kennard, Steven Weinstein, Nathaniel Barlow, and David Kofke (a professor at the University at Buffalo). Mohamed Samaha participated remotely and appears on the video screen behind the group and alongside Nagshineh’s picture.

Nastaran Nagshineh is one of the first Ph.D. candidates to bridge RIT’s Rochester and Dubai campuses. Her accomplishment creates a path for future students at the university’s international campuses.

Nagshineh completed her Ph.D. in mathematical modeling while working full time as a mathematics lecturer at RIT Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, teaching as many as five classes a semester. She described her Ph.D. journey as “an exercise in perseverance” due to competing demands and long days. Rochester is eight hours behind Dubai, and the time difference meant many late-night classes and meetings.

“I saw this collaboration as an opportunity, rather than as a challenge, because my primary adviser, Dr. Steven Weinstein (RIT professor of chemical engineering), and my co-adviser, Dr. Mohamed Samaha (RIT Dubai associate professor of mechanical engineering), both have the same area of research interest,” she said. “They both worked toward my success.”

Nagshineh is one of 67 RIT Ph.D. students who defended their thesis this academic year and who will earn their doctorate. RIT awarded 63 Ph.D. degrees in 2023.

In 2020-2021, RIT’s Graduate School met and surpassed the university’s goal of conferring 50 Ph.D. degrees during an academic year. That number will continue to grow as students cycle through the seven new Ph.D. programs that RIT has added since 2017, said Diane Slusarski , dean of RIT’s Graduate School.

Meeting these goals puts RIT on a path toward achieving an “R1,” or research-intensive designation, from the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Learning. RIT is currently ranked as an R2 institution . Many factors go into changing a university’s status, including research investment and maintaining a three-year average of 70 Ph.D. degrees awarded per year, according to Slusarski.

“We have met the goals of the strategic plan, and now we look forward to contributing to the research innovation in the future,” Slusarski said. “We want to help the new programs thrive and win national research awards.”

RIT’s emphasis on high-level research is seen in Nagshineh’s Ph.D. work. She applies mathematical modeling to the field of fluid dynamics. Her research has been published in top-tier journals and has gained notice, said Weinstein, her thesis adviser.

Weinstein describes Nagshineh’s accomplishments as “a testament to a fantastic work ethic and commitment” and is inspirational to younger students at Rochester and Dubai.

“The collaboration between RIT Dubai/Rochester has continued,” he said. “Another paper was submitted a few weeks ago with Mohamed Samaha and Nate Barlow (RIT associate professor in the School of Mathematics and Statistics) as co-authors, as well as Cade Reinberger, a younger Ph.D. student in my research group.”

Mathematical modeling is one of RIT’s newer Ph.D. degree programs, and Nagshineh is among its earliest graduates. The program has doubled in size since it began accepting students in 2017, Slusarski said. This past fall, the mathematical modeling program had 35 students, with two graduating this year.

Altogether, RIT has 13 Ph.D. degree programs currently enrolling 438 students, with computing and information sciences accounting for the largest with 117 students. RIT’s other Ph.D. programs include astrophysical sciences and technology , biomedical and chemical engineering , business administration , color science , electrical and computer engineering, imaging science , mechanical and industrial engineering , microsystems engineering , and sustainability .

New programs in cognitive science and physics will launch in the fall.

The growth in RIT graduate education—with more than 3,000 master’s and doctoral students—reflects a demographic change in the student population, Slusarski said. “We have a higher percentage of women in the graduate programs than we have for RIT undergraduate programs.”

RIT’s graduate programs enroll 42 percent women, according to Christie Leone , assistant dean for the Graduate School.

Nagshineh, who also holds an MS in electrical engineering from RIT Dubai, welcomes her role as a mentor to other women students on both campuses.

“As a young woman in an Arabic country, the power of women is often underestimated and undervalued, and I hope to serve as a role model to female students, especially those that question their path,” Nagshineh said.

She plans to continue in her career as a professor and a researcher. “I would like to pursue a research program where I can advise my own students and teach them more deeply.”

Recommended News

May 10, 2024

Design icon Patricia Moore inspires RIT graduates to embrace change and forge paths of impact

While sharing insights from her own transformative journey, Patricia Moore, a distinguished designer and trailblazing alumna of the class of 1974, encouraged this year’s RIT graduates to embrace the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead and answer the call for change.

Bright Spot: Inspiration for young scholars   

WHAM-TV features Katrina Overby, assistant professor in the School of Communication, as its Bright Spot.

May 8, 2024

More than monarchs: Red admirals appear in Rochester with spring   

The Democrat and Chronicle talks to Kaitlin Stack Whitney, assistant professor in the Department of Science, Technology, and Society, about the early arrival and habits of the red admiral butterfly in Monroe County, highlighting its migration patterns, habitat range, and behavior.

May 7, 2024

Comics go to College

The comics collection at RIT is growing by leaps and bounds and the new Kubert Lounge and Gallery makes it a visible presence on campus. The interdisciplinary art form is right at home at RIT.

• Open access
• Published: 08 May 2024

Measurement and analysis of change in research scholars’ knowledge and attitudes toward statistics after PhD coursework

• Mariyamma Philip 1  

BMC Medical Education volume  24 , Article number:  512 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

134 Accesses

Metrics details

Knowledge of statistics is highly important for research scholars, as they are expected to submit a thesis based on original research as part of a PhD program. As statistics play a major role in the analysis and interpretation of scientific data, intensive training at the beginning of a PhD programme is essential. PhD coursework is mandatory in universities and higher education institutes in India. This study aimed to compare the scores of knowledge in statistics and attitudes towards statistics among the research scholars of an institute of medical higher education in South India at different time points of their PhD (i.e., before, soon after and 2–3 years after the coursework) to determine whether intensive training programs such as PhD coursework can change their knowledge or attitudes toward statistics.

One hundred and thirty research scholars who had completed PhD coursework in the last three years were invited by e-mail to be part of the study. Knowledge and attitudes toward statistics before and soon after the coursework were already assessed as part of the coursework module. Knowledge and attitudes towards statistics 2–3 years after the coursework were assessed using Google forms. Participation was voluntary, and informed consent was also sought.

Knowledge and attitude scores improved significantly subsequent to the coursework (i.e., soon after, percentage of change: 77%, 43% respectively). However, there was significant reduction in knowledge and attitude scores 2–3 years after coursework compared to the scores soon after coursework; knowledge and attitude scores have decreased by 10%, 37% respectively.

The study concluded that the coursework program was beneficial for improving research scholars’ knowledge and attitudes toward statistics. A refresher program 2–3 years after the coursework would greatly benefit the research scholars. Statistics educators must be empathetic to understanding scholars’ anxiety and attitudes toward statistics and its influence on learning outcomes.

Peer Review reports

A PhD degree is a research degree, and research scholars submit a thesis based on original research in their chosen field. Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degrees are awarded in a wide range of academic disciplines, and the PhD students are usually referred as research scholars. A comprehensive understanding of statistics allows research scholars to add rigour to their research. This approach helps them evaluate the current practices and draw informed conclusions from studies that were undertaken to generate their own hypotheses and to design, analyse and interpret complex clinical decisions. Therefore, intensive training at the beginning of the PhD journey is essential, as intensive training in research methodology and statistics in the early stages of research helps scholars design and plan their studies efficiently.

The University Grants Commission of India has taken various initiatives to introduce academic reforms to higher education institutions in India and mandated in 2009 that coursework be treated as a prerequisite for PhD preparation and that a minimum of four credits be assigned to one or more courses on research methodology, which could cover areas such as quantitative methods, computer applications, and research ethics. UGC also clearly states that all candidates admitted to PhD programmes shall be required to complete the prescribed coursework during the initial two semesters [ 1 ]. National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS) at Bangalore, a tertiary care hospital and medical higher education institute in South India, that trains students in higher education in clinical fields, also introduced coursework in the PhD program for research scholars from various backgrounds, such as basic, behavioral and neurosciences, as per the UGC mandate. Research scholars undertake coursework programs soon after admission, which consist of several modules that include research methodology and statistical software training, among others.

Most scholars approach a course in statistics with the prejudice that statistics is uninteresting, demanding, complex or involve much mathematics and, most importantly, it is not relevant to their career goals. They approach statistics with considerable apprehension and negative attitudes, probably because of their inability to grasp the relevance of the application of the methods in their fields of study. This could be resolved by providing sufficient and relevant examples of the application of statistical techniques from various fields of medical research and by providing hands-on experience to learn how these techniques are applied and interpreted on real data. Hence, research methodology and statistical methods and the application of statistical methods using software have been given much importance and are taught as two modules, named Research Methodology and Statistics and Statistical Software Training, at this institute of medical higher education that trains research scholars in fields as diverse as basic, behavioural and neurosciences. Approximately 50% of the coursework curriculum focused on these two modules. Research scholars were thus given an opportunity to understand the theoretical aspects of the research methodology and statistical methods. They were also given hands-on training on statistical software to analyse the data using these methods and to interpret the findings. The coursework program was designed in this specific manner, as this intensive training would enable the research scholars to design their research studies more effectively and analyse their data in a better manner.

It is important to study attitudes toward statistics because attitudes are known to impact the learning process. Also, most importantly, these scholars are expected to utilize the skills in statistics and research methods to design research projects or guide postgraduate students and research scholars in the near future. Several authors have assessed attitudes toward statistics among various students and examined how attitudes affect academic achievement, how attitudes are correlated with knowledge in statistics and how attitudes change after a training program. There are studies on attitudes toward statistics among graduate [ 2 , 3 , 4 ] and postgraduate [ 5 ] medical students, politics, sociology, ( 6 – 7 ) psychology [ 8 , 9 , 10 ], social work [ 11 ], and management students [ 12 ]. However, there is a dearth of related literature on research scholars, and there are only two studies on the attitudes of research scholars. In their study of doctoral students in education-related fields, Cook & Catanzaro (2022) investigated the factors that contribute to statistics anxiety and attitudes toward statistics and how anxiety, attitudes and plans for future research use are connected among doctoral students [ 13 ]. Another study by Sohrabi et al. (2018) on research scholars assessed the change in knowledge and attitude towards teaching and educational design of basic science PhD students at a Medical University after a two-day workshop on empowerment and familiarity with the teaching and learning principles [ 14 ]. There were no studies that assessed changes in the attitudes or knowledge of research scholars across the PhD training period or after intensive training programmes such as PhD coursework. Even though PhD coursework has been established in institutes of higher education in India for more than a decade, there are no published research on the effectiveness of coursework from Indian universities or institutes of higher education.

This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of PhD coursework and whether intensive training programs such as PhD coursework can influence the knowledge and attitudes toward statistics of research scholars. Additionally, it would be interesting to know if the acquired knowledge could be retained longer, especially 2–3 years after the coursework, the crucial time of PhD data analysis. Hence, this study compares the scores of knowledge in statistics and attitude toward statistics of the research scholars at different time points of their PhD training, i.e., before, soon after and 2–3 years after the coursework.

Participants

This is an observational study of single group with repeated assessments. The institute offers a three-month coursework program consisting of seven modules, the first module is ethics; the fifth is research methodology and statistics; and the last is neurosciences. The study was conducted in January 2020. All research scholars of the institute who had completed PhD coursework in the last three years were considered for this study ( n  = 130). Knowledge and attitudes toward statistics before and soon after the coursework module were assessed as part of the coursework program. They were collected on the first and last day of the program respectively. The author who was also the coordinator of the research methodology and statistics module of the coursework have obtained the necessary permission to use the data for this study. The scholars invited to be part of the study by e-mail. Knowledge and attitude towards statistics 2–3 years after the coursework were assessed online using Google forms. They were also administered a semi structured questionnaire to elicit details about the usefulness of coursework. Participation was voluntary, and consent was also sought online. The confidentiality of the data was assured. Data were not collected from research scholars of Biostatistics or from research scholars who had more than a decade of experience or who had been working in the institute as faculty, assuming that their scores could be higher and could bias the findings. This non funded study was reviewed and approved by the Institute Ethics Committee.

Instruments

Knowledge in Statistics was assessed by a questionnaire prepared by the author and was used as part of the coursework evaluation. The survey included 25 questions that assessed the knowledge of statistics on areas such as descriptive statistics, sampling methods, study design, parametric and nonparametric tests and multivariate analyses. Right answers were assigned a score of 1, and wrong answers were assigned a score of 0. Total scores ranged from 0 to 25. Statistics attitudes were assessed by the Survey of Attitudes toward Statistics (SATS) scale. The SATS is a 36-item scale that measures 6 domains of attitudes towards statistics. The possible range of scores for each item is between 1 and 7. The total score was calculated by dividing the summed score by the number of items. Higher scores indicate more positive attitudes. The SAT-36 is a copyrighted scale, and researchers are allowed to use it only with prior permission. ( 15 – 16 ) The author obtained permission for use in the coursework evaluation and this study. A semi structured questionnaire was also used to elicit details about the usefulness of coursework.

Statistical analysis

Descriptive statistics such as mean, standard deviation, number and percentages were used to describe the socio-demographic data. General Linear Model Repeated Measures of Analysis of variance was used to compare knowledge and attitude scores across assessments. Categorical data from the semi structured questionnaire are presented as percentages. All the statistical tests were two-tailed, and a p value < 0.05 was set a priori as the threshold for statistical significance. IBM SPSS (28.0) was used to analyse the data.

One hundred and thirty research scholars who had completed coursework (CW) in the last 2–3 years were considered for the study. These scholars were sent Google forms to assess their knowledge and attitudes 2–3 years after coursework. 81 scholars responded (62%), and 4 scholars did not consent to participate in the study. The data of 77 scholars were merged with the data obtained during the coursework program (before and soon after CW). Socio-demographic characteristics of the scholars are presented in Table  1 .

The age of the respondents ranged from 23 to 36 years, with an average of 28.7 years (3.01), and the majority of the respondents were females (65%). Years of experience (i.e., after masters) before joining a PhD programme ranged from 0.5 to 9 years, and half of them had less than three years of experience before joining the PhD programme (median-3). More than half of those who responded were research scholars from the behavioural sciences (55%), while approximately 30% were from the basic sciences (29%).

General Linear Model Repeated Measures of Analysis of variance was used to compare the knowledge and attitude scores of scholars before, soon after and 2–3 after the coursework (will now be referred as “later the CW”), and the results are presented below (Table  2 ; Fig.  1 ).

Comparison of knowledge and attitude scores across the assessments. Later the CW – 2–3 years after the coursework

The scores for knowledge and attitude differed significantly across time. Scores of knowledge and attitude increased soon after the coursework; the percentage of change was 77% and 43% respectively. However, significant reductions in knowledge and attitude scores were observed 2–3 years after the coursework compared to scores soon after the coursework. The reduction was higher for attitude scores; knowledge and attitude scores have decreased by 10% and 37% respectively. The change in scores across assessments is evident from the graph, and clearly the effect size is higher for attitude than knowledge.

The scores of knowledge or attitude before the coursework did not significantly differ with respect to gender or age or were not correlated with years of experience. Hence, they were not considered as covariates in the above analysis.

A semi structured questionnaire with open ended questions was also administered to elicit in-depth information about the usefulness of the coursework programme, in which they were also asked to self- rate their knowledge. The data were mostly categorical or narratives. Research scholars’ self-rated knowledge scores (on a scale of 0–10) also showed similar changes; knowledge improved significantly and was retained even after the training (Fig.  2 ).

Self-rated knowledge scores of research scholars over time. Later the CW – 2–3 years after the coursework

The response to the question “ How has coursework changed your attitude toward statistics?”, is presented in Fig.  3 . The responses were Yes, positively, Yes - Negatively, No change – still apprehensive, No change – still appreciate, No change – still hate statistics. The majority of the scholars (70%) reported a positive change in their attitude toward statistics. Moreover, none of the scholars reported negative changes. Approximately 9% of the scholars reported that they were still apprehensive about statistics or hate statistics after the coursework.

How has coursework changed your attitude toward statistics?

Those scholars who reported that they were apprehensive about statistics or hate statistics noted the complexity of the subject, lack of clarity, improper instructions and fear of mathematics as major reasons for their attitude. Some responses are listed below.

“The statistical concepts were not taught in an understandable manner from the UG level” , “I am weak in mathematical concepts. The equations and formulae in statistics scare me”. “Lack of knowledge about the importance of statistics and fear of mathematical equations”. “The preconceived notion that Statistics is difficult to learn” . “In most of the places, it is not taught properly and conceptual clarity is not focused on, and because of this an avoidance builds up, which might be a reason for the negative attitude”.

Majority of the scholars (92%) felt that coursework has helped them in their PhD, and they were happy to recommend it for other research scholars (97%). The responses of the scholars to the question “ How was coursework helpful in your PhD journey ?”, are listed below.

“Course work gave a fair idea on various things related to research as well as statistics” . “Creating the best design while planning methodology, which is learnt form course work, will increase efficiency in completing the thesis, thereby making it faster”. “Course work give better idea of how to proceed in many areas like literature search, referencing, choosing statistical methods, and learning about research procedures”. “Course work gave a good idea of research methodology, biostatistics and ethics. This would help in writing a better protocol and a better thesis”. “It helps us to plan our research well and to formulate, collect and plan for analysis”. “It makes people to plan their statistical analysis well in advance” .

This study evaluated the effectiveness of the existing coursework programme in an institution of higher medical education, and investigated whether the coursework programme benefits research scholars by improving their knowledge of statistics and attitudes towards statistics. The study concluded that the coursework program was beneficial for improving scholars’ knowledge about statistics and attitudes toward statistics.

Unlike other studies that have assessed attitudes toward statistics, the study participants in this study were research scholars. Research scholars need extensive training in statistics, as they need to apply statistical tests and use statistical reasoning in their research thesis, and in their profession to design research projects or their future student dissertations. Notably, no studies have assessed the attitudes or knowledge of research scholars in statistics either across the PhD training period or after intensive statistics training programs. However, the findings of this study are consistent with the findings of a study that compared the knowledge and attitudes toward teaching and education design of PhD students after a two-day educational course and instructional design workshop [ 14 ].

Statistics educators need not only impart knowledge but they should also motivate the learners to appreciate the role of statistics and to continue to learn the quantitative skills that is needed in their professional lives. Therefore, the role of learners’ attitudes toward statistics requires special attention. Since PhD coursework is possibly a major contributor to creating a statistically literate research community, scholars’ attitudes toward statistics need to be considered important and given special attention. Passionate and engaging statistics educators who have adequate experience in illustrating relatable examples could help scholars feel less anxious and build competence and better attitudes toward statistics. Statistics educators should be aware of scholars’ anxiety, fears and attitudes toward statistics and about its influence on learning outcomes and further interest in the subject.

Strengths and limitations

Analysis of changes in knowledge and attitudes scores across various time points of PhD training is the major strength of the study. Additionally, this study evaluates the effectiveness of intensive statistical courses for research scholars in terms of changes in knowledge and attitudes. This study has its own limitations: the data were collected through online platforms, and the nonresponse rate was about 38%. Ability in mathematics or prior learning experience in statistics, interest in the subject, statistics anxiety or performance in coursework were not assessed; hence, their influence could not be studied. The reliability and validity of the knowledge questionnaire have not been established at the time of this study. However, author who had prepared the questionnaire had ensured questions from different areas of statistics that were covered during the coursework, it has also been used as part of the coursework evaluation. Despite these limitations, this study highlights the changes in attitudes and knowledge following an intensive training program. Future research could investigate the roles of age, sex, mathematical ability, achievement or performance outcomes and statistics anxiety.

The study concluded that a rigorous and intensive training program such as PhD coursework was beneficial for improving knowledge about statistics and attitudes toward statistics. However, the significant reduction in attitude and knowledge scores after 2–3 years of coursework indicates that a refresher program might be helpful for research scholars as they approach the analysis stage of their thesis. Statistics educators must develop innovative methods to teach research scholars from nonstatistical backgrounds. They also must be empathetic to understanding scholars’ anxiety, fears and attitudes toward statistics and to understand its influence on learning outcomes and further interest in the subject.

Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon request.

UGC Regulations on Minimum Standards and Procedure for the award of, M.Phil/Ph D, Degree R. 2009. Ugc.ac.in. [cited 2023 Oct 26]. https://www.ugc.ac.in/oldpdf/regulations/mphilphdclarification.pdf .

Althubaiti A. Attitudes of medical students toward statistics in medical research: Evidence from Saudi Arabia. J Stat Data Sci Educ [Internet]. 2021;29(1):115–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/10691898.2020.1850220 .

Hannigan A, Hegarty AC, McGrath D. Attitudes towards statistics of graduate entry medical students: the role of prior learning experiences. BMC Med Educ [Internet]. 2014;14(1):70. https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6920-14-70 .

Hasabo EA, Ahmed GEM, Alkhalifa RM, Mahmoud MD, Emad S, Albashir RB et al. Statistics for undergraduate medical students in Sudan: associated factors for using statistical analysis software and attitude toward statistics among undergraduate medical students in Sudan. BMC Med Educ [Internet]. 2022;22(1):889. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-022-03960-0 .

Zhang Y, Shang L, Wang R, Zhao Q, Li C, Xu Y et al. Attitudes toward statistics in medical postgraduates: measuring, evaluating and monitoring. BMC Med Educ [Internet]. 2012;12(1):117. https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6920-12-117 .

Bechrakis T, Gialamas V, Barkatsas A. Survey of attitudes towards statistics (SATS): an investigation of its construct validity and its factor structure invariance by gender. Int J Theoretical Educational Pract. 2011;1(1):1–15.

Google Scholar  

Khavenson T, Orel E, Tryakshina M. Adaptation of survey of attitudes towards statistics (SATS 36) for Russian sample. Procedia Soc Behav Sci [Internet]. 2012; 46:2126–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.05.440 .

Coetzee S, Van Der Merwe P. Industrial psychology students’ attitudes towards statistics. J Industrial Psychol. 2010;36(1):843–51.

Francesca C, Primi C. Assessing statistics attitudes among College Students: Psychometric properties of the Italian version of the Survey of attitudes toward statistics (SATS). Learn Individual Differences. 2009;2:309–13.

Counsell A, Cribbie RA. Students’ attitudes toward learning statistics with R. Psychol Teach Rev [Internet]. 2020;26(2):36–56. https://doi.org/10.53841/bpsptr.2020.26.2.36 .

Yoon E, Lee J. Attitudes toward learning statistics among social work students: Predictors for future professional use of statistics. J Teach Soc Work [Internet]. 2022;42(1):65–81. https://doi.org/10.1080/08841233.2021.2014018 .

Melad AF. Students’ attitude and academic achievement in statistics: a Correlational Study. J Posit School Psychol. 2022;6(2):4640–6.

Cook KD, Catanzaro BA. Constantly Working on My Attitude Towards Statistics! Education Doctoral Students’ Experiences with and Motivations for Learning Statistics. Innov High Educ. 2023; 48:257–84. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10755-022-09621-w .

Sohrabi Z, Koohestani HR, Nahardani SZ, Keshavarzi MH. Data on the knowledge, attitude, and performance of Ph.D. students attending an educational course (Tehran, Iran). Data Brief [Internet]. 2018; 21:1325–8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dib.2018.08.081 .

Chau C, Stevens J, Dauphine T. Del V. A: The development and validation of the survey of attitudes toward statistics. Educ Psychol Meas. 1995;(5):868–75.

Student attitude surveys. and online educational consulting [Internet]. Evaluationandstatistics.com. [cited 2023 Oct 26]. https://www.evaluationandstatistics.com/ .

Download references

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank the participants of the study and peers and experts who examined the content of the questionnaire for their time and effort.

This research did not receive any grants from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

Department of Biostatistics, Dr. M.V. Govindaswamy Centre, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Bangalore, 560 029, India

Mariyamma Philip

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Contributions

Mariyamma Philip: Conceptualization, Methodology, Validation, Investigation, Writing- Original draft, Reviewing and Editing.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mariyamma Philip .

Ethics declarations

Ethics approval and consent to participate.

This study used data already collected data (before and soon after coursework). The data pertaining to knowledge and attitude towards statistics 2–3 years after coursework were collected from research scholars through the online survey platform Google forms. The participants were invited to participate in the survey through e-mail. The study was explained in detail, and participation in the study was completely voluntary. Informed consent was obtained online in the form of a statement of consent. The confidentiality of the data was assured, even though identifiable personal information was not collected. This non-funded study was reviewed and approved by NIMHANS Institute Ethics Committee (No. NIMHANS/21st IEC (BS&NS Div.)

Consent for publication

Not applicable because there is no personal information or images that could lead to the identification of a study participant.

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information

Publisher’s note.

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver ( http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ ) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article.

Philip, M. Measurement and analysis of change in research scholars’ knowledge and attitudes toward statistics after PhD coursework. BMC Med Educ 24 , 512 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-024-05487-y

Download citation

Received : 27 October 2023

Accepted : 29 April 2024

Published : 08 May 2024

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-024-05487-y

Share this article

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

• Knowledge of statistics
• Attitude towards statistics
• PhD coursework
• Research scholars

BMC Medical Education

ISSN: 1472-6920

• Submission enquiries: [email protected]
• General enquiries: [email protected]

Office of Undergraduate Education

University Honors Program

• Honors Requirements
• Major and Thesis Requirements
• Courses & Experiences
• Honors Courses
• NEXUS Experiences
• Non-Course Experiences
• Faculty-Directed Research and Creative Projects
• Community Engagement and Volunteering
• Internships
• Learning Abroad
• Honors Thesis Guide
• Sample Timeline
• Important Dates and Deadlines
• Requirements and Evaluation Criteria
• Supervision and Approval
• Credit and Honors Experiences
• Style and Formatting
• Submit Your Thesis
• Submit to the Digital Conservancy
• Honors Advising
• Honors Reporting Center
• Get Involved
• University Honors Student Association
• UHSA Executive Board
• Honors Multicultural Network
• Honors Mentor Program
• Honors Recognition Ceremony
• Honors Community & Housing
• Freshman Invitation
• Post-Freshman Admission
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Faculty Fellows
• Faculty Resources
• Honors Faculty Representatives
• Internal Honors Scholarships
• Office for National and International Scholarships
• Letters of Recommendation
• Personal Statements
• Scholarship Information
• Honors Lecture Series
• Make a Donation
• UHP Land Acknowledgment
• UHP Policies

Honors alumna Elise Armani on pursuing a PhD in art history

Elise Armani has come full circle. During her undergraduate years at the University of Minnesota, she worked at the Weisman Art Museum; now a PhD candidate in art history at Stony Brook University, she has her sights set on a future career in museum curation.

“There was a time that I was considering doing academia,” she said. “But my goal is still that I want to do curatorial work in a museum.”

It all began during her freshman year at the U when her advisor in gender studies, Judith Katz , introduced her to Howard Oransky, the director of the Katherine E. Nash Gallery . At the time, Howard was working on an exhibition featuring the Cuban artist Ana Mendieta. 

“That was what led me on this whole path of being interested in museum work,” she said.

The Ana Mendieta exhibit combined Elise’s love for art with her interest in gender studies. Her original plan was to major in studio art as a painter, but a gender studies class her freshman year altered her trajectory. She graduated with a BA in Gender, Women, and Sexuality studies, a BFA in studio art, and a minor in art history.

“I quickly realized I didn’t want to pursue being an artist as my career, but I was interested in working in the arts,” she said. “When I met Howard and worked on that show, it opened me up to another side of art history.”

As she was wrapping up her undergraduate degree, she decided that the best way to pursue jobs in the curatorial field was to do graduate studies. She was able to go straight into a PhD program, allowing her the opportunity to skip the (often expensive) terminal master’s degree.

Now she’s working on a dissertation on immigrant artists living in New York after the Hart-Celler Immigration Act of 1965. She examines how their migration and move to New York coincided with the changing landscape of downtown, specifically a group of trans-national immigrant artists on the lower east side.

Her studio art background provides insight on how artists think, the technical approach to their work, and the best ways to communicate with them. 

“It’s not something I draw on all the time,” she said. “But it’s part of the constellation that informs my perspective.”

She credits the hands-on advising she got as an Honors student with her ability to pursue graduate studies. During her senior year, she worked closely with her advisor Tim Jones on completing a Fulbright application. Though she didn’t ultimately receive the fellowship, the practice helped her prepare for graduate school applications.

“It really opened my eyes to what pursuing further degrees would look like,” she said.

Elise Armani will be presenting some of her dissertation research during the Research Out Loud - Power and Place in Global Contemporary Art panel on Friday, May 10 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art where she’s currently working in their pre-doctoral fellowship program.

• Summer Research Opportunities
• Global Seminars and LAC Seminars
• Honors Research in London - Summer 2024

Congratulations to our Spring 2024 PhD and MS Graduates

The following graduate students in the Department of Biology graduated in the Spring 2024 semester. Congratulations to all of these students!

Merve Addemir (Summers Lab) M.S. in Integrated Biology

Athena Kvamme (Cheng Lab) M.S. in Integrated Biology (non-thesis)

Zhenshen Zhang (Green Lab) M.S. in Integrated Biology

Tara Hicks (Smolikove Lab) Ph.D. in Integrated Biology Dissertation Title: "R-loops' effect on chromosome stability and temporal regulation of DSB processing in the C. elegans germline"

Kelley Renninger (Cheng Lab) Ph.D. in Integrated Biology Dissertation Title: "Characterization of Phytohormone Signaling in Ceratopteris richardii : Reproductive Transition and Meristematic Activity"

Lindsey Snyder (He Lab) Ph.D. in Genetics Dissertation Title: "Evolution of stress response regulators and adhesin genes in pathogenic yeast"

Graduate College

Iisc celebrates dubuque partnership.

The Iowa Initiative for Sustainable Communities (IISC) capped another ambitious community project on May 2. University of Iowa students from a variety of programs offered presentations to local representatives and community members of Dubuque. With a focus on climate action, the City of Dubuque provided learning opportunities for more than 100 Iowa students this year. These included the Alternative Transportation Action Plan by the School of Planning and Public Affairs as well as the Stormwater Design for Climate Resilience and Cool Roof Design for the Five Flags Civic Center by the Civil & Environmental Engineering department.

Mason Koelm, a student at the College of Law, took part in the Community Empowerment Law Project which works with the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque to better understand the issue of chronic absenteeism among Marshallese students and make recommendations for new policies and improved communication.

The law student says working with the Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque was an important lesson in community perspective.

“It was especially refreshing working with a broad range of folks, from recent high school alumni to retirees who all share a passion in making the world a better place, and often sharing perspectives on what that better place looks like. Seeing so many wonderful community members and leaders in Dubuque working to better the lives of a marginalized community was really eye-opening,” he notes. “Everyone we met with respected, valued, and welcomed our involvement, and that was extremely rewarding. As much as we worked to empower, include, and provide a sense of belonging and purpose for Marshallese students, our work in this project empowered us.”

Koelm adds that the project has offered valuable experience as he heads into the job market.

“I am able to finish my education and transition to a career with a project that had direct impact and exposed me to the power of a community banding together for a common cause,” he affirms.

During the partnership celebration, Gina Bell, Director of Sustainable Dubuque, and Mayor Brad Cavanagh accepted the award for Outstanding Community Partners on behalf of the City of Dubuque. Daria Fisher Page (Law) was recognized with an Outstanding Faculty Award for her leadership of the Community Empowerment Law Project (CELP).   

Hannah Lyons, a graduate student in Sustainable Development, also accepted the award for Outstanding Student for her dedication to Dubuque's first comprehensive Affordable Housing Action Plan. Her four-person team set out to consolidate existing documents, analyze the state of affordable housing in Dubuque, and provide tailored recommendations of innovative and best-practice solutions for the city. Lyons says projects like this are a win-win for education and communities.

"For students, IISC partnerships help with the transition from in-the-books to on-the-ground. For cities, IISC partnerships provide not only additional capacity to address community priorities like affordable housing, but also fresh perspectives," she explains. "Personally, this project was empowering because I knew that my work would go beyond the gradebook, offering me the opportunity to learn while making a real difference for Dubuque residents."

  Further reading: https://iisc.uiowa.edu/partners/dubuque