All dissertations must follow the formatting guidelines set by the School of Graduate Studies. You may wish to use the Microsoft Word or LaTeX templates provided by SGS from the outset.
Before a dissertation may be submitted, it must be read by the Supervisor and the other members of the Committee in its entirety. They must then, at the same time as the dissertation is submitted, each write a letter to the CMS PhD Coordinator indicating that they have read the dissertation and deem it suitable for examination.
If a dissertation is likely to exceed the set length limit of 90,000 words (word count, not page count, is the determining factor), the student must request in writing a special exemption from the Academic Programme Committee at least three months prior to submitting the dissertation. The Centre reserves the right to deny such an exemption.
Five (5) copies of the completed dissertation are to be submitted to the Centre. The date of the dissertation defence is at least twelve weeks after its submission date. Students should bear in mind that it is often very difficult to assemble an examination committee during the summer months, and adequate time should be allowed for this process if an examination is expected before the early October deadline to convocate in November. Please also note, the two weeks when the University is closed between December and January do not count towards this 12 week figure. As always, CMS does its best to accommodate the student’s circumstances but cannot offer any guarantee of an examination within any time period.
The PhD Coordinator determines the membership of the examination committee for the dissertation defence. Examiners are chosen in consultation with the student’s supervisor.