Submitting your thesis

Find out how to submit your doctoral thesis for examination.

A doctoral degree represents at least 3 years of full-time study at an advanced level. You must have been registered (i.e., not on suspension) for a minimum of 36 months full-time (or equivalent) before your thesis can be submitted for examination.

If you are not ready to submit your thesis within 4 years full-time (or equivalent) you must apply for an extension of time.

Three months before you plan to submit, inform your Victoria supervisor and your School. This allows time for your supervisor to nominate and get approval for the examiners. You will need to give your supervisor an abstract of your thesis to send to potential examiners. Getting examiners approved before submission helps avoid delays. Learn more about the process of appointing examiners.

Before submission, you should:

• Check that you are currently registered and will have been registered for the three months immediately prior to submission. Contact the FGR Student Adviser team if you need to discuss your registration.
• Inform your Victoria supervisor of your intention to submit in advance and discuss how long they need to review your final draft. Your supervisory team may ask you to make changes to your thesis before they approve your submission. The Victoria supervisor must sign a statement confirming all supervisors agree your thesis is ready for examination.
• Consider the University’s guidelines on presentation of your thesis
• Read the University’s guidelines for including publications in a doctoral thesis and apply using the Declaration for including a publication in a thesis form. This form can be completed prior to your submission. It will go to your Primary Supervisor for approval. You can submit your thesis even if you are waiting on your supervisor to sign off on this form.
• Check your thesis length. If relevant, apply to the Dean FGR to extend your word count.
• Apply to the Dean FGR for permission to withhold access to your thesis if you require an embargo.
• Make sure you know your staff login username and password. You will need to be logged in as staff to access the online submission form. If you need help, contact the FGR Student Adviser team.

Submitting your thesis

Please submit a PDF of your thesis via the Doctoral Thesis Submission for Examination Microsoft Form by the deadline (see the table above).

After your supervisor approves your submission in the system, the Exams Team will process and confirm this to you. If you submit the form by the deadline, it will be considered on time, even if your supervisor’s approval is delayed. If you don’t receive an email acknowledging your submission after five business days, you may contact the Exams Team.

On the last day of your registration, you will receive an automated email warning  that you will lose access to University resources in 28 days. Rest assured that the Exams Team will update your registration to "under examination" before this happens.  You will keep access to University systems during the exam period and for 28 days after you deposit your thesis in the Library.