Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) PhD/MPhil thesis template (validated in May 2022) and the key steps that go through from initial draft to final submission

• Original Template whose format no longer satisfies the requirements of HKBU
• Related Template which is a complete thesis, so it may take you some time to clean it

All pull requests are welcome, in case the regulation changes!

• Click the above link to see a detailed procedure for thesis submission as well as oral examination before preparing your thesis
• You may wish to find former student theses in your area. This page shows PhD theses in the Department of Computer Science, but you can modify the filters to find theses of MPhil or in other departments
• The following are some key steps that should supplement the official submission procedure

• A Title Memo Template for confirming your thesis title before thesis submission

• Besides the Principal Supervisor's Declaration and Appointment of Board of Examiners for your supervisor to complete, students in the Department of Computer Science should also submit a Request for Appointment of Examination Examiner and Oral Defense to the department

• Write your thesis with the template provided in this repository

• After completing your thesis, make a similarity index on Moodle (course GS8008 -> Turnitin assignment).

• Submit your thesis and the similarity report

• After two weeks (in my case), your thesis may be approved for examination. Or Graduate School may inform you of a rejection due to high similarity index. In the latter case, you may rephrase your thesis, or justify yourself if it is similar to your own published papers/preprints (e.g., >40%):

  • Go to the system when the similarity score is ready, and then click the color bar to see the detailed report. At the top right corner, click the similarity score, you will see the match overview. At right hand slide, Click the top few links (similarity >= 1%) to see which papers overlap with your thesis. Sometimes you may need to further click the link on the pop-up window
  • Seek the consent of all your co-authors (including your supervisor) for writing your collaborated work into your thesis. Send an email to each of them and get a reply. Put their replies in a PDF file
  • Find the licenses of your published papers. After your paper is published, ACM should send you an attached copyright; Springer should send you an email of copyright; ACL and arXiv use CC BY 4.0 (click and save this page as a PDF file). Put all the licenses in a PDF file
  • Justify the high similarity index of your thesis by modifying the Title Memo Template. Together with the consent file and license file, send the justification (endorsed by your supervisor) to Graduate School for their re-consideration of your submission. Hopefully, you may be informed that your submission is exceptionally approved

• After your thesis is approved for examination, you will be informed to pay the continuation fee. Deposit the money, and then send Graduate School the receipt. After that, your thesis will be sent to external examiners for assessment, which will take 1 to 4 months

• After receiving the comments of external examiners from Graduate School, you can start to prepare for your oral examination

• After the oral examination, revise your thesis according to the comments of external examiners
• Summarize your revisions with Summary of Changes Template, and then fill in the Confirmation Memo Template which should be approved by your supervisor
• Send your revised thesis, summary of changes, and confirmation memo to the chair of your oral examination for acceptance
• Submit your revised thesis and the confirmation memo

• After format checking, submit your final thesis