Title Page

The layout and contents of the title page are shown on the Sample Title Pages. The font need not be the same as in the samples.

Thesis Title

Recommendations for choosing a thesis title:

  • Try to give a concise, accurate description of the thesis.
  • Include key words in the title to make the thesis more easily retrievable in electronic listings.
  • If possible,avoid using scientific formulas, Greek letters, symbols, special characters, and abbreviations in your thesis title; write them out as words instead. Special characters can usually be handled in electronic systems but using them in titles poses limitations for people searching using a regular keyboard, and may affect people’s ability to locate your thesis online. The best way to ensure your thesis can be found with regular searches is to use characters from the Roman alphabet in your title. Most diacritics are okay, but please avoid ligatures.

Student Name

  • The name on your thesis is typically the one under which you are registered at UBC (your legal name). If you would like to use a different name on your thesis in addition to the name under which you are registered, please put that name in parentheses after your registration name. The UBC Library collection allows for full-text searching of theses, which means that someone using the parenthetical name in a search will still be able to find your thesis.
  • If you change your legal name and wish to update your registered name, you can do this through Enrolment Services. You will have to provide documentation of a legal name change.
  • If you would like to use a preferred name instead of your legal name, the preferred name must form part of the name under which you are registered at UBC.

The name must be the same at the top and bottom (with copyright symbol) of the title page.

The name you put in cIRcle when you submit the final version of your thesis must be the same as it is on your title page.

Previous Academic Degree Credentials

You may list your previous academic degrees under your name if you wish. If you list them, be sure to include the following:

  • the name of the degree (e.g. B.Sc.)
  • the full name of the institution
  • the date of graduation

Degree Name

List the name of the degree (e.g. Doctor of Philosophy, Master of Arts)

Faculty

This must be The Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies regardless of your home Faculty. If you are in a program that requires submission of a thesis, then only the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies can grant your degree.

Program Name

The name of your graduate program must be in parentheses. You can confirm that you are using the correct graduate program name by checking SSC > Course Schedule and Registration > My Program > Specialization Name. Do not put "Department, School, Centre, Institute, College, or Program" on your title page.

If your degree is in Interdisciplinary Studies and you wish to include the names of the relevant disciplines, please follow this example:

(Interdisciplinary Studies)

[Psychology / Computer Science / Music]

If your program name is included in the title of your degree, the program name in parentheses under "The Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies" is not required.

A few examples:

  • Master of Advanced Studies in Architecture (MASA)
  • Master of Landscape Architecture (MLA)
  • Master of Laws (LLM)
  • Master of Library and Information Studies (MLIS)
  • Master of Music (MMus) For this degree, you may put your area of specialization in parentheses if you wish.
  • Master of Science in Nursing (MSN)
  • Master of Science in Planning (MScP)
  • Master of Social Work (MSW)
  • Master of Science in Business Administration (MScB) For this degree, you may put your area of specialization in parentheses if you wish.

Campus Name

Underneath "The University of British Columbia" you must put the name of your campus, either Vancouver or Okanagan, in parentheses.

Date

For copies for the examination committee:

  • should be the month and year of submission to the committee / external examiner

For final, post-defence submission:

  • must be the month and year of final submission of your defended thesis.

Copyright Symbol

The universal copyright symbol © appears at the foot of the title page, with your name, and the year of final submission. The name must be the same at both the top and the bottom of the title page, and must be the name under which you are registered at UBC. Please be sure to use the © symbol, not the @ symbol.

Creative Commons Licence

If you wish to apply a Creative Commons Licence to your thesis, you may choose a Creative Commons Licence image instead of the copyright symbol. It is your responsibility to understand what rights you are giving others when you use a Creative Commons Licence. You cannot change the CC Licence after submission.