Microsoft Word UDThesis Styles for Senior Theses

A requirement for the Degree with Distinction and the Honors Degree with Distinction, the senior thesis is the culmination of a year-long major independent research or creative project. It addresses important unanswered questions and makes an original and valuable contribution to the scholarly, scientific, or artistic community. Its format and length depend on the discipline involved. For more information and applications, contact the Undergraduate Research Program. Beginning June 1, 2024, the UDThesis Styles are no longer maintained or updated by IT and are only provided as a self-service with support from Undergraduate Research. 

Undergraduate senior thesis candidates should use UDThesis styles in conjunction with the Senior Thesis Handbook.

Important: To use the styles most effectively, read and follow the instructions on page 5 of the Microsoft Word UDThesis Style Guidelines for setting up Word. Base files (templates) for unnumbered and numbered can be downloaded from the base style files table.  If you have already started typing your document, see the Appendix on page 18 of the Microsoft Word UDThesis Style Guidelines.

Also, note these considerations for preserving the formatting of your UDThesis document when collaborating with others. 

Note: Make sure to check for the latest names and titles for the signatures in your document. You must change these manually.

Attention:

To get started, click to download the Microsoft Word UDThesis Guidelines. This document contains instructions for using the styles once you download the appropriate base style file from the table below.

Important information: to maintain the 2" top margins on major headings/chapter pages Read This (applies to Word 2013 and later).  
Attention: Watch this short video on using UDThesis base files and styles for Microsoft Word.

Base style files

To obtain a copy of the UDThesis base style file for your specific degree, click the link below for the file that matches the type of document you are preparing, and the document will download to your computer.

Document Unnumbered headings in chapters Numbered headings in chapters (e.g., 1.1, 1.2, etc.)
Senior Thesis: Degree with Distinction SeniorThesisDistinction- unnumbered.docx SeniorThesisDistinction- numbered.docx
Senior Thesis: Honors Degree with Distinction SeniorThesisHonors- unnumbered.docx SeniorThesisHonors- numbered.docx

Examples only (not base style files - see above)

  • Senior Thesis Honors Degree with Distinction

  • Senior Thesis Degree with Distinction

Additional Resources

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