Preparing the thesis

Each thesis (regardless of the language and including joint PhDs) must include the following things:

1. Identification details (cover and title page) - see Layout of the thesis​
   
2. ​Declaration of integrity (first page after title page)
3. Dutch thesis title
4. Dutch PhD degree title
5. Dutch abstract
6. English abstract
   
   Each thesis (incl. joint PhDs) that is placed under embargo, limited or unlimited in time, must in addition include the following things:
   
   
7. The word 'confidential' (cover and title page)
8. Embargo disclaimer (first page after title page) - see Additional layout thesis under embargo​

The following declaration of integrity must be included on the first page after the title page of each thesis (see General PhD Regulations, art. 72 + appendix 4):

'The PhD researcher and supervisor(s) declare that the PhD research was conducted according to the principles of scientific integrity, as mentioned in the General PhD Regulations and the General Charter for PhD Researchers of UAntwerp and the Integrity Charter for PhD Researchers and Supervisors affiliated with the University of Antwerp.'

The thesis should be written and defended in Dutch or English. It may be written and defended in another language provided that written permission has been obtained for this from the faculty. This permission is not necessary if the topic of the thesis is another language, culture or literature. Abstracts in Dutch and in English must be included in all theses (see General PhD Regulations, art. 23).

Give this matter some thought while you are preparing your PhD thesis. Get in touch with the administrative contact person in your institute/faculty/department and check how you can obtain the necessary permission.

While writing your PhD thesis, you need to comply with University of Antwerp's requirements regarding the form and layout of PhD theses (see also below). Following these rules saves you time towards the end of your PhD trajectory.

The form indicates how you write your text.

The thesis may take the form of a monograph, a collection of manuscripts, an artistic or design work or a combination of these forms. If the thesis consists of a collection of academic manuscripts, the faculty may impose the condition that at least one of these manuscripts has been published (see General PhD Regulations, art. 22). When you choose a specific form for your PhD thesis, it might be best to check this with your supervisor(s) and the administrative contact person of your faculty/department/institute.

The layout indicates how your text should be placed on the page.

House style University of Antwerp

Regarding the formal requirements of the thesis, PhD researchers are expected to comply with the University of Antwerp's house style.

Thesis templates

You are welcome to design your own thesis, but you can also use a template. 

Text

• Format: 18 x 26 cm (smaller than a regular A4!)
• On the left hand side the page numbers are even, on the right hand side the page numbers are odd.
• Keep the following margins in mind in the final 18 x 26 cm book:

Identification details (cover and title page)

Several elements must be included on the cover and title page of a PhD thesis (cf. appendix 4 of the General PhD Regulations):

• logo of UAntwerp;
• name of the faculty and - if applicable - the department;
• title of the PhD thesis (in the language in which the thesis is written);
• fixed text "Thesis submitted for the degree of doctor of (insert qualification of the degree) at the University of Antwerp to be defended by";
• first name & last name;
• name(s) of supervisor(s);
• text "Antwerp," + date of the public defence (e.g. 8 May 2026).

Mention the correct PhD degree title (= qualification of the degree), see appendix 2 of the General PhD Regulations.

See also Arranging confidentiality agreements and Preparing the defence: STEP 2: Submitting confidentiality checklist.

On the cover and title page of a confidential PhD thesis (regardless of the duration of the embargo), the text 'confidential' must be included.

Moreover, a disclaimer must be included on the first page after the title page of a confidential PhD thesis:

- In case of an embargo period (limited in time), the following disclaimer must be included on the first page after the title page:

'The author of this thesis declares that this document is marked confidential from [date] until [date] (embargo period), and becomes freely accessible after this embargo period. During the embargo period the content of this doctoral thesis is confidential and is reserved solely for use by the supervisors and the doctoral jury to evaluate doctoral quality of the thesis. Any distribution, copying or dissemination of this document in whole or in part shall comply with all applicable legal stipulations governing the use of confidential information. The use of the information contained herein by any other person or entity is prohibited.'

- In case of a full embargo (unlimited in time), the following disclaimer must be included on the first page after the title page:

'The author of this thesis declares that this document is marked confidential. The content of this doctoral thesis is confidential and is reserved solely for use by the supervisors and the doctoral jury to evaluate doctoral quality of the thesis. Any distribution, copying or dissemination of this document in whole or in part shall comply with all applicable legal stipulations governing the use of confidential information. The use of the information contained herein by any other person or entity is prohibited.'

More information about references can be found on the website of the Library.

There are two options for designing the cover of your PhD thesis and, if desired, the invitation to your defence, and to print your PhD thesis:

1. New Media Office of UAntwerp (fee-based service): for i) the design of the cover and, if requested, the invitation and/or ii) the printing of your thesis: keep a production time of two weeks in mind - see folder.
2. Own design (you can create it yourself or you can look for your own designer and printer).

The Faculty of Business and Economics has developed its own fixed format, with identical covers and invitations for the defence. If you are defending a PhD thesis in this faculty, please contact the administrative contact person.

Number of copies

• You need to have at least one copy for each jury member, plus one copy for the library.
• Make sure you contact the administrative contact person of your faculty/department/institute to check if extra copies are needed.

Contact information New Media Office

Nieuwe Media Dienst
Campus Drie Eiken - room D.032 (ground floor)
Universiteitsplein 1
2610 Wilrijk

• General email address: nmd.grafisch@uantwerpen.be​
• Natacha Hoevenaegel: +32 (0)3 265 22 24, natacha.hoevenaegel@uantwerpen.be​
• Thomas Campaert: +32 (0)3 265 27 45, thomas.campaert@uantwerpen.be​

The University of Antwerp acknowledges the importance of scientific integrity and endorses 'theEuropean Code of Conduct for Research Integrity’ (the ALLEA code). Breaches ofscientific integrity include plagiarism, fabrication and falsification of data, and conflicts of interest. According to the ALLEA code (2017) plagiarism is using other people's work and ideas without givingproper credit to the original source, thus violating the rights of the original author(s) to their intellectual outputs.

Blackboard SafeAssign: a plagiarism prevention tool

SafeAssign compares submitted assignments against a set of academic papers to identify areas of overlap between the submitted assignment and existing works. SafeAssign originality reports provide detailed information about the matches found between a student’s submitted paper and existing sources. The report can be used to review assignment submissions for originality and creates opportunities to identify how to properly attribute sources.

The Antwerp Doctoral School developed a manual on SafeAssign for doctoral candidates. The manual describes how (parts of) the doctoral dissertation can be reviewed in SafeAssign. Doctoral candidates are strongly encouraged to use SafeAssign as a tool to learn about plagiarism and source citation. In some faculties, a plagiarism check of the doctoral dissertation is part of the defence procedure (see Regulations and documents).

The University of Antwerp supports the responsible use of (generative) Artificial Intelligence (AI) in research, provided that you as a researcher always take into account a number of basic principles and legal provisions. More information can be found in the guidelines for (generative) Artificial Intelligence in research at UAntwerp. The use of AI tools for developing a publication, thesis, ... must always be acknowledged in the methodology section.

Tip: an AI Checking tool can be used to check whether parts of the thesis have been generated using AI.