unsw phd thesis length

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Computer Science and Eng - 1650

Program summary.

Faculty:   Faculty of Engineering

Contact:   http://www.eng.unsw.edu.au

Campus:  Sydney

Career:  Research

Typical UOC Per Semester:  24

Min UOC Per Semester:  12

Max UOC Per Semester:  24

Min UOC For Award:  144

Doctor of Philosophy (Research)

View program information for previous years

• Program Description
• A candidate for the degree shall have been awarded an appropriate Bachelor degree with Honours from the University of New South Wales or a qualification considered equivalent to the above from another university or tertiary institution.
• A candidate for the degree shall have been awarded an appropriate coursework Master degree which includes a substantial research component from the University of New South Wales or a qualification considered equivalent to the above from another university or tertiary institution.
• Candidates may be admitted to the PhD program after one year’s full-time enrolment in a Masters by Research program, with the approval of the Faculty Higher Degree Committee.
• In exceptional cases an applicant who submits evidence of such other academic and professional qualifications as may be approved by the Committee may be permitted to enrol for the degree.

Program Objectives and Graduate Attributes

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• Computer Science and Engineering

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Your Thesis

The goal of all higher degree research (HDR) programs is to write a thesis that demonstrates how you have made an original contribution to knowledge. While the task of writing a thesis can be daunting, there are several things you can do to stay on track and complete your thesis on time while producing your best work.  

The Graduate Research School (GRS) runs two seminars that will help you prepare for your thesis submission:

Thesis Submission Seminar   Outlines the submission and examination process

Using Publications in Your Thesis Seminar Examines how publications may be incorporated into your thesis, including how authorship is determined, and when to seek permission to use published work

The GRS also offers a weekly HDR writing group and a Thesis Writing Boot Camp to help you build a regular writing practice. For information on the seminars and events available, please visit this page .  

Can’t make it to a Seminar or event? Watch a recording of the last session and download a copy of the slides here . 

Additional Resources

UNSW Resources Thesis Submission and Examination Applying for Restricted Access   iThenticate  Thesis Format Guide Thesis Examination Procedure

Finding other HDR theses in your field UNSW digital thesis collection Trove – Australian print and digital theses ProQuest dissertations and theses global (UNSW sign in required for access) EThOS e-theses online service

Writing Your Thesis The Writing Center - University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 10 Tips for writing a PhD thesis – Times Higher Education  How to write 10,000 words a day – The Thesis Whisperer

Thesis Plans Free Thesis Plan templates – iThinkwell Sample Thesis Plan - The University of Edinburgh

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• How Long Is a PhD Thesis?
• Doing a PhD

It’s no secret that one of the most challenging aspects of a PhD degree is the volume of work that goes into writing your thesis . So this raises the question, exactly how long is a thesis?

Unfortunately, there’s no one size fits all answer to this question. However, from the analysis of over 100 PhD theses, the average thesis length is between 80,000 and 100,000 words. A further analysis of 1000 PhD thesis shows the average number of pages to be 204 . In reality, the actual word count for each PhD thesis will depend on the specific subject and the university it is being hosted by. This is because universities set their own word length requirements, with most found to be opting for around 100,000.

To find out more about how these word limits differ between universities, how the average word count from STEM thesis differ from non-STEM thesis and a more detailed breakdown from the analysis of over 1000 PhDs, carry on reading the below.

Word Count Differences Between Universities

For any PhD student writing a thesis, they will find that their document will be subject to a word limit set by their university. In nearly all cases, the limit only concerns the maximum number of words and doesn’t place any restrictions on the minimum word limit. The reason for this is that the student will be expected to write their thesis with the aim of clearly explaining their research, and so it is up to the student to determine what he deems appropriate.

Saying this, it is well accepted amongst PhD students and supervisors that the absence of a lower limit doesn’t suggest that a thesis can be ‘light’. Your thesis will focus on several years worth of original research and explore new ideas, theories or concepts. Besides this, your thesis will need to cover a wide range of topics such as your literature review, research methodology, results and conclusion. Therefore, your examiners will expect the length of your thesis to be proportional to convey all this information to a sufficient level.

Selecting a handful of universities at random, they state the following thesis word limits on their website:

• University of Edinburgh: 100,000
• University of Exeter: 100,000
• University of Leister: 80,000
• University of Bath: 80,000
• University of Warwick: 70,000

The above universities set upper word limits that apply across the board, however, some universities, such as the University of Birmingham and the University of Sheffield, set different word limits for different departments. For example, the University of Sheffield adopts these limits:

• Arts & Humanities: 75,000
• Medicine, Dentistry & Health: 75,000
• Science: 80,000
• Social Sciences: 75,000-100,000

Although there’s a range of limit, it’s safe to say that the majority fall within the 80,000 to 100,000 bracket.

Word Count Based on Data from past Theses

A poll of 149 postdocs.

In mid-2019, Dr Eva Lantsoght, a published author, academic blogger and Structural Engineering Professor, conducted a poll which asked postgraduate doctoral students to share the length of their final thesis. 149 PostDoc students responded to the survey, with the majority reporting a length falling within the ‘80,000 – 120,000 words’ bracket as seen below.

Analysis of 1000 PhD Theses

Over a three-year time period, Dr Ian Brailsford, a then Postgraduate Learning Adviser at the University of Auckland, analysed 1000 doctoral thesis submitted to his university’s library. The PhD theses which formed the basis of his analysis were produced between 2008 to 2017 and showed:

• Average number of pages = 204
• Median number of pages = 198
• Average number of chapters = 7.6

We should note that the above metrics only cover the content falling within the main body of the thesis. This includes the introduction, literature review, methods section, results chapter, discussions and conclusions. All other sections, such as the title page, abstract, table of contents, acknowledgements, bibliography and appendices were omitted from the count.

Although it’s impossible to draw the exact word count from the number of pages alone, by using the universities recommended format of 12pt Times New Roman and 1.5 lines spacing, and assuming 10% of the main body are figures and footnotes, this equates to an average main body of 52,000 words.

STEM vs Non-STEM

As part of Dr Ian Brailsford’s analysis, he also compared the length of STEM doctorate theses to non-STEM theses. He found that STEM theses tended to be shorter. In fact, he found STEM theses to have a medium page length of 159 whilst non-STEM theses had a medium of around 223 pages. This is a 40% increase in average length!

Can You Exceed the Word Count?

Whilst most universities will allow you to go over the word count if you need to, it comes with the caveat that you must have a very strong reason for needing to do so. Besides this, your supervisor will also need to support your request. This is to acknowledge that they have reviewed your situation and agree that exceeding the word limit will be absolutely necessary to avoid detriment unnecessary detriment to your work.

This means that whilst it is possible to submit a thesis over 100,000 words or more, it’s unlikely that your research project will need to.

How Does This Compare to a Masters Dissertation?

The average Masters dissertation length is approximately 20,000 words whilst a thesis is 4 to 5 times this length at approximately 80,000 – 100,000.

The key reason for this difference is because of the level of knowledge they convey. A Master’s dissertation focuses on concluding from existing knowledge whilst a PhD thesis focuses on drawing a conclusion from new knowledge. As a result, the thesis is significantly longer as the new knowledge needs to be well documented so it can be verified, disseminated and used to shape future research.

Finding a PhD has never been this easy – search for a PhD by keyword, location or academic area of interest.

Related Reading

Unfortunately, the completion of your thesis doesn’t mark the end of your degree just yet. Once you submit your thesis, it’s time to start preparing for your viva – the all-to-fun thesis defence interview! To help you prepare for this, we’ve produced a helpful guide which you can read here: The Complete Guide to PhD Vivas.

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Structuring Your Thesis Proposal

How should i structure the proposal.

The following sections are recommended for your research proposal report. Check with your supervisors for optional sections, variations and additional sections that may be required.

Routine information

This can be a full cover page or a quarter page header.

• Address, telephone and email details
• Degree for which you are a candidate
• Supervisor's and co-supervisor's names
• Thesis proposal title

Statement of Topic

Introduce the reader to the recognised general subject area and how your topic is related. Briefly point out why it is a significant topic and what contribution your work will make.

Aims of the thesis/dissertation

Set out specific objectives of the research.

Review of the literature

This, together with the following section on the theoretical orientation, will be the main substance of the proposal and will lay the basis for your discussions of your methods and your total research program.

The literature review should explain the relation of your topic and research aims to significant literature and recent (and current) research in your field. The form of the literature review may vary according to the nature of your field: experimental, philosophical, theoretical, comparative, etc., but its purpose will be the same in all fields. The literature review should place your proposed research topic clearly in its relevant research context, and should demonstrate your awareness of significant similar or relevant research.

You may need to make qualitative judgements concerning the literature. Be careful not to allow the evaluation of previous work to become a large open-ended task. You should consult with your supervisors on the types of questions you need to be asking and what boundaries you should place on your literature review.

In one sense the literature review for the proposal is incomplete. You will continue to expand and update the literature as your research progresses and as you locate new publications. The final literature review will be included in your thesis.

Ask yourself:

• Which pieces of research seem to have been most successful, the most promising and which less so?
• What are the major lines of criticism that can be levelled at previous work?
• What major omissions, gaps or neglected emphases can be identified?

Theoretical orientation

Your aim here is to state your basic ideas on the topic.

• First, state the various theoretical approaches taken in your topic. Which one do you propose to use in your research and why? Where, tentatively do you stand on the topic?
• If there are various theories on your topic or in your field, which one(s) will you use in your conceptual framework for your thesis?
• Which terms or trends do you wish to follow up from the literature review?
• Do you have any fresh suggestions of an explanatory, interpretative, or programmatic kind?

Think it through:

• Perhaps the best way to approach this section is to set down your main insights, hypotheses, hunches, or even hopes about your topic.
• In view of past theory and research, and your emerging issues, what are the areas that you expect to have findings?
• For empirical theses you may need to formulate explicit hypotheses.

Methodology

Describe your proposed methods in sufficient detail so that the reader is clear about the following:

• What kind of information will you be using?
• From what sources will the information be obtained?
• What resources will you require?
• What methodology will you be using?
• Why have you selected this approach?
• What ethical and safety issues have you identified and how do you propose to proceed?

Research program timelines and milestones

Timelines and milestones are important tools for planning your research project effectively and completing your thesis on time.

Milestones are the steps you need to take to meet your goals. Timelines help you plan out when your key goals and milestones will be completed.

Your timeline can be formatted as a table or a list. Include when you will start and finish important aspects of your research, such as: literature research, required training or attending courses, stages of experiments or investigations, beginning and completing chapters, reviews and seminars you will give, and completing the thesis.

The Graduate Research School (GRS) provides resources and seminars on developing effective milestones and preparing for Research Progress Reviews. For more information, visit this page .

Tentative thesis chapter outline

You should check with your supervisor if this is a required section of the thesis proposal. Present the chapter outline as a draft contents page with brief annotations of expected content or stages. Follow the standard sections relevant to your type of research. Look at past theses in your area and discuss your ideas with your supervisor.

List all publications cited in your proposal. Use the style recommended by the school or your supervisor. This may be a standard style the whole school follows or it may be the style of the leading journal in your field.

Recommended reading and acknowledgments

Recommended reading.

Here are some of useful resources and texts that you can consult. Your school may also have a postgraduate handbook or specific guidelines on thesis proposals.

Allen, G.R. (1976) The graduate student's guide to theses and dissertations: A practical manual for writing and research . San Francisco, CA, Jossey-Bass.

Cryer, P. (1996) The research student's guide to success . Buckingham, Open University Press.

Davis, G.B. & Parker, C.A. (1979) Writing the doctoral dissertation: A systematic approach . Woodbury, NY, Barrons Educational Series.

Laws, K. (1995) Preparing a Thesis or Dissertation Proposal. University of Sydney.

Phillips, E.M. & Pugh D.S. (1987) How to get a Ph. D.: A handbook for students and their supervisors. 2nd Ed. Buckingham, Open University Press.

Postgraduate Board, Student Guild (1998) Practical aspects of producing a thesis at the University of New South Wales. 3rd Ed. Available from the Student Guild, First Floor East Wing, Quadrangle Building, The University of New South Wales.

Karathwohl, D.R. (1988) How to prepare a research proposal. Guidelines for funding and dissertations in the social and behavioural sciences. 3rd Ed. New York, Syracuse University Press.

Acknowledgments

Thank you to the following academics, staff and students, for their contributions and advice: Professor David Trimm, Professor John Trinder, Dr. Jacquelyn Cranney, Professor Staffan Kjelleberg, Dr. Tony Partridge, Professor Clive Fletcher, Professor Chris Sorrell, Professor Jason Middleton, Dr. Khosrow Zarrabi, Professor Marilyn Fox, Professor Michael Wootton, Dominic Fitzsimmons, Gwyn Jones, Bianca Azar.

Postgrad Research

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Depositing your thesis to UNSWorks

To receive your testamur on the graduation date, you must follow the steps on this page.

Step 1: Prepare your thesis files for deposit

You must deposit two digital copies in PDF format of the final and examined version of your PhD or Masters by Research thesis - a master copy and a public version.

Note: You only need to complete the thesis deposit process once. However, you must deposit two files even if both copies are identical.

The 'master copy' is the full complete final examined version of your thesis. This copy will be archived and will not be publicly accessible.

The 'public version' is the final examined version of your thesis that has been amended for public viewing by removing third-party copyright material or confidential/sensitive content. This version will be made available to the public online. Remove personal information such as signatures, zID and residential address.

File 1: The 'master copy'

1. Include the following mandatory documents in both copies of your thesis:

• Originality statement, Copyright and Authenticity statements
• Inclusion of Publications Statement

All candidates will have completed these forms online when submitting your thesis for examination via GRIS. You can access these documents via the GRIS Alumni portal .

• To include these documents in your files, you must print to PDF or take screenshots of the mandatory statements and insert them behind the title page of your final thesis.
• Select the checkboxes, including the green 'Candidate's Declaration' as shown in the example mandatory document screenshots below.
• If you no longer have access to the GRIS Alumni Portal, contact the Graduate Research School . Do not include the older signed statements if you can include screenshots of these statements from the GRIS Alumni Portal.

2. Make sure your thesis has a title page with your full name, faculty and school - only one title page is required.

3. Clearly name your file e.g. mastercopy.pdf - ensure it is saved as a PDF and not as a Word document.

File 2: The 'public version'

1. Go to Save As from your Master Copy file and create a duplicate PDF copy of your thesis, with a clearly labelled file name e.g. publicversion.pdf.

2. This version is available to the public online. Remove any confidential or sensitive content including personal information, such as signatures, zID and residential address.

Tips for removing content:

• To avoid disrupting page numbering and citation management, redact material from a PDF file rather than from Word. If preferred, you can edit in Word and then convert to PDF, but this could affect your layout and numbering.
• Edit PDFs in Adobe Pro which is available to current UNSW students from UNSW IT . Follow the Adobe instructions on redacting sensitive material . You can also use the Edit PDF tool to delete content.

3. Check for third-party copyright. Ensure you adhere to the Copyright guidelines and modify the public version to exclude any third-party copyright material for which permission has not been given.

• It is important to retain copies of permissions you have received.
• You can include Copyright permission granted by publishers and copyright owners in the master copy of your thesis that is submitted to the Library. However, they should be removed from the public version as they often contain sensitive content such as personal information.

Restricting access to your thesis

By default, your thesis is public immediately upon deposit. If you want to restrict access to the public version, you can nominate an embargo period and indicate the date the restriction will be lifted in the UNSWorks thesis deposit form:

• Restrictions up to 24 months do not require approval (date to be calculated from the date on the completion letter you received from the Graduate Research School).
• Restrictions beyond this date will require approval - for more information see UNSW Higher Degree Research Hub (requires login).
• Watch this short video on how to add an embargo .

Preparing thesis files

Watch this video on how to prepare your thesis files for deposit to UNSWorks.

Step 2: Submit/Deposit digital copies of your thesis to UNSWorks

Deposit your thesis

This button takes you to UNSWorks where you can select to deposit a thesis from the Deposit menu.

You only need to complete the thesis deposit process once however, you must deposit two files even if both copies are identical.

You need to log in with your UNSW zID and password. If your zID access has expired at the end of your candidature, complete the temporary login request form . We will process this request and send UNSWorks temporary login details to your nominated email address by the following working day.

Depositing your thesis: Top tips

Watch this video for our top four tips on how to deposit your thesis to UNSWorks.

Graduating soon?

Congratulations on your achievement! To ensure you are eligible to graduate, remember to return all UNSW Library books and Interlibrary loans, and pay any outstanding Library fines.

Looking for more information?

• See frequently asked questions for thesis digital deposit .
• Watch short videos on how to access the Thesis Deposit form and how to add, upload, edit and remove files .
• For further assistance, contact the Library Scholarly Content team and include your zID.

Dean’s Award for Outstanding PhD Theses

Twenty-eight UNSW PhD candidates have been awarded a Dean’s Award for Outstanding PhD Theses.

The Dean’s Award for Outstanding PhD Theses recognises high quality PhD theses produced at UNSW. 

To receive this award, candidates must produce a thesis that requires only minimal corrections, received outstanding and/or excellent levels of achievement for all examination criteria, and in the opinion of both examiners is in the top ten percent of PhD theses they have examined.  Examiners are external to the University and are leaders in their fields.

“UNSW’s PhD candidates are a vital part of our research efforts and these awards recognise the outstanding theses examined in the last year,” said Professor Jonathan Morris, Pro Vice-Chancellor Research Training & Entrepreneurship and Dean of Graduate Research.

“Given the challenges of the past two years, these graduates should be commended for their achievements.”

The awards are listed below by Faculty. Further details about this award have been published on the  HDR Hub .

Faculty of Arts, Design & Architecture

UNSW Business School

Faculty of Engineering

Faculty of Law & Justice

Faculty of Medicine & Health

Faculty of Science

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Handbook 2016

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Social Sciences - 1272

Program summary.

Faculty:   Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

Contact:   [email protected]

Campus:  Sydney

Career:  Research

Typical UOC Per Semester:  24

Min UOC Per Semester:  12

Max UOC Per Semester:  24

Min UOC For Award:  144

Doctor of Philosophy (Research)

View program information for previous years

• Program Description
• A candidate for the degree shall have been awarded an appropriate degree of Bachelor with Honours from the University of New South Wales or a qualification considered equivalent from another university or tertiary institution at a level acceptable to the Research Committee of the appropriate Faculty.
• Candidates may be admitted to the PhD program after one year's full-time enrolment in a Masters by Research program, if they meet the PhD entry requirements and with the approval of the Faculty Higher Degree Committee.
• In exceptional cases an applicant who submits evidence of such other academic and professional qualifications as may be approved by the Committee may be permitted to enrol for the degree.

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Honours thesis information

Please also see  Guidelines for writing a thesis  for important information on writing your thesis and choosing a supervisor .

Each Honours student in the School must undertake an Honours Project as part of their Honours year. This involves:

• Independent study under the supervision of a member of staff.
• The writing of a thesis giving an account of what was studied.
• The presentation of some of this material in a 15-50 minute seminar which will be attended by staff and other students.

The objectives of the project are:

• To give the student an opportunity to engage in some study which is driven more by their curiosity than by a given syllabus.
• To expose the student to mathematics beyond the standard syllabus and to get some view of what is happening at the research front.
• To help develop some of the basic research skills including use of the library and computer databases.
• To develop the skill of writing technical material well.
• To develop the skill of presenting technical material orally.

Many of these skills will be of great benefit whether or not the student progresses to further study in mathematics. Of course, for the student who does go on to do mathematical research, these skills are vital. It should be noted that although the project is an important part of a student's research training, the aim of the project is not to produce original new theorems. Occasionally a project will contain some original results, but this is certainly not a required component. Remember that different projects can have quite different natures. Some are surveys of a particular area of mathematics, some look at the history behind a famous problem, others may require calculating some examples, or filling in gaps in published works.

The thesis will be assessed for quality in four major areas (see below), each of which is important. The mark for the thesis will be made up as follows: 90% based on the written thesis, and the remaining 10% will be determined by an oral presentation. The written thesis and the oral presentation will be assessed by three markers, one of which is the supervisor.  Each marker will provide a written assessment and grade(s) for the written thesis based on the following:

• Exposition: Clarity of the presentation. Sufficient introductory and summary material. Organisation and style of the presentation.
• Literature coverage: Adequate coverage of related material in the field. Placing the topic in a wider context.
• Critical analysis and insight: Understanding of the problem and/or model. Quality of the discussion. Discussion of the advantages and limitations of the problem/method.
• Originality: E.g. by modifying or extending earlier theory or methods, or by developing new examples, or by an application to a new area. Are there new results, insights, methods or applications?

The weighting of the various assessment components will vary depending on the type of thesis. For example, the literature coverage will be more important in a survey type project than in one which contains original results. All theses are expected to address all four areas mentioned above.

Typically in the last or week before the last term of their Honours year, students each present a seminar of 20 - 50 minutes (depending on the department) on their thesis to members of the mathematics staff, interested visitors and other students. This presentation is worth 10% of the thesis mark, and each of the three thesis examiners will attend and record a grade for the presentation. The presentation will be assessed on: Knowledge displayed; motivation presented for the study of the topic; description of contributions/achievements; description of results; clarity of verbal discussion; clarity of slides/figures; quality of presentation (e.g. eye contact, pace); keeping to time; and responses to questions.

• Your talk should be self-contained. As with the thesis, it should be aimed at the level of your fellow Honours students.
• Discuss with your supervisor which aspect of your project would make a good talk. The hard thing is deciding what to leave out while still telling a coherent story.
• Start the talk with a non-technical introduction so that everyone understands what your project is. Pitching the talk at a higher level may be necessary later in the talk, but try not to get to the stage when only you and your supervisor understand what is going on. Remember that it is very easy to overestimate what the audience understands (haven't your lecturers been doing that to you for years!?).
• Go to other seminars during the year. If you can, go to the seminars of Honours students who are ahead of you. Take notes of what works and what doesn't work in their seminars. 
• Have a run through with your supervisor at least a week before the talk is scheduled.
• Don't worry too much. This is not an examination, and we are not trying to catch you out. We all remember how nervous we were before our first talk, and will take that into account.

There will usually be some questions asked at the end of the talk. Don't feel that you have to know the answer to all of them. Questions are asked because the questioner wants to know the answer, not because they want to see whether you know.

The final Honours mark consists of thesis grade (which contributes 18/48) and five courses (contributing a total of 30/48). This mark is then rounded up to produce your final Honours mark, which determines your grade.

• 85+ : Honours I
• 75 - 84:  Honours IIA
• 65 - 74: Honours IIB
• 50 - 64: Honours III

You should begin to plan the 'shape' of the thesis before the start of your third term. You supervisor should have a fairly mature draft by the end of Week 7 of your last term, but you should probably give them a chapter sooner than this so they can check your writing style. The following is a general guide to how work on your thesis should progress. If you think that a major variation is warranted, please discuss this with either your supervisor or the Honours Coordinator.

• Select supervisor and topic - before the start of your Honours year
• Research, reading, discussion, understanding - mainly first term
• Outline of thesis & significant piece of writing - by the beginning of your last term
• Give a substantial draft to supervisor - end of Week 7 of your last term
• Talk - last two teaching weeks of your last term
• Final submission - the Friday of the last teaching week (week 10) in the final term of honours candidature.

Students in their final term should submit via Moodle a PDF file of the final version of their thesis by the posted due dater. For more details on how the thesis should be presented see the next section.

A late penalty of 5% of the maximum mark for the thesis will be applied per day or part day that the thesis is late. Where "late" in this context means after any extensions granted for Special Consideration or Equitable Learning Provisions. For example, a thesis that was awarded 75% would be given 65% if it was 1-2 days late. Any thesis submitted after 5 days will not be accepted. 

Students are responsible for the production of their theses. Almost all students type their theses using LaTeX. 

Getting a good looking thesis can be helped by having a good style or 'document class' file and a decent example to copy.  A style file and an example thesis are provided below.

Your thesis should be in 12pt font, singly spaced (or one-and-a-half spaced). Typically, a thesis should be between 40 and 60 pages in length. If you think that you have a good reason to write a shorter or longer thesis, discuss this with your supervisor. Theses are not judged by their weight! It is better to write a shorter thesis in which you understand everything than a longer one where you are rather hazy on the details.

The following files can help you to get your thesis writing started. (You will only need one of the UNSW crest files, depending on whether you are using the pdflatex or latex command to compile your thesis.)

• unsw-crest.eps  - the UNSW crest as an eps file, for use with latex.  
• unsw-crest.jpg  - the UNSW crest as a jpg file, for use with pdflatex.
• shell-honours.tex  - a skeleton LaTeX file to help you get started.  
• unswthesis.cls  - the UNSW thesis style file, adapted for the School.  

Rules for dealing with illness and other unavoidable issues

• If your progress has been affected by illness or an unforeseen issue, you may apply for  Special Consideration  by following the standard University rules. You should also provide your Honours Coordinator with a letter explaining your situation. Medical certificates or other written evidence to support your request should be supplied where appropriate. You should ask your supervisor to submit a report on the extent to which your progress has been interrupted.