# Preparing Your Ph.D. Dissertation Using LaTeX

The Graduate Division now requires that Ph.D. dissertations be submitted electronically as pdf files. In the Math Department, the recommended way of preparing a suitable pdf file is with LaTeX, using the ucthesisnew document class.

Take careful note of the following:

• You should not use the ucthesis document class included in most TeX distributions. It has not been updated for the current requirements.
• Refer to this page only if you are writing a doctoral dissertation. For a master's thesis, go to the page Preparing your master's thesis using LaTeX.

Graduate Division policies can be found on the web by going to the web page http://grad.berkeley.edu/policies and following the link "Dissertation Filing Guide".

In case the wiki is down, this page is also available at http://math.berkeley.edu/~vojta/tex/ucthesis-phd.html .

# Preparing the LaTeX File

To prepare the LaTeX file, copy the files from the sample thesis located at http://math.berkeley.edu/~vojta/thesis/ , and adapt them to your situation.

The document class ucthesisnew is already installed on our computer network. However, if you are using a thin client, then you will need to type the following command, just once, in each terminal window in which you plan to use TeX:

```set path = (/local/depot/texlive-2007/bin \$path)
```

If you have already started your thesis using the ucthesisnew document class, the only changes you need to know about for Spring 2010 are:

• You are required to use 12-point type (or larger) for your main font. Therefore, do not use the 10pt or 11pt class options for the final version of your thesis.
• Be sure that you have the current version of ucthesisnew (dated 2010/04/27 or later). Earlier versions did not ensure that the paper size of the pdf file was correctly set to 8.5 x 11 inches (many TeX systems are incorrectly set up to use A4 paper size by default).

If you have been using the old ucthesis document class, then you should update your thesis to use ucthesisnew instead, as follows:

• Use \documentclass{ucthesisnew} instead of \documentclass{ucthesis}
• Do not use the \abstractsignature macro in your abstract
• The \prevdegrees macro will be ignored

## Diagrams

Keep in mind that when TeX produces pdf output, it handles graphics differently than it does when producing dvi output. Generally, for pdf output, graphics need to be provided in pdf format. An exception is that MetaPost output can be handled directly.

Therefore, if you normally use latex for producing drafts, sometime well in advance of the deadline you should make sure that you have no problems running pdflatex instead.

The ucthesisnew package consists of the files ucthesisnew.cls, uctn10.clo, uctn11.clo, and uctn12.clo. These files can be found in the directory indicated below:

 Linux machines: /local/depot/4/texlive-2007/tex/latex/local Solaris machines: /local/sol/9/depot/texlive-2007/tex/latex/local

To install them as a document class on your home computer, download them and either put them in the same directory as your thesis files, or follow the instructions for your TeX installation on installing new LaTeX document classes.

# Steps for Final Submission

First, print the approval page. To do this, add a macro \approvalpage just after \maketitle in your LaTeX file, and run TeX as usual. You can then print just that page from xdvi, evince, or Adobe Reader (acroread) by going to that page and selecting the appropriate option on the "print" popup.