This is a template which was compiled to ease the process of writing and publishing thesis at the Institute of Informatics (IFI) of University of Zurich (UZH).
It includes what I called Thesis-in-a-Box: a script that uses Docker to build the thesis in any platform, without having to be concerned to install LaTeX, Xelatex, fonts, etc.
The template can be used either to:
- Ph.D. thesis
- M.Sc. thesis
- B.Sc. thesis
However, if you think that such template requires some adjustments, either contact me or do a pull request. I'm open to hear different needs and adapt it.
The best practices and rules presented here are not officially supported by IFI-UZH -- but by individuals that contribute in a free will. It means that: if the formal thesis structure changes in future, there's no guarantee that this template will be updated.
Thus, by cloning/downloading this thesis template you agree to use it at your own risk.
The directory structure is organized as follows:
./figs: directory to hold all thesis figures. It is advisable to create sub-directories reflecting each chapter../cover: directory where the cover page is located../chapters: directory where chapter files (and some auxiliary ones) are located../bib: directory where the bibliography (BibTex) file is located../fonts: directory where all font files are located../packages: directory where additional LaTeX packages are located../scripts: directory where scripts are located. For example, thebuild.shandbuild_docker.shscripts are used to build the thesis and generate the final PDF../thesis.tex: file which is the thesis root.
The thesis-in-a-box is basically a script that builds your thesis using docker. The advantage is that you don't need to be concerned on how to install LaTeX, how to install fonts, or how to install LaTeX packages. Also, you'll not get desperate if your machine crash -- you can build the thesis at anytime again, from any other machine with docker. However... I assume you have a backup of your thesis content files, don't you? :-)
The only required software is Docker and a bash-compatible shell to run the build script.
Thus, follow these tutorials to install Docker for your specific operating system:
For Windows, it would be required to have bash installed to execute the build script. This link shows how to install it.
It's pretty easy to "build" and generate the PDF output.
First, clone this git repository:
$ git clone https://github.com/gsmachado/ifi-uzh_thesis_template.git
$ cd ifi-uzh_thesis_template
Then, execute:
$ sh ./scripts/thesis-in-a-box.sh -r `pwd`
The parameter -r must be specified, and it represents the thesis root directory (where the thesis.tex is located). In the example above, it's assumed that you currently are in the root directory -- and that's why the command pwd is used.
If you want to execute the build script in another directory, just specify the thesis template root directory:
$ sh ./scripts/thesis-in-a-box.sh -r /home/machado/git/ifi-uzh_thesis_template/
If you don't have any LaTeX compilation problems, a thesis.pdf file should be generated in the root folder as a result of thesis-in-a-box.sh execution.
Sure. It's possible.
You just have to run the normal build.sh script. However, it assumes that you have already installed all required LaTeX packages.
$ sh ./scripts/build.sh /path/to/thesis/root
The first parameter is the path to the thesis root folder.
There are some best practices that are nice to follow. They are here for your own health. :-)
Labels can be set in many ways in LateX. However, it's good to follow a pattern to name them.
My suggestion is:
- Include the label scope: if the label is from a section, chapter, etc.
- Include the label type: if the label points to a figure, table, equation, etc.
Example:
\label{introduction:sec:section_name}
This way we know that the section_name is a a Section within the introduction. In such example introduction is specified as a chapter:
\label{chap:introduction}
Moreover, it's advisable to label everything: references may help you to explain without being so repetitive.
It's advisable to keep the sources of figures (i.e., SVG, VSDX, etc), and not only the PNG or PDF figures themselves. So, it's a good practice to create a sources directory for each of the chapters in ./figs.
For example: create the directory ./figs/introduction/sources to place the sources for all figures within the introduction chapter.
The template includes the todonotes package which provides a way to highlight ToDo's or comments in the generated PDF.
Documentation and examples on how to use this powerful package can be found here. This is especially useful to communicate and make corrections with your thesis advisor.
When referencing chapters, figures, equations, and so on, the \ref{} command does not print the type of reference, but just the number reference.
For example, if you want to reference a Chapter, you must use:
[...] as seen in Chapter \ref{chap:introduction} [...]
If you would like to reference a figure, then, you would need to replace the word Chapter to Figure in the above example, also updating the label that points to the respective figure.
This thesis template follows what is specified in the Chicago Manual of Style. Thus, "e.g.", "i.e.", or any other Latin abbreviation should not be written in italics.
More info can be found here.
The following figures were used in this thesis template:
Some excerpts of this thesis template were taken from the Tridentine Roman Catholic mass, in latin. The text sources can be be retrieved from here and here.
Other paragraphs are just a repetition of Lorem Ipsum sample.
I will keep maintaining this template with YOUR support. So, don't hesitate to create issues, write me questions, and provide pull requests. :-)
Guilherme Sperb Machado gsm@machados.org