MA and PhD: Research Proposals, Theses and Dissertations

BA Regulations: 

MA Regulations:    MA Proposal     Defending the Thesis    MA Final exam  LOA  MA Forms

PhD Regulations:   PhD Proposal      PhD Dissertation    PhD Final Steps   PhD Forms

MA

MA Proposal regulations and forms

1. Each thesis proposal must be read by one reviewer. The reviewer can be from within the Department.

2. If the reviewer does not teach at an Israeli university (i.e. either at an Israeli academic college or an institution abroad), the suggested reviewer must send a recent CV with indication of current academic rank.

3. The advisor(s) and student must complete and sign the following form.

4. The Advisor should send directly to the reviewer the following form. The form must be completed and signed.

5. If the reviewer requests revisions, the student must fill out the following form, which needs to be signed by the advisor(s) and the student.

6. After the reviewer sends back the form and the necessary revisions are made and approved, please send to Judie.Liri@biu.ac.il the following forms and information:

a. The Proposal.

b. The forms - make sure they are signed.

c. The reviewer's full name and academic rank, and the name of the university where he/she teaches.

Instructions for Thesis Defense
 

Before scheduling a thesis defense make sure to check with the Dept. office that the student's file includes all of the required grades. Thank you!

The defense committee panel must include at least three members chosen from the Faculty who have the the rank of "lecturer" or higher (i.e. "lecturer", "senior lecturer" or “Professor").

After the thesis defense is completed, send in the following forms filled out and signed to Judie Liri:

1. The Judge's form - form number 1 .

2. The Advisor(s)'s form - form number 2 .

3. The Chair of the defense panel's form - form number 3 signed by all panel members.

4. Summary Approval form - form number 4 signed by the Departmental Committee's Chair.

5. The student must submit the thesis to the Main Library (after it is approved by the school of graduate studies).

      a. Email an electronic copy of the thesis for approval to Smadar Wisper, our Librarian. 

      b. Once Smadar approves the thesis, email to Judie Liri to receive further instructions and documents.

6. Submitting a Hard Copy of the Thesis once it has been approved by the library staff - printed out and bound according to regulations. The Hard Copy must be placed in the Book Return box at the entrance to the Main Library.

Leave of Absence

A student may take only one leave of absence during their MA studies, and only for a specific academic year. If for some reason a student needs to take a break from studies, he/she needs to email Judie Liri  to receive instructions on how to submit the request for a leave of absence.

MA Students forms

Guidelines for master’s degree thesis

To see the School of Graduate Studies' guidelines for writing and submitting the research proposal, click here or read on. 

The thesis is the outcome of original research summarized as a detailed scientific work. The thesis is to reflect knowledge and understanding in the selected area of research, use of relevant scientific tools, analytical abilities, original thinking and ability to express oneself well in writing.

Instructions and guidelines for submitting the master's degree thesis

1. Students must be registered at Bar-Ilan University in the year they submit their thesis.
2. Students whose graduation is set for a particular academic year must complete all degree requirements by the final day of that academic year, including coursework, thesis, thesis final exam and submission of requested revisions. Students who do not meet these requirements will be charged an additional year of tuition, per tuition policy.
3. To avoid incurring an additional year of tuition, the thesis should be submitted for approval to the departmental committee about three months before the start of the next academic year, to leave sufficient time for revisions as needed.
4. The department must ascertain that the thesis review and final exam be completed within 60 days of the date of thesis submission to the department.
     

Final exam

The exam is an oral one, before an examining committee appointed by the departmental committee. Students are to present their research outcome and demonstrate proficiency in topics related to their research and in supplementary material as determined by the departmental committee. The departmental committee may choose to hold a written exam on the supplementary material.

Eligibility to take the exam is contingent upon completion of all requirements, including availability of all final grades for required master's degree coursework, which include Jewish Studies / General Studies (for non Jewish students), and registration for the academic year in which the exam is held. It is the responsibility of the departments to ascertain that students do not take their final exam before completing all their requirements. 

Guidelines for thesis submission in academic article format

The research proposal is to be submitted and reviewed as accepted in the department.

The thesis is to include an academic article submitted for publication in a journal at a level of B or Q2 or above (a letter from the journal confirming submission is to be included). The article must include the student’s academic affiliation with the relevant department and to Bar-Ilan University.

The length of the academic article should be as accepted in journals within the particular discipline.

The student must be a central participant in the research conducted and in the writing of the academic article. A letter by the advisor attesting to the student’s contribution to each phase of the article's work is to be attached to the thesis.

The limited word count of an academic article does not always allow for the necessary elaboration; the thesis should thus include additional sections conveying all aspects of the research topic:

• Expanded bibliographic survey as accepted in a thesis, with corresponding bibliography list. (This is not necessary if the academic article itself includes a broad survey).
• If the academic article does not present a broad, detailed presentation of methodology, this should be included as part of the thesis.
• Where necessary, an expanded summary may be included, with possible consequences of the study, future directions, etc.

The thesis work is reviewed in the same way all standard theses are reviewed in the department.

Research publication

Students are not to publish their thesis work or a portion of it without advisor approval.

Students who publish their thesis work or a portion of it, must indicate that the research was conducted as part of their master's degree requirements at Bar-Ilan University, referencing the name of the department and advisor.

Instructions for writing a thesis

1.    The thesis is to be printed on A4 paper with line spacing of 1.5 and wide margins (2-3 cm on each side). The bibliography, footnotes and references may be single-spaced (line spacing of 1.0).

We recommend Times New Roman or Arial font of point size 12 in English and David or Arial font of point size 12 in Hebrew.

Font size for the bibliography should be the same as in the remainder of the work. References may be printed in a smaller font size. Printing may be double-sided, so long as it is clear and legible.

2.    The thesis must not exceed 150 printed pages (or 75 double-sided pages). We recommended binding it only after it has been approved by the department's library.

3.    A cover page in English and in Hebrew must appear on the cardboard binding of the thesis. Each word of the English thesis title is to be capitalized (other than prepositions). Be sure to correctly specify department, faculty, school or unit (as indicated on the Bar Ilan website) on the cover page and on the pages with advisor's name, in both languages.

4.    Following the binding, two interior cover pages identical to the exterior ones (as shown in the example below).

5.    The page following the interior cover page must indicate the name of the advisor(s) in the following format:

This work was carried out under the supervision of Prof. / Dr. _______________

 Department of English Literature and Linguistics,

Bar-Ilan University.

The page following the interior Hebrew cover page must include the name of the advisor in Hebrew in the following format:     

     עבודה זו נעשתה בהדרכתו/ה של פרופ' / ד”ר [This work was carried out under the supervision of Prof. / Dr.] ______________________

המחלקה לבלשנות וספרות אנגלית [The Department of English Literature and Linguistics

של אוניברסיטת בר-אילן [at Bar-Ilan University].

6.    This should be followed by a table of contents, listing the chapters and appendices (if any). The table of contents should also list the Hebrew and the English abstracts.

7.    A thesis abstract, introduction, summary and bibliography in English is mandatory, as well as a Hebrew abstract (see examples below).

8.    The work should be written in keeping with accepted standards in the discipline, and should be properly edited. Special attention should be paid to references, quotations, footnotes and bibliography, to be formatted in keeping with professional publications in the area of research. In all cases, author names, publication name, article name, journal name, number of first page, book title and year of publication must be included.

9.    These regulations indicate minimum requirements; specific requirements in the particular discipline must also be adhered to.

10.   Deviation from this regulation requires prior approval by the School of Graduate Studies; such approval will be granted in exceptional cases only, by considering well-justified recommendations by the advisor and by the departmental committee before submission of the final work for review.

Sample thesis front cover (English)

BAR-ILAN UNIVERSITY

Thesis title

Student name (First name followed by last name)

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master's Degree

in the Department English Literature and Linguistics

Bar-Ilan University

Ramat-Gan, Israel                                                              Year

Sample layout of thesis

Sample back cover page Hebrew required (English translation shown in square brackets for your convenience)

אוניברסיטת בר-אילן [Bar-Ilan University]

Title of work

שם הסטודנט [Student name] (First name followed by last name)

עבודה זו מוגשת כחלק מהדרישות לשם קבלת תואר מוסמך [Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master's Degree]

במחלקה לבלשנות וספרות אנגלית [in the Department of English Literature and Linguistics

של אוניברסיטת בר-אילן [Bar-Ilan University]

[Hebrew year] רמת גן                                                                   שנה עברית [Ramat Gan]

PhD

Research Proposals

To see the Graduate School's guidelines for writing and submitting the research proposal, click here or read on. 

The research proposal must include a cover page specifying the name of the proposal in Hebrew and in English, a survey of the literature addressed by the research including current knowledge on the subject, sections that specify the significance of the study and its objectives, a description of the research methods, the planned research process, a table of contents, and a full bibliography.

The research proposal, not including bibliography and cover page, should be no more than 30 pages. Departments are entitled to require a shorter research proposal than that specified above.

The proposal must be accompanied by the “Submission of a doctoral research proposal” form, signed by the student, the advisor(s) and the departmental committee chair. 

If the research topic requires approval of an ethics committee, such approval must be obtained from the department or the faculty before submitting the research proposal for review.

The proposal should then be submitted by the student to the departmental committee after it has been signed by the advisor(s); the department shall then send it for review.

The research proposal approved by the School of Graduate Studies is binding upon the student.

Any change to the research topic after the proposal has been approved, such as broadening or narrowing its scope, requires approval by the School of Graduate Studies. Such a request must be submitted using the miscellaneous requests form, signed by the advisor and the department.

Research proposal for dissertation as a collection of articles

Students who plan to submit their dissertation as a collection of articles must indicate that in their research proposal. Following the cover page, the theme common to all the articles is to be stated in detail (3-4 pages). The research proposal shall include before each article, in addition to discussion of the general topic under study, the topic of the planned articles, their objectives, theoretical or experimental background, hypotheses, their central claim that the article intends to develop, and the new knowledge it is expected to introduce. If the decision on dissertation as monograph or as a collection of articles is still open, the research proposal shall specify so; in that case, the research proposal shall be written assuming dissertation as monograph.

The request to change dissertation format, including a request for submission as a collection of articles, shall specify the reasons for the request in detail, and must be submitted to the School of Graduate Studies together with a recommendation by the departmental committee, as soon as possible, following the decision to change the dissertation format.  Submission of such requests should not be delayed to the final stages of research and summary.

About the process: 

1. Each proposal must be read by two reviewers, one from within the university and one from outside the university. The list of suggested reviewers should be sent to the departmental office before the reviewers receive the proposal.

2. If the reviewer does not teach at an Israeli university (i.e. either at an Israeli academic college or an institution abroad), the suggested reviewer must send a recent CV with indication of current academic rank.

3. After the reviews are received and the proposal is amended according to the reviewers' recommendations, the proposal is submitted via the office - Judie Liri.

Make sure to have all the following forms submitted along with the research proposal:

• Submission form.
• Internal and external reviewer forms.
• Corrections form.

Dissertations
Instructions for Dissertation submission

Dissertations together with other forms are submitted directly to the PhD Committee via the office - Judie Liri .

1. The dissertation.
2. Cover page, page with advisor name, abstract.
3. Form 1 - Guidelines for submission of disseration - signed by the student and the advisor(s).
4. Form 2 - Student statement - signed by the student.
5. Form 3 - Student personal details - signed by the student.
6. Form 4 - Advisor's approval - signed by the advisor. One form for each advisor.
7. Recommended Judges form - to be viewed only by the advisor and sent directly to the office.
8. Form 5 - Accompanying form for a collection of articles - signed by student and advisor(s). Only when the dissertation is a collection of articles.
9. Form 6 - Submission form for a collection of articles - signed by student and advisor(s). Only when the dissertation is a collection of articles.

Recommended judges form: The list of proposed judges should include faculty at the rank of senior lecturer or above (i.e. "Martze Bachir” or “Professor"). Three three judges should be from Bar-Ilan University (either from the department or other departments), and three judges from outside Bar-Ilan University, either in Israel or abroad. Any proposed judge who is not a faculty member of an Israeli university (i.e. a foreign scholar or a faculty member at a teaching college in Israel), must also include their CV and current academic rank.

In the event that no three judges from Bar Ilan University with the relevant expertise can be recommended, the list should include five other judges accompanied by an explanation justifying the request.

PhD Final Steps

After you fulfill the following requirements and you have received the Graduate School's approval, your name will be included in the list of degree recipients. Graduation date details will be sent to you at a later date.

Should you wish to publish your dissertation, please note the following requirements that can be found in the research student terms of study, chapter 13, clause 6:

“Any research student who publishes his/her research or any part thereof, in print or any other public media, via the university or other publisher, or in a scientific journal, shall add to the body of the text a statement that the research was carried out in partial fulfillment of the doctoral degree at Bar-Ilan University, with an acknowledgment of the advisor, department, and date of dissertation approval.”

Final Steps Before Conferment of Doctor of Philosophy Degree

Click this link to fill out the eligibility form required to complete your degree. Your request will be sent to the Tuition Division who will confirm that you have no unpaid invoices, and to the Central Library to make sure all books have been returned and that you have submitted your dissertation.

Please submit your dissertation to the library within two weeks of receipt of this letter (if June, immediately).

After the confirmation from the Tuition Division and the library, the School of Graduate Studies will approve the request and prepare the eligibility documentation.

Below are detailed Central Library guidelines for the submission of your dissertation (to be completed in addition to the other “Final Steps”):

1. Give your advisor/s a final printed copy of your dissertation.
2. Give the Central Library (circulation, on ground floor) a final printed copy of your dissertation.
3. Bring the Central Library a copy of the signed dissertation submission form (this is the form that accompanied your dissertation submission, signed by your advisor and you).
4. Before you submit your dissertation to the library, make sure it has been written according to the guidelines as detailed by the School of Graduate Studies.
5. Dissertations are to be submitted to the Central Library dissertation processing unit on the main floor. You must schedule an appointment online via the library website, and make sure you receive a confirmation.
6. Please submit one printed copy to the Central Library as well as a PDF version on a flash drive/disc-on-key (to be returned to you).
7. The Central Library will send a digital copy to the National Library in Jerusalem (according to the law).
8. Make sure all books on loan, including inter-library, have been returned.
9. The PhD Section of the School of Graduate Studies reserves the right to request additional copies of student dissertations.

Generally, a number of documents are required in order to receive a certificate of eligibility for the PhD degree. This includes a confirmation that you submitted your dissertation to the library and a confirmation from the library that you do not owe any fees.

Currently, due to the restrictions associated with the Coronavirus outbreak, in order to receive an eligibility document you are kindly requested to email the following forms to thesesbiu@gmail.com:

• Digital form of your dissertation
• Library Statement using this form

In addition, please send an email to The School of Graduate Studies confirm that you have submitted your dissertation to the library and that you have paid/have no library fees using the form above.

The School of Graduate Studies will issue your certificate of eligibility for the degree even without depositing a printed copy of the dissertation in the library, and in the absence of approval of the absence of loan debts, yet only after submitting the electronic copy of the work.

Upon the return to regular work (post-Corona), you will be required to submit a printed copy of your dissertation in the library within two weeks.

The awarding of the PhD certificate and participation in the ceremony will be conditional on the submission of the dissertation to the library and confirmation from the library of the absence of fees.

Forms

Student Form in cases such as: extending the date of submission of the proposal or the thesis, extending the date of finishing the prerequisites. you can also use the student form in English

Progress Report Form