Submission of the Master's Thesis

You are required to have three readers for a Master's Thesis – your supervisor and two other readers. The two other readers don't have to be from your research area as long as they are from one of Psychology's six research areas (e.g. a Cognitive MA student could have a reader from the Social Psychology area). Once all your readers have approved your thesis and all are prepared to sign off on it, you must let the Administrative Coordinator, Graduate Studies know the following, preferably by email:

  • the title of your thesis
  • your supervisor’s name
  • the names of your readers

When the Administrative Coordinator, Graduate Studies receives this information, a form will be circulated to your supervisor and your readers for their signatures.

Once all the necessary signatures have been collected, including the Graduate Officer's, the Administrative Coordinator, Graduate Studies will send the form to the Associate Dean's office for approval. Once the Associate Dean's office has approved the form, you will receive an email indicating that your thesis has been accepted.  It is at this point that you are able to submit your thesis electronically to UWSpace.

  • In the meantime, approximately one month prior to the completion of your degree requirements, you will apply to graduate in Quest. Note that the Expected Graduation Term from the Quest drop down list is the term in which you will be completing your degree requirements and not the term in which you will be convocating. Please send the Administrative Coordinator an email informing her that you have done so.  It's helpful to know that you have taken this next step.  

The University of Waterloo requires you to submit your thesis electronically. Once you have submitted your electronic copy to the Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs (GSPA) via UWSpace, you will receive an email confirming that the formatting of your thesis is acceptable, or else informing you that minor changes are necessary.  When your thesis has been submitted satisfactorily, it will become available online through UWSpace. UWSpace will e-mail you of your thesis acceptance. You have now completed your degree requirements, provided that all of your grades have been submitted for the current term and your milestones are complete. The Administrative Coordinator, Graduate Studies will send a degree completion form to GSPA.

The department no long requires the submission of hard-bound copies of theses. If you wish to obtain a paper copy of your thesis, e.g., in book form, W Print has many options available on how to print and bind your thesis.

It is highly recommended that you contact the Administrative Coordinator, Graduate Studies before you leave campus for the final time. Please remember to hand in your keys and clear out your office space.