Procedure lay-out and printing doctoral thesis/invitations/announcements

Important: Start this procedure at least five weeks before you have to send your final thesis to the jury members!

Font style doctoral thesis

Request unique depot number

  • Fifteen working days before printing of the thesis (proof), you need to deliver the document ‘Koninklijke Bibliotheek Albert I (pdf, 138 KB)’ to Patrick Carmans.
  • You will receive a unique depot number which you neet to enter in the document 'application form' (see next step)
  • Patrick Carmans will keep three copies of your doctoral thesis. One for the library of Hasselt University and two for the Royal Library in Brussels (keep this in mind when determining the print run!)

Application form cover doctoral thesis 

  • For the cover, inside page, invitation and announcement of your doctorate, you must fill in the application form correctly and send it to phd@uhasselt.be (subject: Aanvraagformulier COVER doctoraatsthesis) at least 10 working days before you want to print the proof of your PhD thesis.
  • Exclusively for a PhD thesis in the Audiovisual and Visual Arts and Architecture, a photograph or a drawing may be inserted on the cover. The layout office can provide you with more information about this.

Printing the PhD thesis 

  • The PhD thesis should always be printed recto-verso. Please ensure that all chapters begin on odd pages. We only add the title page to the document. The rest of the pagination and layout is your responsibility.
  • Proof: You can request a proof at least eight working days before you need to send your final thesis to the jury members. More information about printing your proof can be found under ‘How can I print my thesis?’ If the upload takes place in the morning (before 10 am), you can collect the proof the next day at XOD. Both cover and contents will be delivered loose-leaf. If no changes have to be made to the thesis, you can inform Patrick Carmans by email, mentioning how many copies of the final thesis you want to print.
  • Final print: It takes five working days to print your final thesis, so please upload your final thesis into the system no later than five working days before you have to send your final thesis to the jury. It is advisable to perform a test beforehand, so that you do not have any last-minute surprises.

The inner material of your PhD thesis: black and white, or colour? 

Following three colour options are possible:

  • Print in “Black and White
  • Print in “Full Colour” (The entire content is printed in full color, which results in a much more expensive final price).
  • Print in “Mixed”. Here you should specify the "PDF pages" (*) to be printed in full colour. Example: "21.22.31-38.50"(= Print pages in color are "21", "22", from "31 t.e.m. 38" and finally "50".

(*) “Pdf-Page number” is the number from the current page in in the ‘page navigation window’ and not the self-created pages on the document pages!

For Your Information: The page numbers on the document pages don’t always match the page numbers displayed below the page thumbnails and on the “page navigation” toolbar. Because certain PDF’s contain front pages, such as a table of contents, it’s possible that the numbers of the pages don’t match with the numbering on the “page navigation” toolbar.



For example: “A3 on 81,82,83”
Example page navigation toolbar:

Prices per unit: Price A4 recto

  • black-white = € 0.05
  • full colour = € 0.1805

How can I print my thesis (both proof and final print)? 

After applying for the depot number with Patrick Carman (see step 2 above) you receive:

  • an email with a unique depot number
  • a link to upload the proof as well as the final print

Detachable outer cover around the PhD thesis (optional) 

According to the Doctoral Regulations of Hasselt University, the doctoral thesis must be written in accordance with the house style rules as determined by the University Board. This implies that no image, photos, or drawings are allowed on the cover of the doctoral thesis. As PhD student you may, if you wish, – on your own initiative and at your own expense – design/print a detachable outer cover by an external printing office. The internal Hasselt University services/faculties cannot offer support in this regard. The layout of the official cover must still follow the Hasselt University guidelines. Three official printed versions of the doctoral thesis, which will be included in the Royal Library of Brussels (x2) on the one hand and in the Hasselt University library (x1) on the other hand should be presented without detachable outer. A detachable outer cover may however be placed around the other printed copies of the doctoral thesis. You may use this template, or develop your own. The proposed template is tailored to a doctoral thesis and can be exported to a PDF file for printing by an external printer. If you wish to use a detachable outer cover, Hasselt University recommends to still include the following:

  • The logo of Hasselt University (or, if applicable, the tUL logo, or the logo of the second university in case of a joint PhD/joint supervision);
  • The phrase “Doctoral dissertation submitted to obtain the degree of ‘insert doctoral discipline’’’;
  • The name of the PhD student;
  • The title of the doctoral thesis;
  • The names of the promoter(s) and, if applicable, the co-promoter(s) with affiliations;