Dissertation Acknowledgements: Writing Guide + Examples

Writing a dissertation is a hard task, but it is too early to relax after completing it. Before defending your scientific thesis, you must write dissertation acknowledgements.

Dissertation acknowledgements allow the author to express appreciation to those who provided support during the research and writing process. This section provides an opportunity to recognize the contributions of other individuals and institutions who helped with your study.

Although this section is not taken into account when your dissertation defense is evaluated, it can impress readers and the academic community. Still, this page is not easy to handle, since you should follow certain rules. Read on this guide and find out how to write a thesis or dissertation acknowledgements without effort. Don’t forget to check out examples that will surely come in handy.  

Acknowledgement in dissertation is an optional section. It is a common courtesy rule in any academic community. Acknowledgements are placed immediately after the front page. This section contains personal thanking to all people who have helped and supported you with dissertation writing.

This is not only a formal acknowledgement. It can also be a recognition of these people’s contribution to a full-fledged research. After all, you’ve probably got advice from professors or asked to find the necessary literature. Chances are that you also enjoyed the support of your beloved ones.  

A list of people you can thank may vary greatly. But we recommend including these people in dissertation acknowledgements:

It is not required to dedicate a separate paragraph to each of them. This can take the text beyond 1-page limits. You can unite them into groups or not mention them if their contribution was not significant enough.

A separate part should be dedicated to your dissertation defense committee chairman. Do not highlight any of them, try paying the same attention to each member of your list.

After a formal list of dissertation participants, you can thank an informal group of people. These may be parents and other family members, spouses, children, friends. Even pets or shop assistants will do – in short, everyone who has influenced your work.  

No one limits you when choosing your acknowledgment section volume. Still, we recommend writing down your appreciation in 1 page. As a rule, no one exceeds this length and for good reason. It’s not too long and complicated, but long enough to mention all important members of your research process. Nevertheless, figure out your alma mater’s requirements. Sometimes, the limitations are set by educational institutions.

For formatting PhD dissertation acknowledgements, you should follow certain criterias:

Before you start writing Ph.D. dissertation acknowledgements, you should make a list of those who have made an important contribution to creating your study. You should distinguish personal support from professional help. Still, your writing style may be slightly informal. But you should not lean toward common speech. It is better to follow a semi-formal style. Remember that it’s not a dissertation itself – there is no need to use complex terms.

Having gathered your wits and thinking of all those who supported you in writing your scientific work, proceed to our writing tips:  

Now, let’s see how to mention professional and personal contributions in a dissertation.

It is recommended dedicating the beginning of your appreciation section to professional acknowledgement. This section implies gratitude to:

Think of those people who provided you with support and helped with collecting and handling all information. Here are some examples of professional acknowledgement:

These are examples of formal acknowledgement to all scientists who have helped with your research. It is a great opportunity to highlight some merits of the scientific team. But it is equally important to mention the names of sponsors if they supported you financially.

Keep your final part for personal acknowledgement to those who were the most meaningful. These can be family members, partners and friends who have inspired you. Here, a less formal style is appropriate, you can add quotes, poems, even put a touch of humor to your text – this is not prohibited.

Take a personal approach into account and include personal facts. Provided this approach, your acknowledgement will be as complete as possible. Specify not only the first and second names of people involved, but their positions and titles if there are any.

Thus, we suggest the following personal dissertation acknowledgements sample:  

Do not make it too personal. Keep in mind that you are still writing a part of your scientific thesis, even if it does not affect the evaluation. If you doubt your skills, contact our academic writing service. Whether it’s a dissertation or a research paper, we will compose a work in line with all requirements.

Below, please find a short sample of what dissertation acknowledgements may look like in general. As you can see, a writer has mentioned important people from both professional and personal circles. All paragraphs should be well-organized and of equal size.

Contact our academic writers who can add professional touches to this section, as in the example above.  

Follow our recommendations and you will be able to write a dissertation acknowledgement yourself. Feel free to use this dissertation acknowledgements template to express gratitude you have accumulated over the years of scientific work. If you ever need proper hands-on dissertation proposal writing services, feel free to ask StudyCrumb.

The best dissertation acknowledgements are a reflection on an opportunity that you got. It is an informal part of the scientific work that won’t be considered during the evaluation process. However, common courtesy generally requires you to work on this section. To write a good acknowledgement part, you should mention those whom you really appreciate. You can thank them in prose. Besides, you can also allow a little restrained humor if allowed by the person’s status.

If you are in need of expert backing – contact StudyCrumb dissertation writing service. We’ve got a dedicated team of professional writers who have extensive experience in the scientific field. They are ready to handle any part of your dissertation and deliver it in time.