Helpful guides

Step-By-Step Guide To Writing Doctoral Thesis In Mathematics


Writing a doctoral thesis may seem like a long and arduous task to most students. The situation becomes worse when you have to write on a subject like maths that is rooted in facts and figures. However, there is no cause for worry as there are some helpful suggestions and tips that you can keep in mind which will make your work seem less daunting and enable you to write a good paper.

  • Forming an outline
  • Your first order of action should be to create an outline. This spans some pages’ worth of chapter headings, figure titles, sub-headings along with your personal observations and comments. The outline is basically a map to guides you while you write your paper and points you in the right direction.

  • Organising your paper
  • You should manage a personalised filing system to keep track of all the content and material that you gather for your mathematics paper. You can attach your personal notes to these files for future reference.

  • Vital Points
  • Your first job is to create a title page. You should then focus on creating an abstract which contains selections of your doctoral thesis. Keep in mind that this will be widely published so try to make this interesting. The inclusion of an acknowledgements page is a must along with a detailed table of contents.

  • Components of your paper
    • You should first come up with a suitable introduction. Mention the maths problem that you are dealing with in your paper in a simple way and then try to take a broad look at it. This section should not be too long but it must be logical and well-written and appeal to the sensibilities of your readers.
    • You have to include a literature review section mentioning where this particular maths problem stems from and how other methods have been used to resolve it. You should discuss how your paper builds upon the existing knowledge.
    • The body of your paper should mention the methods and resources that you have used in order to come to a solution to the maths problem presented in your doctoral paper. Use logical arguments to make your points and you should have sufficient evidence to back up your claims.
  • Writing the conclusion
  • Your conclusion should neatly wrap up all the points and arguments that have been presented in your paper. Make sure that your maths topic suggests some interesting avenues for further research. You can also discuss practical implications of your paper.