Guidelines for the preparation of doctoral dissertations at the Graduate
School of Engineering in the Graduate School of Engineering

　Students wishing to request a dissertation review are required to prepare documentsaccording to the guidelines herein. If there are any deficiencies in the documents, they shall not be accepted. Ensure your documents are checked by your academic supervisor and the Student Affairs Section of the Graduate School of Engineering before submission.

I　Dissertation
　1.　The dissertation shall be written in Japanese or English.
　2.　The dissertation shall be submitted in digital format and
      in soft-bound paper.
　3.　The PDF data shall be prepared according to the guidelines
      in attachment 1 (PDF).
　4.　The PDF file of the dissertation shall be prepared according to the
      guidelines provided on the Kobe University Library website (PDF).
　5.　The dissertation front cover and spine shall follow the format
      in attachment 2 (PDF).
　6.　The paper size shall be A4.
　7.　The paper shall be fine white paper.
　8.　The dissertation shall be written horizontally on portrait-oriented
      paper.
　9.　If the thesis is handwritten, it should be written carefully in block
      letters and foreign words should be typed.
 10.　Once a dissertation is submitted, no change or replacement will be
      allowed. However, wording changes that do not significantly alter
      the dissertation content, and typographical error corrections may be
      made upon approval of the Dean of the Graduate School, before
      the dissertation review is completed.
 11.　For a co-authored paper where the applicant is not the first author,
      the applicant’s contribution to the paper should be briefly explained
      in the designated section of the appendix “Supplementary information
      on research achievements”, following the provided example.

II　Dissertation abstract
　1.　The dissertation abstract shall be written horizontally
      on portrait-oriented A4 paper and all pages shall be stapled together.
　2.　The title (including a subtitle) on the abstract shall be exactly the
      same as the one on the dissertation to be submitted.
　3.　The abstract shall contain 1,200 to 2,400 words in English and 2,000
      to 4,000 characters in Japanese.
　4.　In case the dissertation comprises multiple chapters, the abstract
      shall be written in the order of chapters.
　5.　The abstract is also required to follow the instructions 1 to 9
      of the above-mentioned section I.


III　Dissertation review request
　Four copies of the dissertation are required to be submitted when
there are three dissertation examiners (and one additional copy
shall be submitted per additional examiner). Two copies of the dissertation
bibliography shall be submitted regardless of the number of examiners.

IV　Dissertation bibliography
　1. Title
　　(1) The title (including a subtitle) shall be stated as stated
        on the dissertation to be submitted.
　　(2) If the title is in English, the Japanese translation shall be
        provided underneath the English title in parentheses.
　2. Publication method and date:
　　(1) The dissertation shall be formally published in a publication,
        such as a book or a scholarly journal.
　　(2) In principle, the entire dissertation shall be published without
        any changes. However, you may make minor corrections or exclude
        a part of the dissertation unless it directly impacts the research
        content when published. Also, the dissertation may be considered as
        having been formally published, even when the content of
        the dissertation was published under a different title.
　　(3) The dissertation may be divided and published in separate
        publications based on structural segments, such as chapters or
        sections, or based on the research topics.
　　(4) The published dissertation shall be archived as scholarly material
        at universities and other academic institutions, and is to be
        available for public reading at any time.
　　(5) The dissertation shall be considered as having been formally
        published, even if it appeared in a private publication or another
        type of publication with a limited number of subscribers, as long as
        the publication has been distributed to universities and other
        academic institutions. In that case, a list of the institutions is
        required to be submitted.
　　(6) For dissertations that have been published in their entirety,
        the year and month of publication, the name of the journal
        (volume and number in the case of a journal) or the name of
        the book in which the dissertation was published, etc. shall be
        indicated. For the dissertations published in volumes, chapters,
        etc., the method and time of publication shall be indicated for
        each category.
　　(7) If chapters or sections of the dissertation have been published
        under titles different from the title of the dissertation itself,
        and you wish to have the dissertation considered to have been
        formally published, please provide the published titles.
　　(8) The list of papers should only include those that have already
        been published or have been accepted for publication.
    (9) Unpublished papers that are “under submission” or “to be submitted”
        cannot be included in the list of papers, but should be noted
        in the Appendix “Supplementary Information on Research Achievements”.

［Examples］
　a. For papers that have been accepted by an academic society or similar
        organization for publication, but have not yet been printed or published
        at the time of submission of the dissertation:
　　　Title: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Academic Journal, Volume X, No. X
　　　　　　　　　　　　　     　　(Scheduled for publication on [month/day/year])

　b. For papers currently under submission:
　　　Title: : XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
　　　Under submission to XXXXX Academic Journal
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　(Submitted on [month/day/year])

　c. For papers soon to be submitted:
　　　　Title: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
　                                                 　　 　To be submitted to XXXXXXX Academic Journal
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Planned submission date([month/day/year])
                                                                                     (To be published on [month/day/year])

 　In the case of a. and b. above, if there is a certificate of scheduled
  publication or acceptance, please attach a copy. Please note that
  the publication of the dissertations is regulated by Article 19 of
  the Kobe University degree regulations.

　3. Number of Volumes
　　(1) Write the number of volumes that the dissertation comprises.
　　(2) When attaching figures and other supporting materials as separate
        volumes, the number of these volumes shall be included. However,
        when figures and other supporting materials are not bound into a
        volume, but are just attachments, write as “X volumes
        (with attached figures).”

　　*　Do not write the number of copies of the dissertation you submit,
     but the number of volumes that make up the dissertation itself.
     For example, if you have two volumes (one for the dissertation and
     the other for figures), write “two volumes.”

V　Curriculum vitae
　1. Name
　　Write your name as it appears on your passport. Do not use nicknames
　  or pseudonyms. (This also applies to the other documents.)
　2. Current address
　　(1) Write your current official home address as stated on your
       certificate of residence (jūminhyō).
　　(2) To ensure smooth communication, also write the name of your
       apartment or dormitory and your room number.
　3. Education
　　(1) List your education chronologically after graduation from
       high school.
　　(2) List all changes of status while you were a student, including
       enrollment, leave of absence, re-enrollment, withdrawal,
       graduation and completion of course.
　　(3) Write any changes in names of academic institutions and their
       subordinate units you were affiliated to while you were a student.
　　(4) Describe your education at the Graduate School of Engineering
       as below:
　　　April 1, XXXX:
　　　Enrolled in the doctoral degree program, XXX Department,
            Graduate School of Engineering, Kobe University
            March 25, XXXX:
　　　Scheduled to complete the doctoral degree program, XXX Department,
            Graduate School of Engineering, Kobe University

　4. Work experience
　　(1) List your full-time work experience chronologically,
       including addresses and types of work. Also include part-time
       work, especially if it is related to education and research.
　　(2) Write your current employment with “To date” below the starting
       date to clearly indicate that the employment is ongoing.

　5. Academic and social activities
　　(1) List academic activities and research history relevant to the degree
       review in chronological order, or by the type of activity.
　　(2) Activities to be listed in your history of scholarly research are
       as follows:
     a. Activities related to your research topics (including joint research)
     b. Activities related to training
     c. Activities related to academic investigations
     d. Activities related to research grants
　　(3) Do not list any information that applies to education or work
       experience.

　6. Awards
　Write any awards that deserve a special note.

VI　Reference thesis
 A dissertation that is complementary in content to the dissertation
 to be submitted and that is an integral part of the dissertation
 to be examined may be submitted as a reference dissertation.
 In such a case, an excerpt of the thesis must be submitted in addition
 to the number of thesis examiners plus one copy.

VII　Name notation
(1) The name should be written in the same style for all documents submitted.
  Example: International students whose names are not written in the same
  style (e.g., SMITH JOHN / Smith John / John Smith) are not acceptable.

(2) For international students, names should be written in the same order as
  in the passport.
  Example: If the name is not consistent (SMITH JOHN / Smith John
  / John Smith) depending on the document, it will not be accepted.

(3) Chinese students do not need to use the same Chinese kanji as in their
  passport (Japanese kanji may be used). However, if the name is written
  in Chinese kanji, the name should be written using English characters as
  in the passport as well.

VIII　Dissertation title
(1) If the title of the dissertation is in English, ensure that 
  capitalization is consistent across all submitted documents.
  Example: Documents with inconsistent capitalization in the title are
  not acceptable.
  Research on traditional Japanese culture （日本の伝統文化に関する研究）
  Research on Traditional Japanese Culture（日本の伝統文化に関する研究）

(2) If the title of the dissertation is in English, a Japanese translation
  should be added in parentheses after the title. The Japanese translation
  of the title of the dissertation should also be included in all
  related documents.
  Example: Research on traditional Japanese culture
          （日本の伝統文化に関する研究）

IX　Date
(1) Ensure the same date is written on the dissertation review request,
  dissertation bibliography, curriculum vitae etc.
(2) For the curriculum vitae, the date should be written
  in the Month/Day/Year format.