Template for a PhD thesis

THis is a Latex-based template for a PhD thesis at the Faculty of Life Sciences of the Humboldt University Berlin. The PDF file Template_for_a_PhD_thesis_at_Humboldt_University.pdf shows the design of this template. The template is based on the package ClassicThesis by André Miede. It was used and tested in Overleaf (Compiler pdfLaTeX and TeX Live Version texlive-full:2023.1).

Set-up

1. Download this repo (zipped version works).
2. Go to HU's Overleaf and create a new project using the files here (or zipped file).
3. In the Overleaf profect, click the Menu button on the top left and choose main.tex as the Main file under Settings.
4. Compile!

Usage

• Write your text into the various .tex files in the chapters folder.
• The main.tex file is used for compilation, hence all files you add must be included there.
• If you want to change the layout or use specific packages, edit the preamble.tex file (it is heavily commented, so search for your keywords to know where to edit).
• Don't change the classcthesis.sty file.

Writing

I had a lot of success using The most dangerous writing app in combination with ChatGPT.

1. Set a timer from five to ten minutes and generate without a prompt.
2. Free-write a section for the set time without thinking.
3. Copy the raw and uncorrected text to ChatGPT with a prompt that tells it to correct spelling and improve grammar using scientific English.
4. Copy ChatGPT's text to any text editor and rephrase the text using your own words and add anything you forgot (you are now an editor basically).
5. Put the text into Latex form in the Overleaf project.
6. Repeat steps 1. to 5. for the next section.