No doubt you are a student in academia at the moment, or you may even be a parent researching exactly what you son/daughter will be doing for their thesis. An academic thesis is a study that represents individual (or sometimes group) research, which is then concluded and grounded around written evidence, by the individual student; it is submitted in partial fulfillment of a degree at a recognised university.

There are many such topics and subjects that the student can look into and conduct research, whether through an experiment, investigation, or other primary research area. The thesis will be measured for originality, findings and conclusions, as well as whether the paper has been kept within a set word-count that is established by the school, college or university.

The research is considered the main part of the thesis and will start a long time before the student begins to think about a hypothesis. A plan is an important step to ensure that everything will be covered in the research process, and the student should plan the different aspects of their research project to meet the submission deadline.

This research stage of the course, which is when the thesis project is undertaken, is generally towards the end of the course, and on many postgraduate degree courses is the final element. For undergraduates, it will cover the final year of their course and will count heavily to their final degree grade.

On a postgraduate course, such as a masters degree, the thesis part of the course will be a separate module of the course and will be conducted over the summer term of the year; this will count between 5 and 20% of the final grade. Generally, all masters degrees will require the student to complete a thesis.

The thesis project is considered an important and key stage in the student earning their degree, and it is considered a vital and important part to the course. Submission guidelines are fair, but also strict; students will need to adhere to them if they intend to attend graduation.

In some cases, the student, who has completed their thesis project, will be required to attend a defense with the awarding panel at their university. At undergraduate and masters degree level this stage will not generally take place and is reserved for a higher degree and doctoral theses.

However, all students should be aware that there is a possibility that they will be called on to submit a defense to the panel, even if they are an undergraduate student. They may be asked to defend their research, opinions and conclusions presents, and it will be best for them to present tangible examples when referring to aspects contained in the thesis research paper.