How to Write Thesis Acknowledgement

Updated: June 12, 2023
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If you’re dealing with the task of writing a thesis, the time will also come to write acknowledgements for it. It may be the easiest part of work for some, while for others may appear to be a heavy burden. For those who struggle with acknowledgements, we are going to help figure it out. What are those? How are they written? Whom to thank? The answers and some ready-to-use examples of acknowledgements are waiting for you. Live and learn!

What is a Thesis Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements are a standard part at the end of any term paper, thesis, or dissertation. They are written to express gratitude to people who took part in your work, helped, and supported you, and sometimes it can be quite difficult to include the text of such personally significant content in a scientific paper. Keep it professional and short, but directed to the specific people who helped you along the way.

Acknowledgements come right after the title page and are less formal than the whole paper. Informal tone and first-person pronouns are acceptable here. Usually, it takes no more than one page. What is more, apart from your colleagues and professors you can also thank your parents and other relatives, friends, and God if you feel that they helped you with your thesis in any way. (But be careful – examine the requirements and restrictions, as it may sometimes be forbidden to mention people outside the scientific community).

How to Start a Thesis Acknowledgements

As a rule, the first acknowledgement goes to the scientific director of your work, this is a sign of respect. Nevertheless, if you are willing to place someone else first – it won’t be a mistake. It is fair enough to start with a person whose influence on your work is the most perceived.

When it comes to expressing your thankfulness, you should start with phrases like “I am thankful to”, “I am grateful to”, “I want to thank”, “My gratitude goes to”, and others. After that, you name the person including their position (professor, doctor), or explain your connections (mother, father, colleague) and tell how they refer to your work and what they did.

How to Structure a Thesis Acknowledgements

Your thesis acknowledgements have to be well-structured, not to be chaotic. Logically, you start with the people you think took the greatest part in your work – curators of your project, professors. It is also a common polite gesture to thank the Head of your department. Then think about other scientific workers who are directly connected to your work.

After this, you can list a bit less important participants, for instance, laboratory assistants and your group mates. What’s more, if your project received financial support from any foundation or research group in the form of a grant, donation, or scholarship, then it is necessary to mention them in the acknowledgements.

To make your page of acknowledgements look structured, it is a good idea to give each particular person or organization a separate paragraph. You can combine people in groups too if you don’t have much to say about them.

How to End a Thesis Acknowledgements

There are different ways to end your acknowledgements. Generally, you can highlight a paragraph for the people you can’t name separately and resume this as “Thanks to everyone who has somehow helped me with my work both in word and deed, whom I am not able to mention here by name. I took advantage from every assistance I have ever received”. Another way is to recall a very specific situation that was crucial for your thesis and give thanks to its participants.

This can be everything if something revolutionary indeed happened (for example, Isaac Newton could have thanked the apple tree for striking him with an apple, if he had written a thesis on Physics).

But remember to be prudent and stick to the particular situation, since sometimes it can be irrelevant.

11 How to Write Acknowledgements for Master Thesis

To give you a better understanding of how acknowledgements should look, here are some short examples.

  1. I am grateful to my parents, may God have mercy on them, for their loving guidance, prayers, and patience, for full-time supportiveness, and for the example, they set in all their dealings with others.
  2. I am thankful to (name) for their patience, love, understanding, and care as I chose my time-consuming field of work.
  3. My gratitude also to (name) their detailed editorial work to improve the work’s language and structure, and give it clarity, eloquence, and focus, to reach the goals we were setting.
  4. I thank Professor (name) for his full cooperation, assistance, honest advice, and continued support.
  5. My deep and sincere gratitude to (name), who always had time for me, helped with the most complicated questions and spent hours with me improving my work.
  6. I also express my heartfelt thanks to (name) for a great contribution to the present work, worthwhile yet kind remarks, and readiness to provide help whenever I needed it.
  7. Words cannot express how much I am thankful to (name), who was my scientific director. He made me capable of writing this thesis by constantly growing my interest in the topic throughout the years and it was a big honor to work under his supervision.
  8. Let me express my deep gratitude to all those who took part in the preparation, presentation, and discussion of my dissertation!
  9. I would like to thank my colleagues for our inspiring collaboration. You made the process of research joyful and wonderful!
  10. I can honestly say that this project would have been impossible without (name). I have heavily relied on your studies in the field and came up with many ideas while examining your proceedings.
  11. I am endlessly grateful to God for his never-ending grace, mercy, and provision during the working process.

Conclusion

In a nutshell, acknowledgements are just a written form of what you have certainly already said to the people who helped you with a thesis – “thank you”. Without a doubt, this is a pleasant part of your task, so get creative and let others know that you are surrounded by marvelous persons.

If you feel that your thesis will be a much harder assignment to accomplish, or you lack time, we are always here to help you. You can buy a thesis online to be done by professionals and stop worrying about it. We will never let you receive a poor mark for a paper!

George Lynch
George Lynch
Literature, Psychology, Religion
Experience: 3+ years
I’ve been enjoying academic writing since day one in college. Today, having a full-time job, I’m still looking forward to writing essays and research papers online for others.
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