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Before submitting your Master's or Doctoral thesis

Before making your initial submission, there are some key steps you need to take. It is important to ensure that your initial deposit is complete and that it respects rules of presentation.

If information or documents are missing, processing of your initial submission will be needlessly delayed.

Before submitting your Master's or Doctoral thesis, make sure you have checked each of the following points:

You are registered for the current session and for the entire session of your initial submission: 

  • in your degree program OR
  • in continuing research OR
  • in a course* from another graduate program to which you have been admitted at Université Laval.

*Professional Skills Development courses (DVP courses) do not meet this requirement.

You Déclaration de l'étudiant - éthique de la recherche (VRR-101) (in French only) has submitted to academic advising office of your program.

If not, contact academic advising before proceeding with your initial submission.

You have fullfilled all program obligations, including mandatory and elective courses, research training activities, language prerequisites, and other requirements.

You have written your Master's or Doctoral thesis in accordance with the FESP presentation rules (Academic Regulations, article 1.5 a)).

You have two versions of your Master's or Doctoral thesis: a Word, ODT or LaTeX version and a PDF file.

You have completed the evaluation committee makeup form in collaboration with your research director and sent it to your program director.

You have completed and signed all required forms applicable to your situation in the following section.

Several forms must be filled out when you submit your Master's or Doctoral thesis. It is your responsibility to ensure that you have completed and signed all applicable forms before making your initial submission. 

Required forms for all students

One or the other of these forms is required as per your situation

Your manuscript has at least one chapter written in a language other than French:

Your manuscript includes one or more coauthored papers. You must fill out an authorization form for each paper:

You are requesting a restriction on release:

If there is an agreement on the protection and confidentiality of information with which you have worked or have been exposed:

As a member of ORCID-CA, Université Laval encourages the use of ORCID throughout the research ecosystem. ORCID id is a unique, persistent identifier free of charge to researchers. 

It aims to solve the problems of name ambiguity and researcher identification by giving individuals a unique numeric identifier that persists over time.  ORCID is integrated into several systems used by publishers, granting agencies, institutions and other research-related services and thus facilitates several aspects of the professional life of researchers.

If you do not have an ORCID identifier yet, FESP recommends that you create one when you proceed to initial submission. It is possible to do this for free on the orcid.org website.

For assistance, please contact the Library's ORCID support team at identifiants.uniques@bibl.ulaval.ca.

Important dates

You must be registered for the semester in which you make your initial submission:

  • For an activity in your degree program
  • For an ongoing research activity
  • For a graduate program at Université Laval (e.g., a doctoral program subsequent to your master’s program)

Important: Professional skills development (DVP) courses do not meet this requirement.

The deadline for the initial submission of your Master's or Doctoral thesis is the semester end date on the university calendar.

During your initial submission, be sure to send a complete evaluation file to the FESP, i.e. your Master's or Doctoral thesis in a Word, ODT or LaTeX format, and a PDF version as well as all the required documents and forms. If your initial deposit is not complete and the deadline has passed, you will need to register for the next session and maintain your registration for the entire session.

If you make your initial submission after the end of the semester, you will be required to register for the following semester and remain registered throughout.

SemesterMake your initial submission by (11:59 p.m.):If the initial submission is made on or after:You must register for the following semester:
Fall 2023January 14January 15Winter 2024
Winter 2024May 5May 6Summer 2024
Summer 2024September 1stSeptember 2Fall 2024
Fall 2024January 12January 13Winter 2025
Winter 2025May 4May 5Summer 2025

Foreign students present on Canadian territory have the legal obligation to register full-time for all sessions of their study program, which includes the sessions of the initial deposit, the defense and the final deposit.

Exceptionally, during the last session of their program, foreign students can enroll part-time.

Foreign students registered full-time retain the advantages associated with this status:

  • You remain in Canada and must maintain full-time student status in order to meet your legal obligations and retain the following benefits:
  • Membership in the group health and hospitalization insurance plan for international students
  • Dental insurance provided by AÉLIES
  • Access to library services
  • PEPS membership
  • Student rate in campus residences
  • Maintaining an employment contract at the University or a part-time job off campus

Registration is not required if:

  • You leave Canada permanently and will not return to the country as part of his studies.
  • You remain in Canada, but has changed status (permanent residence, work permit, etc.).

Foreign students who have left Canada and wish to return for graduation only do not need to register for credits or have a valid CAQ and study permit at this event.

For more information, please write to  immigration@reg.ulaval.ca  or see this page .

In the event of a discrepancy between the French and English texts, the French version prevails.