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KU Leuven

Doctoral Dissertation (Doctoraat) Formatting Guidelines

Official layout specifications, binding margins, and document formatting requirements.

Governing Body: Doctoral Schools & KU Leuven Libraries (Flanders, BE)

Degree Scope:🎓 Ph.D. / Doctoralℹī¸ Master's / M.Tech. format requires departmental / DPGC confirmation unless a central handbook is cited
Official Handbook:
KU Leuven Regulations for the Preparation and Defence of the Doctoral Thesis
View Official Handbook ↗
Paper Dimensions
A4 (210 mm × 297 mm)
Binding Margins
25 mm Left / 20 mm Right
Standard Typography
Times New Roman (11pt)
Line Spacing
1.5x

1. Page Setup & Geometry

Page dimensions, binding margins, and print/digital alignments

A4
Top: 25 mm
Binding: 25 mm
[Header]Page 1
[Front matter]
Right: 20 mm
Bottom: 20 mm
Left (Binding Gutter)
25mm
Right Margin
20mm
Top Margin
25mm
Bottom Margin
20mm
Margin Specification: Draft on A4; Left: 25 mm, Right: 20 mm, Top: 25 mm, Bottom: 20 mm. Final print trimmed to standard 160 x 240 mm (except Geology and specific departments using A4).

2. Typography & Spacing Hierarchy

Font selections, heading styles, line spacing, and paragraph indentation

Times New Roman
Body Font
Times New Roman
Font Size
11pt
Line Spacing
1.5x
Paragraph Indent
0.5 in
Approved Typefaces:Times New RomanArialGaramond
Spacing Exceptions: Single spacing for quotations, footnotes, tables, and references.

3. Technical & Archival Compliance

ETD ProQuest repository requirements, table spanning, and vector DPI rules

Institute ETD / library deposit
Tables Layout

Table captions: above.

Figures & Graphics

Figure captions: below. Colour photography minimum 300 DPI.

Math & Formulae

Right-aligned equation numbers (chapter.seq). Preserves native MathML and Word equation blocks.

Archival Preservation

Library ETD guideline: PDF/A-1b (Note: ScholarSpec formats submission-ready Word .docx documents; export to PDF/A upon final committee approval).

4. Preliminary Pages Checklist & Order

Strict graduate school ordering, title page numbering suppression, and Roman pagination

Mandatory Sequence
  1. 1
    Title PageMandatory
    Pagination: suppressed counted
  2. 2
    Use of Generative AI StatementMandatory
    Pagination: roman visible
  3. 3
    AbstractMandatory
    Pagination: roman visible
  4. 4
    Table of ContentsMandatory
    Pagination: roman visible

6. Academic Integrity, Similarity & AI Policy

Plagiarism threshold, similarity checking software, and Generative AI disclosure rules

Policy & Disclosure
Generative AI Policy
Disclosure Statement Required

Mandatory statement on the 'Use of generative AI' required in front matter near the beginning of the thesis, declaring whether and how AI was used, or explicitly confirming no GenAI was used.

Chapter Opening & Print Setup

Chapter start placement, top margin drops, single vs double-sided print, and paper weight

Layout
Printing Format
Single or Double-Sided

8. Institutional & Departmental Policies

Dual Bilingual Abstracts:

Dual bilingual abstracts: both popularized summary and scientific abstract in Dutch and English.

Corporate Cover Design:

Outer cover must conform to KU Leuven corporate design guidelines (no commercial/company logos on cover).

Repository Deposit:

Final dissertation deposit in Lirias repository.

Institutional Policy: Doctoral School regulations govern PhD dissertations.

Notice a discrepancy in this 2026 handbook?

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Format with this Template ➔
✓High-Confidence A4 Margin & Gutter Setup
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✓24-Hour Secure Storage & Instant Deletion (Strict Academic Privacy)
*ScholarSpec is a pre-submission formatting assistant. Output is calibrated to official university graduate handbooks.
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  • Downgraded to partial 2026-10-13: the verification block cites a landing page without a page-level formatting source. Re-verify margins, typography, and pagination against the institution's thesis handbook before marking verified.