How to Write Dissertation Acknowledgements (With Examples)
Posted on 17th April by Admin
After months or years of research and writing, the acknowledgements section can feel like a welcome moment of relief — a chance to step outside the formal academic register and thank the people who helped you along the way. But while it is more personal than the rest of your dissertation, it still needs to be written thoughtfully and appropriately.
Getting the tone, length and content right matters more than many students realise. This guide explains exactly what to include, who to thank, how long it should be, and gives you real examples to work from.
What Are Dissertation Acknowledgements?
Dissertation acknowledgements are a short section — typically one page or less — in which you thank the people and organisations that supported you during the research and writing of your dissertation. They appear near the front of your dissertation, before the main body of your work begins.
Unlike the rest of your dissertation, acknowledgements are written in a personal, first-person voice. They are one of the very few sections where academic convention permits — and expects — you to speak as an individual rather than as a detached researcher.
While acknowledgements are not formally assessed as part of your grade, they are read by your supervisors, examiners and anyone else who picks up your dissertation. A well-written acknowledgements section leaves a positive impression; a poorly written one can seem careless or unprofessional, which is not the note you want to end on after months or years of hard work.
Do You Need to Include Acknowledgements?
In most UK universities, acknowledgements are optional rather than required. However, they are expected — particularly for undergraduate dissertations, postgraduate dissertations and doctoral theses. Omitting them entirely can seem unusual, especially if you have received supervision, funding or significant support during your research.
The exception is if your institution’s guidelines specifically state that acknowledgements should not be included — for example, in some blind marking processes where the examiner is not supposed to know the student’s identity. Always check your department’s submission guidelines before including them.
As a general rule: if you have received meaningful support — from a supervisor, a funding body, research participants or family — it is good academic and professional practice to acknowledge it.
Where Do Acknowledgements Go in a Dissertation?
Acknowledgements are placed in the preliminary pages of a dissertation — the pages that come before the main body of the work. The standard order for the preliminary pages in a UK dissertation is:
Title page
Abstract
Acknowledgements
Table of contents
List of figures / list of tables (if applicable)
List of abbreviations (if applicable)
Main body of the dissertation
Some universities place acknowledgements after the table of contents rather than before it. Always follow your institution’s specific formatting guidelines. If you are unsure, your department’s dissertation handbook or your supervisor will be able to confirm the correct order.
If you need help formatting your entire dissertation correctly — including the preliminary pages, table of contents, page numbering and referencing style — our document formatting service handles the entire process for you.
How Long Should Acknowledgements Be?
Dissertation acknowledgements should typically be between 150 and 300 words — roughly half a page to one full page. This is enough space to thank the people who matter without the section becoming self-indulgent or disproportionate to the rest of the work.
For an undergraduate dissertation, acknowledgements tend to be on the shorter end — 150 to 200 words is often appropriate. For a postgraduate dissertation or doctoral thesis, where the research period is longer and the network of support is typically broader, 200 to 300 words is more common.
If your acknowledgements are running significantly longer than one page, consider whether everything you are including is genuinely appropriate for a formal academic document. The acknowledgements section should feel warm and personal without losing its professional character.
Who Should You Thank?
There is a broadly accepted hierarchy for dissertation acknowledgements, moving from professional to personal. Most acknowledgements follow this order:
1. Academic Supervisors
Your primary supervisor should almost always be thanked first and most prominently. If you have had more than one supervisor, thank them both. Be specific about what their contribution was — guidance, feedback, encouragement, expertise — rather than simply listing their names.
2. Other Academic Staff
If other lecturers, tutors, librarians, technical staff or academic colleagues provided meaningful support — access to resources, methodological advice, help with specialist equipment — thank them here.
3. Funding Bodies and Institutions
If your research was funded — by a scholarship, grant, bursary or research council — acknowledge the funding body. This is not optional if you received formal research funding; it is typically a condition of the award. Include the full name of the funding body and the grant or award reference number if applicable.
4. Research Participants
If your dissertation involved human participants — interviewees, survey respondents, focus group members — it is good practice to thank them, especially if their contribution was substantial. Maintain their anonymity if required by your ethics approval.
5. Family and Friends
Personal thanks to family, friends and partners are entirely appropriate in dissertation acknowledgements and are expected. This is the one place in academic writing where you can express genuine personal gratitude. Place personal thanks at the end of the acknowledgements, after professional ones.
What to Include — and What to Leave Out
Knowing what to leave out is just as important as knowing what to include.
What to Include
Your supervisor’s name and a brief note of how they helped you
Any co-supervisors or advisory panel members who contributed meaningfully
Funding bodies and grant references (if applicable)
Research participants (anonymised if required)
Family members, partners or close friends who provided significant support
Anyone else who made a direct and meaningful contribution to your work
What to Leave Out
Excessive personal detail — keep it professional, even in the personal section. References to your own emotional journey should be minimal and dignified.
Humour that could misfire — a light touch is fine, but jokes or ironic remarks about the difficulty of the process can seem flippant in a formal academic document.
Very long lists of names — if you feel the need to thank more than eight or ten people, consider whether everyone on your list made a meaningful enough contribution to warrant inclusion.
Negative comments — even if your experience was not entirely positive, acknowledgements are not the place for criticism, complaints or passive-aggressive remarks about unhelpful colleagues.
AI tools — if you used AI writing or editing tools during the writing process, the acknowledgements section is not the appropriate place to disclose this. Refer to your university’s guidance on AI use disclosure.
Tone and Style
Acknowledgements occupy a unique tonal space in academic writing. They are personal but not informal, warm but not gushing, grateful but not self-deprecating. Here are the key principles:
Write in the first person. Use I throughout — “I would like to thank,” “I am grateful to,” “I could not have completed this work without.” This is one of the few sections of academic writing where first-person is not only acceptable but expected.
Be specific. “I would like to thank Dr Smith for her invaluable feedback on Chapter 3 and her patience during the revision process” is far more meaningful than “I would like to thank my supervisor.”
Keep it dignified. Even if you are thanking your partner or your parents, maintain a tone of professional warmth rather than casual familiarity.
Use formal titles. Refer to academic staff by their correct titles — Dr, Professor, Mr, Ms — rather than first names, unless you have a specific reason to do otherwise.
Avoid clichés. Phrases like “this journey” and “it takes a village” appear so frequently in acknowledgements that they have lost all meaning. Write in your own voice.
Dissertation Acknowledgement Examples
The following examples are provided as guides to help you understand the structure, tone and length of effective acknowledgements. They are intended to show what well-written acknowledgements look like — use them as inspiration for writing your own in your own words.
Example 1: Undergraduate Dissertation (Short)
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor, Dr Sarah Mitchell, for her guidance, patience and constructive feedback throughout this project. Her expertise in qualitative research methods was invaluable in shaping both the methodology and the final analysis.
I am also grateful to the participants who gave their time to take part in the interviews for this study. Their insights were central to the findings presented here.
Finally, I would like to thank my family for their unwavering support and encouragement throughout my undergraduate studies.
Example 2: Postgraduate Dissertation (Medium Length)
This dissertation would not have been possible without the guidance and support of a number of people to whom I owe a great deal of thanks.
I am deeply grateful to my primary supervisor, Professor James Hargreaves, for his intellectual rigour, thoughtful criticism and consistent encouragement over the course of this project. I would also like to thank my second supervisor, Dr Priya Sharma, for her detailed feedback on the literature review and her expertise in the theoretical framework underpinning this study.
I gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), whose doctoral studentship made this research possible (Award Reference: ES/XXXXXXX/1).
I owe particular thanks to the twelve participants who agreed to be interviewed for this research. Their generosity with their time and their willingness to share their experiences gave this study its depth and texture.
On a personal note, I would like to thank my partner, Alex, and my parents for their patience, support and belief in me throughout what has been a long and at times demanding process. This dissertation is dedicated to them.
Example 3: Doctoral Thesis (More Formal)
I wish to record my gratitude to my principal supervisor, Professor Elizabeth Caldwell, whose intellectual generosity, meticulous attention to detail and unwavering commitment to rigorous scholarship have shaped this thesis in more ways than I can adequately express. I am equally grateful to my co-supervisor, Dr Marcus Webb, for his incisive observations and his willingness to engage with the more challenging theoretical dimensions of this work.
I would like to acknowledge the support of the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), whose doctoral fellowship funded three years of this research (Grant Reference: AH/XXXXXXX/1), and the Bodleian Libraries at the University of Oxford, whose archival collections were indispensable to Chapters 3 and 4.
My thanks also go to colleagues and friends in the Department of History who provided intellectual companionship and practical support throughout the process, in particular Dr Hannah Foster and Dr Thomas Okafor.
Finally, and most importantly, I thank my family — my parents, John and Margaret, and my sister, Claire — for everything. Their love and encouragement have sustained me throughout.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Even in a short section like acknowledgements, there are several common mistakes that students make:
Forgetting to thank your supervisor — this is the most jarring omission. Your supervisor should always be acknowledged, and usually first.
Misspelling names — double-check the spelling of every person you thank, particularly academic staff. Misspelling your supervisor’s name in the acknowledgements of your dissertation is an embarrassing error that is entirely avoidable.
Being too informal — while acknowledgements are personal, they still appear in a formal academic document. Phrases like “massive thanks to my mates” are not appropriate.
Making it too long — more than one page is almost always too long for acknowledgements. Edit ruthlessly.
Omitting a required funding acknowledgement — if your research was externally funded, failing to acknowledge the funding body may violate the terms of your award.
Leaving acknowledgements to the last minute — like every other section of your dissertation, acknowledgements benefit from careful drafting, review and proofreading. Do not write them in five minutes the night before submission.
Once your acknowledgements are written, our dissertation proofreading service will check your entire document — including the acknowledgements — for spelling, grammar, punctuation and consistency, ensuring that every page of your dissertation is polished and submission-ready. Our professional copy editing service is also available if you would like a more comprehensive review of your writing across the full document.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are dissertation acknowledgements compulsory?
In most UK universities, acknowledgements are expected but not strictly compulsory. They are a well-established academic convention, and omitting them — particularly for a postgraduate dissertation or doctoral thesis — can seem unusual. Always check your institution’s submission guidelines. If your department operates a blind marking process, you may be asked not to include acknowledgements to preserve anonymity.
Do acknowledgements affect your dissertation grade?
No. Acknowledgements are not formally assessed as part of your dissertation grade. However, they are read by your supervisors and examiners, and a well-written acknowledgements section contributes to the overall professional impression your dissertation makes. Conversely, acknowledgements that are sloppy, inappropriate or missing altogether can leave a negative impression — though they will not directly alter your mark.
Should I thank my family in my dissertation?
Yes — personal thanks to family, partners and close friends are entirely appropriate and widely expected in dissertation acknowledgements. Place personal thanks at the end of the section, after professional acknowledgements. Keep the tone warm but dignified, and avoid overly casual or emotional language.
How do I acknowledge a funding body?
Include the full official name of the funding body and, where required, the grant or award reference number. For example: “I gratefully acknowledge the support of the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), Award Reference: ES/XXXXXXX/1.” Check the funding body’s specific requirements — many have mandatory wording that must appear in any published or submitted work.
Can I thank my friends in my dissertation acknowledgements?
Yes, though keep it proportionate. If friends provided genuine support — emotional, practical or intellectual — a brief mention is entirely appropriate. However, a long list of friends’ names is generally considered excessive for a formal academic document. Focus on those who made a meaningful contribution to your work or your wellbeing during the research period.
Should I get my acknowledgements proofread?
Absolutely. Acknowledgements are one of the first things an examiner reads, and spelling someone’s name incorrectly or making a grammatical error in the very first personal section of your dissertation is a poor first impression. Our dissertation proofreading service checks your entire submission — including acknowledgements, abstract, main body and references — to ensure everything is accurate, consistent and professionally presented.
Where exactly do acknowledgements go — before or after the abstract?
In most UK universities, acknowledgements come after the abstract and before the table of contents. The standard order is: title page, abstract, acknowledgements, table of contents, then the main body. However, conventions vary between institutions and departments. Always check your university’s dissertation submission guidelines to confirm the correct order for your specific programme.
Summary
Dissertation acknowledgements are a short but important section that gives you the opportunity to thank the people who supported your research. The key points to remember are:
Keep acknowledgements between 150 and 300 words — roughly half a page to one full page
Thank supervisors first, followed by other academic staff, funding bodies, research participants and personal supporters
Write in the first person, using a warm but professional tone
Be specific about what each person contributed rather than simply listing names
Always double-check the spelling of every name you include
Place acknowledgements after the abstract and before the table of contents
Proofread carefully — this is the first personal section your examiner will read
When your dissertation is complete, our professional dissertation proofreading service will check every section — from your acknowledgements to your reference list — ensuring your work is accurate, consistent and presented to the highest standard before submission.
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