The MIT thesis template in LaTeX

The LaTeX template

This MIT thesis template was developed during 2023-2026 to meet the current formatting requirements of the MIT Libraries. The title, abstract, and committee member pages are automatically laid out from information provided by the user. This template includes options to use a variety of fonts, and it is compatible with either pdfTeX or luaLaTeX. When using LaTeX formats dated November 2022 or later, the resulting pdf file can meet PDF/A standards for archivability and accessibility. A standard TeX Live installation includes all other packages required by the template.

• Download The most current LaTeX files for this template are distributed through the Comprehensive TeX Archive Network (CTAN): https://ctan.org/pkg/mitthesis
• Documentation Documentation for the template in pdf format
• Gallery of fonts Sample theses in the font sets defined by the template.
• Sample title pages Sample title pages for various combinations of authors and degrees (in PDF/UA-2 format).
• Overleaf The template is also in Overleaf.com's template gallery. Learn more about Overleaf at MIT.

The template supports tagged PDF, including UA-2, A-4F, and WTPDF. The code is written using current LaTeX programming conventions, including the expl3 programming language. LuaLaTeX is the recommended engine because pdfTeX is now obsolescent.

This template was written by John Lienhard at the request of the MIT Libraries.

Specifications for MIT theses

The formatting requirements for MIT theses are set by the MIT Libraries, as described at this url: https://libraries.mit.edu/archives/thesis-specs/. Questions regarding these specifications should be directed to mit-theses@mit.edu.

Background

The original LaTeX 2.09 template was written by Stephen Gildea in the late 1980s (also in CTAN). That template was edited by many later students, leading to the files in this zip archive.

LaTeX has changed greatly since the original MIT thesis template was written. LaTeX 2.09 was replaced by LaTeX2e in 1994. New engines were developed, particularly pdfTeX during the 1990s and Unicode-aware engines in the decades that followed. Many packages and fonts were developed to accompany the original platform, particularly after 2000; and major updates to the LaTeX kernel began in 2018. Over the years, the MIT Libraries have changed the required format several times, especially as electronic thesis submission has become the norm. The original template served MIT well; but by the early 2020s, it was substantially out of date. That situation motivated the creation of this new template.