Dissertation

This is the source code of my doctoral dissertation, which I will defend at Augusta University in August 2025.

This readme describes only the technical details, like how to compile the document. See this webpage for presentation of the content.

I am not aware of any other open source doctoral dissertations from Augusta University. I am hopeful that making this resource public will be useful to future students, especially those who want to write a dissertation in LaTeX. Here is the starter template that I have been extending. This repository is also set up with automated workflows that may be of interest to technically advanced users.

Formatting Guidelines

The content and formatting requirements are documented in these resources.

• Augusta University Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETD) — guide by AU Libraries
• Thesis/Dissertation Preparation Booklet v.2024 — AU formatting requirements
• Dissertation template — LaTeX/markdown template for AU TGS dissertations
• Preparing Your Manuscript for Submission — guide by ProQuest

Repository Organization

.
├─ 🗀 .github/         : Automated workflows
├─ 🗀 code/            : Code listings
├─ 🗀 fonts/           : Custom fonts
├─ 🗀 latex/           : LaTeX commands
├─ 🗀 pdf/             : Static files
├─ 🗀 pictures/        : TikZ drawings
├─ 🗀 references/      : Bibs and indices
├─ 🗀 text/            : Dissertation text content
├─ args.tex            : Template configuration
├─ content.tex         : Chapter organization
├─ main.tex            : The base template
├─ readme.txt          : Artifact readme
└─ *                   : Other configuration files, license, etc.

The document follows roughly this dependency schema.

           ┌──── args.tex ◂──────── latex/*      
main.tex ◂─┼──── content.tex ◂──┬── text ◂────────┬── pdf/*  ◂─── pictures/*      
           └──── fonts/*        └── references/*  └── code/*

Dissertation Compilation

🖥️ Native Host

Time: 5-10 min • Prerequisites: LaTeX

[at repository root] Compile the dissertation by running:

make full 

The output is a file main.pdf.

🐳 With Docker

Time: 10-15 min • Prerequisites: Docker

1. Setup container

   Pull and launch the latest container (on some machines you may need sudo):

    docker pull --platform=linux/amd64 ghcr.io/nkrusch/dissertation:artifact
    docker run --name dimage -it --rm ghcr.io/nkrusch/dissertation:artifact  
   

2. Compile

   [in container] Compile the dissertation by running:

    make full
   

3. View Document

   [on host] In a separate terminal, copy the compiled document to the host:

    docker cp dimage:/usr/dissertation/main.pdf .
   

Dissertations Database

Dissertations completed at Augusta University are archived on ProQuest.

Accessing the full database requires authentication. Some dissertations are embargoed, such that the full text is not available. The dissertation details specify the end date of the embargo.

• Query to find all AU doctoral dissertations:

    DG(Ph.D) AND SCH(1907)
  

• Query to find all AU doctoral dissertations in computer science:

    DG(Ph.D) AND SCH(1907) AND DEP(Computer and Cyber Sciences)