Best LaTeX Thesis Templates for 2025: A Curated Collection

Finding the Right Thesis Template

Your thesis represents years of work. The template should get out of your way, not create new problems.

A good thesis template provides:

• Correct formatting (margins, spacing, fonts)
• Proper structure (chapters, appendices, references)
• Easy customization (title, author, committee)
• University compliance (if applicable)

Here are the best options for 2025.

Top General-Purpose Templates

1. Clean Thesis

Best for: PhD students wanting a modern, readable design

A beautifully designed template with:

• Clean typography
• Customizable chapter headers
• Built-in bibliography support
• Multi-language support

% Example usage
\documentclass[
  paper=A4,
  twoside=true,
  openright,
  parskip=half,
  chapterprefix=true,
  headings=normal,
  bibliography=totoc,
  listof=totoc
]{scrbook}
 
\input{cleanthesis-config}

Pros:

• Looks professional without being stuffy
• Well-documented
• Active maintenance

Cons:

• May need adjustment for strict university requirements
• Some universities prefer more traditional formatting

Download: GitHub - Clean Thesis

2. Classic Thesis

Best for: Students who want a time-tested, elegant design

Based on Robert Bringhurst's typographic principles:

• Elegant margins and spacing
• Traditional academic appearance
• Highly customizable

\documentclass[
  twoside,openright,titlepage,numbers=noenddot,
  headinclude,footinclude,cleardoublepage=empty,
  BCOR=5mm,paper=a4,fontsize=11pt
]{scrreprt}
 
\usepackage{classicthesis}

Pros:

• Timeless design that ages well
• Extensive documentation
• Many university variants available

Cons:

• Can feel overly traditional for some fields
• Setup requires attention to detail

Download: CTAN - Classic Thesis

3. KOMA-Script Book

Best for: Maximum flexibility and customization

The foundation many templates build on:

• Modular design system
• European formatting standards
• Extensive class options

\documentclass[
  paper=a4,
  twoside,
  fontsize=12pt,
  parskip=half,
  bibliography=totoc
]{scrbook}

Pros:

• Extremely flexible
• Excellent documentation (German and English)
• Works for any thesis structure

Cons:

• Steeper learning curve
• Requires more manual setup

Download: CTAN - KOMA-Script

University-Specific Templates

US Universities

| University | Template Name | Notes | |------------|---------------|-------| | MIT | mitthesis | Official, strict format | | Stanford | suthesis | Updated regularly | | Berkeley | ucthesis | UC system standard | | Harvard | harvard-thesis | Unofficial but widely used | | Princeton | puthesis | Simple and clean |

UK Universities

| University | Template Name | Notes | |------------|---------------|-------| | Cambridge | cam-thesis | Multiple department variants | | Oxford | ociamthesis | Official style | | Imperial | imperial-thesis | Well maintained | | UCL | uclthesis | Comprehensive options |

European Universities

| University | Template Name | Notes | |------------|---------------|-------| | ETH Zurich | ethz-thesis | German/English support | | TU Delft | tudelft-report | Dutch formatting | | KTH Stockholm | kththesis | Scandinavian style |

Finding your university's template:

1. Check your graduate school website
2. Search "[university name] latex thesis template"
3. Ask your department administrator
4. Check Overleaf's template gallery

Template Features Comparison

| Feature | Clean Thesis | Classic Thesis | KOMA-Script | |---------|-------------|----------------|-------------| | Modern design | Yes | Traditional | Flexible | | Easy setup | Yes | Medium | No | | Customization | Medium | High | Very High | | Documentation | Good | Excellent | Comprehensive | | Maintenance | Active | Stable | Very Active | | Multi-language | Yes | Yes | Yes |

Setting Up Your Template

Step 1: Download and Extract

# Clone or download template
git clone https://github.com/derric/cleanthesis.git my-thesis
cd my-thesis

Step 2: Configure Metadata

Edit the configuration file (usually config.tex or similar):

% Your thesis information
\newcommand{\myTitle}{Your Thesis Title Here}
\newcommand{\mySubtitle}{Optional Subtitle}
\newcommand{\myName}{Your Name}
\newcommand{\myDepartment}{Department of Computer Science}
\newcommand{\myUniversity}{Your University}
\newcommand{\myTime}{December 2025}

Step 3: Structure Your Content

Most templates expect this structure:

thesis/
├── main.tex              # Main document
├── config.tex            # Configuration
├── chapters/
│   ├── 01-introduction.tex
│   ├── 02-background.tex
│   ├── 03-methodology.tex
│   ├── 04-results.tex
│   └── 05-conclusion.tex
├── appendices/
│   └── appendix-a.tex
├── figures/
│   └── fig1.pdf
└── references.bib

Step 4: Add Your Content

In main.tex:

\documentclass{...}
\input{config}
 
\begin{document}
\frontmatter
\include{chapters/00-abstract}
\tableofcontents
\listoffigures
\listoftables
 
\mainmatter
\include{chapters/01-introduction}
\include{chapters/02-background}
\include{chapters/03-methodology}
\include{chapters/04-results}
\include{chapters/05-conclusion}
 
\appendix
\include{appendices/appendix-a}
 
\backmatter
\printbibliography
\end{document}

Step 5: Compile and Verify

# Full compilation
latexmk -pdf main.tex
 
# Or manually
pdflatex main.tex
biber main
pdflatex main.tex
pdflatex main.tex

Customization Tips

Changing Fonts

Most templates use standard LaTeX fonts. To change:

% For pdfLaTeX
\usepackage{mathpazo}  % Palatino
% or
\usepackage{newtxtext,newtxmath}  % Times
 
% For XeLaTeX/LuaLaTeX
\usepackage{fontspec}
\setmainfont{TeX Gyre Pagella}

Adjusting Margins

If your university has specific margin requirements:

\usepackage{geometry}
\geometry{
  left=1.5in,
  right=1in,
  top=1in,
  bottom=1in
}

Modifying Chapter Headings

% Using KOMA-Script
\RedeclareSectionCommand[
  beforeskip=1.5\baselineskip,
  afterskip=1\baselineskip
]{chapter}

Adding University Logo

\begin{titlepage}
  \centering
  \includegraphics[width=0.3\textwidth]{university-logo.pdf}\\[1cm]
  % Rest of title page
\end{titlepage}

Common Formatting Requirements

Line Spacing

% Double spacing (US standard)
\usepackage{setspace}
\doublespacing
 
% Or 1.5 spacing (common in Europe)
\onehalfspacing

Page Numbers

% Page numbers at bottom center
\pagestyle{plain}
 
% Or with headers
\pagestyle{headings}

Chapter Numbering

% Chapters: 1, 2, 3...
% Sections: 1.1, 1.2...
\setcounter{secnumdepth}{3}
\setcounter{tocdepth}{2}

Troubleshooting

"Package not found" errors

# Install missing packages
tlmgr install packagename
# Or update all
tlmgr update --self --all

Compilation errors

1. Check the log file for the exact error
2. Search the error message online
3. Try compiling a minimal version first

Bibliography not appearing

Ensure you run the correct sequence:

pdflatex main.tex
biber main  # or bibtex main
pdflatex main.tex
pdflatex main.tex

Making Your Thesis Shine

Professional Typography

\usepackage{microtype}  % Better spacing
\usepackage{csquotes}   % Proper quotes

Beautiful Math

\usepackage{amsmath,amssymb}
\usepackage{mathtools}  % Extended math features

Quality Figures

\usepackage{graphicx}
\usepackage{subcaption}  % Subfigures
\graphicspath{{figures/}}

Hyperlinks and References

\usepackage{hyperref}
\hypersetup{
  colorlinks=true,
  linkcolor=blue,
  citecolor=blue,
  urlcolor=blue
}

Conclusion

The right thesis template saves weeks of formatting frustration. Our recommendations:

• For modern, clean look: Clean Thesis
• For traditional academic style: Classic Thesis
• For maximum control: KOMA-Script
• For specific requirements: University template

Start with a tested template, customize as needed, and focus your energy on your research—not on fighting LaTeX formatting.

All templates mentioned are available in Thetapad's template gallery for one-click import.