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My university doesn't let me make any corrections to my PhD thesis manuscript after defending it because all the members of the jury signed that no corrections are necessary. Not even typos.

My supervisor is insisting I make the corrections we mentioned during my defense because he finds them necessary and to leave a few copies in the lab's library.

However, since this is not technically allowed. I'm thinking of putting a disclaimer on the first page, something like: "This is a private copy".

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  • Do you have access to theses by previous students in your department? What did they do in this situation? Commented Mar 3, 2021 at 11:46
  • Not really. This is untypical situation. The jury is supposed to mark Minor corrections necessary and then I wouldn't have this problem. I will try to ask around.
    – marietiara
    Commented Mar 3, 2021 at 11:56
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    Not sure this is directly applicable to OP's situation, but my Ph.D. thesis (both in the electronic version available on the web and in the hard copies in the university library) is released under the GNU Free Documentation Licence. The FDL provides a mechanism for a document to contain an "endorsements" section, which licensees are not allowed to include in any modified versions...
    – user128581
    Commented Mar 3, 2021 at 13:07
  • ... The version that actually got me awarded the Ph.D. (in my case, the version after completing the examiners' corrections) has an "endorsements" section that says so. (Earlier drafts that can be checked out of the RCS repository of the LaTeX source don't have the "endorsements" section.)
    – user128581
    Commented Mar 3, 2021 at 13:07

1 Answer 1

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My university doesn't let me make any corrections to my PhD thesis manuscript after defending it because all the members of the jury signed that no corrections are necessary. Not even typos.

You must follow your university guidelines.

My supervisor is insisting I make the corrections we mentioned during my defense because he finds them necessary and to leave a few copies in the lab's library.

You should explain to your supervisor that the university has forbidden such changes. Presumably they are either unaware of the university's ruling or they know some exception.

However, since this is not technically allowed. I'm thinking of putting a disclaimer on the first page, something like: "This is a private copy".

You are free to make unofficial versions of your thesis available. Suitably marking such variants is advised to avoid confusion and a disclaimer is suitable for this purpose. Rather than This is a private copy, I suggest something more informative, e.g., The official version of this thesis is available from the university's library. This version differs from the original as follows: xxx.

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