Theses: digitally transformed for easy access

The Library’s responsible for maintaining an archival collection of Monash University PhD and Masters by Research theses. We’re pleased to announce that the entire collection of University theses is now available online in Bridges!

Theses dating back to 1962, that were previously held off-site in print format, have been digitised and uploaded to the repository. That’s close to 13,000 theses that have been digitised, bringing the University collection to over 23,000 in total. The collection’s been viewed almost 8 million times, with over 1 million downloads to date.

This project was undertaken as part of the Library’s mission to make it easy for our users to access what they need, to improve long-term preservation, and as part of our commitment to open scholarship and enhance the impact of Monash research.

Spotlight theses

Project neurocam: an investigation by Robin Hely, 2013 (MADA), explores the meaning of an interactive project from the viewpoint of the participant, and explores this perspective through narrative-structured forms so that the works engage new audiences via storytelling. With over 23,000 views and 3,000 downloads. Hely’s thesis is the most accessed thesis in our collection

Thermal Spray coatings: processing, microstructural architecture and their materials engineering design by Christopher Berndt, 2014 (Faculty of Engineering) encompasses selected scholarly works by the author, from 1983 to 2013, that represent an 'original, substantial and distinguished contribution to knowledge'  in the field of thermal spray science, engineering and technology.

The Secret Life of the Sea Kayaker: An Autoethnographic Inquiry Into Sea Kayak Expeditioning by Beau L. Miles, 2018 (Faculty of Education) is an autoethnographic study that investigated the lived experience of sea kayaking as a form of expeditionary practice. The project was positioned as a phenomenological narrative of one man’s adventure sea kayaking expedition during a 15-day crossing of Bass Strait, between the Australian mainland and Tasmania.

Sexual assault and the Catholic Church: are victims finding justice?, by Judith E. Courtin, 2015 (Faculty of Law) sets out to determine whether victims of Catholic clergy sexual abuse in Australia are finding justice. Courtin’s research has been cited in articles by the Guardian and Courier newspapers.

Did you complete your PhD or Masters by Research at Monash?

We’re encouraging you to to make your thesis open access - we'll do the work, we just need your permission.

If you’d like to make your thesis open access, visit our website for more information.

Benefits of going open access

Open research improves access, transparency and reproducibility, which provides benefits for researchers, research communities, research institutions, governments, industry, and society more generally.

For researchers, the benefits of open access include:

  • increased visibility and citations,
  • greater social impact and public engagement with research by enabling access for individuals and organisations outside of academia, and
  • increased opportunities for collaborations and cross-disciplinary research.

Ownership and open access

Your thesis has been uploaded to the Monash University Research Repository (Bridges) with a clear statement that copyright sits with you, the author. This will not change when requesting your thesis to be made open access. The full text of the thesis will be available to read and download.

Get help

Have questions about your thesis? Contact the Library on research.repository@monash.edu

Access the collection

Discover past theses in Search, or by browsing by faculty in Bridges. See our Guide for instructions.

Accessing online theses remains dependent on whether the thesis is open access, restricted (interlibrary loan request only), or under embargo. See our Guide for more information.