Centre for Academic Success

Study Guides : Writing

Background colour White. Grey. Cream. Blue. Turquoise. Lavender. Green. Orange. Olive Green.

1.26 Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements are usually included at the beginning of a long piece of work such as a dissertation or thesis.

They are a list of people and organisations both within and outside Birmingham City University who you would like to thank for assistance, advice or information.

Example acknowledgements

This is obviously a very personal part of your work; the extract below will simply give you an idea of the sort of language used.

I would like to thank the following: Dr. Fred Titmus, my supervisor, for his encouragement, patience and expert advice; Rachel Heyhoe-Flint, for supplying so much invaluable information; members of the Learner Development Team, for help with my English and approaches to writing; and finally special thanks go to my friends and family who have supported me throughout my research.

Other expressions you might use include:

I am (most/very) grateful to ...
I wish to (warmly) thank the following ...
This paper could not have been written without the invaluable help of ...
I acknowledge my gratitude to ...

You can of course look at books you have used or at copies of previous dissertations/theses.