The two terms get used inconsistently across countries and even across departments at the same university — which is exactly why it's worth checking your own program's specific definition before assuming either word tells you the actual requirements.
| Region | Master's Degree | Doctoral Degree |
|---|---|---|
| United States | Thesis | Dissertation |
| United Kingdom / much of Europe | Dissertation | Thesis |
| Australia | Varies by institution | Thesis |
Notice the US and UK conventions are essentially reversed — a major source of confusion for international students or anyone reading both American and British academic sources.
Check your own program handbook, not general definitions. Regional convention is a rough guide, but your specific institution's requirements — page count, originality expectations, committee structure — are what actually governs your project. The label matters less than the substance behind it.
Dissertation, thesis, or capstone — support matched to your program's actual requirements.
No — we support both master's and doctoral-level projects, whatever your institution calls the requirement, including thesis support for master's students.
Generally yes, but this varies significantly by field — a quantitative psychology dissertation and a humanities dissertation can differ enormously in length even at the same degree level.
These often use the term "dissertation" or "capstone" and tend to emphasize applied practice contributions over purely theoretical ones — see our DNP/EdD capstone guide for more detail.