Hi,

Is it possible to read old PhD thesis online some where? Are they available free?

Im looking for non experimental life science PhD or historical.

Hi Kev

Yes the British library have theses online. Register (for free) and you can get pdf downloads.

http://ethos.bl.uk/Home.do

in the digital age, they are often just place on each university's personal publication storage repository. for free.

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Note here that many theses aren't available for immediate download and therefore you'll have to wait up to 30 days before download if you request them. Most are free, though one or two Universities are yet to participate. Also that theses from Welsh and Scottish Universities are held separately in their own national libraries.

I have to admit it's been fun looking at some of the subjects others have studied (type in various bonkers keywords and see what you get). :-)

Many Universities have their own open repositories where all recent theses are available. Older theses can be put on at the author's request too (I did this). For example, some are listed here:

http://www.openrepository.com/customers/universities

For a small fee, some international theses can be downloaded from:

http://www.dissertation.com/index.php

And yes, the picture of the lass on the front page of the site is shocking!!!