Merge branch 'mk-link-thesis-template' into 'develop'

refer to the thesis template from Publication sections

See merge request R3/howto-cards!377

cards.md

@@ -142,7 +142,8 @@ order: -1
 			<li><a href="{{ 'external/publication/publish-repo' | relative_url }}">Publish a repository</a></li>
 			<li><a href="{{ 'external/publication/add-gitignore' | relative_url }}">Add a .gitignore to your repository</a></li>
 			<li><a href="{{ 'external/publication/publishInBiotools' | relative_url }}">Publishing a tool in *bio.tools*</a></li>
+			<li><a href="{{ 'external/publication/phdThesisTemplate' | relative_url }}">LaTeX template for PhD theses</a></li>
 			<li><a href="{{ 'external/publication/10WaysImproveEnglish' | relative_url }}">10 ways to improve your English</a></li>
 		</ul>
 	</div>
-</div><br><center><a href="{{ '/' | relative_url }}">go back</a></center><br><center><a href="{{ '/cards' | relative_url }}">Overview of all HowTo cards</a></center>
+</div><br><center><a href="{{ '/' | relative_url }}">go back</a></center><br><center><a href="{{ '/cards' | relative_url }}">Overview of all HowTo cards</a></center>
\ No newline at end of file

external/publication/phdThesisTemplate/phdThesisTemplate.md

+---
+card_order: 850
+layout: page
+permalink: /external/publication/phdThesisTemplate/
+shortcut: publication:phdThesisTemplate
+redirect_from:
+  - /cards/publication:phdThesisTemplate
+  - /external/cards/publication:phdThesisTemplate
+---
+
+# LaTeX template for a doctoral thesis at University of Luxembourg
+
+A LaTeX template for PhD theses is available in GitLab at
+[outreach/templates/unilu-thesis-template](https://gitlab.lcsb.uni.lu/R3/outreach/templates/thesis).
+
+The repository includes several main items of interest:
+
+- In the `guidelines/` directory, there is a snapshot of the official
+  "Practical information for Prospective PhD candidates" PDF, which contains
+  some official recommendations regarding the thesis formatting.  The snapshot
+  is provided there only for convenience and its version is not necessarily
+  authoritative -- ask your supervisor and committee if there is a newer
+  version.
+
+- **The thesis template itself**, present mainly in files `thesis.tex` and
+  `macros.tex`. You are supposed to fill in your credentials into
+  `metadata.tex`, and then continue editing the other files (`summary.tex`,
+  `intro.tex`, ...) with the usual LaTeX thesis contents.
+
+- **A simple build system for producing a PDF with the typeset thesis**. If you
+  develop in GitLab or on GitHub, the thesis repository is configured so that
+  it will automatically run a CI and produce a PDF artifact with the thesis
+  whenever you push a new commit. To build the thesis yourself on your
+  computer, you should be able to do it using any standard, sufficiently recent
+  TeXlive distribution, or alternatively using Docker. The documentation in the
+  repository `README.md` contains several hints on how to do that.
+
+- The default thesis text (that you are supposed to erase and rewrite) contains
+  **some minor hints about the structure of the thesis** (mainly the headings
+  of the 4 main chapters), and various collected advice and demos on how to
+  nicely typeset the usual material that is found in the theses, such as
+  citations, figures, tables, mathematics, cross-references, appendices, etc.
+  Various other things (table of contents, section numbering, ...) work
+  automatically and correctly by default.
+
+The official requirements on the thesis formatting are, apart from the
+mandatory contents of the front page, committee member list and affidavit,
+mostly free-form. You are allowed to customize most of the thesis look to match
+the style and topic of your thesis and the requirements of your supervisor.
+
+In case you think the thesis template should be updated, please
+[open an issue in GitLab](https://gitlab.lcsb.uni.lu/R3/outreach/templates/thesis/-/issues/new)
+or send a merge request. Common concerns that substantiate opening an issue
+include the following:
+- Because the official recommendations and requirements on the thesis form may
+  change in the future, **in case you find any serious discrepancy between the
+  current recommendations and the thesis template, please let the template
+  maintiners know** by opening the issue, so that it can get corrected. If
+  possible, attach whatever document that summarizes the new guidelines.
+- If you require some specific LaTeX functionality that you think should be
+  present in the template (such as advanced indexes, lists of
+  floats/figures/tables, special typesetting and fonts, ...).
+- If you want to share a hard-learned truth or a good approach to solve
+  common problems with other students.