LaTeX tools for PhD students and researchers

1A thesis workflow in four steps

Each step below uses one tool. Every tool is free and works in your browser; only PDF export and Word to LaTeX ask for a one-click Google sign-in.

1. Pick a thesis template. Start from the PhD or Master's template: title page, chapters, appendices, and bibliography already wired up. Browse thesis templates.
2. Preview while you write. Paste your LaTeX source into the live preview. Math, sections, and tables render as you type, with no compile cycle. Open the live preview.
3. Diff revisions with your advisor. Your advisor sent back a revised version? Drag both .tex files into the diff tool and see every change highlighted. Try the LaTeX diff.
4. Convert advisor feedback from Word. Advisor comments in a .docx? Load it into the Word to LaTeX converter and get clean .tex output to merge back in. Convert Word to LaTeX.

2Thesis and research templates

A click on a template name in Table 1 loads it into the live editor, ready to edit. The full collection of 28 templates is on the templates page.

Table 1. Templates for theses, proposals and research papers. Each opens in the live preview.

2.1 Centrale Marseille and AMSE

Ready-to-compile templates with the correct title pages, headers, and colour schemes for Centrale Méditerranée reports, internship documents, and AMSE working papers (Table 2).

Table 2. Grande École templates with the official layout.

Remark. Each template opens in the live editor. Replace the placeholder text, add \includegraphics for the real logo, and export to PDF with the PDF button of the live preview (one-click Google sign-in).

2.2 ML conference paper

NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR and CVPR papers share the same article-class skeleton. This template wires up the anonymous review header, the contributions paragraph, an algorithm environment, theorem and proof, an ablation table in booktabs, and the appendix. Swap in the official neurips_2025.sty once you are ready to submit.

3Essential packages for a thesis

Add these to your preamble; each solves a common thesis problem. The button in the last column of Table 3 copies the \usepackage line, and Figure 1 shows them assembled into a working preamble.

Table 3. Twelve packages that cover most thesis requirements.

\documentclass[12pt,a4paper]{report}
\usepackage{amsmath,amssymb,amsthm}
\usepackage[margin=2.5cm]{geometry}
\usepackage{setspace}\onehalfspacing
\usepackage{graphicx,booktabs,microtype}
\usepackage[backend=biber,style=apa]{biblatex}
\addbibresource{thesis.bib}
\usepackage{hyperref}
\usepackage{cleveref}   % load after hyperref
\numberwithin{equation}{chapter}

\begin{document}
\include{chapters/introduction}
\include{chapters/methods}
\printbibliography
\end{document}

4Unpublished research stays in your browser

Preview, diff, and Word to LaTeX run entirely client-side: your .tex source, your Word documents and your research content are not uploaded to a server. Only PDF export, when you ask for it, sends the LaTeX source to the YToTech compile service and downloads the result. For EU institutions with GDPR obligations around unpublished research, this is a meaningful difference from cloud compilers that store every project.

Local processing. Preview, diff, and Word conversion run as JavaScript in your browser; the document content does not leave your machine.

GDPR. Because these tools never send document content to a server, there is no data transfer to declare and no consent to collect. Documents you save stay in your browser.

Institutional confidence. Share the link to this page with your IT or legal team: the architecture speaks for itself.

5Why academics choose LaTeX over Word

1. Math that looks right. LaTeX sets equations (fractions, integrals, matrices) with professional typesetting that Word cannot match.
2. Cross-references never break. \label and \ref mean Figure 3.2 stays Figure 3.2 even when you add a figure before it. Word breaks these constantly.
3. BibTeX and the bibliography. Manage 300 references in a .bib file and cite with \cite{}. The bibliography formats itself in APA, IEEE, or any style.
4. Git-friendly. Plain text files diff cleanly in Git. Track every change across months of writing and collaborate without merge conflicts on a binary .docx.
5. Precise layout control. Universities have strict margin, font, and spacing rules. geometry and setspace handle them in two lines.
6. Focus on content. LaTeX separates structure from formatting. You write, LaTeX typesets: no fighting with Word's auto-formatting at 2 a.m. before a deadline.

6Getting started

Ready to write your thesis in LaTeX? Start from a professional template. It is free, and templates need no account.

Applying for a position? The CV builder sets an academic CV from a form and can import your works from ORCID; ORCID to a LaTeX publication list explains what that import can and cannot fill in.

Appendix A Questions