Is a Gantt chart acceptable in a proposal?

Yes; many department templates are Gantt charts or tables. Export the PNG and insert it into Word, or fill in a table using the task list from the code.

How is a milestone written?

Proposal defence :milestone, a3, after a2, 0d: a duration of 0d draws a diamond.

Can I show month names in another language?

%b uses the browser's English month abbreviations. For fixed labels use %m (numeric month) instead.

Thesis Timeline Gantt Chart Template

Thesis schedule in four sections (topic and proposal, research, writing, defence) with proposal and defence milestones. Change the dates for the timeline section of a research proposal and export PNG, Word or PowerPoint for free.

Previewed in the “Ink Teal” theme; you can switch themes in the editor

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Edit the text, pick a theme, export Word / PowerPoint / PDF

When to use it

The timeline section of a bachelor's or master's proposal, or the plan a supervisor asks for. The axis shows months across roughly eight months; the proposal defence and the final defence are milestones (diamonds).

Making it yours

Set the date on Choose topic to the start of your term; the other tasks follow via after.
For experimental work rename "Data collection" to "Experiments and records"; theoretical work can drop some research tasks.
If the department requires a mid-term review, add a milestone before the writing section.
To show days on the axis, change axisFormat %b to %m-%d.

Mermaid code

gantt
    title Thesis timeline
    dateFormat YYYY-MM-DD
    axisFormat %b
    todayMarker off
    section Topic and proposal
    Choose topic :a1, 2026-09-15, 14d
    Literature review :a2, after a1, 21d
    Proposal defence :milestone, a3, after a2, 0d
    section Research
    Study design :b1, after a2, 14d
    Data collection :b2, after b1, 30d
    Data analysis :b3, after b2, 21d
    section Writing
    First draft :c1, after b3, 30d
    Supervisor revisions :c2, after c1, 14d
    Final draft and plagiarism check :c3, after c2, 10d
    section Defence
    Defence preparation :d1, after c3, 7d
    Thesis defence :milestone, d2, after d1, 0d

Ask an AI for one with this structure

Send the prompt below to ChatGPT or Claude, then paste the whole reply into the editor; the code inside is detected automatically.

Draw a thesis timeline as a Mermaid gantt chart with dateFormat YYYY-MM-DD and four sections: Topic and proposal, Research, Writing, Defence. Choose topic 14 days, literature review 21 days, proposal defence as a milestone; study design 14 days, data collection 30 days, data analysis 21 days; first draft 30 days, supervisor revisions 14 days, final draft and plagiarism check 10 days; defence preparation 7 days and thesis defence as a milestone. Chain the tasks with after, starting on 2026-09-15. Output only the mermaid code block.

FAQ

Is a Gantt chart acceptable in a proposal?: Yes; many department templates are Gantt charts or tables. Export the PNG and insert it into Word, or fill in a table using the task list from the code.
How is a milestone written?: Proposal defence :milestone, a3, after a2, 0d: a duration of 0d draws a diamond.
Can I show month names in another language?: %b uses the browser's English month abbreviations. For fixed labels use %m (numeric month) instead.

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Updated 2026-09-05