TU Dresden dissertation in LaTeX (cumulative) + PDF/A for SLUB/Qucosa

Practical notes and links for writing a cumulative dissertation in LaTeX at TU Dresden and producing a SLUB-valid PDF/A (incl. common pitfalls).

Overview

If you are preparing a cumulative dissertation at TU Dresden in LaTeX and need an archive-compliant PDF/A for SLUB/Qucosa, you can get there—but the last mile is often validation-driven and requires a bit of iteration (fonts, metadata, figures).

This page collects a compact, field-tested setup and the most relevant official resources.

A pragmatic LaTeX setup for cumulative dissertations

A commonly used approach is to combine:

  • Cumulative Dissertation Template (Overleaf, Pavol Harar)
    Focus: clean inclusion of multiple papers as chapters, with minimal changes to the original paper sources.
    https://www.overleaf.com/latex/templates/cumulative-dissertation-template/rdwdbhmwfyyc

  • TUD-Script (tudscr) (KOMA-Script based)
    Focus: TU Dresden corporate-design classes/packages for LaTeX documents.
    GitHub: https://github.com/tud-cd/tudscr
    CTAN: https://ctan.org/pkg/tudscr?lang=en

Shared example source (optional)

A complete real-world dissertation source (LaTeX) has been shared internally in our context: https://datashare.tu-dresden.de/s/gEHiDWMeF6qKcXB

Note: Before reusing any shared template or code, ensure you have the right to do so and that no copyrighted/publisher material is redistributed inappropriately.

TU Dresden corporate design: current state

In practice, tudscr may not yet fully match the latest TU Dresden corporate design out of the box. The current discussion and status are tracked in the repository issues, e.g.:

  • “Update font to Noto Sans” (#104): https://github.com/tud-cd/tudscr/issues/104
  • “Change to new Corporate Design” (#105): https://github.com/tud-cd/tudscr/issues/105

Pragmatic workaround (often sufficient for “CD-close” output): update the default font (e.g., to Noto Sans) and adjust logo assets as needed.

PDF/A for SLUB/Qucosa: what matters in practice

1) Validate early and repeatedly

SLUB provides an official validator. Use it throughout your writing process—not just at the end:

  • SLUB PDF/A Validator (EN):
    https://www.slub-dresden.de/en/publish/doctoral-and-postdoctoral-theses-at-the-tu-dresden/electronic-publication/slub-pdfa-validator

2) Know which PDF/A variants are accepted

SLUB’s electronic publication pages list archive-compliant PDF/A versions (including PDF/A-2a / PDF/A-2b).
https://www.slub-dresden.de/en/publish/neu-dissertationen-habilitationen/electronic-publication

3) Typical failure modes (especially with LaTeX + external figures)

Common reasons the validator fails include:

  • Transparency in embedded figures (often from PowerPoint exports with shadows/alpha)
  • Fonts not fully embedded (sometimes inside imported PDFs/figures)
  • Missing or inconsistent metadata required by PDF/A
  • “One small thing” that only shows up during validation → plan for iteration

Helpful SLUB entry points:

  • PDF/A background + guidance (EN):
    https://www.slub-dresden.de/en/publish/neu-dissertationen-habilitationen/electronic-publication/erstellung-pdfa-konformer-dokumente-einfuehrende-informationen-in-den-pdfa-standard
  • Technical standards / delivery requirements (EN):
    https://www.slub-dresden.de/en/publish/pflichtmedien-einreichen/technische-standards-fuer-die-ablieferung-von-netzpublikationen
  • Qucosa FAQ: technical PDF notes (DE):
    https://tud.qucosa.de/faq/technische-hinweise-zur-pdf-erstellung/

Compilation: avoid timeouts

PDF/A workflows can increase compilation time.

If compilation on a constrained Overleaf instance times out:

  • compile locally using latexmk, or
  • use an Overleaf environment with adequate limits (e.g., an institutional instance).

Acknowledgement

Parts of these notes are based on practical guidance shared within TU Dresden by colleagues and publicly available documentation (SLUB/Qucosa pages, tudscr repository/CTAN, and the Overleaf cumulative dissertation template).