phd thesis defense committee

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• PhD Defense

Preparing for a PhD Defense

Table of contents, preparing to start, nominate a faculty member to serve as chair for your defense, selecting a defense date, international students and work visas, registration categories for defense, dissertation writing and guidelines, preparing your dissertation for defense, registering your dissertation for the final oral exam, know the rituals.

• Use PowerPoint

Public Lecture

Dress Professionally

Items to Bring to the Defense

The Closed Examination

Address Questions with Confidence

Student Status

Final corrected copies of the dissertation, publishing your final dissertation, binding your final dissertation, before defense.

Before you can start your thesis you must:

• Complete all courses, exams, and research requirements
• Meet with your advisory committee to ensure that everyone agrees that the work is ready to defend
• Decide on a date for the defense
• Inform your graduate administrator that you have started the process to prepare for your defense

A chair is appointed for each PhD oral defense to monitor and promote fairness and rigor in the conduct of the defense. To help eliminate pre-established judgments on the candidate’s work, the chair should be from a different program/department than the student. For more information about chair responsibilities, read the instructions for the chair .

You must identify a faculty member to serve as chair for your defense. The chair must be:

• A current full-time faculty member at assistant professor rank or higher
• Outside the department offering the degree program, or outside your advisor's department (interdisciplinary degree programs only)
• Someone who has not had prior involvement in your research

The selection of the chair is subject to the approval of the department/program, th Arts, Sciences and Engineering dean of graduate education and postdoctoral affairs, and the University dean of graduate studies.

The chair must be physically present during the entire defense, including the public oral presentation (if applicable) and the questioning session. The chair is welcome to read and comment on the dissertation and/or the defense presentation, but this is not required. The chair does not need to be an expert in your research area.

It is your responsibility to get a copy of the final dissertation to the chair at least one week prior to the defense.

You should begin scheduling the actual defense date three months in advance to ensure that your advisor, committee members, and chair are able to be present and that rooms are available on the date and time selected.  

Defenses can be held on any day the University’s Graduate Studies Office is open (not weekends, evenings, holidays, or the days between Christmas and New Year’s). Check the  academic calendar  for important dates and deadlines.

Use the  PhD calendar  to determine the deadline dates for getting your paperwork to the Office of Graduate Education and Postdoctoral Affairs and department committee.

When all committee members and your chair agree to a specific date and time for the defense, inform your graduate administrator as soon as you possibly can, but no later than six weeks prior to your defense date . Your graduate administrator will advise you of any program-specific requirements for the defense as well as work with you to prepare for your thesis defense. They will also help you determine who will schedule the room for your thesis defense.

You should provide your committee members at least two weeks to read and comment on your dissertation before the date you need to register your dissertation.

Participating Via Video Conferencing

While you, your advisor, and the chair must all be physically present in the room for the defense, other committee members are allowed to participate in the defense remotely via Skype or other video conferencing technology so long as all committee members agree to the arrangement. This must also be approved by the AS&E dean of graduate education and postdoctoral affairs and the University dean of graduate studies before the dissertation is registered for defense.

Someone other than you and your committee must handle the IT setup and be on standby for any problems. If anyone involved finds that remote participation is interfering with the defense, he or she can request that the defense be rescheduled.

We strongly recommend that international students meet with an  International Services Office (ISO)  representative as soon as permission to start writing is granted. The ISO will provide information on visa options, documentation, and timelines for applying for a visa for employment in the United States.

You will register for one of the following categories while preparing your defense:

• 999: Dissertation —Indicates the PhD student has completed all of the requirements for the degree except the dissertation and is in residence as a full-time student
• 995 : Continuation of Enrollment —Indicates the PhD student has completed all of the requirements for the degree except the dissertation and is not in residence as a full-time student

See the registration page for more information about these categories.

The Preparing Your Doctoral Dissertation manual is a great resource to help you bring your dissertation up to the required standard of organization, appearance, and format for the University of Rochester. Before preparing the defense copy of your dissertation, check the contents of the manual carefully to help avoid mistakes that can be time-consuming and costly to correct.

Before beginning your dissertation, you should consult with your advisor for your department or program’s preferred style guide (APA, MLA, Chicago).

Including material produced by other authors in your dissertation can serve a legitimate research purpose, but you want to avoid copyright infringement in the process. For detailed instructions on avoiding copyright infringement, please see ProQuest’s  Copyright Guide .

The University requires that you provide copies of the dissertation to your committee members and exam chair. You should check with your committee members to see if they prefer printed or electronic copies (or both). Printed copies do not need to be printed on heavyweight, expensive paper unless there is the need to do so for figures and images. 

Printing and binding a dissertation can be expensive. You can use the Copy Center or FedEx Office to print and bind your dissertation.

In order to register your dissertation, you or your graduate administrator will need to create a record on the Graduate Studies PhD Completion website . This record will include:

• Degree information
• Past degrees
• Contact information
• The defense version of your dissertation as a PDF
• Other relevant documents

The version of your dissertation attached to your online record is considered the registration copy.

When your PhD completion record is finalized, committee members will receive emails with links to access your record and approve your dissertation to progress to defense. You’ll need to provide copies of the dissertation identical to the registration copy to all members of your committee, including the chair, at least two weeks before the record is finalized. Everyone but the chair is required to comment or sign off on the dissertation before it is submitted.

There may be deadlines for registering your dissertation specific to your program. Consult with your graduate administrator to ascertain those deadlines and follow them carefully.

After all committee members have provided their approval, your thesis will be reviewed by your faculty director/department chair, the AS&E dean of graduate education and postdoctoral affairs, and the office of the University dean of graduate studies. When all of these officials have approved your committee and dissertation for defense, your dissertation is considered registered. You will be able to track these approvals in your online record and will receive a confirmation email when approvals are complete.

The GEPA Office and the AS&E dean of graduate education and postdoctoral affairs, as well as the University Graduate Studies Office, may make corrections to the PDF of your dissertation. This annotated copy of your dissertation, along with the original version, will be stored in the PhD completion website. You are not allow to distribute updated versions of your dissertation prior to the defense, but be sure to incorporate any corrections before uploading your final dissertation to ProQuest®. 

After the defense, if the committee has required major revisions to be approved by one or more of its members, it is your responsibility to provide them with the corrected final version for their approval.  They will be asked to submit written confirmation of that approval to the University Graduate Studies Office. Failure to do so could delay conferral of your degree.

After the defense, you will receive additional instructions by email for completion of all PhD degree requirements.

It is important to walk into the defense knowing that your committee wants you to pass. Even if criticism is harsh, it is meant to be constructive. The defense is not solely an opportunity for the committee to compliment and congratulate you for the work you have done. It is also meant to challenge you and force you to consider tough questions.

The Defense

The best way to prepare for your defense is to regularly attend the defenses of your colleagues throughout your graduate program, not just several weeks prior to your own defense.

You can also talk to people in your department who already defended to find out what their defenses were like. You should also speak with your advisor to get a sense of his/her specific expectations of a defense.

Guidelines for Presentations

Use PowerPoint or Other Software to Create Slides

You should prepare a presentation of the research that comprises the thesis. Your slides should encapsulate the work and focus on its most salient contributions. In preparing, ask yourself these questions: “What do I want people to know about my thesis? What is the most important information that I can present and talk about?”

Here are some basic tips:

• Use text large enough to be read by the audience (especially text from figures)
• Ensure graphics and tables are clear
• Don’t clutter your slides—if necessary, have things come up on mouse clicks
• Use spell check and proofread your slides
• Practice your presentation with your peers
• Work on pronunciation, if required
• Time your presentation to ensure it will fit the allotted time while allowing time for questions

If your defense includes a public lecture, we recommended that you do a trial run a day or two before in the room that has been booked for your lecture. This will allow you to familiarize yourself with the space and the equipment and to address any problems that arise during the trial run. 

Plan your public lecture to allow enough time for questions. Present enough information so that the audience understands what you did, why you did it, what the implications are, and what your suggestions are for future research.

Friends and family are welcome to attend your public lecture. Faculty and students in the audience are given the opportunity to ask questions.

Plan to dress professionally for the defense in the same way you would if presenting a paper at a conference or for a job interview. You will be standing for a long time on the day of your defense. You might want to keep this in mind when selecting the shoes you will wear for your defense.

Essentials for your public lecture include:

• Your presentation
• A laser pointer
• A copy of your dissertation
• A pen or pencil
• A bottle of water 

You will be asked to leave the room while your committee reviews your program of study, and decides whether:

• The thesis is acceptable/not acceptable
• Whether members will ask sequential questions or whether each member will be allotted a specific time period for questioning

The person to start the questioning is designated. You will be called back into the examining room and questioning will begin. After all questions have been addressed, you will be asked to leave the room while your committee decides the outcome of the exam. You will be asked to return to the room to be informed of the outcome by the chair of your exam committee.

• Listen  to the entire question no matter how long it takes the faculty member or student to ask it (take notes if necessary).
• Pause and think  about the question before answering.
• Rephrase  the question.
• Answer  the question to the best of your ability; if you do not know the answer, remain calm and say so in a professional way.
• Remember  that no one will know the ins and outs of the thesis and your research materials as well as you.  You  are the foremost expert in the thesis topic and  YOU know the research involved. Be positive!

Possible outcomes include:

• Acceptable with minor or no revisions (no further approval required)
• Acceptable with major revisions in content or format (in this case, one or more committee members must be responsible for overseeing and approving the major revisions before the final copies are submitted)
• Not acceptable

After the Defense

You can submit the final corrected copies of your dissertation as soon as you address any remaining comments that were brought up during the defense or noted in the registration copy of your dissertation, which will be returned to you usually within a few days before or after the defense. You can take up to one semester following the defense to address any comments, during which you can remain a full-time student. Your degree conferral date will depend on when you submit the final corrected copies of your dissertation.

The day after your defense, you will receive an email from the University dean of graduate studies that provides instructions on how to:

• Submit the final corrected copies of your dissertation through ProQuest
• Provide authorization for the release of your dissertation through UR Research
• Complete a mandatory online exit survey
• Verify to the University dean of graduate studies’ office that the dissertation has been submitted

The University of Rochester requires all doctoral candidates to deposit their dissertations for publication with ProQuest Dissertation Publishing and with the University libraries. Hard copies are not required. The library receives an electronic copy of the dissertation from ProQuest, but students must give the University permission to obtain it.

For questions regarding publishing through ProQuest, contact Author Relations at [email protected] or (800) 521-0600 ext. 77020.

Check with your graduate administrator to see if your department wants a bound copy of your dissertation, and, if so, how the cost of binding is covered.

If you want a bound copy for yourself or your family, you can purchase one through ProQuest .

Evaluation Decisions for Doctoral Defense

Doctoral students are required to review the degree plans for their program, along with information about specific degree requirements and estimated timelines to reach various benchmarks for the different degree plan specializations.

There are three possible evaluation decisions for the doctoral defense.  All decisions—with the exception of “fail”—must be unanimous.

“Pass” requires that both the defense and the document (dissertation or treatise) are acceptable. In some cases, the committee may require revisions, which will be checked by the entire committee or by the supervising professor only. This should be agreed upon at the time of the defense and communicated with the student.

While the supervisor should wait to sign the Report of Dissertation Committee until all revisions have been reviewed, the other committee members may choose to sign at the defense. The committee should agree upon the length of time allowed for submission of the revised dissertation; this must be communicated clearly to the student.

The completed Report of Dissertation Committee should be returned to the Graduate School only after the final revisions to the dissertation have been approved and the GSC designee has signed.

If the dissertation and/or defense are not acceptable to all members of the committee, the decision will change to either "re-defend" or "fail" as discussed below:

“Re-defend” indicates that the committee is not satisfied with the dissertation or with the oral examination, but believes that rewriting may make it acceptable. In this case, the fully signed Report of Dissertation Committee should be returned to the Graduate School by the Supervisor, with each member of the committee indicating their decision. Another scheduled defense will be required and a new report will be generated.

Report on Doctoral Dissertation forms

Committee members should submit their individual Report on Doctoral Dissertation forms indicating their dissatisfaction.

“Fail” indicates that at least one member of the committee has decided that the dissertation is unsatisfactory and may not be rewritten. The fully signed Report of Dissertation Committee should be returned to the Graduate School by the supervisor, with each member of the committee indicating their decision.

Committee members should also submit their individual Report on Doctoral Dissertation forms indicating their dissatisfaction. This decision normally results in the termination of a doctoral student’s program.

Documentation

Document a dissertation defense as follows:

The supervisor should bring the Report of Dissertation Committee to the defense.

The scheduling information on the Report must be correct; if the time or location changes, the Graduate School must be informed.

All committee members sign the Report of Dissertation Committee, even if the member was not present at the defense.

Scanned or electronic signatures will be accepted as long as they are legible and dark enough to be imaged. Typed names as a signature are not allowed. Electronic and digitally authorized signatures may be accepted in any font format so long as they include the insignia or logo of the e-signature software used showing authorization.

Once all members have signed the report the Graduate Studies Committee chair or designee should provide the final signature.

The final signature indicates that all coursework and other departmental requirements have been completed. All signatures should be on a single page.

The Report of Dissertation Committee should be submitted to the Graduate School by the student.

The report should be submitted along with the student's final paperwork.

PhD Thesis Guide

This phd thesis guide will guide you step-by-step through the thesis process, from your initial letter of intent to submission of the final document..

All associated forms are conveniently consolidated in the section at the end.

Deadlines & Requirements

Students should register for HST.ThG during any term in which they are conducting research towards their thesis. Regardless of year in program students registered for HST.ThG in a regular term (fall or spring) must meet with their research advisor and complete the  Semi-Annual PhD Student Progress Review Form to receive credit.

Years 1 - 2

• Students participating in lab rotations during year 1, may use the optional MEMP Rotation Registration Form , to formalize the arrangement and can earn academic credit by enrolling in HST.599. 
• A first letter of intent ( LOI-1 ) proposing a general area of thesis research and research advisor is required by April 30th of the second year of registration.
• A second letter of intent ( LOI-2 ) proposing a thesis committee membership and providing a more detailed description of the thesis research is required by April 30th of the third year of registration for approval by the HST-IMES Committee on Academic Programs (HICAP).

Year 4 

• Beginning in year 4, (or after the LOI-2 is approved) the student must meet with their thesis committee at least once per semester.
• Students must formally defend their proposal before the approved thesis committee, and submit their committee approved proposal to HICAP  by April 30 of the forth year of registration.
• Meetings with the thesis committee must be held at least once per semester. 

HST has developed these policies to help keep students on track as they progress through their PhD program. Experience shows that students make more rapid progress towards graduation when they interact regularly with a faculty committee and complete their thesis proposal by the deadline.

Getting Started

Check out these resources  for finding a research lab.

The Thesis Committee: Roles and Responsibilities

Students perform doctoral thesis work under the guidance of a thesis committee consisting of at least three faculty members from Harvard and MIT (including a chair and a research advisor) who will help guide the research. Students are encouraged to form their thesis committee early in the course of the research and in any case by the end of the third year of registration. The HST IMES Committee on Academic Programs (HICAP) approves the composition of the thesis committee via the letter of intent and the thesis proposal (described below). 

Research Advisor

The research advisor is responsible for overseeing the student's thesis project. The research advisor is expected to:

• oversee the research and mentor the student;
• provide a supportive research environment, facilities, and financial support;
• discuss expectations, progress, and milestones with the student and complete the  Semi-Annual PhD Student Progress Review Form each semester;
• assist the student to prepare for the oral qualifying exam;
• guide the student in selecting the other members of the thesis committee;
• help the student prepare for, and attend, meetings of the full thesis committee, to be held at least once per semester;
• help the student prepare for, and attend, the thesis defense;
• evaluate the final thesis document.

The research advisor is chosen by the student and must be a faculty member of MIT* or Harvard University and needs no further approval.  HICAP may approve other individuals as research advisor on a student-by-student basis. Students are advised to request approval of non-faculty research advisors as soon as possible.  In order to avoid conflicts of interest, the research advisor may not also be the student's academic advisor. In the event that an academic advisor becomes the research advisor, a new academic advisor will be assigned.

The student and their research advisor must complete the Semi-Annual PhD Student Progress Review during each regular term in order to receive academic credit for research.  Download Semi Annual Review Form

*MIT Senior Research Staff are considered equivalent to faculty members for the purposes of research advising. No additional approval is required.

Thesis Committee Chair

Each HST PhD thesis committee is headed administratively by a chair, chosen by the student in consultation with the research advisor. The thesis committee chair is expected to:

• provide advice and guidance concerning the thesis research; 
• oversee meetings of the full thesis committee, to be held at least once per semester;
• preside at the thesis defense; 
• review and evaluate the final thesis document.

The thesis committee chair must be well acquainted with the academic policies and procedures of the institution granting the student's degree and be familiar with the student's area of research. The research advisor may not simultaneously serve as thesis committee chair.

For HST PhD students earning degrees through MIT, the thesis committee chair must be an MIT faculty member. A select group of HST program faculty without primary appointments at MIT have been pre-approved by HICAP to chair PhD theses awarded by HST at MIT in cases where the MIT research advisor is an MIT faculty member.**

HST PhD students earning their degree through Harvard follow thesis committee requirements set by the unit granting their degree - either the Biophysics Program or the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS).

** List of non-MIT HST faculty approved to chair MIT thesis proposals when the research advisor is an MIT faculty member.

In addition to the research advisor and the thesis committee chair, the thesis committee must include one or more readers. Readers are expected to:

• attend meetings of the full thesis committee, to be held at least once per semester;
• attend the thesis defense; 

Faculty members with relevant expertise from outside of Harvard/MIT may serve as readers, but they may only be counted toward the required three if approved by HICAP.

The members of the thesis committee should have complementary expertise that collectively covers the areas needed to advise a student's thesis research. The committee should also be diverse, so that members are able to offer different perspectives on the student's research. When forming a thesis committee, it is helpful to consider the following questions: 

• Do the individuals on the committee collectively have the appropriate expertise for the project?
• Does the committee include at least one individual who can offer different perspectives on the student's research?  The committee should include at least one person who is not closely affiliated with the student's primary lab. Frequent collaborators are acceptable in this capacity if their work exhibits intellectual independence from the research advisor.
• If the research has a near-term clinical application, does the committee include someone who can add a translational or clinical perspective?  
• Does the committee conform to HST policies in terms of number, academic appointments, and affiliations of the committee members, research advisor, and thesis committee chair as described elsewhere on this page?

[Friendly advice: Although there is no maximum committee size, three or four is considered optimal. Committees of five members are possible, but more than five is unwieldy.]

Thesis Committee Meetings

Students must meet with their thesis committee at least once each semester beginning in the fourth year of registration. It is the student's responsibility to schedule these meetings; students who encounter difficulties in arranging regular committee meetings can contact Julie Greenberg at jgreenbe [at] mit.edu (jgreenbe[at]mit[dot]edu) .

The format of the thesis committee meeting is at the discretion of the thesis committee chair. In some cases, the following sequence may be helpful:

• The thesis committee chair, research advisor, and readers meet briefly without the student in the room;
• The thesis committee chair and readers meet briefly with the student, without the advisor in the room;
• The student presents their research progress, answers questions, and seeks guidance from the members of the thesis committee;

Please note that thesis committee meetings provide an important opportunity for students to present their research and respond to questions. Therefore, it is in the student's best interest for the research advisor to refrain from defending the research in this setting.

Letters of Intent

Students must submit two letters of intent ( LOI-1 and LOI-2 ) with applicable signatures. 

In LOI-1, students identify a research advisor and a general area of thesis research, described in 100 words or less. It should include the area of expertise of the research advisor and indicate whether IRB approval (Institutional Review Board; for research involving human subjects) and/or IACUC approval (Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee; for research involving vertebrate animals) will be required and, if so, from which institutions. LOI-1 is due by April 30 of the second year of registration and and should be submitted to HICAP, c/o Traci Anderson in E25-518. 

In LOI-2, students provide a description of the thesis research, describing the Background and Significance of the research and making a preliminary statement of Specific Aims (up to 400 words total). In LOI-2, a student also proposes the membership of their thesis committee. In addition to the research advisor, the proposed thesis committee must include a chair and one or more readers, all selected to meet the specified criteria . LOI-2 is due by April 30th of the third year of registration and should be submitted to HICAP, c/o Traci Anderson in E25-518.

LOI-2 is reviewed by the HST-IMES Committee on Academic Programs (HICAP) to determine if the proposed committee meets the specified criteria and if the committee members collectively have the complementary expertise needed to advise the student in executing the proposed research. If HICAP requests any changes to the proposed committee, the student must submit a revised LOI-2 for HICAP review by September 30th of the fourth year of registration. HICAP must approve LOI-2 before the student can proceed to presenting and submitting their thesis proposal. Any changes to the thesis committee membership following HICAP approval of LOI-2 and prior to defense of the thesis proposal must be reported by submitting a revised LOI-2 form to HICAP, c/o tanderso [at] mit.edu (Traci Anderson) . After final HICAP approval of LOI-2, which confirms the thesis committee membership, the student may proceed to present their thesis proposal to the approved thesis committee, as described in the next section.

Students are strongly encouraged to identify tentative thesis committee members and begin meeting with them as early as possible to inform the direction of their research. Following submission of LOI-2, students are required to hold at least one thesis committee meeting per semester. Students must document these meetings via the Semi- Annual PhD Student Progress Review form in order to receive a grade reflecting satisfactory progress in HST.ThG.

Thesis Proposal and Proposal Presentation

For MEMP students receiving their degrees through MIT, successful completion of the Oral Qualifying Exam is a prerequisite for the thesis proposal presentation. For MEMP students receiving their degrees through Harvard, the oral qualifying exam satisfies the proposal presentation requirement.

Proposal Document

Each student must present a thesis proposal to a thesis committee that has been approved by HICAP via the LOI-2 and then submit a full proposal package to HICAP by April 30th of the fourth year of registration. The only exception is for students who substantially change their research focus after the fall term of their third year; in those cases the thesis proposal must be submitted within three semesters of joining a new lab. Students registering for thesis research (HST.THG) who have not met this deadline may be administratively assigned a grade of "U" (unsatisfactory) and receive an academic warning.

The written proposal should be no longer than 4500 words, excluding references. This is intended to help students develop their proposal-writing skills by gaining experience composing a practical proposal; the length is comparable to that required for proposals to the NIH R03 Small Research Grant Program. The proposal should clearly define the research problem, describe the proposed research plan, and defend the significance of the work. Preliminary results are not required. If the proposal consists of multiple aims, with the accomplishment of later aims based on the success of earlier ones, then the proposal should describe a contingency plan in case the early results are not as expected.

Proposal Presentation

The student must formally defend the thesis proposal before the full thesis committee that has been approved by HICAP.

Students should schedule the meeting and reserve a conference room and any audio visual equipment they may require for their presentation. To book a conference room in E25, please contact Joseph Stein ( jrstein [at] mit.edu (jrstein[at]mit[dot]edu) ).

Following the proposal presentation, students should make any requested modifications to the proposal for the committee members to review. Once the committee approves the proposal, the student should obtain the signatures of the committee members on the forms described below as part of the proposal submission package.

[Friendly advice: As a professional courtesy, be sure your committee members have a complete version of your thesis proposal at least one week in advance of the proposal presentation.]

Submission of Proposal Package

When the thesis committee has approved the proposal, the student submits the proposal package to HICAP, c/o Traci Anderson in E25-518, for final approval. HICAP may reject a thesis proposal if it has been defended before a committee that was not previously approved via the LOI-2.

The proposal package includes the following: 

• the proposal document
• a brief description of the project background and significance that explains why the work is important;
• the specific aims of the proposal, including a contingency plan if needed; and
• an indication of the methods to be used to accomplish the specific aims.
• signed research advisor agreement form(s);
• signed chair agreement form (which confirms a successful proposal defense);
• signed reader agreement form(s).

Thesis Proposal Forms

• SAMPLE Title Page (doc)
• Research Advisor Agreement Form (pdf)
• Chair Agreement Form (pdf)
• Reader Agreement Form (pdf)

Thesis Defense and Final Thesis Document

When the thesis is substantially complete and fully acceptable to the thesis committee, a public thesis defense is scheduled for the student to present his/her work to the thesis committee and other members of the community. The thesis defense is the last formal examination required for receipt of a doctoral degree. To be considered "public", a defense must be announced to the community at least five working days in advance. At the defense, the thesis committee determines if the research presented is sufficient for granting a doctoral degree. Following a satisfactory thesis defense, the student submits the final thesis document, approved by the research advisor, to Traci Anderson via email (see instructions below).

[Friendly advice: Contact jrstein [at] mit.edu (Joseph Stein) at least two weeks before your scheduled date to arrange for advertising via email and posters. A defense can be canceled for insufficient public notice.]

Before the Thesis Defense 

Committee Approves Student to Defend: The thesis committee, working with the student and reviewing thesis drafts, concludes that the doctoral work is complete. The student should discuss the structure of the defense (general guidelines below) with the thesis committee chair and the research advisor. 

Schedule the Defense: The student schedules a defense at a time when all members of the thesis committee will be physical present. Any exceptions must be approved in advance by the IMES/HST Academic Office.

Reserve Room: It is the student's responsibility to reserve a room and any necessary equipment. Please contact imes-reservation [at] mit.edu (subject: E25%20Room%20Reservation) (IMES Reservation) to  reserve rooms E25-140, E25-141, E25-119/121, E25-521. 

Final Draft: A complete draft of the thesis document is due to the thesis committee two weeks prior to the thesis defense to allow time for review.  The thesis should be written as a single cohesive document; it may include content from published papers (see libraries website on " Use of Previously Published Material in a Thesis ") but it may not be a simple compilation of previously published materials.

Publicize the Defense:   The IMES/HST Academic Office invites the community to attend the defense via email and a notice on the HST website. This requires that the student email a thesis abstract and supplemental information to  jrstein [at] mit.edu (Joseph Stein)  two weeks prior to the thesis defense. The following information should be included: Date and time, Location, (Zoom invitation with password, if offering a hybrid option), Thesis Title, Names of committee members, with academic and professional titles and institutional affiliations. The abstract is limited to 250 words for the poster, but students may optionally submit a second, longer abstract for the email announcement.

Thesis Defense Guidelines

Public Defense: The student should prepare a presentation of 45-60 minutes in length, to be followed by a public question and answer period of 15–30 minutes at discretion of the chair.

Committee Discussion:  Immediately following the public thesis presentation, the student meets privately with the thesis committee and any other faculty members present to explore additional questions at the discretion of the faculty. Then the thesis committee meets in executive session and determines whether the thesis defense was satisfactory. The committee may suggest additions or editorial changes to the thesis document at this point.

Chair Confirms Pass: After the defense, the thesis committee chair should inform Traci Anderson of the outcome via email to tanderso [at] mit.edu (tanderso[at]mit[dot]edu) .

Submitting the Final Thesis Document

Please refer to the MIT libraries  thesis formatting guidelines .

Title page notes. Sample title page  from the MIT Libraries.

Program line : should read, "Submitted to the Harvard-MIT Program in Health Sciences and Technology, in partial fulfillment of the the requirements for the degree of ... "

Copyright : Starting with the June 2023 degree period and as reflected in the  MIT Thesis Specifications , all students retain the copyright of their thesis.  Please review this section for how to list on your title page Signature Page: On the "signed" version, only the student and research advisor should sign. Thesis committee members are not required to sign. On the " Accepted by " line, please list: Collin M. Stultz, MD, PhD/Director, Harvard-MIT Program in Health Sciences and Technology/ Nina T. and Robert H. Rubin Professor in Medical Engineering and Science/Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

The Academic Office will obtain Professor Stultz's signature.

Thesis Submission Components.  As of 4/2021, the MIT libraries have changed their thesis submissions guidelines and are no longer accepting hard copy theses submissions. For most recent guidance from the libraries:  https://libguides.mit.edu/mit-thesis-faq/instructions  

Submit to the Academic Office, via email ( tanderso [at] mit.edu (tanderso[at]mit[dot]edu) )

pdf/A-1 of the final thesis should include an UNSIGNED title page

A separate file with a SIGNED title page by the student and advisor, the Academic Office will get Dr. Collin Stultz's signature.

For the MIT Library thesis processing, fill out the "Thesis Information" here:  https://thesis-submit.mit.edu/

File Naming Information:  https://libguides.mit.edu/

Survey of Earned Doctorates.  The University Provost’s Office will contact all doctoral candidates via email with instructions for completing this survey.

Links to All Forms in This Guide

• MEMP Rotation Form (optional)
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• Letter of Intent One
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Final Thesis

• HST Sample thesis title page  (signed and unsigned)
• Sample thesis title page  (MIT Libraries)

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Defense of the Dissertation

The committee before which the student is examined consists of at least five members, who normally meet two independent criteria:

• Four of the five must be tenured or tenure-track Washington University faculty; one of these four may be a member of the Emeritus faculty. The fifth member must have a doctoral degree and an active research program, whether at Washington University, at another university, in government, or in industry.
• Three of the five must come from the student's degree program; at least one of the five must not.

All committees must be approved by the Dean of the Graduate School or by his or her designee, regardless of whether they meet the normal criteria.

Attendance by a minimum of four members of the Dissertation Defense Committee, including the committee chair and an outside member, is required for the defense to take place. This provision is designed to permit your defense to proceed in case of a situation that unexpectedly prevents one of the five members from attending. Do not plan in advance to have only four members in attendance; if one of those four cannot attend, your defense must be rescheduled. Note that the absence of all outside members or of the committee chair would necessitate rescheduling the defense.

Members of the Dissertation Defense Committee normally attend in person, but one of the five (or, in case of an emergency, one of the four) members may attend virtually instead.

Dissertation Defense Committee

The committee is appointed by the Dean of the Graduate School upon the request of the degree program. The student is responsible for making the full text of the dissertation accessible to his or her committee members for their review in advance of the defense. Faculty and graduate students who are interested in the subject of the dissertation are normally welcome to attend all or part of the defense but may ask questions only at the discretion of the committee members. Though there is some variation among degree programs, the defense ordinarily focuses on the dissertation itself and its relation to the student’s field of expertise.

Defense and Dissertation Overview

Once a student’s box is checked, the BPH student should set up a one-on-one “Defense Packet Meeting” with the BPH Associate Director to review the Defense and Dissertation Process, which includes reviewing all required materials, logistics, timing, FAS/Harvard Griffin GSAS Form of the Dissertation, sample forms, and to answer student questions related to these processes.

• Defense Committee Chair: One member of the student’s DAC, often the DAC chair, is required to chair the oral defense. This required holdover from the DAC serves the purpose of providing insight to the examiners regarding the path the student has taken in completing the dissertation research. Their primary role is to assess committee satisfaction with the written dissertation, administer the exam, arbitrate any problems that may arise, and make final recommendations for completion of necessary corrections and additions to the dissertation. No other DAC members can serve on the defense committee .
• At least one member must be a BPH faculty member, often from the same academic department.
• One member of the examination committee must be from outside of Harvard University.
• The fourth member may be from either BPH or another Harvard-affiliated program.
• Co-authors and collaborators cannot be members of the Defense committee

DEFENSE TIMING AND FORMAT

• Students should notify the BPH Program as far in advance as possible with the details of the exam. 
• The student is required to notify the BPH office no later than 3 weeks in advance of the defense with the final dissertation title.
• At least two weeks before the date of exam, defense members should be sent copies of the dissertation for review. A copy of the dissertation should also be sent to the BPH program.
• If any defense committee member foresees problems with the exam, they should contact the chair of the defense committee in advance of the meeting. If major problems are found with the written document, the Committee can decide to postpone the oral defense until satisfactory changes are made. While rare in our program, these occasions can involve the insufficient or improper use of statistical methods, grossly overstated conclusions, insufficient background or discussion, or evidence of plagiarism.
• More details about the timing and format are provided in the “Defense Packet Meeting” held with each student.

STIPEND GUIDELINES

If a student successfully defends the dissertation before the 15th of the month, the stipend will be terminated at the end of that month. If the student successfully defends on or after the 15th, the next month’s stipend will be the final month the student is paid, at the discretion of their advisor.

Students are encouraged to speak to their advisors directly about how they should be paid as they complete their graduate work. If an advisor wishes to pay the student for one additional month, beyond what has been explained above, the advisor must notify the department’s financial administrator. For administrative reasons, a stipend cannot be issued to a student after their graduation/degree conferral date.

ORAL DEFENSE PROCEDURES

Part 1: Public Seminar As part of the exam, the PhD candidate will present a public seminar followed by a private oral examination.  The public presentation lasts no longer than 1 hour, which includes time for the advisor’s introduction, the student’s oral presentation and acknowledgements, and time for audience questions and answers.  The Defense Committee is required to attend the public seminar; however, it is customary for members of the defense committee to hold their questions until the private oral exam.

Part 2: Private Oral Examination A private oral examination follows the public seminar.  Initially, the student will be asked to leave the room for several minutes, along with the dissertation advisor if the dissertation advisor has decided to remain for the private exam.  During this time, the committee will discuss the merits of the dissertation, any issues with the dissertation, and areas they may want to focus on during the oral exam.  The student (and advisor if present) is then asked back into the room for the exam.

Each member of the defense committee will direct questions to the candidate based on their review of the dissertation and presentation of the seminar. The Defense Chair will moderate the discussion between the panel and the student.  The closed defense takes up to two hours and involves detailed technical questions as well as broader questions on the conclusions, impact, and limitations of the research.  Dissertation advisors may be present, but they must not participate in the exam (e.g., answer questions posed by the committee).

At the end of the examination, the student (and advisor if present) is once again asked to step out of the room for several minutes.  The Committee will discuss any revisions needed for the thesis and whether these revisions need to be reviewed and by whom.  Once the committee determines the outcomes, the student will be asked back into the room and the Committee provides the student with any [minor] changes needed to the dissertation. While it is extremely rare for the student to fail at this stage, the committee will provide recommendations to the student on their research, communication skills, and development as a scientist, as well as delineating the required changes to the dissertation.

PREPARING FOR THE DEFENSE/WRITING THE DISSERTATION

Students preparing to write and defend their dissertation must review University requirements as outlined in “ Dissertations ” with guidelines published at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

Students are also welcome to visit the BPH Student Lounge (Building 2, Room 113) to look at copies of previous BPH bound dissertations.

Writing the Dissertation Each student must write a comprehensive PhD dissertation on their research topic and the original results of their research. There are a variety of ways a dissertation can be composed, but the core elements described below must be included. The dissertation must show original treatment of the subject, contain a scholarly review of the pertinent literature, provide evidence of independent research of publishable quality, and be clearly, logically, and carefully written. In addition to a compendium of the student’s research, including detailed methods and results, the dissertation must contain a thoughtful discussion of the conclusions, impact, and limitations of the research. The completed work should be critically reviewed by the dissertation advisor before being submitted to the Dissertation Defense Committee.

In some cases, the student has done all of the work in the dissertation; more often portions of the dissertation result from collaborative research. In all dissertations containing collaborative results, the dissertation should indicate concisely who contributed to the work and how.  For example, a chapter containing multi-authored, published work must include a complete reference of the publication and a brief description of the candidate’s and the colleagues’ contributions. For work that is not published but which resulted from multiple researchers, the contributors must be named and respective attributions made clear. This policy allows stylistic flexibility; depending on the amount of collaborative work in the dissertation and the status of publication(s), the attributions can be, preferably, on or accompanying the cover page for each chapter or within an extended acknowledgements section at the end of each chapter. It is recommended that if figures or figure panels are included that are the work of others that the figure panels be clearly identified and the work properly attributed. It is permissible for more than one student to include work from the same collaboration or publication as long as the required attributions are clear, justified, and complete.

Individual chapters can be that of published articles as long as there are also comprehensive Introduction and Conclusion chapters written by the student. While the text can be the same, use of journal reprints as a chapter is not permissible. A word document of the published article must be used, and the pages in the dissertation must be consecutively numbered. Furthermore, the figures and accompanying figure legends must be integrated into the main body of each chapter, preferably following the first mention of the given figure, not clustered at the end of the chapter. Any dissertation that varies significantly from the Graduate School or FAS guidelines, or is not neat and readable, is subject to required stylistic revision before acceptance by the University. (For further information, please visit https://gsas.harvard.edu/academics/dissertations ).

DEFENSE FORMS AND PAPERWORK

Dissertation Acceptance Certificate Before the examination, the BPH Program Office will provide the Defense Committee Chair with a copy of the official Dissertation Acceptance Certificate. This certificate must be signed by all readers of the dissertation at the end of the examination and returned to the BPH Program Office. This certificate will be scanned and sent to the student so it can be inserted as page one of the dissertation prior to the online submission. The student must submit the one original, official copy to the Registrar’s in Cambridge by the appropriate deadline.

If extensive corrections are to be made, the BPH Program Office will hold the certificate until the Defense Committee Chair, and/or assigned reviewer(s) provide a written notification to the BPH Program to confirm that the corrected work has been reviewed and approved.

Dissertation Defense Exam Report The Dissertation Defense Exam Report is completed by the members of the Dissertation Defense Committee to provide a record of any comments or recommendations they may have. The report must be signed by all members immediately after the private exam. The completed report must be submitted to the BPH Program Office at the same time as the Dissertation Acceptance Certificate.

Sample Dissertation Title Page Please click here to see a sample BPH Dissertation Title Page.  Again, please refer to the Dissertation website for guidelines about how to format your dissertation.

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Dissertation Advisory Committee and Thesis Defense

Keeping students on track towards excellence and completion of thesis research.

The semester after the successful completion of the Qualifying Exam, each student and their research mentor put together a dissertation advisory committee (DAC) that contains at least three members and eventually 5 members that are required to attend the dissertation defense. This committee is expected to meet with the student every semester.  Not all members of the committee need to be present at each meeting (three members are sufficient for scheduling).

At least two DAC members must be from the group of GPN training faculty (ideally one from each campus). The final 5 member composition of the DAC at the defense includes a minimum of 2 readers of the dissertation.  At least one thesis reader must not be a collaborator on the thesis project, although she/he can be a collaborator with the laboratory. The thesis mentor is the first reader. A completed Request for Special Service Appointment Form must be submitted for each non-BU committee member; students should submit these forms through the GMS registrar forms website . An electronic copy of the form should be emailed to the GPN Assistant Director .  GMS will send the requesting student notice of the approval of the Special Service Appointment. The outside member can be a second or third reader, although this is not required. Members of a student’s Qualifying Exam Committee can also participate on their DAC; in fact, the three examining committee members may often end up being the readers of the dissertation, but this is not mandatory. The Chair of the committee cannot be a reader of the dissertation. The Chair’s chief responsibility is to make sure that the student works with the office to schedule the necessary meetings and serves as an interface between the committee’s recommendations to the student and any other concerns that the student or mentor may have during the training process. The Chair also formally introduces the student at the open defense presentation.

Composition of the DAC must be approved by the GPN Program Director in consultation with the GEC and when relevant, the Computational Neuroscience Curriculum Committee. Students should contact the GPN Program Director to obtain approval for the proposed DAC committee. During the DAC meeting (limited to 1 hour per semester) students make a short PowerPoint presentation to the group highlighting their research accomplishments over the past academic period (with review of research goals) and receive feedback from faculty regarding any issues in approach or interpretation. Scheduling of the DAC meetings is done by the student (with guidance from the GPN office if needed). At the conclusion of the DAC, the committee chair is responsible for completing the  GPN Dissertation Advisory Committee Form and submitting it to the GPN office.

FORMAL PROGRESS REPORT

Usually one year before their pre-defense, with the approval of their Dissertation Advisory Committee (DAC), students make a formal oral presentation (50 min) to their committee and to the neuroscience community at large.  This presentation is followed by a short formal meeting of their committee to discuss their progress and whether they are on target for the completion of their research and eventually the pre-defense (see below).  Students are encouraged to schedule the Progress Report (third or fourth year in the program) once they have enough preliminary data to indicate that their Aims are sound and there is sufficient progress in their research direction for presentation and discussion.  The outside member usually does not attend this exercise although they are definitely welcome. The seminar should take place at least one year before the defense date.  It is expected that the student will provide a written progress report, not to exceed ten pages (double-spaced), that will be given to the members of the DAC one week before the seminar. It is encouraged that this report take the form of a research manuscript to motivate the student and mentor towards generating a draft of the student’s first author paper, a graduation requirement in GPN.  At a minimum the written report should include:

• Statement of the problem and its significance. The hypothesis or hypotheses being tested.
• Literature review and background.
• Methods in use.
• Studies completed by the student.
• Proposal for future work and discussion of expected outcomes (include potential problems and alternative plans).

DISSERTATION OUTLINE/PROSPECTUS

Approximately 7-9 months prior to the defense date (Check Graduation Calendar ), the student must submit a dissertation outline (or prospectus for current PIN students), approved by the first and second reader (third reader is optional), to GMS using the GMS Dissertation Prospectus Outline Approval Page. All forms can be obtained from the GMS website and the submission is electronic.  A copy of this document should be sent to the GPN Assistant Director  for inclusion in the student’s files. This document will typically consist of an outline that provides proposed chapter and section headings for the dissertation document with headings that describe the key findings.  Example outlines are on file in the GPN office.

DIPLOMA APPLICATION

A GMS PhD Diploma Application must be submitted to GMS  approximately 4 months prior to the defense date (Check the Graduation Calendar ). Due date varies with graduation cycle.

DISSERTATION ABSTRACT

A dissertation abstract conforming to GMS format requirements must be approved by the first reader, and GPN Program Director, and submitted to GMS (using the PhD Dissertation Defense Abstract Form on the GMS Form website at least 3 weeks prior to the dissertation defense. Please note that prior to electronic submission of the defense abstract, students are required to meet with the GMS Registrar. The abstract must also be circulated to all DAC members prior to the Pre-Defense DAC Meeting.

PRE-DEFENSE AND DEFENSE

A pre-defense meeting of the DAC usually occurs two weeks prior to the defense to make sure that the quality of the dissertation document is close to being acceptable for the degree and to review necessary paperwork.  At this time, the committee will review the abstract and title.  Members of the DAC should have two weeks to review the thesis before the pre-defense. There is no oral presentation associated with this meeting.  The outside member usually does not attend this exercise but does provide the student with feedback on the document, either by email or phone, before the meeting takes place.  In most cases, the Chair of the committee makes sure that the views of the outside member are represented in the discussions.

SCHEDULING OF THESIS DEFENSE

After submission of the abstract and at least two weeks prior to the Thesis Defense, students must submit the Oral Defense Scheduling Form. At the time of their defense, students will give a 50-minute oral presentation, followed by 10 minutes of questions, that is open to all members of the University. We suggest GPN students have their defense in the Eichenbaum Colloquium Room (CILSE 101), 610 Commonwealth Avenue or in 5 Cummington Mall, Room 113.  This public forum will be followed by a closed session of the DAC where the student is asked to respond to questions put forth by the committee to test her/his ability to defend the work presented in the dissertation document. It is expected that all members of the DAC will attend the entire formal defense, which should last a maximum of two hours.

DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO GMS

After the three dissertation readers have signed the dissertation signature sheets (TO BE PROVIDED BY THE STUDENT), the finalized dissertation is submitted to GMS to complete the PhD requirements. Note that GMS must approve the dissertation formatting before the final document can be submitted.

GMS DEADLINES

Deadlines for submission of forms: see the GMS Graduation Calendar

Specific forms can be obtained at the GMS Student Forms Page

All faculty on the DAC must have an appointment at BU.  It is important to request a Special Service Appointment (due at time of Abstract Approval) for all non-BU members.  Please notify the GPN office if you need any help in this matter.

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Section 10: PhD Dissertation Defense: Final Oral Examination Overview, Committee, and Process

​​​​​​10.1 composition of the final oral examination committee & process.

The dissertation committee will consist of at least three graduate faculty members, including at least one core BME departmental faculty member, and will be chaired by the research advisor, who must have level-P graduate faculty status in BME. Soon after passing candidacy, students should obtain official approval of a dissertation committee by emailing a brief request, addressed to the BMEGSC, to the Graduate Studies Coordinator at [email protected] . For most students, this simply will be the candidacy committee minus one member. These three BMEGSC-approved dissertation committee members plus one assigned Graduate School Representative comprise the final oral examination committee. Petitions to add external, non-voting members must be completed via gradforms.osu.edu. Students should be sure to work closely with members of their dissertation committee.

It is the student's responsibility, with the approval of the research advisor, to contact all examiners on the dissertation committee and schedule the final oral examination (also called the dissertation defense). Typically the student provides committee members with a dissertation draft when doing this. Students also must take a copy of their dissertation draft to the Graduate School for a required formatting review. When the date and time for the dissertation defense are arranged, students may schedule a room for a 2-hour block of time in BME or elsewhere on campus if it is more convenient for the committee. (Under normal circumstances, a teleconferenced exam would require a petition; due to COVID 19, all exams are currently required to be teleconferenced via Zoom so no petitions are needed unless for external members.)

The final oral examination committee will examine the student on the research project and dissertation in accordance with Graduate School regulations and must comply with the deadlines published by the Graduate School at the beginning of each term. The examination should not exceed two hours. Only examination committee members may be present during a BME PhD examination; however, students and faculty may attend presentations given before the exam begins. Students are welcome to advertise their presentations.

The graduate faculty representative is assigned by the Graduate School after the student files the Application for Final Oral Examination. This form is to be submitted by the student to the Graduate School via gradforms.osu.edu and approved by the advisor at least two full weeks before the date of the oral examination. Failure to meet this deadline will result in the rescheduling of the exam. The location (or indication of teleconferencing) and 2-hour time block must be listed. (Note that a copy of the dissertation must be sent to the assigned graduate faculty representative at least one full week before the defense, if not longer.) This application generates a link to the Final Oral Examination Report form, which is sent to the osu.edu email addresses of the final oral examination committee. The committee’s decision is recorded by each committee member via gradforms.osu.edu.

The student is considered to have completed the final oral examination successfully only when the decision of the final oral examination committee is unanimously affirmative. A student must be registered for at least three graduate credit hours during the term in which the final oral exam is held. For information on teleconferencing the doctoral defense in the event that a committee member may need to participate while off-site or petitioning to include an extra or non-voting, non-OSU committee member, please see gradforms.osu.edu. For policies governing the Final Oral Examination rules see the GSH.

 10.2 Dissertation Guidelines

The dissertation should be an original research project that makes a new contribution to the field. Proposals and protocols should be approved by the student’s advisor(s) prior to beginning research. The dissertation must be completed in accordance with Graduate School policies and must comply with the deadlines published by the Graduate School at the beginning of each term. Students may reach out to their lab mates, peers from BMEGSA and/or student mentors for advice on completing the thesis. For Dissertation formatting and submission procedures, see the Graduate School website.

Students are encouraged to read the Graduate School Newsletter for leads on Graduate School and Writing Center workshops on dissertation writing or to schedule a review at the Graduate School ( Graduation Services area) to learn about formatting and electronic document submission. Visit the Graduate School for detailed information on the required format.

If a student fails to submit the final copy of the dissertation document to the Graduate School within five years of being admitted to candidacy, their candidacy is cancelled. In such a case, with the approval of the advisor and the Graduate Studies Committee, the student may request to take a supplemental candidacy examination. If the student passes this supplemental candidacy examination, the student is readmitted to candidacy and must then complete a dissertation or

D.M.A. document within two years. See GSH. Students who do not complete the requirements above within the timeframe may be dismissed from the program.

FINAL ORAL EXAMINATION PLANNING: A SAMPLE TIMELINE

Results for the Defense (Final Oral Examination) and Dissertation must be reported by the Dissertation Committee by Graduate School deadlines. Exam dates should be chosen to meet the deadlines.

• Application to Graduate : Department Deadline - first day of the intended semester; Graduate School deadline - 3 rd Friday of the semester of graduation
• Application for Final Oral Exam : File 3-4 weeks ahead of time to ensure meeting Graduate School deadline of at least 2 full weeks before the actual defense
• Dissertation Formatting check at Graduate School : as early as possible, aligned with the Application for Final Oral Examination
• Send copy of dissertation to Graduate Faculty Representative as soon as one is assigned, no less than one full week before the defense

AFTER THE DEFENSE:

• Make sure your Dissertation Committee completes the Exam Report by posted deadline
• Revise and submit approved Dissertation by posted deadline via Ohiolink
• Make sure your Dissertation Committee completes the Dissertation Approval by posted deadline

10.3 Required Seminar Presentation & Publication Submissions

PhD students are expected to present an open seminar on their dissertation as part of the BME seminar series. To avoid delays in graduation, this should be done at least one or two semesters before graduation is anticipated. It is the student’s responsibility to contact the seminar faculty coordinator to get scheduled before all spaces are filled. In the event that there is a conflict, students may advertise the presentation portion of their dissertation defense to be counted as a seminar presentation, making sure to notify the BMEGSC via email to the graduate studies coordinator. As detailed in the curriculum requirements, PhD students also are expected to have submitted two manuscripts for publication and to have made one oral or poster presentation at a scientific meeting in order to graduate. This information is to be emailed to the graduate studies coordinator when applying to graduate.

10.4 Graduation for PhD Students

In order to graduate with a Doctoral (PhD) degree students must meet all requirements established by the department and the Graduate School. An Application to Graduate must be filed on gradforms.osu.edu no later than the first day of the term in which a student intends to graduate to allow time for a BME graduation audit and approval by the Advisor and Graduate Studies Committee Chair. Graduating students must be enrolled for at least 3 credit hours in the term of graduation. Visit the Graduate School’s graduation checklist for PhD students in their final term of enrollment for more information .  If requirements go unmet or exam or thesis deadlines are missed, students may be able to meet the Graduate School’s end-of-semester deadlines without having to register the following term. If the E-O-S deadlines are missed, it will be necessary to resubmit a new Application to Graduate the following term.

DEGREE COMPLETION REMINDERS FOR PhD

• Students & advisors may jointly petition the BMEGSC for waivers of program or committee requirements. These should be accompanied by a proposed or approved program of study whenever possible.
• Petitions should be submitted in the form of a brief letter addressed to the BMEGSC and sent to [email protected] and will be considered at convened monthly BMEGSC meetings. Last-minute petitions may not be reviewed.
• Changes to an approved Program or Committee must be reviewed by the BMEGSC at least one full semester  before an Application to Graduate is filed.
• Applications to Graduate will not be approved unless the student’s final BMEGSC-approved Program and Committees are on file in the Graduate Office and most other graduation requirements, as stated in the GSH and BMEH, are met.
• Applications to Graduate should be submitted via gradforms.osu.edu at least one full week in advance of the Graduate School deadline. No forms will be signed by the Chair of the Graduate Studies Committee until a graduation audit has been completed by the BME graduate studies office.
• Be sure to build in time for a Graduate School review of the formatting of your dissertation draft.
• Be sure to build in time for any gradforms.osu.edu committee member petitions.
• Review your advising report each semester and contact your faculty about missing/outstanding grades.
• Publication and presentation lists should be emailed to the Graduate Studies Coordinator at [email protected] before the end of the semester in which you plan to graduate.
• Complete the BME assessment graduation survey. (Contact the graduate studies coordinator for the link at [email protected] .)

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Dissertation Defense

Things to consider before you defend.

Have you completed your coursework and do you have at least a 3.0 GPA? Additional requirements met (RP's), if applicable? You may consider requesting N grades be changed to letter grades. This can be done with the Student Services Manager.

Find a Chair for your Oral Defense Committee. The Chair is a non-reader. This must be a faculty member outside of the Chemistry Department and outside your advisor's department if you work for a non-chemistry professor.  It can be a Professor Emeritus outside of chemistry or a Courtesy Professor as long as they don't have a joint appointment (e.g., like Chaitan Khosla). If you need help with this, ask your advisor for assistance. The Chair is doing you a favor, be sure to extend courtesy to him/her (e.g., a thank you note). You also need a second non-reader -- the fifth member of your oral exam committee. This could be a faculty member inside or outside of the chemistry department. Please have this person be outside your immediate field (e.g., an organic chemist should get physical or inorganic chemist).

You will need to set-up a time for your defense and reserve a room with the chemistry receptionist 3-2501, e.g., the Gazebo or Sapp Center. You must be registered the quarter you defend.

Complete the Oral Examination form. This form must be signed by the Chair of the Graduate Study Committee, Professor Cegelski. Roger will obtain her signature for you. Along with the orals form, submit a one or two-page abstract at least a week prior to your defense date . Let the External Relations group ( chemistry-events [at] stanford.edu (chemistry-events[at]stanford[dot]edu) ) know about your defense early so they can publicize it in  This Week in Chemistry . Roger will distribute copies of your oral form and abstract to members of your oral committee. The original will be sent to the chair of your orals committee in a special folder. However, it is your responsibility to let your committee know when and where your defense will be held.

Apply to graduate. Go into Axess and indicate the quarter you want your degree conferred (i.e., the quarter you submit your dissertation). Keep in mind, you must have valid candidacy through your conferral date. See Axess or Directions for Preparing Doctoral Dissertations for specific deadline dates.

If you use the Graduation Quarter to submit your thesis/dissertation, then you must complete the Petition for Graduation Quarter form by the first day of the term designated to be your Graduation Quarter. You may defend and submit your dissertation during a Graduation Quarter or you may defend and use the Graduation Quarter in a future quarter. You get only one Graduation Quarter with a lower tuition rate, $150. Among the pre-requisites for submitting the Graduation Quarter form, are enrolling in chem 802 and applying to graduate in Axess. Students on Graduation Quarter are registered at Stanford and, therefore, have the rights and privileges of registered students. Students will be assessed University health insurance (unless waived), campus health services fee, and ASSU fees (except during summer).

Please give a draft of your dissertation to your reading committee at least two weeks prior to your defense. Be mindful of faculty travel schedules, especially when looking for your readers to sign off on your dissertation! Make sure your reading committee is accurately reflected in Axess. If a member has been replaced, you must submit a Change of Reader form to Roger. 

The Academic Calendar  has many useful deadlines including the quarterly deadline to apply to graduate and the dissertation submission deadline.

If you have CardinalCare, it is for the entire academic year regardless of the quarters you are enrolled. If you leave before the end of the academic year, you will be charged for CardinalCare unless you waive it. Contact Vaden Health Center if you have other arrangements for health insurance (e.g., from your new employer).

Keep your address up-to-date in Axess because diplomas may be mailed to the last address given. Also, indicate in Axess whether or not you will participate in the department commencement exercises. You will receive a degree in chemistry; no subspecialty will appear on your diploma. If you want to assure that your name is in the University commencement program, then the Axess deadline is usually the third week of February.

Let Roger know your forwarding address, include job information. Please send this information via e-mail to  roger.kuhn [at] stanford.edu (roger[dot]kuhn[at]stanford[dot]edu)  and complete the Alumni Update Form .

Letter of completion: Students will receive email confirmation once the dissertation submission is approved by the Registrar's Office.  This email confirmation will provide instructions for obtaining the letter by essentially logging on to Axess, and going to the eDissertation/eThesis Center, where it should be ready and available as a link to the student.

Submit your dissertation electronically to the Registrar's Office . (See steps below.) There are two critical issues you need to be aware of:

• The electronic version is put on the internet soon after submission. This can be a huge problem for time-sensitive material and future publications. To protect your science and to permit future work to be published in a journal, you and your advisor must agree on an appropriate embargo period, up to two years. As part of the submission process, you declare via Axess your embargo period.
• Your advisor will not get a hard copy of your dissertation. Ask if she/he would like a copy. If yes, then you need to get one bound at a private printer.

Submitting Your Dissertation

See the Registrar’s Office website for all dissertation information.

The following steps are required, in order, to complete the dissertation submission process:

Go to the e-dissertation/thesis center in  Axess  (see the Registrar’s website for instructions).

Select your final reader.  They will need to log in to Axess and approve your dissertation before the deadline once you’ve uploaded your dissertation.

In lieu of actual paper signatures approving your dissertation from your reading committee, the process changed because of the pandemic. Now your readers must send you an e-mail from their @stanford.edu email address stating that they approve your dissertation. Those e-mails can be saved as PDFs and uploaded as part of the submission process.  **Only your reading committee should be included on your signature page. Do NOT include your defense chair or any committee members only present for the defense.

Upload/Submit dissertation.

Useful Websites

• Registrar's Office Directions for Preparing Doctoral Dissertations
• UMI: Publishing Your Dissertation
• Registrar's Office Website

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• Doctoral & Master's Committees

Find information on how to form doctoral and master's committees.

Appointment of the Doctoral Committee

A doctoral committee conducts the qualifying examination, supervises the preparation of the dissertation, passes the dissertation, and administers the final defense. An advancement exam or defense must not be scheduled unless the Division of Graduate Education and Postdoctoral Affairs (GEPA) has approved the student's committee. Students are advised to consult the department graduate advisor and/or coordinator at least six weeks prior to the exam.

The following policy is a general one for all doctoral students at UC San Diego. A department may have more specific requirements for appointments (e.g., a departmental ladder rank faculty member on each committee) and the department chair has final departmental authority to recommend a committee.

Completed committee form  must be electronically submitted to GEPA   no later than two weeks prior to the date scheduled for the qualifying examination or doctoral defense . 

The department chair’s electronic approval of the committee form is certification that the composition of the doctoral committee is in compliance with Senate Regulations concerning Requirements for Higher Degrees.

 Membership of the   Ph.D . committee must comply with the   Manual of the San Diego Division, Academic Senate, Regulation 715 . Effective for Fall 2021 , committee membership rules have been updated to reflect the following significant changes:

• Minimum of 4 members with UC San Diego faculty appointments
• At least 1 member must have a primary appointment in a different department than the chair's primary department
• At least 2 members must be from the student's home department or program
• At least 1 member must be tenured or emeritus
• Proposed members from other UC campuses, other universities, or industry are exceptions and must be requested in writing

Senate Regulation 715 states in full :

In consultation with their faculty dissertation advisor and following their Ph.D. program guidelines, candidates shall request to appoint a Doctoral Committee consisting of at least four members with faculty appointments at UC San Diego . Eligibility of faculty in different academic series at UC San Diego to serve on and/or chair Doctoral Committees is determined by the Graduate Council. At least one Doctoral Committee member must have their primary appointment in a different department than the one in which the candidate’s dissertation advisor/Doctoral Committee Chair holds their primary appointment. (Doctoral Committee Co-Chairs from different departments or programs satisfy this requirement; note that, even with evenly split appointments, faculty are primary in one department). At least two Doctoral Committee members must be from the department or program in which the student is enrolled and at least one Doctoral Committee member must be tenured or emeritus.

Additional committee members beyond the required four members can be requested to serve, including from another UC campus, non-UC academic institutions and industry. Appointment of such external members who will participate in Doctoral Committee decisions must be justified with a written explanation at the time of requesting committee constitution and must be approved by the Graduate Education and Postdoctoral Affairs (GEPA) . Willingness of external members to serve on the committee must be verified prior to nomination and efforts should be made to maintain continuity of service on the committee for the duration of candidacy.

Departments and graduate programs that have received approval from the Council for exceptions to the membership requirements for Ph.D. committees remain in effect (e.g. Div. of Biological Sciences, Neurosciences Graduate Program).

Membership of the   DMA   doctoral committee must comply with the   Manual of the San Diego Division, Academic Senate Regulation 717 . 

Academic Senate regulations: 

http://senate.ucsd.edu/operating-procedures/educational-policies/academic-degrees/

Appointment of the Master's Thesis Committee

A master's thesis committee supervises the preparation of the thesis, passes the thesis, and administers the final defense. For programs that require a defense, it must not take place unless the Division of Graduate Education and Postdoctoral Affairs (GEPA) has approved the student's committee. Students are advised to consult the department graduate advisor and/or coordinator at least four weeks prior to the defense.

The following policy is a general one for all master’s thesis students at UC San Diego. A department may have more specific requirements for appointments (e.g., a departmental ladder rank faculty member on each committee) and the department chair has final departmental authority to recommend a committee.

Completed committee form   must be electronically submitted to GEPA   no later than two weeks prior to the date scheduled for the thesis defense .

The student should work with their department/program on finalizing their committee constitution, and then the department/program will submit the committee request to GEPA via the online committee form . The department chair’s electronic approval of the committee form is certification that the composition of the master’s committee is in compliance with Senate Regulations concerning Requirements for Higher Degrees.

Please use the Doctoral Committee Membership Table to determine which academic titles may serve on Master's committees and in which capacity.

 Membership of the master's thesis committee must comply with the Manual of the San Diego Division, Academic Senate, Regulation 700 , which states:

a master's thesis to be approved by a committee of three faculty members appointed by the Dean of Graduate Studies. [Am 12/9/14]

The Graduate Council confirms that that at least 2 members must be from the candidate's major department.

Please note: There is no requirement for a tenured or emeritus member, and a 4th member is considered an additional member. MFA committees consist of 4 faculty members: 3 from the department and 1, preferably tenured, from outside the student's department.

Appointment of the Joint Doctoral Program Committee

A doctoral committee conducts the qualifying examination, supervises the preparation of the dissertation, passes the dissertation, and administers the final defense. An advancement exam or defense must not be scheduled unless the Division of Graduate Education and Postdoctoral Affairs (GEPA) has approved the student's committee. Students are advised to consult the program's graduate advisor and/or coordinator at least six weeks prior to the exam.

  Completed committee form  must be electronically submitted to GEPA   no later than two weeks prior to the date scheduled for the qualifying examination or doctoral defense .

The department/program chair’s electronic approval of the committee form is certification that the composition of the doctoral committee is in compliance with Senate Regulations concerning Requirements for Higher Degrees.

Per San Diego Senate Regulation 715: Guidelines on Doctoral Committee composition are modified for joint Ph.D. programs offered collaboratively by San Diego State University and UC San Diego with the approval of the Graduate Council. Joint Doctoral Program rules vary by program. Please consult the program directly or contact Sara Miceli in the Graduate Education and Postdoctoral Affairs (GEPA) with any questions.

A Doctoral Committee of five or more members shall be appointed by the Dean of Graduate Studies under the authority of the Graduate Council. At least five of the committee members shall be officers of instruction and no fewer than four shall hold professorial titles (of any rank). The committee members shall be chosen from at least two departments, and at least two members shall represent academic specialties that differ from the student’s chosen specialty. In all cases, each committee must include one tenured or emeritus UCSD faculty member from outside the student’s major department.   [Am 10/26/93]

Membership of the   AuD   doctoral committee must comply with the   Manual of the San Diego Division, Academic Senate Regulation 716 .

Membership of the   Ed.D.   doctoral committee must comply with the   Manual of the San Diego Division, Academic Senate Regulation 718 .

Doctoral [and Master's] Committee Membership Table

The Doctoral Committee Membership Table specifies which academic titles may serve on doctoral and Master's committees and in what capacity. 1,2   The faculty titles listed on the chart refer to UC San Diego faculty members only (with the exception of the "Professor from another UC campus or Non-UC institution" title). 

The Dean of GEPA will consider exceptions to individual committee membership with plausible justification from the graduate program.

Staff and students may use the online Faculty Search Tool to look up faculty titles and home departments to help determine committee eligibility. The Faculty Search Tool is available to graduate students in the GEPA Student Portal and to staff via  StudentDB . VPN is required to access the Faculty Search Tool.

Applicable to committees constituted as of Fall 2021  

^Confers Academic Senate membership, see https://senate.ucsd.edu/Operating-Procedures/Senate-Manual/Appendices/105.1 * Only one person in this category per committee unless there are more than four members. # Adjunct professors and Professors of Practice of all ranks may serve as chairs of doctoral committees as long as a ladder rank faculty member serve as a co-chair. ## Voluntary basis. + Teaching Professors of all ranks may serve as chair or co-chair with exception by Dean of GEPA or Graduate Council.

1 San Diego Senate Regulation 715.B defines the requirements for doctoral committee composition. A doctoral committee consists of at least four members with faculty appointments at UC San Diego. Eligibility of faculty in different academic series to serve on and/or chair doctoral committees is determined by the Graduate Council. 2 The Doctoral Committee Membership Table applies to Master’s thesis committees with regards to which academic titles are eligible serve on thesis committees and in what roles but the rules for committee composition differ from doctoral committees. For Master’s thesis committees: three UCSD members are required, there is no requirement for a tenured outside member, and a fourth member is considered an additional member.

Joint Doctoral Committee Membership Table

Per San Diego Senate Regulation 715: Guidelines on Doctoral Committee composition are modified for joint Ph.D. programs offered collaboratively by San Diego State University and UC San Diego with the approval of the Graduate Council.

The Doctoral Committee Membership Table specifies which academic titles may serve on doctoral committees  and in what capacity. The faculty titles listed on the chart refer to UC San Diego faculty members only (with the exception of the "Professor from another UC campus" title). 

The Dean of Graduate Education and Postdoctoral Affairs (GEPA) will consider exceptions to individual committee membership with plausible justification from the graduate program.

Applicable to JDP Committees, and PhD Committees constituted prior to Fall 2021

* Only one person in this category per committee unless there are more than five members. ** May serve as a member inside or outside the student's home department. # Adjunct professors and Professors of Practice of all ranks may serve as chairs of doctoral committees as long as a ladder rank faculty member serve as a co-chair. ## Voluntary basis. + Teaching Professors of all ranks may serve as chair or co-chair with exception by Dean of GEPA or Graduate Council.

Printable JDP committee table

Submission and Reconstitution of a Doctoral or Master's Committee

When submitting a new or reconstituted committee, the student must consult with their committee chair to ensure that the committee meets their research needs. The student must also consult with their department/program coordinator to ensure the committee meets the standards of their graduate program.

For a variety of reasons a doctoral or master’s committee may need to be reconstituted. The request to reconstitute the membership of a committee must specify the reason/s for the change and must be approved by the department chair and the committee chair. The reconstitution request must be submitted to the Division of Graduate Education and Postdoctoral Affairs (GEPA) no less than two weeks prior to the qualifying examination or defense of the dissertation or thesis.

All requests for new or resconstituted doctoral or master's committees are submitted electronically. The department/program graduate coordinator will submit a reconstituted committee request to GEPA via the  Committee Membership tool .

Rules for Conducting Master's and Doctoral Examinations

San Diego Senate Regulation 715, Requirements for the PhD Degree at San Diego, requires that the doctoral committee conduct the qualifying examination and final oral examination (the dissertation defense). The Graduate Council approved the following rules for the scheduling and administration of Master’s and Doctoral qualifying exams and defenses. (The rules detailed below replace the previous rules approved by Graduate Council on 10/8/2018.)

Effective Fall 2022:

The default method for the doctoral and master’s committee to conduct graduate examinations (doctoral qualifying examination and final dissertation/thesis defense) is when the student and all members of the committee are physically present in the same room.

The Graduate Council recognizes, however, that practical exigencies do not always make this possible. Therefore, the Graduate Council will defer to the graduate programs (Department Chair or Program Director) to review requests for exceptions and to make decisions to allow remote participation. The graduate program must ensure that when an exam is approved to be held entirely remote or in a hybrid format (i.e., some members are physically present and some are remote) that the student has agreed to this format.

It is expected that there will be synchronous participation by all committee members in the scheduled exam. If an unavoidable situation arises that affects a committee member’s ability to participate synchronously, the committee chair (or co-chairs) may decide how to proceed. There must be sufficient expertise among present members to examine the student. If a committee member must be absent for the scheduled exam, it is permissible for one absent committee member to examine the candidate on a separate date. The committee chair, or one co-chair, must participate synchronously in the scheduled exam.

Graduate Council Actions

  Graduate Council Action 4/8/93

A professor who leaves UC San Diego may continue to be on the committee and may serve as co-chair, but may not continue as chair.

Graduate Council Action Regarding Committee Participation at the Doctoral Qualifying Examination and Doctoral and Master's Final Oral Examination (Defense) 5/26/22

San Diego Senate Regulation 715, Requirements for the PhD Degree at San Diego, requires that the doctoral committee conduct the qualifying examination and final oral examination (the dissertation defense). The Graduate Council approved the following rules for conducting PhD qualifying exams and defenses, effective Fall 2022. (The rules detailed below replace the previous rules approved by Graduate Council on 10/8/2018.)

The default method for the doctoral and master’s committee to conduct graduate examinations (doctoral qualifying examination and final dissertation/thesis defense) is when the student and all members of the committee are physically present in the same room. The Graduate Council recognizes, however, that practical exigencies do not always make this possible. Therefore, the Graduate Council will defer to the graduate programs (Department Chair or Program Director) to review requests for exceptions and to make decisions to allow remote participation. The graduate program must ensure that when an exam is approved to be held entirely remote or in a hybrid format (i.e., some members are physically present and some are remote) that the student has agreed to this format. It is expected that there will be synchronous participation by all committee members in the scheduled exam. If an unavoidable situation arises that affects a committee member’s ability to participate synchronously, the committee chair (or co-chairs) may decide how to proceed. There must be sufficient expertise among present members to examine the student. If a committee member must be absent for the scheduled exam, it is permissible for one absent committee member to examine the candidate on a separate date. The committee chair, or one co-chair, must participate synchronously in the scheduled exam.

Graduate Council Action Regarding Teaching Professors Chairing MA/MS and Doctoral Committees 12/17/18

The Dean of the Graduate Education and Postdoctoral Affairs (GEPA) may review and make a decision on requests that involve allowing a Teaching Professor to chair or co-chair an individual student’s committee. If there is a second request to allow the same Teaching Professor to chair or co-chair another student’s committee, the Graduate Dean will forward the request to the Graduate Council. The Council will review the request for consideration of a blanket exception for that specific Teaching Professor to chair or co-chair any MS or PhD committee in their program.

Departments and programs may submit a request to the Graduate Council, via the Graduate Dean, to review and make a decision on requests to grant a blanket exception to allow an individual or group of Teaching Professors to chair or co-chair any MS or PhD committee in their program.

The criterion for approval of all the above exceptions is the demonstration of the Teaching Professor’s research expertise in their field. After a blanket approval has been granted, if the Graduate Education and Postdoctoral Affairs (GEPA) receives a report from a student, a Master or PhD committee, or a department, that the Teaching Professor does not have adequate research expertise in their  field, the Graduate Dean will bring the case forward to the Graduate Council. The Council, with input from the department, will re-examine the case and can revoke the blanket exception.

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Degree Requirements

• Thesis Defense

Degree Deadlines & Commencement

QUESTIONS? Contact [email protected]  or 858‐534‐2263.

The Division of Graduate Education and Postdoctoral Affairs ( GEPA )  sets the dates by which a student must turn in a thesis each quarter, including filing between quarters (e.g., in summer or during the Fall/Winter or Winter/Spring breaks). These are posted on the GEPA website. Commencement is once a year, and to be eligible to participate, you must have met the Summer degree deadline listed on the GEPA website. Information concerning ordering cap and gown, as well as dates, location, etc. is on the GEPA website . You may walk in commencement for both the MS and the PhD.

The Quarter You Graduate

Phd students.

Graduating between quarters (winter break, spring break, or summer)

Students graduating in between quarters will need to pay a filing fee ($188) in order to submit their thesis to the Graduate Division. The PhD Coordinator will prepare the general petition for you.

To remain eligible for UCSD support (stipend, fees, tuition), you must:

• Consult with your advisor on completion plans, including registration/enrollment for upcoming quarter(s).  Please consult with the Student Affairs Office to discuss your individual funding situation.
• Register for at least 12 units, as applicable in #1. NOTE: If you plan to defend early in the quarter, there is an option to pay a filing fee in lieu of registration. Please discuss with the Student Affairs Office and your PI if this is a more appropriate option.
• Please consult with the Student Affairs office regarding the timing of submitting your final paperwork/thesis as this may impact your financial support.  Do not turn in the thesis to graduate until the fifth week of the quarter or later. Depending on your funding circumstances, it may be necessary for you to delay the submission of your thesis to the Graduate Division in order to remain eligible for support. Again, please discuss your individual situation with the Student Affairs Office.
• If registered for the quarter, your PI must support you through approximately seventh week (minimum support equivalent to 25% for a full quarter). IMPORTANT: If your advisor does not agree to fund you for the full quarter, you may be liable to cover the registration/tuition fees for the quarter.
• You may not withdraw mid-quarter from any TA assignment!

If you will be on leave of absence the quarter you plan to graduate, remember:

• Contact the Ph.D. Coordinator to file the needed paperwork before the first day of classes of the quarter of leave.
• You are eligible to remain in graduate student housing, but contact their main office for details.
• You will not be eligible for any UCSD-affiliated support (e.g., TA, research assistantships, fellowship).
• You will not be allowed to use any campus facilities and do not have Student ID card privileges (e.g. no working in the lab, bus passes, library privileges, rec facilities).
• You will not have Graduate Student Health Insurance coverage. Contact Student Health Insurance, 858-534-0903, for assistance with securing health insurance, or visit their website for more information.
• A General Petition to waive registration and pay a filing fee must be submitted to the Graduate Division at the time you turn in your graduation paperwork and thesis. You pay the filing fee through your TritonLink account or the UCSD Cashier's Office before going to the Graduate Division.

UCSD-SDSU Joint Doctoral Program Students

You must enroll in Chem 899, Dissertation, at SDSU, the quarter you intend to graduate. Any support is via SDSU. Please contact that campus for more information.

Four to Six Week Before Defense

Ucsd phd students.

Confirm your Doctoral Committee Membership

If your Doctoral Committee is changing, contact the Ph.D Coordinator ( [email protected]) ASAP. An online form will need to completed, signed by your Thesis Advisor and the Vice Chair for Graduate Education, and routed to the Graduate Division two weeks prior to the exam.

REMEMBER: Students are expected to submit a draft of the doctoral dissertation to each member of the doctoral committee at least one month before the scheduled defense. Formatting is detailed on the the Graduate Division website .

Confirm your Doctoral Committee Membership.

If your Doctoral Committee is changing, contact the  [email protected] ASAP. An online form will need to be completed, signed by your Thesis Advisors (UCSD and SDSU), signed by the Vice Chair for Graduate Education (UCSD) and the SDSU campus officials, and sent to the Graduate Division two weeks prior to the exam.

Minimum Three Week Before Defense

Schedule the Exam

Confirm the date and time of your exam with ALL your Doctoral Committee members. Email [email protected] with the date and time agreed upon by ALL your Doctoral Committee members so that degree requirements can be met.

**IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING COMMITTEE PARTICIPATION: (Additional details can be found on the Graduate Division website )

• Doctoral committee members can participate at the defense in one of three ways: physically present (meaning they are in the room), telepresent (meaning they participate by live video teleconference), or in advance (if they must be absent on the exam date, it is permissible to examine the candidate in advance of the exam.
• More than half of the doctoral committee must be physically present. No more than 2 members may be telepresent.
• The committee chair, or one co-chair, must be physically present.
• The outside tenured member must be physically present or telepresent.
• If an emergency situation arises that affects the number of committee members present, the committeee chair (or co-chairs) may decide how to proceed. There must be sufficient expertise among present members (either physically or telepresent) to examine the student.
• Departments and programs may impose more restrictive requirements regarding how to conduct these exams, as they deem appropriate.

PARKING - JDP students: The defense is held on the UCSD campus. You must email [email protected] to coordinate parking permit needs/arrangements for your SDSU Doctoral Committee members.

Reserve a Room and Equipment

AFTER you confirm the exam date AND time with your committee, contact  [email protected] to reserve a room or submit the room request form here . Student Affairs will schedule it a half hour before the exam time so that you will have time to make sure all the equipment is working and to settle in.

Schedule Appointments with the Graduate Division

Visit the Graduate Division website  https://gradforms.ucsd.edu/calendar/index.php and schedule a Preliminary Thesis appointment. The purpose of this appointment is for the Graduate Division to review the formatting of your thesis. The rules on thesis formatting are very strict ‐‐ see the Web link above for instructions. A preliminary appointment can save you lots of work and headaches later! Rules for thesis formatting are available on the Graduate Division website .

Two Weeks Before Your Defense

Email [email protected] with the title of your thesis as well as a photograph of yourself. These are essential in order for required announcements to be posted.

Defense, Paperwork, and Graduation

Effective FA22, all defenses must be conducted in-person, with hybrid exams by exception only. If approved for a hybrid exam, please follow instructions on the Zoom page to learn about setting up Zoom Web/Video Conferencing. The Committee Chair will need to setup the Zoom meeting and invite all the committee members and the student. The student’s folder will not be dropped off at the Business Office.

While we will still post an announcement regarding the Thesis Defense, we will not disclose the Zoom meeting link and will instead direct interested participants to contact the student and/or Advisor directly to RSVP for the defense. Before setting up the Zoom meeting, please take a moment to carefully review these Zoom meeting safeguards to keep your remote exam safe and secure: https://blink.ucsd.edu/technology/file-sharing/zoom/safeguards.html .

The student and committee members will need to have a computer/laptop with webcam/video capability. If anyone does not have access to a webcam/laptop and need to borrow one, please contact ChemHelpDesk .

On the day of your defense, Student Affairs will have the necessary paperwork (see below) in your file. Instructions on who signs what will be included. Your advisor will pick up your file before the defense, and then will return your file afterwards.

After you have finished your dissertation presentation, your committee will likely ask you to leave the room so that they may consult privately. You will then come back in the room, and the committee will tell you whether you passed the defense and what (if any) additional experimentation or revisions to the written dissertation are required. After the exam, your advisor will return the file. Student Affairs ensures that the required Departmental review/signatures are obtained for the Final Report and General Petition (if applicable) forms via DocuSign (see below). Students are responsible for following up with the Ph.D. Coordinator after their defense regarding the status of their “final” paperwork required for final appointment with the Graduate Division. The student will receive a copy once the committee members and department Chair/Vice Chair has signed off. Be certain to ALLOW REASONABLE TIME between the completion of your Final Report and General Petition (if applicable) forms and the date/time of your final appointment. Files with original paperwork may take 2‐3 days to return to Student Affairs and/or availability of required Departmental reviews/signatures may require 1‐2 days.

Dissertation/Thesis Signature Page

The completed/signed signature page must be received by the Graduate Division on or before the student’s final appointment with the Graduate Division. Instructions on how to route the signature page through DocuSign can be found here:  https://grad.ucsd.edu/academics/preparing-to-graduate/dissertation-thesis-submission.html . 

• Alumni Information Form: Complete prior to picking up your Final Report form and/or General Petition form in advance of your final appointment with the Graduate Division: http://che-mf.chem.ucsd.edu/mf/view.php?id=27 . This form provides your post-graduation plans and post-graduation address.
• Final Report Form: Will be routed to Doctoral Committee members 2 days before your scheduled defense. The Ph.D. Coordinator ensures that required Departmental review/signatures are obtained for the Final Report and General Petition (if applicable) forms (see below). Students are responsible for following up with the Ph.D. Coordinator after their defense regarding the status of their “final” paperwork required for the final appointment with the Graduate Division. Be certain to ALLOW REASONABLE TIME between the completion of your Final Report and General Petition (if applicable) forms and the date/time of your final appointment. Files with original paperwork may take 2‐3 days to return to Student Affairs and/or availability of required Departmental reviews/signatures may require 1‐2 days. ( JDP students:  The SDSU JDP Graduate Advisor (Dr. Douglas Grotjahn) will initiate and route the Final Report form to all required signees via Adobe Sign. The signature routing order will be: SDSU JDP Graduate Advisor > Doctoral Committee Chair > Doctoral Committee > SDSU Co-Directors > UCSD Co-Directors > SDSU Graduate Affairs > UCSD Gradute Division > Final copy sent to everyone. Students are responsible for following up with the Ph.D. Coordinator regarding the status of their Final Report form required for the final appointment with the Graduate Division. Because signatures are required from both campuses, be certain to allow REASONABLE TIME to obtain signatures at two separate campuses when scheduling your final appointment with the Graduate Division.)
• General Petition: Needed if you were on leave of absence or withdrawal status the quarter you graduate *OR* if you are graduating between quarters (e.g., winter break, spring break, or summer). To be signed by Vice Chair for Graduate Education and you. The Ph.D. Coordinator ensures that the required Departmental review/signatures are obtained for the Final Report and General Petition (if applicable) forms via DocuSign. Any applicable fees can be paid via your TritonLink account or at the UCSD Cashier's Office.
• Be sure to contact the Graduate Funding Coordinator  to confirm the last day of your graduate student employment.
• The Thesis! This is submitted/turned in after your final appointment with the Graduate Division.

Postdoc at UCSD (If applicable)

If you have been approved by a professor to continue at UCSD as a postdoc, please be sure to contact the PostDoc Coordinator in the Chem/Biochem Business Office to set up an appointment for you.  Postdoc appointments must be prepared in advance of the start date. Therefore, be sure that your have notified her at least three weeks before your intended start date as a postdoc.

Defined Contribution Plan and W2 Form

Be sure to contact the Graduate Funding Coordinator to obtain information on how to manage/rollover the funds in your Defined Contribution Plan. She will also need to confirm your current address in order to ensure that your W‐2 form is mailed to the correct location. 

Congratulations!

Amy Tran Student Affairs Director

Graduate Division Deadlines

Format of Thesis

Commencement

JDP Students

Graduate Division, (858) 534‐3554

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13 Tips to Prepare for Your PhD Dissertation Defense

How well do you know your project? Years of experiments, analysis of results, and tons of literature study, leads you to how well you know your research study. And, PhD dissertation defense is a finale to your PhD years. Often, researchers question how to excel at their thesis defense and spend countless hours on it. Days, weeks, months, and probably years of practice to complete your doctorate, needs to surpass the dissertation defense hurdle.

In this article, we will discuss details of how to excel at PhD dissertation defense and list down some interesting tips to prepare for your thesis defense.

Table of Contents

What Is Dissertation Defense?

Dissertation defense or Thesis defense is an opportunity to defend your research study amidst the academic professionals who will evaluate of your academic work. While a thesis defense can sometimes be like a cross-examination session, but in reality you need not fear the thesis defense process and be well prepared.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/c/JamesHaytonPhDacademy

What are the expectations of committee members.

Choosing the dissertation committee is one of the most important decision for a research student. However, putting your dissertation committee becomes easier once you understand the expectations of committee members.

The basic function of your dissertation committee is to guide you through the process of proposing, writing, and revising your dissertation. Moreover, the committee members serve as mentors, giving constructive feedback on your writing and research, also guiding your revision efforts.

The dissertation committee is usually formed once the academic coursework is completed. Furthermore, by the time you begin your dissertation research, you get acquainted to the faculty members who will serve on your dissertation committee. Ultimately, who serves on your dissertation committee depends upon you.

Some universities allow an outside expert (a former professor or academic mentor) to serve on your committee. It is advisable to choose a faculty member who knows you and your research work.

How to Choose a Dissertation Committee Member?

• Avoid popular and eminent faculty member
• Choose the one you know very well and can approach whenever you need them
• A faculty member whom you can learn from is apt.
• Members of the committee can be your future mentors, co-authors, and research collaborators. Choose them keeping your future in mind.

How to Prepare for Dissertation Defense?

1. Start Your Preparations Early

Thesis defense is not a 3 or 6 months’ exercise. Don’t wait until you have completed all your research objectives. Start your preparation well in advance, and make sure you know all the intricacies of your thesis and reasons to all the research experiments you conducted.

2. Attend Presentations by Other Candidates

Look out for open dissertation presentations at your university. In fact, you can attend open dissertation presentations at other universities too. Firstly, this will help you realize how thesis defense is not a scary process. Secondly, you will get the tricks and hacks on how other researchers are defending their thesis. Finally, you will understand why dissertation defense is necessary for the university, as well as the scientific community.

3. Take Enough Time to Prepare the Slides

Dissertation defense process harder than submitting your thesis well before the deadline. Ideally, you could start preparing the slides after finalizing your thesis. Spend more time in preparing the slides. Make sure you got the right data on the slides and rephrase your inferences, to create a logical flow to your presentation.

4. Structure the Presentation

Do not be haphazard in designing your presentation. Take time to create a good structured presentation. Furthermore, create high-quality slides which impresses the committee members. Make slides that hold your audience’s attention. Keep the presentation thorough and accurate, and use smart art to create better slides.

5. Practice Breathing Techniques

Watch a few TED talk videos and you will notice that speakers and orators are very fluent at their speech. In fact, you will not notice them taking a breath or falling short of breath. The only reason behind such effortless oratory skill is practice — practice in breathing technique.

Moreover, every speaker knows how to control their breath. Long and steady breaths are crucial. Pay attention to your breathing and slow it down. All you need I some practice prior to this moment.

6. Create an Impactful Introduction

The audience expects a lot from you. So your opening statement should enthrall the audience. Furthermore, your thesis should create an impact on the members; they should be thrilled by your thesis and the way you expose it.

The introduction answers most important questions, and most important of all “Is this presentation worth the time?” Therefore, it is important to make a good first impression , because the first few minutes sets the tone for your entire presentation.

7. Maintain Your Own List of Questions

While preparing for the presentation, make a note of all the questions that you ask yourself. Try to approach all the questions from a reader’s point of view. You could pretend like you do not know the topic and think of questions that could help you know the topic much better.

The list of questions will prepare you for the questions the members may pose while trying to understand your research. Attending other candidates’ open discussion will also help you assume the dissertation defense questions.

8. Practice Speech and Body Language

After successfully preparing your slides and practicing, you could start focusing on how you look while presenting your thesis. This exercise is not for your appearance but to know your body language and relax if need be.

Pay attention to your body language. Stand with your back straight, but relax your shoulders. The correct posture will give you the feel of self-confidence. So, observe yourself in the mirror and pay attention to movements you make.

9. Give Mock Presentation

Giving a trial defense in advance is a good practice. The most important factor for the mock defense is its similarity to your real defense, so that you get the experience that prepares for the actual defense.

10. Learn How to Handle Mistakes

Everyone makes mistakes. However, it is important to carry on. Do not let the mistakes affect your thesis defense. Take a deep breath and move on to the next point.

11. Do Not Run Through the Presentation

If you are nervous, you would want to end the presentation as soon as possible. However, this situation will give rise to anxiety and you will speak too fast, skipping the essential details. Eventually, creating a fiasco of your dissertation defense .

12. Get Plenty of Rest

Out of the dissertation defense preparation points, this one is extremely important. Obviously, sleeping a day before your big event is hard, but you have to focus and go to bed early, with the clear intentions of getting the rest you deserve.

13. Visualize Yourself Defending Your Thesis

This simple exercise creates an immense impact on your self-confidence. All you have to do is visualize yourself giving a successful presentation each evening before going to sleep. Everyday till the day of your thesis defense, see yourself standing in front of the audience and going from one point to another.

This exercise takes a lot of commitment and persistence, but the results in the end are worth it. Visualization makes you see yourself doing the scary thing of defending your thesis.

If you have taken all these points into consideration, you are ready for your big day. You have worked relentlessly for your PhD degree , and you will definitely give your best in this final step.

Have you completed your thesis defense? How did you prepare for it and how was your experience throughout your dissertation defense ? Do write to us or comment below.

The tips are very useful.I will recomend it to our students.

Excellent. As a therapist trying to help a parent of a candidate, I am very impressed and thankful your concise, clear, action-oriented article. Thank you.

Thanks for your sharing. It is so good. I can learn a lot from your ideas. Hope that in my dissertation defense next time I can pass

The tips are effective. Will definitely apply them in my dissertation.

My dissertation defense is coming up in less than two weeks from now, I find this tips quite instructive, I’ll definitely apply them. Thank you so much.

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Thesis Committee

The Ph.D. Thesis Committee has the responsibility of advising a student on all aspects of the thesis experience, from the proposal process through the preparation and defense of the final document.

The Committee should be comprised of

• the Thesis Advisor(s),
• the Thesis Committee Chair who presides at all committee meetings (must be a BE faculty member), and
• at least one additional member (unrestricted).

The student and research supervisor should agree upon members of a Thesis Committee, and the student is responsible for inviting faculty to sit on their committee. Beyond administration of the Oral Exam, the Thesis Committee is meant to provide guidance on the various aspects of the student’s project; Thesis Committee members should therefore be selected with this goal in mind.

Forming the Committee

During the summer of the second year, the student must submit the BE PhD Thesis Committee form  to the BE Academic Office ) to request approval of the Thesis Committee membership.

Changing the Committee

The Thesis Committee constituted for the Oral Exam/Thesis Proposal may change over the course of the student’s research, as determined by the student and advisor with approval by the Graduate Program Chair. Students should submit a new PhD Thesis Committee form (above) to the BE Academic Office.

Thesis Defense and Dissertation

Permission to Write Meeting: 

A penultimate Thesis Committee meeting should be scheduled approximately 3 months prior to the intended thesis defense date, in which the committee grants “permission to write” and discusses an appropriate timeline for thesis completion. Alternatively, students may obtain formal permission to write from each of their Thesis Committee members following one-on-one meetings in which the timeline to completion is discussed. Documentation of Permission to Write either by indicating such in a Thesis Committee Meeting Report , or by email from each committee member must be sent to the NUIN program.

Dissertation and Thesis Defense:

The dissertation and thesis defense is the culmination of a student’s work at Northwestern University.

Dissertation:

Students are required to write a dissertation, which should conform to the University Guidelines on content and formatting and also include:

• A scholarly Introduction to the field and the background/rationale for the specific questions addressed by the thesis research
• A series of data chapters describing research conducted by the student
• A final Discussion chapter

NUIN allows text and figures from published papers to be included (original or modified) as part of a data chapter under the following conditions:

• First author papers may be included in their original (or modified) form as long as the student wrote and contributed significantly to editing a large majority of the text in the published paper (include statement signed by student and thesis advisor to this effect in dissertation). It is expected that such chapters will have an Introduction and Discussion that are of length and detail expected for a dissertation.  If the published paper is limited in length by journal policies, the student should include a supplemental Discussion and/or Introduction linking the chapter to the rest of the dissertation. 
• Middle author papers may be included in their original (or modified) form, however, the chapter must include an Introduction and Discussion written by the student that highlights and focuses on the details and interpretation of experiments conducted by the student.

At the end of the introductory chapter of the dissertation, the student must provide an overview of the data chapters, indicating whether the work is published or unpublished. For published work, the full citation should be included and it should be stated whether the chapter is the published or an edited version. The contributions of the student and other authors to the scientific (design, experiments, analysis) and written work must be clearly stated. If edits have been made, the nature of the modifications (e.g. incorporation of published supplemental figures into the body of the narrative, inclusion of additional relevant data acquired after publication, expansion of intro or discussion, etc.) should be stated. For unpublished work, the contributions of the student and any other individuals to the scientific work (design, experiments, analysis) must be stated.

The dissertation is expected to include details and scholarly discussions that go above and beyond what one might find in typical journal articles (e.g. related experiments that were beyond the scope of the paper, or additional experimental details that were omitted due to space constraints).  It is the responsibility of the student and the Thesis Committee to ensure that the dissertation meets NUIN standards and properly attributes authorship.

Thesis Defense, PhD Final Exam Form:

A draft of the dissertation should be submitted to the Thesis Advisor with sufficient time for the Thesis Advisor to evaluate it and approve distribution to the Thesis Committee. The dissertation document must be submitted to the Thesis Committee members at least 2 weeks before the private defense date.  Committee members with objections to any aspect of the written dissertation will make their concerns known to the Thesis Advisor, student, and NUIN, and the defense may be rescheduled.

All members of the committee must digitally approve the PhD Final Exam Form following a successful thesis defense. If major revisions are required, the committee can opt to have a revised dissertation reviewed by each member of the committee, a single member, or the Thesis Advisor, as they see best fit. The PhD Final Exam Form should only be signed after the revised document has been approved. In the rare circumstance that a consensus cannot be reached regarding necessary revisions, a student or Thesis Advisor may appeal a Thesis Committee’s recommendations to NUIN. 

Public Seminar:

Students present a public seminar after successful completion of the private thesis defense. Students should notify NUIN once the public seminar is scheduled so that it can be advertised to the NUIN community. The public seminar should not be advertised until the private defense has been passed. 

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Graduate College

Doctoral dissertation defense, registration requirements heading link copy link, registration requirements.

Students must be registered from the term in which the Preliminary Examination is taken through the term of a successful defense of the dissertation, excluding summers, unless the Preliminary Examination or defense occur in a Summer term. If the defense will occur on or before the last day of registration for the term (first ten days in Fall and Spring Semesters, first five days in the eight-week Summer session) and the student was registered the previous term (e.g. Summer term for a Fall defense), registration is not required.  A defense after the last day of registration for the term requires registration that term.

If the student has a fellowship, assistantship and/or tuition waiver for the term, the student must be registered for the required hours or resign the award or assistantship.  If the student is on a student visa, consult with the Office of International Services.  Students should also consult with their program to determine if the program requires registration.

Students may petition for zero (0) hours once the preliminary exam is passed, assuming all requirements are completed except for the dissertation.

Registration for terms after the term of a successful defense is not required if official graduation does not occur the term of the defense, unless the student is the recipient of a fellowship, assistantship and/or tuition and service-fee waiver, or is on a student visa.

Note for Student Visa Holders:  Current SEVIS (federal immigration) regulations do not allow an international student on a student visa to register for more than zero (0) hours in a subsequent term, if the student was registered for zero (0) hours previously, unless the student is admitted into a different program.  This  precludes accepting an assistantship or tuition waiver for future terms after a zero-hour registration occurs.  The rationale for the regulation is that zero-hour registration is allowed for students on a visa only if all requirements other than the thesis or master’s project are completed, and registration for more than zero hours indicates that they did not originally qualify, and, are thus out of status.  Unfortunately, flexibility to take a course for intellectual development or to register for hours to qualify for an assistantship or tuition waiver after zero hour registration does not exist currently.

Dissertation Advisor Heading link Copy link

Dissertation advisor.

All candidates for the Ph.D. degree must have an advisor who is a full member of the UIC graduate faculty. The advisor is considered the primary reader of the dissertation.

Defense Heading link Copy link

The defense must be open to the academic community of the University and be publicly announced one week prior to its occurrence.

Committee Composition Heading link Copy link

Committee composition.

The dissertation committee is appointed by the Dean of the Graduate College on the recommendation of the student’s department or program. The defense committee consists of at least five persons, of whom one must be from outside their program. The chair of the committee must be a full member of the UIC graduate faculty. At least two members of the committee must be tenured faculty at UIC; at least one must be from outside the degree-granting program, which may include graduate faculty from other UIC departments or colleges. The outside member can also be from outside the University in which case the member must demonstrate equivalent academic standards; the member’s curriculum vitae must accompany the Committee Recommendation form.

A Committee Recommendation Form must be submitted to the Graduate College at least three (3) weeks prior to the dissertation defense.  The staff in the Graduate College reviews the Committee Recommendation form and, if the recommended committee meets Graduate College guidelines, approval is given by the Dean. The academic status of the student is checked to ensure that s/he is in good academic standing. A letter is then prepared by the Graduate College to each member of the committee asking him or her to serve on the committee. The letter is sent to the graduate program for distribution to each committee member.

The Examination Report form is sent to the graduate program support person after the committee is approved by the Graduate College Dean. It should be filed in the student’s folder so it is available when the examination is held and all committee members may sign. This form cannot be duplicated and changes cannot be made without prior approval of the Graduate College.

Changes to the student name as submitted, thesis title, or committee may be requested before the exam occurs using the Request Change of Student Name on Thesis, Thesis Title, or Committee Member(s) Form .

• Graduate College Faculty Listings

Grading Heading link Copy link

The committee vote is “pass” or “fail”. A candidate cannot be passed if more than one vote of “fail” is reported. After the candidate’s defense, the Examination Report form signed by all members of the committee must be submitted to the Graduate College immediately. Once the examination report is returned to the Graduate College, the results are posted to the student’s record in the Graduate College. If the vote is “pass”, that degree requirement is now satisfied and the student may take the next step toward graduation. If the vote is “fail”, the committee may recommend that the Dean permit a second defense. This second examination must be initiated by submission of a new Committee Recommendation form, even if there is no change in membership. A third defense will not be permitted.

A committee may recommend “pass – with specified conditions”. If this does occur, the conditions must be specified on the Examination Report Form along with the name of a committee member who will monitor the fulfillment of any such conditions. This named person must then report to the Graduate College in a memo when conditions have been satisfied.

Exams & Defense Forms Heading link Copy link

• Exams & Defense Forms

PhD Dissertation Defense Slides Design: Start

• Tips for designing the slides
• Presentation checklist
• Example slides
• Additional Resources

Purpose of the Guide

This guide was created to help ph.d. students in engineering fields to design dissertation defense presentations. the guide provides 1) tips on how to effectively communicate research, and 2) full presentation examples from ph.d. graduates. the tips on designing effective slides are not restricted to dissertation defense presentations; they can be used in designing other types of presentations such as conference talks, qualification and proposal exams, and technical seminars., the tips and examples are used to help students to design effective presentation. the technical contents in all examples are subject to copyright, please do not replicate. , if you need help in designing your presentation, please contact julie chen ([email protected]) for individual consultation. .

• Example Slides Repository
• Defense slides examples Link to examples dissertation defense slides.

Useful Links

• CIT Thesis and dissertation standards
• Dissertations and Theses @ Carnegie Mellon This link opens in a new window Covers 1920-present. Full text of some dissertations may be available 1997-present. Citations and abstracts of dissertations and theses CMU graduate students have published through UMI Dissertation Publishing. In addition to citations and abstracts, the service provides free access to 24 page previews and the full text in PDF format, when available. In most cases, this will be works published in 1997 forward.
• Communicate your research data Data visualization is very important in communicating your data effectively. Check out these do's and don'ts for designing figures.

Power Point Template and other Resources

• CEE Powerpoint Slide Presentation Template 1
• CEE Powerpoint Slide Presentation Template 2

Source: CEE Department Resources https://www.cmu.edu/cee/resources/index.html

• CMU Powerpoint Slide Template

Source: CMU Marketing and Communications

https://www.cmu.edu/marcom/brand-standards/downloads/index.html

• Use of CMU logos, marks, and Unitmarks

Email me for questions and schedule an appointment

Top 7 tips for your defense presentation

1. show why your study is important, remember, your audience is your committee members, researchers in other fields, and even the general public. you want to convince all of them why you deserve a ph.d. degree. you need to talk about why your study is important to the world. in the engineering field, you also need to talk about how your study is useful. try to discuss why current practice is problematic or not good enough, what needs to be solved, and what the potential benefits will be. , see how dr. posen and dr. malings explained the importance of their studies..

• Carl Malings Defense Slides with Notes
• I. Daniel Posen Defense Slides with Notes

2. Emphasize YOUR contribution 

Having a ph.d. means that you have made some novel contributions to the grand field. this is about you and your research. you need to keep emphasizing your contributions throughout your presentation. after talking about what needs to be solved, try to focus on emphasizing the novelty of your work. what problems can be solved using your research outcomes what breakthroughs have you made to the field why are your methods and outcomes outstanding you need to incorporate answers to these questions in your presentation. , be clear what your contributions are in the introduction section; separate what was done by others and what was done by you. , 3. connect your projects into a whole piece of work, you might have been doing multiple projects that are not strongly connected. to figure out how to connect them into a whole piece, use visualizations such as flow charts to convince your audience. the two slides below are two examples. in the first slide, which was presented in the introduction section, the presenter used a flow diagram to show the connection between the three projects. in the second slide, the presenter used key figures and a unique color for each project to show the connection..

• Xiaoju Chen Defense Slides with Notes

4. Tell a good story 

The committee members do not necessarily have the same background knowledge as you. plus, there could be researchers from other fields and even the general public in the room. you want to make sure all of your audience can understand as much as possible. focus on the big picture rather than technical details; make sure you use simple language to explain your methods and results. your committee has read your dissertation before your defense, but others have not. , dr. cook and dr. velibeyoglu did a good job explaining their research to everyone. the introduction sessions in their presentations are well designed for this purpose. .

• Laren M. Cook Defense Slides with Notes
• Irem Velibeyoglu Defense with Notes

5. Transition, transition, transition

Use transition slides to connect projects , it's a long presentation with different research projects. you want to use some sort of transition to remind your audience what you have been talking about and what is next. you may use a slide that is designed for this purpose throughout your presentation. , below are two examples. these slides were presented after the introduction section. the presenters used the same slides and highlighted the items for project one to indicate that they were moving on to the first project. throughout the presentation, they used these slides and highlighted different sections to indicate how these projects fit into the whole dissertation. .

You can also use some other indications on your slides, but remember not to make your slides too busy.  Below are two examples. In the first example, the presenter used chapter numbers to indicate what he was talking about. In the second example, the presenter used a progress bar with keywords for each chapter as the indicator. 

Use transition sentences to connect slides 

Remember transition sentences are also important; use them to summarize what you have said and tell your audience what they will expect next. if you keep forgetting the transition sentence, write a note on your presentation. you can either write down a full sentence of what you want to say or some keywords., 6. be brief, put details in backup slides , you won't have time to explain all of the details. if your defense presentation is scheduled for 45 minutes, you can only spend around 10 minutes for each project - that's shorter than a normal research conference presentation focus on the big picture and leave details behind. you can put the details in your backup slides, so you might find them useful when your committee (and other members of the audience) ask questions regarding these details., 7. show your presentation to your advisor and colleagues, make sure to ask your advisor(s) for their comments. they might have a different view on what should be emphasized and what should be elaborated. , you also want to practice at least once in front of your colleagues. they can be your lab mates, people who work in your research group, and/or your friends. they do not have to be experts in your field. ask them to give you some feedback - their comments can be extremely helpful to improve your presentation. , below are some other tips and resources to design your defense presentation. .

• Tips for designing your defense presentation

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• Last Updated: Jan 9, 2024 11:18 AM
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Ses dissertation defense, april 22, 2024 @ 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm.

Erin Walk (IDSS)

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Leveraging Cross-Platform Social Media Data to Study Conflict and Polarization

The explosion in online data availability has made the internet a ripe source of new data as well as fertile grounds for inquiry regarding the ways in which it has impacted traditional forms of political expression and attitude formation. However, as the use of online data in general and social media data in particular proliferates, it is also important that researchers understand the biases present in using any single source. This thesis uses cross-platform social media data to both consider differences between sources and explore the connection between online data and offline events. In the first chapter, I find that actors in Syria use Twitter, Telegram, and Facebook in different ways to communicate their civil war narratives. In the second chapter, I build on this work in the Syrian context to explore how conversation varies in areas with and without refugee return. Finally, the third chapter explores segregation in content viewership between Republicans and Democrats in the U.S. on web browsing, YouTube, and audio apps. Though there is support for higher levels of segregation at lower levels of aggregation, such as URLs versus domains, other results indicate a need to be cautious about small sample bias when considering these smaller groups. Taken together, these papers add to the literature on how social media and browsing data can be used to understand offline events as well as the necessity for cross-platform research in the social sciences.

Fotini Christia (chair, supervisor), Dean Eckles, Kiran Garimella (Rutgers)

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Hybrid event. To attend virtually, please contact the IDSS Academic Office ( [email protected] ) for connection information.

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Seven Music Ph.D. Students Successfully Defend Dissertations

April 15, 2024.

Trinity Communications

The Duke Department of Music would like to congratulate the seven Ph.D. candidates who have successfully defended their dissertations.  Read more about the students and their dissertations below.

Minato Sakamoto

Minato completed the defense for the Ph.D. in composition with the dissertation Studies of Algorithmic Music Generation  – a three-movement string quartet and three piano pieces – and an essay titled “Folksong Enthusiasm in Post-Cultural Revolution China.” 

Chaired by Scott Lindroth, Minato’s dissertation committee included Stephen Jaffe, John Supko, Philip Rupprecht, and the distinguished composer Chen Yi (UMKC).

Huijuan (Susie) Ling  

Susie completed the defense for the Ph.D. in composition with two artistic components:  The Poetics  for Ten Instruments, a thirty-minute ensemble work recorded in Baldwin Auditorium under the direction of Verena Mösenbichler-Bryant, the Ciompi Quartet and guest artists in March 2022, and  Rainy Days , Vol. I for Harpsichord and Electronics, which Susie herself premiered and recorded at the Nelson Music Room in December 2023. An essay entitled “An Exploration of Musical Meaning in Tan Dun’s  Water Concerto :  Expectations, Assumptions and the Problem of “Chineseness” completes the project.

The members of the Ph.D. Committee were professors Roseen Giles, Scott Lindroth, John Supko and Edna Andrews. Stephen Jaffe served as the advisor.

Jeremy Sexton

Jeremy completed the defense for the Ph.D. in musicology with the dissertation, “Samuel Barber as Synthesizer: An Analytical and Critical Reappraisal.” It includes interpretive readings of Barber’s First Symphony,  Capricorn Concerto,   Knoxville: Summer of 1915 , the opera  Vanessa , and the song cycle  The Lovers . – Phillip Rupprecht, Ph.D.

Serving on the committee were professors Roseen Giles, Larry Todd, and Howard Pollack (University of Houston).  Phillip Rupprecht served as the advisor.

Hannah Krall

Hannah defended her dissertation in musicology with, “The Creole of Color Clarinet Tradition and its Influence on the Creative Legacy of Duke Ellington.” Hannah’s research ranges from the early New Orleans period through the 1950s, and it includes a critique of theories of creolization, as they have been applied to jazz, as well as a feminist/intersectional reading of Ellington’s piece “A Drum is a Woman.” Thomas Brothers served as advisor for this dissertation. The dissertation committee consisted of professors Emily Wang, Philip Rupprecht and Brian Harker (BYU University). 

Ryan Harrison

Ryan successfully defended his Ph.D. dissertation in composition. Ryan’s thesis consists of  Les Cenelles,  a composition for soprano, baritone and chamber orchestra, and an article “ No Turn Unstoned : Development, Deviation, and Dissolvement in the Electronic Dance Music of Luke Vibert.”

Les Cenelles  was first performed in August 2023 at Xavier University of Louisiana by the New Orleans Chamber Orchestra, Maxim Samarov conducting, with soloists Sakinah Davis, soprano and Ivan Griffin, bass-baritone.   Les Cenelles , which constitutes the major portion of Ryan’s Ph.D. thesis in composition, is based on the first anthology of poetry published by African Americans in 1845. 

Professors Nicholas Stoia, Scott Lindroth and John Supko joined Stephen Jaffe (chair) on the doctoral committee. 

Cole Swanson

Cole successfully defended his Ph.D. dissertation in musicology: “Material Ends: Hauntology, Anachrony, and Traces of the Analog in Digital Cinema." 

The dissertation is organized along the following case-studies:  Arrival  (Villeneuve, 2016),  Barbie  (Gerwig, 2023),  Everything Everywhere All At Once  (Kwan & Scheinert, 2022),  Inglorious Bastards  and  Django unchained  (Tarantino, 2009, 2012),  Inside Llewyn Davis  (J. & E. Coen, 2014),  Ma Rainey's Black Bottom  (Wolfe, 2023),  Marie Antoinette  (S. Coppola, 2016),  Moonlight  (Jenkins, 2016),  The Joker  (Phillips, 2019),  The Lighthouse  (Eggers, 2018).  Cole's dissertation investigates the different modes of acoustic diversification that characterize the current Hollywood's digital era, and how such diversity is informed by an ongoing tension between the analog and the digital.

The committee members included Alessandra Campana (Tufts University), Philip Rupprecht and Nicolas Stoia. Cole's advisor was  Jacqueline Waeber.

Brooks Frederickson

Brooks successfully defended his dissertation in composition with an album-length work called  Quilt  that mixes live instrumental recordings with digital audio and field recordings. The instrumental music was performed by visiting artists, Yarn/Wire. 

Brooks also produced a three-part podcast called  Instrumental Objects , which explores the music and working process of Matmos, the Baltimore-based experimental electronica duo. The podcast includes interviews, music analysis, and a historical outline that begins with Luigi Russolo, moves through Pierre Schaeffer and Pierre Henry, casts a sidelong glance at Object-Oriented Ontology, and finally arrives at Matmos .

His advisor was Scott Lindroth.

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Graduate programs, ma in political science.

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How To Apply

The university's application for admission is available online . 

Application Deadlines

Fall Semester: Domestic - Spring Semester: Domestic -  No summer admissions

Admission Requirements

Must meet University Requirements , as well as the requirements listed below: 

• Undergraduate degree from a regionally accredited institution
• GRE/ TOEFL scores
• Three (3) letters of recommendation, preferably by academics
• A 500 word personal statement
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• Minimum GPA of 3.00
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International students:

Transcripts/documents that are issued in a language other than English must be accompanied by a literal English translation. In addition, transfer applicants who completed any postsecondary work (college or university) at an institution not in the U.S. are required to submit an evaluation of that academic work. The evaluation must include a course-by-course assessment, with grades or marks and credits or hours equated to the U.S. system. Click here for a list of evaluation services.

Curriculum Requirements

During the first semester in the program, each student must develop a plan of study in consultation with the Graduate Director. Thereafter, students consult with the Graduate Director who provides technical and procedural advising as well as substantive advice. However, students are also encouraged to discuss their research interests with individual members of the faculty. An orientation session for new and continuing students is provided at the beginning of the academic year. In addition, monthly professional workshops discuss topics of interest to graduate students.

Total Minimum Hours: 36 credit hours Common Core – 12 credit hours Major Field or Concentration 9 credit hours Electives – 9 credit hours minimum Thesis/Non-Thesis – 6 credit hours

For instructional purposes, the graduate curriculum in Political Science has been divided into four fields: Field 1 Comparative Politics (courses with a CPO prefix) Field 2 International Relations (courses with an INR prefix) Field 3 American Government (Courses with a PUP, POS, or URP prefix) Field 4 Political Theory (courses with a POT prefix)

Common Core Courses -12 credit hours POS 6735 Foundations of Political Inquiry (3)

Disciplinary Seminar Requirements - Select two: POS 6045 Seminar in American Government (3) POT 6007 Seminar in Political Theory (3) INR 6007 Seminar in International Relations (3) CPO 6091 Seminar in Comparative Politics (3)

Required Research Methods Sequence - Select one: POS 6746 Quantitative Analysis I (3) POS 6707 Qualitative Analysis (3)

Students may either choose a Major Field of study, or the concentration in Africana Studies. Major field - 9 credit hours

In addition to the core course in major area, three additional courses in the core area are chosen from American Government, Political Theory, International Relations, or Comparative Politics.

Concentration in Africana Studies - 9 credit hours AFA 6932: Topics in Africana Studies (3) AFA 6120: Social Theory and Social Thought (3) AFA 6108: Social Construction of Race and Racism (3)

Electives - 9 credit hours minimum. Electives include, but are not limited to: AFA 6207: African American Historiography AFA 6805: African Historiography AFA 6355: African American Community Research AFA 6387: Seminar on Genocide and Human Rights AFA 6932: Special Topics AFA 6905: Independent Study AFA 6910: Directed Research CPO 5934: Selected Topics in Comparative Politics (3) POS 6933: Selected Topics in Political Science (3)

Electives have to be approved by the Graduate Director. Other graduate courses may also be taken as electives, with approval by the Graduate Director.

Thesis/Non Thesis - 6 hours minimum Thesis POS 6971 6 Thesis: Master’s AFA 6971 6 Thesis: Master’s

Students must enroll in either POS 6971 or AFA 6971 (Africana Studies Concentration students) Thesis: Master’s for a minimum of 6 credit hours. In their thesis, students must provide new insight into a relevant topic in political science or international studies. As students approach the thesis stage, they need to compose a thesis committee consisting of a major professor, who must be a member of the Department of Government and International Affairs, and two readers. One of the two readers can be from another department, but that person must first be approved by the Graduate Director. The thesis committee must approve proposals before students embark on their projects. Students must prepare a written thesis and defend their work in a formal oral presentation before their committee.

Non-Thesis: Elective 3 Structured course approved by the Graduate Director and one of the following: POS 6909 3 Independent Study (for students in a major field) AFA 6905 3 Independent Study (for students in the Africana Studies Concentration)

Students who choose a non-thesis option will be required to complete an additional 6 hours of course work at the 6000 level. The student is required to demonstrate competency by successfully completing a substantial literature review of approximately 50 pages in his or her major field, or in the Africana Studies Concentration.

Comprehensive Examination For students in the thesis option, successful completion of the Thesis serves in lieu of the Comprehensive Exam. For students in the non-thesis option, the extensive literature review determines competency and serves as the equivalent of a comprehensive examination.

Students may take a maximum of 3 credit hours of Independent Study (POS 6909) and 3 credit hours of Directed Research (POS 6919)

For the full requirements, please visit the Office of Graduate Studies Graduate Catalog. 

Forms and information

General Information Course Offerings (Please verify the requirements based on the catalog from the year you were admitted) Research Proposal Example SIGS Graduate Resources   MA in Political Science Tracking Sheet   MA in Political Science/Africana Studies Concentration Tracking Sheet Independent Study/Directed Research Contract Graduate Catalog Listing Office of Graduate Studies Forms Plagiarism Information (Office of Graduate Studies) Thesis and Literature Review Forms Thesis, Dissertation, and Proposal Guidelines and Tips MA Thesis Checklist Graduate Student Supervisory Committee Appointment Form Request to Schedule Thesis Defense Form Certificate of Approval Form for Thesis & Dissertation Doing a Literature Review General Guidelines for the Literature Review (MA Student Non-Thesis Option)

School of Electrical and Computer Engineering

College of engineering, ph.d. dissertation defense - kevin hutto.

Title :  Remote Sensor Security Through Encoded Computation and Cryptographic Signatures

Dr. Vincent Mooney, ECE, Chair , Advisor

Dr. Santiago Grijalva, ECE

Dr. Angelos Keromytis, ECE

Dr. Fabian Monrose, ECE

Dr. Nagi Gebraeel, ISyE