Ph.D. Dissertation
PH.D. ADVISORY COMMITTEE FORMATION
After a student has selected his or her advisor, a Ph.D. advisory committee is selected by the advisor in consultation with the Graduate Program Director and the student. The Ph.D. committee is composed of a minimum of five graduate faculty members, at least one of whom must be outside the focus area and another outside the EECS Department. The advisory committee will perform the following tasks:
- Assist the student in developing a Doctoral Program Proposal
- Prepare and administer the qualifying examination and the dissertation proposal defense
- Evaluate the student’s dissertation research proposal, its presentation, and the student’s defense of the proposal
- Advise and assist the student in dissertation research
- Evaluate the Ph.D. written dissertation
- Approve the final defense of the dissertation
DISSERTATION PROPOSAL DEFENSE
Objective
The intent of the Ph.D. proposal defense is to review and evaluate the content and style of the dissertation proposal and the student's ability to present the ideas orally.
Schedule
When the prescribed course work is substantially complete as defined by the Advisory Committee, the doctoral student is eligible to present his/her dissertation proposal. There must be at least a six-month period between the date when the proposal has been successfully defended and the final dissertation defense.
Format
A doctoral student's proposal defense consists of the following components:
- A written dissertation proposal that is prepared by the student and presented to the Advisory Committee for review and evaluation.
- An oral presentation of the dissertation proposal, which occurs at least two weeks after the written proposal is submitted to the Advisory Committee.
- An oral and/or written examination(s) to assess the student's preparation in the major and related field(s) of study for conducting the proposed research.
The Advisory Committee will decide whether or not the third portion of the proposal defense will be written or oral. Passing the proposal defense shall require:
- Satisfactory performance on the oral dissertation proposal presentation.
- Satisfactory performance on the formal examination.
- A satisfactory written dissertation proposal, a copy of which will be placed in the student's file.
Evaluation Criteria
The Advisory Committee will consider all of the information available to it, including an interview with the student to clarify unresolved issues, and render one of the following decisions:
- The student passes the proposal defense and he/she is encouraged to finish all remaining requirements at the earliest possible time.
- The student passes the defense and, except for identified deficiencies for which the committee will prescribe a remedy, the student is encouraged to finish all remaining requirements at the earliest possible time.
- The student fails the defense but is given permission to repeat it after certain conditions are met.
- The student fails the defense and is asked to withdraw from the program at the end of the term.
Passing the defense requires approval of at least two thirds of the students advisory committee.
Appeals
A student may appeal the Advisory Committee's decision. Such an appeal must be made in writing to the Graduate Director. The written appeal must contain explicit reasons for requesting that the review be conducted. The appeal must be filed within two weeks from the date the student is notified in writing by the Graduate Director of the Advisory Committee's decision. The Graduate Director will then present his case to the Graduate Committee for a final decision.
DISSERTATION SUBMISSION, FINAL DEFENSE AND ACCEPTANCE
Research Requirements
Dissertation research is to be done while the student is in full-time residence. The research must be completed and the dissertation must be written and successfully defended before the Ph.D. is conferred. The primary requirement of a dissertation is that it shows evidence of high scholarly attainment through original and independent research work and creation of new knowledge. The acceptability of a dissertation depends upon its quality rather than the time and credit hours spent on the research work.
Submission
When the dissertation research is completed to the satisfaction of the dissertation advisor, the student will prepare a final draft of the Ph.D. dissertation. This draft is submitted to the dissertation advisor for critical review and evaluation before scheduling a final defense of the dissertation. After receiving advisor approval, the student prepares the dissertation in final form and submits a copy of the completed dissertation to each committee member for critical evaluation at least two weeks before the defense. Information concerning the required dissertation format, reproduction, and other regulations for preparing a dissertation is available from the EECS office and the UT Graduate School.
Defense
Final public defense of the dissertation is required of every doctoral candidate after he or she has fulfilled all other requirements of the doctoral program. This examination is administered by the student’s dissertation committee and is restricted to the content of the dissertation and closely related subject matter. The dissertation advisor is the chairperson of the committee. All members of the dissertation committee are expected to be present at the dissertation defense. The dissertation defense is presided over by the student’s faculty advisor and must be publicized and posted at least two weeks before the defense date.
The dissertation defense includes an oral presentation of approximately 45 minutes. This is followed by questions and comments from members of the dissertation committee and others. At the conclusion of the question and discussion period, all attendees present other than the dissertation committee members shall be excused. The dissertation committee may ask additional questions and will make a decision regarding acceptability of the dissertation and its defense and report these findings to the candidate. At least a 3/4 majority of the committee must concur in the final decision.
Major or minor changes and additions or deletions to the dissertation may be recommended by the dissertation committee. These must be made by the student and approved by the dissertation advisor before the student can be certified as having completed requirements for the dissertation.
Acceptance
After successful defense and corrections have been completed, the committee will complete and sign a dissertation approval page and forward it to the Graduate Program Director. Should the student not pass the final dissertation defense, the committee, in consultation with the Graduate Program Director, will decide upon a future course of action.
The doctoral candidate must submit a minimum of two journal papers based on the dissertation research.
The original signed dissertation manuscript and two copies (all unbound) must be submitted to the UT Graduate School.
Hard bound copies of the dissertation must also be provided to the advisor and the EECS Department. The student should prepare and bind additional copies for committee members, if requested. The student is expected to bear all costs associated with copying and binding.