|
The Doctoral Thesis
Doctoral Candidates (who have passed the General Examination) must complete a doctoral thesis that satisfies the Institute and Departmental requirements in order to receive the doctoral degree. General Institute requirements are described in the MIT Bulletin and MIT Graduate Policies and Procedures.
The Ph.D. Thesis Committee
The 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 student and research supervisor should agree upon members of a thesis committee and propose a committee to the appropriate Academic Program Chair. The thesis committee must be approved prior to the scheduling of the thesis proposal presentation, which must take place in the academic semester in which the General Oral Exam is successfully completed. It is expected that the student and supervisor will hold progress reviews with the entire thesis committee at least once a year. More frequent meetings are strongly recommended. Thesis committee changes must be approved by submitting a petition to the Chair of the Departmental Committee on Graduate Students (DCGS).
The Ph.D. Thesis Committee will have at least two members who are not advisors or co-advisors. At least one of the committee members must be an MIT faculty member whose principal area of research and intellectual pursuits differ from that of the principal thesis advisor. This rule is to foster exchange within the various sub-disciplines of the Department, and to maximize the breadth of advice given to the student. At least half the members of the thesis committee must be DMSE faculty. Senior Research Associates may act as a co-advisor as long as the second co-advisor is a Course III faculty member.
If the primary thesis research advisor is not a regular faculty member in DMSE, a thesis co-advisor who is a committee member must be identified at the time the committee is proposed. The co-advisor must be a regular faculty member in DMSE. The co-advisor is charged with the specific responsibility of assuring that Departmental academic requirements are satisfied and that satisfactory progress is being made toward timely completion of a thesis appropriate for our department. Both the advisor and co-advisor will sign the cover page of an accepted thesis. At least half the members of the thesis committee must be DMSE faculty.
The Thesis Proposal
A doctoral thesis proposal is required. This proposal consists of a document submitted to an approved thesis committee at least one week prior to an oral presentation of the proposal to the committee and a general audience. The document should not exceed 20 printed pages. The thesis committee must approve the thesis proposal but no grade is given. While no experimental results are necessary in order to submit the proposal, they are a useful indicator of the research methods and can serve to inform the direction of the thesis research project.
The thesis committee and thesis title may be proposed any time after satisfying the qualifying procedure, but must be approved by the respective Academic Program Chair no later than Add Date in the semester in which the General Oral Exam is passed. The proposal must be presented before the end of the semester in which the student passes the General Oral Examination. Failure to do so will lead to loss of registration. Exceptions can be made by writing to the DCGS Chair.
A copy of the proposal and the date and time of presentation must be given to the committee members and the DMSE Academic Office (Room 6-107) at least one week prior to the proposal. The Academic Office will then schedule a room and publicize the proposal presentation.
Doctoral Thesis and Oral Defense of the Thesis
The thesis defense has two stages: i) a preliminary exam, and ii) a final defense.
The preliminary exam involves only the student and the thesis committee. The preliminary exam meeting must include all thesis committee members. In highly unusual circumstances, the DCGS Chair may approve faculty absences or substitutions for the preliminary exam. Such approval must be obtained in writing at least one week in advance of the meeting. Approval is only possible with written support from the chair of the thesis committee and the faculty member to be replaced or absent.
At least one week prior to the preliminary exam, the student will hand deliver copies of the thesis document to the thesis committee. The preliminary exam usually will involve a brief presentation summarizing research results and the contents of the thesis document. The thesis committee will prepare a set of comments, suggestions, or requirements, as necessary for further experiments, more careful data analysis, more rigorous interpretation, or improved expression. If the thesis committee discovers major deficiencies, a second preliminary exam may be required.
The final thesis defense is open to the public and can only be scheduled after all deficiencies identified in the preliminary defense have been addressed. In no case will the final defense occur sooner than two weeks after the preliminary defense. At least one week prior to the defense, the student will hand-deliver copies of the final thesis document to the thesis committee members and to the Academic Office along with a proposed date and time for the defense. The Academic Office will schedule a room and publicize the defense. The defense begins with a formal presentation of approximately 45 minutes based on the thesis. The floor is then opened to questions from the general audience, which is thereafter excused. The thesis committee then continues the examination of the student in private. The student is finally excused from the room and the committee votes. A majority yes vote is required to approve the thesis. It is the responsibility of the principal thesis advisor to give the committee’s decision to the student and to the Academic Office. In the event of a vote not to pass, the thesis committee will make recommendations as to needed changes to render the thesis satisfactory. The revised thesis will then be submitted for a second final defense.
Thesis Format
The traditional thesis format is a monolithic document. It is not, however, dictated by regulation and a thesis may separate naturally into two or more sections, which are more directly publishable individually. A thesis written in sections should include a general introduction, abstract, and conclusions. The sections should be arranged so that the document reads as a whole. It is appropriate to put detailed descriptions of procedures and tables of data in appendices so that the thesis sections may be comparable in length and scope to journal articles. Use of this alternate format does not imply a change in the requirement for original research, in the student/supervisor relationship, or in their respective roles in producing the thesis document, all of which still apply.
Candidates should consult “Specifications for Thesis Presentation” (MIT, 1997), available from the Department Academic Office, Room 6-107.
Students who would like assistance in improving their writing skills or in any stage of writing a thesis proposal, final thesis, and even resumes and job application letters should contact the MIT Writing Center.
Back to PhD requirements.
|
