Doctoral Dissertation (and Comp 994)

Overview
The candidate must present a dissertation constituting a substantial contribution to knowledge developed by the independent research of the candidate, meeting scholarly standards of organization, presentation, and literary merit, and prescribed standards of form (see the Graduate School document A Guide to Theses and Dissertations). See the Graduate School's publications page for on-line versions of these documents. Further important details are presented in the Departmental document Preparation of Theses and Dissertations.

The dissertation adviser and at least two other members of the student's committee, designated Readers, will read carefully the entire dissertation.

Dissertation Proposal
A cooperative meeting (not an exam) of the student with the doctoral advisory committee will be held to discuss the feasibility of the student's proposed research. The student is responsible for arranging the time and place of the meeting. At least one week before meeting, the student shall submit to the committee a written dissertation proposal defining the scope of the proposed research and the planned method of attack on the research problem. The committee will either approve or reject the plan at this meeting. The meeting can either precede or follow the Doctoral Oral examination, by a short or a long interval, at the discretion of the student and committee. The result of the meeting should be recorded in the student's file.

Progress Reports
The student is expected to call a committee meeting at least every six months to discuss the progress of the dissertation, and to submit a one-page summary of progress each semester to the Director of Graduate Studies.

Academic Credit
The student must register for at least three credit hours of Comp 994: Doctoral Dissertation Research.

Registration
The student must be registered when the dissertation is defended, submitted, and accepted by the Graduate School.