Dissertation Preparation and Defense
While preparing the dissertation, the candidate enrolls in CS 999 Doctoral Dissertation. (Note: Students may enroll in CS 999 only after advancement to candidacy.)
When the work is deemed complete, the dissertation is defended. The public defense is preceded by a pre-defense meeting in which only the candidate and the dissertation committee members and the Director of the CS PhD program (or his/her representative) are present.
The dissertation must be made available to the committee at least two weeks in advance of the pre-defense. If the committee approves, the candidate may then schedule the final public defense.
There should be at least one month between the pre-defense meeting and the defense, and the defense must be announced at least two weeks in advance. The dissertation must be made available to the committee at least two weeks in advance of the defense. The entire dissertation committee must be present at the defense, unless an exception is approved by the Director of the CS PhD program in advance of the defense.
The dissertation must make significant contributions to its area, and be publishable in refereed journals or conferences. If the candidate defends the dissertation successfully, the dissertation committee recommends that the final form of the dissertation be completed under the supervision of the dissertation director, and that the graduate faculty of the university accept the candidate for the PhD degree. If the candidate fails to defend the dissertation, the candidate may request a second defense, following the same procedures as for the initial defense. There is no time limit for this request, other than general time limits for the doctoral degree, and an additional pre-defense is not required. A candidate who fails a second attempt to defend the dissertation is dismissed from the program.