THE PROPOSAL
The Ph.D. proposal consists of:
- a proposal document written by the student
in which he/she will propose the research work to be undertaken as part of
his/her doctoral work and a schedule for completion, and
- an oral defense of the proposal document.
Committee
Ph.D. proposal will be administered by the student's thesis advisory
committee (the advisor plus at least two other faculty members), chosen
jointly by the student and the advisor. A majority of the members of the
advisory committee must hold their primary appointments on the College of
Computing faculty. It is a good practice to have all members (including
the external committee member) of your
dissertation defense committee in your proposal committee.
Proposal Announcement
The proposal must be announced publicly to the College at least one week
prior to the date of the oral defense. Please provide a
copy of the announcement to Barbara
Binder.
Format
There is no fixed format for the oral defense. The advisor, as the chair of
the committee, conducts the examination. Here is a typical way in which it
is run: The student will make a presentation to the committee and the others
present. After the presentation there is a question period when those
present can ask the student questions pertaining to the proposal. The chair
then asks everyone other than the committee members to leave. This may be
followed by more questions to the student from the committee members. Then
the student is asked to leave. The committee deliberates and then decides
whether the student has passed the proposal defense. They give feedback to
the student on the proposal either individually or through the advisor.
A student must have passed the qualifying examination to do a Ph.D.
proposal.
A student who has passed the proposal defense and has also completed all
course requirements (except the minor), maintaining a satisfactory
scholastic record, has achieved Ph.D. candidacy and should submit the Candidacy form.
Return to main Ph.D. page
Last updated August, 2001.