Dissertation Defense

Those students who complete the requirements for the PhD program except for the dissertation receive the MPhil degree. PhD candidates are then required to complete and submit a dissertation, which must be prepared through research by the student conducted in close consultation with his or her PhD faculty sponsor.

The dissertation defense is held before a committee of five faculty members, two of whom must be from outside the department. When a committee member can only participate from afar, an accommodation may be made by employing audio or video conferencing during the defense. A maximum of two members of the dissertation defense committee may participate remotely, but the committee chair and the sponsor must be present at the defense and GSAS must be informed of this arrangement at the time of application. Those preparing for the dissertation distribution and defense should also consult the relevant GSAS guidelines and requirements.

The accepted dissertation (subject to whatever revisions the defense committee may deem appropriate) must be typed in conformity with the University’s dissertation format and deposited with the Dissertation Office, whose template may be found here.