dissertation defense date

Oral Examinations

If you have questions about oral examinations, contact us at [email protected] .

Once your dissertation is nearing completion, it’s time to schedule your defense—your final oral examination.

You should begin making arrangements for your defense at the beginning of the semester (especially during the summer) in order to accommodate the schedules of your committee members.

Students must be currently enrolled in the dissertation course for the semester in which the defense is scheduled and held.

Committee Changes

Any changes to your dissertation committee must be approved by the Dean of the Graduate School. Changes should be approved at least 30 days prior to the date of the oral examination so that all new members have ample time to become familiar with your dissertation.

Defense Attendance

You, the student, and your supervisor, in negotiation with the dissertation committee members, should determine a time and date for the defense. Each member of your committee must receive a copy of your dissertation at least four weeks prior to your dissertation defense date. A defense cannot be held within two weeks of the last class day of the semester, unless the committee has consented to hold the defense within those last 2 weeks.

Request for Final Oral Examination Form

You must schedule the dissertation defense with the Graduate School at least two weeks prior to the defense date by completing the Request for Final Oral Examination form. All members of your committee must sign your request form indicating their intent to be present at your final oral. Your graduate adviser must also sign this form to indicate you have been approved to defend.

It is expected that all members of the committee attend the defense. The Graduate School does not distinguish between physical attendance or electronic/virtual attendance of the defense. One non-supervisory committee member may be absent from the defense in if necessary, but all members must read the dissertation and, when satisfied, sign the Report of Dissertation Committee form.

Contact for Questions

Email the Graduate School at the link above with any questions concerning defense attendance.

Format Check Requirements

When you submit the Request for Final Oral Examination form to the Graduate School, you should include one copy each of the dissertation abstract, title page and the committee membership page for a format check in separate PDF. You do not need to include the instructions page.

After the Defense

The official recommendation of your committee and your program is communicated to the Graduate School on the Report of Dissertation Committee. The Dean of the Graduate School depends on this document to determine your eligibility to receive the doctoral degree so it is essential that it be completed and returned in a timely fashion. A passing report signifies that your committee unanimously agrees that you have completed a dissertation that is an independent investigation in your major field.

In the event that revisions to your dissertation are necessary before your committee members approve your dissertation, the report will be retained by your supervisor until all revisions have been completed. After successful completion of your defense and any required revisions to your dissertation, the Report of Dissertation Committee should also be signed by all members of your committee and must be submitted to the Graduate School.

After you’ve made required or requested revisions to your dissertation, if any, check it carefully for grammar, spelling, punctuation, content and format, then convert it to the required PDF format and upload it.

Do not submit your report/thesis/dissertation via email . Final reports, theses and dissertations MUST be uploaded to the Texas Digital Library before your final paperwork and pages will be reviewed. After submission, no revisions or corrections will be allowed except for those required by the dean of the Graduate School.

Upcoming Oral Examinations

Doctoral students’ final oral examinations are open to all members of the University community and the public unless attendance is restricted by the Graduate Studies Committee. Scheduled oral examinations are published on the UT Grad School website.

/images/cornell/logo35pt_cornell_white.svg" alt="dissertation defense date"> Cornell University --> Graduate School

Understanding deadlines and requirements, major steps.

Understanding the steps and associated deadlines in the dissertation/thesis and degree conferral process is necessary to establish a successful plan and realistic timeframe. The major steps are:

• Complete draft dissertation
• Schedule exam
• Make revisions
• Submit final electronic thesis/dissertation (ETD) to the Graduate School (final submission cannot be prior to your exam date)

Planning Timeline

The Code of Legislation requires students to submit a completed draft for committee review six weeks prior to scheduling the exam. Submission of the final thesis/dissertation must be within 60 days of completing the final exam.  You may not submit your thesis or dissertation prior to completing your M or B exam. Enrollment in future semesters after the date a student passes their M or B exam is not permitted, even if the 60 day submission window falls within a subsequent semester.

December 31, 2023 Conferral Deadlines

• Submit Draft to Committee: First week in October
• Schedule Exam: First week in November
• Take Exam: Mid November
• Complete Revisions: End of November
• Final Submission Deadline to the Graduate School: December 1, 2023

May 26, 2024 Conferral Deadlines

• Submit Draft to Committee: First week in March
• Schedule Exam: First week in April
• Take Exam: Mid April
• Complete Revisions: End of April
• Final Submission Deadline to the Graduate School: May 1, 2024

August 31, 2024 Conferral Deadlines

• Submit Draft to Committee: First week in June
• Schedule Exam: First week in July
• Take Exam: Mid July
• Complete Revisions: End of July
• Final Submission Deadline to the Graduate School: August 1, 2024

December 31, 2024 Conferral Deadlines

• Final Submission Deadline to the Graduate School: December 1, 2024

Use this checklist to guide your process.

• Complete your research.
• Learn about thesis and dissertation formatting guidelines .
• Develop a detailed outline for your approach to writing your dissertation or thesis.
• Write the body of text for the dissertation or thesis.
• Complete your draft thesis/dissertation  six weeks prior to your final examination  and submit to all members of your Special Committee.
• Schedule your final exam  one week before your final examination date , and submit a final draft of your dissertation/thesis to each special committee member.
• Take your final exam (“B” exam), oral dissertation defense for Ph.D. candidates, or (“M” exam) an oral thesis defense for master’s candidates, six to eight weeks before conferral date .
• Make changes as specified by the special committee.
• Submit the final electronic version of dissertation or thesis (ETD) to Graduate School using ProQuest . See  Thesis and Dissertation Submission Process  for instructions.
• Attend  commencement  and celebrate!

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Defending Your Dissertation: A Guide

Written by Luke Wink-Moran | Photo by insta_photos

Dissertation defenses are daunting, and no wonder; it’s not a “dissertation discussion,” or a “dissertation dialogue.” The name alone implies that the dissertation you’ve spent the last x number of years working on is subject to attack. And if you don’t feel trepidation for semantic reasons, you might be nervous because you don’t know what to expect. Our imaginations are great at making The Unknown scarier than reality. The good news is that you’ll find in this newsletter article experts who can shed light on what dissertations defenses are really like, and what you can do to prepare for them.

The first thing you should know is that your defense has already begun. It started the minute you began working on your dissertation— maybe even in some of the classes you took beforehand that helped you formulate your ideas. This, according to Dr. Celeste Atkins, is why it’s so important to identify a good mentor early in graduate school.

“To me,” noted Dr. Atkins, who wrote her dissertation on how sociology faculty from traditionally marginalized backgrounds teach about privilege and inequality, “the most important part of the doctoral journey was finding an advisor who understood and supported what I wanted from my education and who was willing to challenge me and push me, while not delaying me.  I would encourage future PhDs to really take the time to get to know the faculty before choosing an advisor and to make sure that the members of their committee work well together.”

Your advisor will be the one who helps you refine arguments and strengthen your work so that by the time it reaches your dissertation committee, it’s ready. Next comes the writing process, which many students have said was the hardest part of their PhD. I’ve included this section on the writing process because this is where you’ll create all the material you’ll present during your defense, so it’s important to navigate it successfully. The writing process is intellectually grueling, it eats time and energy, and it’s where many students find themselves paddling frantically to avoid languishing in the “All-But-Dissertation” doldrums. The writing process is also likely to encroach on other parts of your life. For instance, Dr. Cynthia Trejo wrote her dissertation on college preparation for Latin American students while caring for a twelve-year-old, two adult children, and her aging parents—in the middle of a pandemic. When I asked Dr. Trejo how she did this, she replied:

“I don’t take the privilege of education for granted. My son knew I got up at 4:00 a.m. every morning, even on weekends, even on holidays; and it’s a blessing that he’s seen that work ethic and that dedication and the end result.”

Importantly, Dr. Trejo also exercised regularly and joined several online writing groups at UArizona. She mobilized her support network— her partner, parents, and even friends from high school to help care for her son.

The challenges you face during the writing process can vary by discipline. Jessika Iwanski is an MD/PhD student who in 2022 defended her dissertation on genetic mutations in sarcomeric proteins that lead to severe, neonatal dilated cardiomyopathy. She described her writing experience as “an intricate process of balancing many things at once with a deadline (defense day) that seems to be creeping up faster and faster— finishing up experiments, drafting the dissertation, preparing your presentation, filling out all the necessary documents for your defense and also, for MD/PhD students, beginning to reintegrate into the clinical world (reviewing your clinical knowledge and skill sets)!”

But no matter what your unique challenges are, writing a dissertation can take a toll on your mental health. Almost every student I spoke with said they saw a therapist and found their sessions enormously helpful. They also looked to the people in their lives for support. Dr. Betsy Labiner, who wrote her dissertation on Interiority, Truth, and Violence in Early Modern Drama, recommended, “Keep your loved ones close! This is so hard – the dissertation lends itself to isolation, especially in the final stages. Plus, a huge number of your family and friends simply won’t understand what you’re going through. But they love you and want to help and are great for getting you out of your head and into a space where you can enjoy life even when you feel like your dissertation is a flaming heap of trash.”

While you might sometimes feel like your dissertation is a flaming heap of trash, remember: a) no it’s not, you brilliant scholar, and b) the best dissertations aren’t necessarily perfect dissertations. According to Dr. Trejo, “The best dissertation is a done dissertation.” So don’t get hung up on perfecting every detail of your work. Think of your dissertation as a long-form assignment that you need to finish in order to move onto the next stage of your career. Many students continue revising after graduation and submit their work for publication or other professional objectives.

When you do finish writing your dissertation, it’s time to schedule your defense and invite friends and family to the part of the exam that’s open to the public. When that moment comes, how do you prepare to present your work and field questions about it?

“I reread my dissertation in full in one sitting,” said Dr. Labiner. “During all my time writing it, I’d never read more than one complete chapter at a time! It was a huge confidence boost to read my work in full and realize that I had produced a compelling, engaging, original argument.”

There are many other ways to prepare: create presentation slides and practice presenting them to friends or alone; think of questions you might be asked and answer them; think about what you want to wear or where you might want to sit (if you’re presenting on Zoom) that might give you a confidence boost. Iwanksi practiced presenting with her mentor and reviewed current papers to anticipate what questions her committee might ask.  If you want to really get in the zone, you can emulate Dr. Labiner and do a full dress rehearsal on Zoom the day before your defense.

But no matter what you do, you’ll still be nervous:

“I had a sense of the logistics, the timing, and so on, but I didn’t really have clear expectations outside of the structure. It was a sort of nebulous three hours in which I expected to be nauseatingly terrified,” recalled Dr. Labiner.

“I expected it to be terrifying, with lots of difficult questions and constructive criticism/comments given,” agreed Iwanski.

“I expected it to be very scary,” said Dr. Trejo.

“I expected it to be like I was on trial, and I’d have to defend myself and prove I deserved a PhD,” said Dr Atkins.

And, eventually, inexorably, it will be time to present.  

“It was actually very enjoyable” said Iwanski. “It was more of a celebration of years of work put into this project—not only by me but by my mentor, colleagues, lab members and collaborators! I felt very supported by all my committee members and, rather than it being a rapid fire of questions, it was more of a scientific discussion amongst colleagues who are passionate about heart disease and muscle biology.”

“I was anxious right when I logged on to the Zoom call for it,” said Dr. Labiner, “but I was blown away by the number of family and friends that showed up to support me. I had invited a lot of people who I didn’t at all think would come, but every single person I invited was there! Having about 40 guests – many of them joining from different states and several from different countries! – made me feel so loved and celebrated that my nerves were steadied very quickly. It also helped me go into ‘teaching mode’ about my work, so it felt like getting to lead a seminar on my most favorite literature.”

“In reality, my dissertation defense was similar to presenting at an academic conference,” said Dr. Atkins. “I went over my research in a practiced and organized way, and I fielded questions from the audience.

“It was a celebration and an important benchmark for me,” said Dr. Trejo. “It was a pretty happy day. Like the punctuation at the end of your sentence: this sentence is done; this journey is done. You can start the next sentence.”

If you want to learn more about dissertations in your own discipline, don’t hesitate to reach out to graduates from your program and ask them about their experiences. If you’d like to avail yourself of some of the resources that helped students in this article while they wrote and defended their dissertations, check out these links:

The Graduate Writing Lab

https://thinktank.arizona.edu/writing-center/graduate-writing-lab

The Writing Skills Improvement Program

https://wsip.arizona.edu

Campus Health Counseling and Psych Services

https://caps.arizona.edu

https://www.scribbr.com/

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Psychology Graduate Program

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• Dissertation & Defense

The doctoral dissertation is the culmination of scholarly work in graduate school. Every PhD candidate in the Harvard Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences is required to successfully complete and submit a dissertation to qualify for degree conferral. The dissertation must be submitted in one of two formats.  

• The traditional format is described in detail here .
• Three articles describing original empirical research that the dissertation committee deems “of publishable quality.”  The student must be the first author on each paper  or obtain approval from their committee to include papers for which they are not the first author . At least one of the three papers must be under review, in press, or published in a peer-reviewed journal. 
• An introductory chapter that thoroughly reviews the literature relevant to the three papers.
• A concluding chapter that describes what was learned from the three papers.

Post-prospectus changes :  If students would like to make substantive changes to the content and/or format of the dissertation after prospectus approval, they must revise their prospectus and obtain approval of the revised version from all committee members. Another meeting of the prospectus committee may be required if the changes are substantial.

If students would like to make changes to the composition of their dissertation committee after prospectus approval, they must obtain 1) approval from the primary advisor/ committee chair to make the change, and 2) approval of the prospectus by any new committee member(s). If the new member doesn't approve of the prospectus as written, the prospectus may need to be revised. If the revisions are substantial, students may need to have another full prospectus meeting to ensure the revised version of the prospectus is approved by every member of the committee.  

Dissertation Committee:  The Dissertation Committee comprises of the three members of the prospectus committee and an additional member—the outside examiner— who was not a member of the prospectus committee. The outside examiner must be approved by the CHD. Any tenured or tenure-track faculty member in the Psychology Department is automatically approved as an outside examiner.  Outside scholars require approval from your primary advisor and from the CHD. Students may ask the Graduate Program Coordinator if a particular scholar had already been approved in the past; if so, there is no further action needed by the student. If they have not been,  students should petition the CHD via email to the Graduate Program Coordinator; describe briefly why you are requesting the scholar and what they will add to the committee, i.e. "for their expertise in..." and include a copy of the scholar's CV.  

Dissertation Approval:   The dissertation must be approved by the student’s advisor before it is submitted to the dissertation committee. After the student sends the dissertation to the committee, they will have three weeks to read and assess the work. Each committee member should complete a  Dissertation Approval Form  and return it to the student and Graduate Office within three weeks. 

The committee members will receive an evaluation form, where they select among these options:

• Not acceptable in current form and cannot be corrected without major revisions and consultation of committee.
• Needs considerable revision, to be seen by me again. Needs committee consultation: [yes/no]
• Is acceptable with a few minor revisions, to be seen by me again.
• Is acceptable with voluntary minor revisions.
• Is acceptable as is.

If substantive revisions are required, the student will need to respond to these revisions, distribute a revised version to the committee, and the committee will have two more weeks to read and assess the revised version. All committee members must approve "as is" or "with voluntary minor revisions" before the defense can proceed.  

Dissertation Defense Date: Students are responsible for coordinating the schedule for their dissertation defense date. Due to the difficulty of coordinating schedules for several faculty, students are encouraged to find a mutually agreeable tentative date and time (we recommend a 2-hour duration) for the defense and ask committee members to pencil it in. However, it is crucial to recognize that this date will be confirmed only when the student has received approval from all members of their committee. In addition, the department must advertise the defense for two weeks before the date it can be held. Therefore, we strongly recommend the dissertation be submitted to the committee ten weeks before tentative defense date to accommodate time for rounds of revisions. The date will be pushed back if the student has not received approval from all members

Defenses can take place at any point in the year, as long as the committee agrees to convene. However, note there are deadlines to complete the defense in time for November, March, and May degree conferrals. The Department recommends that the defense be held at least 1-2 weeks prior to the dissertation submission deadline for that degree period. Deadlines for the current year can be found online in Harvard Griffin GSAS Policies in the Introduction section.

To submit: Email your dissertation as a single Word Doc or PDF file (or both) to your committee, cc’ing the Graduate Program coordinator. The Graduate Program Coordinator will follow up on this email by distributing the Dissertation Approval Form .  

Oral Defense:   Once the dissertation committee has approved the written dissertation, the student should book a room for the defense and send an abstract to the Graduate Office, which will announce the defense to the Department. WJH 1550 and 105, and NW 243 are the most common choices for a room. Students should submit a room request through FAS RoomBook . Committee members may participate remotely, if necessary, via Zoom or speakerphone. The Building Operations Office can lend a conference phone for this purpose. The Department does not have a budget to fly in committee members from other institutions except for former Harvard Psychology faculty members, although students should consult with their individual advisors to determine whether they would cover travel costs. We can provide a parking pass for committee members at nearby institutions.

The oral examination is moderated by the student's advisor, who is the Committee Chair. The advisor will introduce the student. The student gives a talk  about the work, and then the advisor will ask for questions from the committee. Talk times vary depending on area; please check in with your advisor to confirm. If there is time, the advisor may also choose to invite questions from the audience. The defense is a public event open to all. At the conclusion of the examination, the candidate and audience are dismissed, and the committee meets to make a final evaluation of the student's candidacy for a PhD. In cases of a positive evaluation, the committee members sign the Dissertation Acceptance Certificate .   

Dissertation Acceptance Certificate (DAC):   Students must complete a dissertation acceptance certificate (DAC), which includes the title of the dissertation and signatures of at least three readers approved by the student’s program. Prior to the oral defense, the Graduate Office will prepare a DAC, which includes the title of the dissertation, student name, and signature lines for each committee member The title on the DAC must read exactly as it does on the title page of the dissertation. A copy of the signed DAC should appear before the title page of the online dissertation submission; no page number should be assigned to the DAC. The DAC will be included in all copies of the dissertation.  

Dissertation Submission:   Following the successful oral defense, students must submit their dissertation in PDF format to the FAS Registrar’s Office through  ProQuest ETD by the deadline established for each degree conferral date (see the Harvard Griffin GSAS  Degree Calendar  or the  Registrar’s Office website ). Please carefully review the  dissertation formatting  before submitting online. Formatting errors may prevent students from receiving their degree. Harvard Griffin GSAS provides this helpful Dissertation Submission Checklist . The DAC must additionally be uploaded as a separate "Administrative Document" when submitting the electronic dissertation. The Registrar’s Office will review the dissertation for compliance and will contact the student to confirm acceptance or to request alterations. More details on the dissertation submission process can be found here .

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Dissertation Defenses

As part of the degree requirements for a Ph.D. in computer science or computer engineering, students must pass a final examination given by their advisory committee as described in the graduate catalog. The part of the exam that is related to the presentation of the student's research is public (the dissertation defense).  The final examination may not be administered before the dissertation is available to all members of the student's advisory committee in substantially final form, and all members have had adequate time to review the document. Final corrected copies of the dissertation must be accepted by the thesis clerk no later than one year after the final examination or within the 10-year time limit, whichever occurs first. Failure to do so will result in the degree not being awarded.

Listed below are the major steps that should be completed for Ph.D. dissertation defenses in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Texas A&M University. Much of this information is taken from the  graduate catalog ,  Steps to Fulfill Doctoral Degree Requirements  page on the Graduate and Professional School website  and the department's graduate brochure.

Requirements

Final exam deadlines are listed on the  Graduate and Professional School calendar  (usually about eight weeks before graduation).

To be eligible to schedule the final examination, the student must meet the following requirements:

• An approved dissertation proposal must have been submitted to the Graduate and Profesional School at least 15 days before the request to hold the final examination (dissertation defense) is submitted to the Graduate and Profesional School (or about four weeks before the defense). (This is a decrease - it used to be 14 weeks before the defense.)
• All course work on the degree plan must be completed with the exception of any remaining CPSC 691 (Research) hours and the student must be registered for those hours. This means all petitions to change the courses on the degree plan must be filed and approved before the exam can be scheduled.
• The cumulative and degree plan grade point ratios must both be at least 3.00. There cannot be any unabsolved grades of D, F, or U for any course listed on the degree plan. To absolve a deficient grade, the student must have repeated the course at Texas A&M and have achieved a grade of C or better.
• All English proficiency requirements must be satisfied prior to scheduling the examination.
• Students must be registered in the university in the semester or summer term in which the final examination is taken.

Listed below are the steps that should be followed in scheduling and administering final examinations (dissertation defenses) for Ph.D. degrees in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering.

• The student and the chair of the advisory committee should review the eligibility requirements for the final exam and ensure that the student has satisfied them all. If different courses were taken than are listed on the degree plan, then the appropriate petitions should be filed to make the necessary changes; all such petitions must be approved by the Graduate and Profesional School before the exam can be scheduled. Deadline: several weeks before exam.
• The student should consult with their advisory committee and select a mutually agreeable date and time for the defense. All advisory committee members should attend the final examination. If one of the members cannot attend the examination, he or she must find an appropriate substitute. The committee chair may not be substituted. (Note that the committee member and not the substitute should sign the dissertation approval pages.) Normally two hours should be reserved for the defense. The student is responsible for ensuring that a room is reserved for the defense; the advising office can help with this if needed. To book a room in Peterson, visit the department's room calendar page.   Deadline: Several weeks before the exam.
• The  Request for Final Examination  must be received by the Graduate and Profesional School at least 10 working days before the exam. An electronic copy in plain text (ASCII) of the title and abstract of the dissertation must be emailed to the advising office before  the student brings the request for final examination, already signed by the chair(s), to the advising office for the department approval signature. The advising office will submit the request to the Graduate and Profesional School and they will announce and publicize the defense once the request is approved by the Graduate and Profesional School. Deadline: At least 15 working days before the exam. The additional days are to allow department processing.
• The student should distribute a complete draft ("nearly final form'') of the dissertation to the advisory committee. Deadline: Approximately two weeks before the exam.
• The Graduate and Profesional School will send the advising office a  Report of Final Exam   before  the exam. It should be completed and signed by the advisory committee at the defense. The student's chair should return the  Report of Final Exam  to the advising office and they will submit it to the Graduate and Professional School. If the  Report of Final Exam  is not submitted to the Graduate and Profesional School within 10 working days of the scheduled examination, then a failing grade may be recorded. Deadline: Immediately after the exam (at the latest, within 10 working days of the exam).

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University of Pennsylvania Philosophy

Dissertation Defense Instructions for Current Graduate Students

1. Pick a defense date and time According to the Graduation Calendar (view here:  https://guides.library.upenn.edu/dissertation_manual/calendar ) the deadlines are as follows:   AUGUST 2023 graduation: Sign-up begins (no fee) Monday, May 22nd Defend by July 17th & deposit by July 31st Your degree will then be awarded on or during the week of August 4th   2. Contact the department administrator to reserve a room for your defense   3. Once the defense date is finalized, here is a list of the additional administrative steps to complete the career at Penn:   1. Sign up (there are relevant dates for sign up start/ end and late fee sign up on the calendar) for degree in the degree system:  https://apps.sas.upenn.edu/sso/gas/degree/app-start.php        2. Make sure to set up a deposit meeting with the Provost Office as soon as possible.  We recommend that you schedule the deposit early on since the spots fill up quickly towards the end of the term. Although you’re setting it up ahead of time, the deposit needs to be scheduled for  after  the defense, since this is when you will deposit the finished copy of the dissertation, ready for print.  (*there are also deposit schedules- and there is a calendar & tons of information on this on the provost’s website -  https://provost.upenn.edu/dissertation-deposit  )   Meetings (scheduled at  https://calendly.com/penngraddegree/deposit?month=2022-01 ) are for candidates to deposit the hard copy of their dissertation.  You do not need to be present for this meeting, but beforehand, you will need to take care of any outstanding bills with Student Financial Services and complete the two exit surveys GAS requires.  Your dissertation should be polished and edited—to your knowledge, ready for publication at the time of your deposit to Proquest.    3. Once you have successfully defended, please email the graduate coordinator the following information:

• exact title of your dissertation as it will appear in print
• name of your dissertation advisor
• the name of your committee chair (if different from your advisor)
• the names of your remaining committee members

Please note, the graduate coordinator will need an email address for any of the committee members who are external to the University of Pennsylvania.   For policies and procedures on formatting and submission, the Dissertation Manual is the place to begin.  As the Provost has just taken over in this term, they created some helpful checklists for graduating PhDs (see below).  

• PhD Graduation Checklist -  https://provost.upenn.edu/sites/default/files/users/user3179/PhD%20Candidate%20Graduation%20Checklist_0.pdf
• PhD Dissertation Formatting Checklist-  https://provost.upenn.edu/sites/default/files/users/user3179/PhD%20Candidate%20Formatting%20Checklist_0.pdf
• In Graduate Rules and Regulations, please read over the policies starting with “Dissertation” and “Dissertation Composition and Meetings” through “Publication and Submission”-  https://catalog.upenn.edu/pennbook/academic-rules-phd/#text . 

***EXTREMELY IMPORTANT: The formatting of your dissertation must follow the GAS guidelines EXACTLY (RE: Title page, pagination & margins)   4. Additional Information:

• Dissertation defenses may be conducted in-person or remotely
• Title page signatures are optional, and electronic signatures are accepted
• A printed copy of the dissertation is not required for deposit
• The dissertation must be submitted electronically in ETD Administrator

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Thesis & dissertation information.

Defense Deadlines Spring 2024: May 3, 2024 Summer 2024: August 15, 2024 Fall 2024: December 19, 2024

Publication Requirements 

Before beginning work on a thesis, dissertation, or plan B paper, students should review the online Publication Guide for Graduate Students, request the style manual or journal approved by the supervisory committee and/or department, and watch or attend a thesis/dissertation information session. These resources will guide students in the proper preparation of their manuscript.  

Theses and dissertations may be prepared in either monograph or multiple-paper format. One article or an article-manuscript may not be submitted by itself as an entire thesis or dissertation. The content of a thesis or dissertation must be approved by the student’s supervisory committee. Drafts of sections should be submitted periodically to the major professor for critique. Committee members should be consulted, especially on sections that involve their special expertise. 

Preparation of a thesis, plan B paper, or dissertation is the culminating learning experience for a graduate student. The quality of the product, which should represent the student’s own best work, is the responsibility of the student. Monitoring the quality of the thesis, plan B paper, or dissertation and mentoring the student in writing are responsibilities of the major professor, with the assistance of the supervisory committee. Editing by anyone other than the major professor and the supervisory committee should be limited to mechanics, such as spelling and grammar. 

Coauthoring requirements are listed in the Graduate School Catalog (section G2).  

Access the Publication Guide for Graduate Students

Find Thesis/Dissertation Information Sessions

Defense Process and Requirements

Before semester of defense.

• Review the School of Graduate Studies Publication Guide and attend a thesis/dissertation review information session.
• Review the steps to degree completion for your degree.
• Review your official degree and plan type and ensure they are correct in Banner.
• Review your official committee to make sure it is correct (NO committee changes can be made within 6 weeks of the final defense). 
• Review your file: are your SCAF , POS , and TPA or ACDD forms approved and accurate?
• Discuss how many credits you need for the semester of defense.
• Discuss departmental thesis/dissertation review procedures and timeframe.
• Work with your major professor and committee to determine a timeline for your thesis/dissertation completion. 

Preparing for Defense

• Register for at least three credits the semester of your defense unless otherwise approved by your department.
• International students must be registered as a full-time student throughout the duration of their degree and are not eligible to register for 1 credit unless their final semester falls in the summer semester.
• Conduct a final review of your official forms to make sure they are correct.
• Discuss any departmental requirements.
• Discuss how the defense room is reserved.
• Work with your committee to determine the date and time of your defense.
• Submit your thesis, plan B paper, or dissertation to each committee member at least one month prior to your defense date.
• Reserve a room.
• Check on the progress of approvals on your AFE, follow up with GPC and/or committee members to make sure it is approved in a timely manner.
• If the Appointment for Examination is not fully approved before the date of defense, the defense is not official, and will need to be rescheduled.
• Once an Appointment for Examination has been approved by the committee and the School of Graduate Studies, any changes to the date, time, and/or location require the submission and approval of a new Appointment for Examination. 

After the Defense

• The student should be informed of the defense results at the conclusion of the defense.
• The major professor or designated committee member should inform the GPC of the results of the defense as soon as possible.
• The GPC will then submit the Record of Examination in ServiceNow, and the committee will verify the results of the defense.
• Discuss the ownership of data and authorship rights with your committee. Review and submit the Format & Style form and Authorship & Copyright form .
• If desired, submit an embargo request . 
• Defense Requirements
• Any final defense held without following the proper procedures as listed in the graduate catalog may be invalid.
• All defenses are public.
• *International students must be registered as a full-time student throughout the duration of their degree and are not eligible to register for 1 credit unless their final semester falls in the summer semester.
• Supervisory committees cannot be changed in the 6 weeks prior to defense.
• All committee members must attend the defense at the date and time registered with the School of Graduate Studies.
• While an in-person defense is preferred and recommended, members of the committee may participate remotely with both audio and video interaction. Students should work with their committee members to arrange defense participation and details prior to submitting an Appointment for Examination.
• No committee member should agree to proceed with a defense until they have carefully read and approved the thesis, dissertation, or plan B paper. 
• Submission Process

After your defense, you should submit all of the following documents to your graduate program coordinator/department reviewer: 

(All forms can be found on the Service Now platform)

• Dissertation/Thesis Format and Style/ETD form
• Authorship and Copyright form
• Embargo Request form  (if desired)

Students should also review final semester information for other deadlines and requirements.

Once a student’s thesis, dissertation, or plan B paper has been finalized by the School of Graduate Studies and/or the Library, the School of Graduate Studies will verify that all degree requirements have been met. The School of Graduate Studies will contact you to let you know if anything on the Completion Checklist is incomplete. 

Theses & Dissertations

When you’re completely done editing your thesis/dissertation and your committee has approved it by signing your title page, have your GPC or departmental reviewer submit it for review to the School of Graduate Studies. 

Your paper cannot be checked into the School of Graduate Studies queue for review until all of the required forms are submitted and approved, your GPC has uploaded your completed thesis/dissertation to your review file, and your GPC has emailed the reviewer indicating that everything is in your file. All papers in the queue are processed in the order in which they are added.  Please allow at least three weeks for the initial review of your thesis or dissertation once it has been added to the queue (time to the initial review will vary based on the number of papers in the queue). 

If you formatted chapters in accordance with a particular journal, please also submit to the School of Graduate Studies a sample(s) of target journal styles in PDF format. 

If you want your thesis/dissertation embargoed, you must submit an Embargo form , and a signed physical copy of your final approved paper to the library along with a binding fee once it has passed the School of Graduate Studies review. 

Once your thesis or dissertation has passed the School of Graduate Studies review, it will be submitted to the Library for publication.  No further edits can be made at this point! Library personnel will notify the student and the School of Graduate Studies once the manuscript is accepted. 

Plan B Papers & Projects

Plan B papers and projects are defended but not formally reviewed by the School of Graduate Studies or signed by the Vice Provost of Graduate Studies. Instead, once a student has successfully defended their plan B and their committee has approved the final version of their report/creative project, students will submit their papers or projects directly to the Merrill-Cazier Library and uploaded to DigitalCommons. Library personnel will notify the student and the School of Graduate Studies once the plan B paper or project is accepted. 

On This Page

• Defense Deadlines
• Publication Requirements
• Defense Process

Preparing For Your Dissertation Defense

13 Key Questions To Expect In The Viva Voce

By: Derek Jansen (MBA) & David Phair (PhD) . Reviewed By: Dr Eunice Rautenbach | June 2021

Preparing for your dissertation or thesis defense (also called a “viva voce”) is a formidable task . All your hard work over the years leads you to this one point, and you’ll need to defend yourself against some of the most experienced researchers you’ve encountered so far.

It’s natural to feel a little nervous.

In this post, we’ll cover some of the most important questions you should be able to answer in your viva voce, whether it’s for a Masters or PhD degree. Naturally, they might not arise in exactly the same form (some may not come up at all), but if you can answer these questions well, it means you’re in a good position to tackle your oral defense.

Viva Voce Prep: 13 Essential Questions

• What is your study about and why did you choose to research this in particular?
• How did your research questions evolve during the research process?
• How did you decide on which sources to include in your literature review?
• How did you design your study and why did you take this approach?
• How generalisable and valid are the findings?
• What were the main shortcomings and limitations created by your research design?
• How did your findings relate to the existing literature?
• What were your key findings in relation to the research questions?
• Were there any findings that surprised you?
• What biases may exist in your research?
• How can your findings be put into practice?
• How has your research contributed to current thinking in the field?
• If you could redo your research, how would you alter your approach?

#1: What is your study about and why did you choose to research this in particular?

This question, a classic party starter, is pretty straightforward.

What the dissertation or thesis committee is assessing here is your ability to clearly articulate your research aims, objectives and research questions in a concise manner. Concise is the keyword here – you need to clearly explain your research topic without rambling on for a half-hour. Don’t feel the need to go into the weeds here – you’ll have many opportunities to unpack the details later on.

In the second half of the question, they’re looking for a brief explanation of the justification of your research. In other words, why was this particular set of research aims, objectives and questions worth addressing? To address this question well in your oral defense, you need to make it clear what gap existed within the research and why that gap was worth filling.

#2: How did your research questions evolve during the research process?

Good research generally follows a long and winding path . It’s seldom a straight line (unless you got really lucky). What they’re assessing here is your ability to follow that path and let the research process unfold.

Specifically, they’ll want to hear about the impact that the literature review process had on you in terms of shaping the research aims, objectives and research questions . For example, you may have started with a certain set of aims, but then as you immersed yourself in the literature, you may have changed direction. Similarly, your initial fieldwork findings may have turned out some unexpected data that drove you to adjust or expand on your initial research questions.

Long story short – a good defense involves clearly describing your research journey , including all the twists and turns. Adjusting your direction based on findings in the literature or the fieldwork shows that you’re responsive , which is essential for high-quality research.

#3: How did you decide on which sources to include in your literature review?

A comprehensive literature review is the foundation of any high-quality piece of research. With this question, your dissertation or thesis committee are trying to assess which quality criteria and approach you used to select the sources for your literature review.

Typically, good research draws on both the seminal work in the respective field and more recent sources . In other words, a combination of the older landmark studies and pivotal work, along with up-to-date sources that build on to those older studies. This combination ensures that the study has a rock-solid foundation but is not out of date.

So, make sure that your study draws on a mix of both the “classics” and new kids on the block, and take note of any major evolutions in the literature that you can use as an example when asked this question in your viva voce.

#4: How did you design your study and why did you take this approach?

This is a classic methodological question that you can almost certainly expect in some or other shape.

What they’re looking for here is a clear articulation of the research design and methodology, as well as a strong justification of each choice . So, you need to be able to walk through each methodological choice and clearly explain both what you did and why you did it. The why is particularly important – you need to be able to justify each choice you made by clearly linking your design back to your research aims, objectives and research questions, while also taking into account practical constraints.

To ensure you cover every base, check out our research methodology vlog post , as well as our post covering the Research Onion .

#5: How generalizable and valid are the findings?

This question is aimed at specifically digging into your understanding of the sample and how that relates to the population, as well as potential validity issues in your methodology.

To answer question this well, you’ll need to critically assess your sample and findings and consider if they truly apply to the entire population, as well as whether they assessed what they set out to. Note that there are two components here – generalizability and validity . Generalizability is about how well the sample represents the population. Validity is about how accurately you’ve measured what you intended to measure .

To ace this part of your dissertation defense, make sure that you’re very familiar with the concepts of generalizability , validity and reliability , and how these apply to your research. Remember, you don’t need to achieve perfection – you just need to be aware of the strengths and weaknesses of your research (and how the weaknesses could be improved upon).

Need a helping hand?

#6: What were the main shortcomings and limitations created by your research design?

This question picks up where the last one left off.

As I mentioned, it’s perfectly natural that your research will have shortcomings and limitations as a result of your chosen design and methodology. No piece of research is flawless. Therefore, a good dissertation defense is not about arguing that your work is perfect, but rather it’s about clearly articulating the strengths and weaknesses of your approach.

To address this question well, you need to think critically about all of the potential weaknesses your design may have, as well as potential responses to these (which could be adopted in future research) to ensure you’re well prepared for this question. For a list of common methodological limitations, check out our video about research limitations here .

#7: How did your findings relate to the existing literature?

This common dissertation defense question links directly to your discussion chapter , where you would have presented and discussed the findings in relation to your literature review.

What your dissertation or thesis committee is assessing here is your ability to compare your study’s findings to the findings of existing research . Specifically, you need to discuss which findings aligned with existing research and which findings did not. For those findings that contrasted against existing research, you should also explain what you believe to be the reasons for this.

As with many questions in a viva voce, it’s both the what and the why that matter here. So, you need to think deeply about what the underlying reasons may be for both the similarities and differences between your findings and those of similar studies.

#8: What were your key findings in relation to the research questions?

This question is similar to the last one in that it too focuses on your research findings. However, here the focus is specifically on the findings that directly relate to your research questions (as opposed to findings in general).

So, a good way to prepare for this question is to step back and revisit your research questions . Ask yourself the following:

• What exactly were you asking in those questions, and what did your research uncover concerning them?
• Which questions were well answered by your study and which ones were lacking?
• Why were they lacking and what more could be done to address this in future research?

Conquering this part dissertation defense requires that you focus squarely on the research questions. Your study will have provided many findings (hopefully!), and not all of these will link directly to the research questions. Therefore, you need to clear your mind of all of the fascinating side paths your study may have lead you down and regain a clear focus on the research questions .

#9: Were there any findings that surprised you?

This question is two-pronged.

First, you should discuss the surprising findings that were directly related to the original research questions . Going into your research, you likely had some expectations in terms of what you would find, so this is your opportunity to discuss the outcomes that emerged as contrary to what you initially expected. You’ll also want to think about what the reasons for these contrasts may be.

Second, you should discuss the findings that weren’t directly related to the research questions, but that emerged from the data set . You may have a few or you may have none – although generally there are a handful of interesting musings that you can glean from the data set. Again, make sure you can articulate why you find these interesting and what it means for future research in the area.

What the committee is looking for in this type of question is your ability to interpret the findings holistically and comprehensively , and to respond to unexpected data. So, take the time to zoom out and reflect on your findings thoroughly.

#10: What biases may exist in your research?

Biases… we all have them.

For this question, you’ll need to think about potential biases in your research , in the data itself but also in your interpretation of the data. With this question, your committee is assessing whether you have considered your own potential biases and the biases inherent in your analysis approach (i.e. your methodology). So, think carefully about these research biases and be ready to explain how these may exist in your study.

In an oral defense, this question is often followed up with a question on how the biases were mitigated or could be mitigated in future research. So, give some thought not just to what biases may exist, but also the mitigation measures (in your own study and for future research).

#11: How can your findings be put into practice?

Another classic question in the typical viva voce.

With this question, your committee is assessing your ability to bring your findings back down to earth and demonstrate their practical value and application. Importantly, this question is not about the contribution to academia or the overall field of research (we’ll get to that next) – it is specifically asking about how this newly created knowledge can be used in the real world.

Naturally, the actionability of your findings will vary depending on the nature of your research topic. Some studies will produce many action points and some won’t. If you’re researching marketing strategies within an industry, for example, you should be able to make some very specific recommendations for marketing practitioners in that industry.

To help you flesh out points for this question, look back at your original justification for the research (i.e. in your introduction and literature review chapters). What were the driving forces that led you to research your specific topic? That justification should help you identify ways in which your findings can be put into practice.

#12: How has your research contributed to current thinking in the field?

While the previous question was aimed at practical contribution, this question is aimed at theoretical contribution . In other words, what is the significance of your study within the current body of research? How does it fit into the existing research and what does it add to it?

This question is often asked by a field specialist and is used to assess whether you’re able to place your findings into the research field to critically convey what your research contributed. This argument needs to be well justified – in other words, you can’t just discuss what your research contributed, you need to also back each proposition up with a strong why .

To answer this question well, you need to humbly consider the quality and impact of your work and to be realistic in your response. You don’t want to come across as arrogant (“my work is groundbreaking”), nor do you want to undersell the impact of your work. So, it’s important to strike the right balance between realistic and pessimistic .

This question also opens the door to questions about potential future research . So, think about what future research opportunities your study has created and which of these you feel are of the highest priority.

#13: If you could redo your research, how would you alter your approach?

This question is often used to wrap up a viva voce as it brings the discussion full circle.

Here, your committee is again assessing your ability to clearly identify and articulate the limitations and shortcomings of your research, both in terms of research design and topic focus . Perhaps, in hindsight, it would have been better to use a different analysis method or data set. Perhaps the research questions should have leaned in a slightly different direction. And so on.

This question intends to assess whether you’re able to look at your work critically , assess where the weaknesses are and make recommendations for the future. This question often sets apart those who did the research purely because it was required, from those that genuinely engaged with their research. So, don’t hold back here – reflect on your entire research journey ask yourself how you’d do things differently if you were starting with a  blank canvas today.

Recap: The 13 Key Dissertation Defense Questions

To recap, here are the 13 questions you need to be ready for to ace your dissertation or thesis oral defense:

As I mentioned, this list of dissertation defense questions is certainly not exhaustive – don’t assume that we’ve covered every possible question here. However, these questions are quite likely to come up in some shape or form in a typical dissertation or thesis defense, whether it’s for a Master’s degree, PhD or any other research degree. So, you should take the time to make sure you can answer them well.

If you need assistance preparing for your dissertation defense or viva voce, get in touch with us to discuss 1-on-1 coaching. We can critically review your research and identify potential issues and responses, as well as undertake a mock oral defense to prepare you for the pressures and stresses on the day.

Psst… there’s more (for free)

This post is part of our dissertation mini-course, which covers everything you need to get started with your dissertation, thesis or research project. 

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12 Comments

Very interesting

Interesting. I appreciate!

Really appreciating

My field is International Trade

Interesting

This is a full course on defence. I was fabulously enlightened and I gained enough confidence for my upcoming Masters Defence.

There are many lessons to learn and the simplicity in presentationmakes thee reader say “YesI can”

This is so helping… it has Enlightened me on how to answer specific questions. I pray to make it through for my upcoming defense

Lovely to hear that 🙂

Really educative and beneficial

Interesting. On-point and elaborate. And comforting too! Thanks.

Thank you very much for the enlightening me, be blessed

Thankyou so much. I am planning to defend my thesis soon and I found this very useful

Very interesting and useful to all masters and PhD students

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Dissertation Defense

What is a dissertation defense?

The final oral examination for a doctoral candidate, commonly known as the dissertation defense, represents the conclusive formal stage prior to the submission of the dissertation manuscript and the conferral of the doctoral degree. This examination centers on the dissertation itself and its relevance within the candidate's area of academic specialization.

A successful defense is the peak of your academic career, so don’t treat it lightly. Make sure that you take enough time to learn everything there is to know about the topic and prepare well. If you look at your paper and it seems raw or unfinished, and especially if your academic advisor says so, it might be best to take another semester for prep. We don’t mean to scare you, but it truly is a responsible moment, and if you fail your defense, all the years of hard work will be wasted.

Defending doctoral dissertation is not going to be easy. If you don’t get to choose the members of your board and you will be met with unfamiliar faces, you might start to panic and feel lost. This is exactly why you need to be over-prepared. In fact, there’s no such thing as being overly prepared when it comes to your defense. Think of all the possible questions your dissertation committee members may have, even the most far-fetched ones, and then find the answers.

Doctoral dissertation defense process

During the dissertation defense, the candidate delivers an oral presentation of their dissertation to the Supervisory Committee (refer to the Supervisory Committee Policy) and to a public audience. The length of both the oral presentation and the subsequent question-and-answer session is determined through consultation between the Committee and the candidate, ensuring it meets the specific requirements and standards of the process.

The dissertation defense process, often the culmination of a doctoral program, is a critical step in the journey towards earning a PhD or similar advanced degree. This process involves several key stages designed to assess the quality, originality, and contribution of the candidate's research. Here's a general overview:

• Completion of the Dissertation : Before the defense can be scheduled, the dissertation must be completed. This involves conducting original research, writing up the findings, and often, revising the document based on the advisor's feedback.
• Submission of the Dissertation : Once the dissertation is completed and approved by the advisor, it must be submitted to the department or dissertation committee for review. This submission typically includes a written document detailing the candidate's research findings and conclusions.
• Scheduling the Defense : After the dissertation is submitted, a defense date is scheduled. The timing of this can vary widely depending on the institution and the specific requirements of the department.
• Preparation for the Defense : The candidate prepares a formal presentation of their research findings. This presentation is typically structured to highlight the research question, methodology, key findings, and the significance of the work.
• The Defense Event : The defense itself is a public forum in which the candidate presents their research to the dissertation committee and often, an audience of peers, faculty, and sometimes the general public. Following the presentation, committee members and sometimes audience members ask questions related to the research and the findings.
• Question and Answer Session : This session allows the committee to probe the candidate's understanding of the research area, methodology, and conclusions. The candidate must defend their research choices and conclusions, demonstrating deep knowledge of the subject.
• Committee Deliberation : Following the Q&A, the committee deliberates in private to decide whether the candidate has successfully defended the dissertation. Criteria for success can include the originality of the research, the soundness of the methodology, and the significance of the contributions to the field.
• Outcome Announcement : The committee then informs the candidate of the outcome. Possible outcomes can include pass, pass with minor revisions, pass with major revisions, or fail, although specifics can vary by institution.
• Completion of Revisions (if required) : If the committee requires revisions, the candidate must complete these before the degree can be officially awarded. The scope of revisions can vary significantly.
• Final Submission : After any required revisions are made and approved by the committee, the final version of the dissertation is submitted to the university. This often includes submitting bound copies of the dissertation and making it available through the university's library or institutional repository.
• Graduation and Degree Conferral : Following successful defense and submission of the final dissertation, the candidate is eligible to graduate and receive their doctoral degree.

This process is a significant milestone in an academic career, representing the transition from student to scholar and contributing new knowledge to the field.

Even though it may seem horrible and nerve-racking, the process of defending your dissertation is pretty straightforward. And if you take your time to prepare for it well, you will not have any problems with the defense itself.

The scariest part is presenting your work to a group of professionals. You have to show your proficiency in the field, ability to think critically and withstand criticism. Most colleges and universities will allow you to choose your own committee. So, try to take your pick as early as possible so you’re not left with people the rest of your group didn’t want. 

How to defend dissertation?

Navigating your dissertation defense involves thorough prep, including understanding your institution's format, mastering your material, anticipating committee questions, and perfecting your presentation. During the defense, remain poised, address inquiries with depth, and interact professionally. Post-defense, be ready for revisions. Ensure professional attire, early arrival, and confidence in your expertise. Embrace feedback as growth. Celebrate this significant academic milestone, as it's not only an examination but a showcase of your scholarly journey.

Defending your dissertation is a pivotal moment in your academic career. Here's a step-by-step guide to prepare for and successfully defend your dissertation:

Let’s assume that your dissertation paper is done and approved. The next step after choosing your committee would be preparation. In one of the committee meetings, you will discuss how much time you have for your defense and the Q&A session afterward. Normally, the whole defense lasts about an hour, but it can vary depending on the number of doctoral students defending on the same day. 

Preparing for your defense means getting thoroughly acquainted with your paper. It might seem like a ridiculous piece of advice if you’ve written it yourself, yet, with a paper of that size, it’s easy to get lost. If you’ve used a dissertation writing service , you need to take special care in learning the contents of your paper. 

Prepare a presentation that you will be showing to the committee. Make sure the slides are clear and easy to understand, with most information placed in the speaker notes. You don’t want to overload the slides with text. 

Analyze your dissertation and think of all the possible questions the defense board members may have afterward. It’s hard to anticipate what a professional may ask about your ‘rookie’ paper, so it might help to speak to your academic advisor before the PhD defense . They might shed some light on the inconsistencies and possible lack of analysis in some areas. 

How to prepare for defense day?

When the day of defending dissertation finally comes, no matter how prepared you are, it will still be stressful. So, it makes sense to come over-prepared. Learn your dissertation text by hard.

Find every grammatical mistake and fix it. Get acquainted with every letter and word and really make sure it’s perfect. If you are convinced your paper is perfect, it will be hard for the defense board to convince you otherwise. 

How do I know I’m ready for my PhD dissertation defense?

Your academic advisor is your best friend in this situation. They have lots of experience in the matter, and they will be the first person to tell you if your paper is defense-proof. If you see them doubting or if they are asking lots of questions, use those questions as learning points. 

Most likely, they criticize you not because they hate you. But because they want to show you your gaps in knowledge. This is a powerful tool to help you find blank spots and fill them

What should I bring to my PhD thesis defense?

• Presentation Materials : This includes any slides or visual aids you'll use to support your talk. Ensure they are ready and compatible with the equipment available.
• Laser Pointer : Useful for highlighting specific areas or data on your slides during the presentation.
• Copy of Your Dissertation : Have at least one printed copy for your own reference. It's helpful for addressing specific questions or sections during the Q&A.
• Pen or Pencil : For making quick notes or annotations based on feedback or questions you may receive.
• Notepad : To jot down notes, questions, or reminders during the defense.
• Bottle of Water : Keeping hydrated is important, especially since you'll be speaking for an extended period.
• Backup of Your Presentation : Have a backup on a USB drive or accessible online in case of technical difficulties.
• Any Necessary Forms : Sometimes, there are forms that committee members need to sign post-defense. Check with your department for any such requirements.
• Questions for Your Committee : Have a list of questions or clarifications you might want to ask your committee after your defense.
• A Watch or Timer : To keep track of your presentation time and ensure you cover all points within the allotted duration.

Depending on how long is a PhD defense, you will need a different supply. If you are planning to sit through your whole class’ defense, you will need lots of water, some snacks to eat during the breaks, and your presentation materials.

However, if you are allowed to only show up to your defense and not listen to the entire class defend their dissertations, the most important thing you need to have is your dissertation and presentation. And don’t forget to bring some water, it can help you calm down if you get stressed.

Why does the dissertation length vary?

Various elements, such as institutional standards, the research's complexity, the extent of analysis, and the presence of supplementary materials, can determine a dissertation's length.

The length of your defense may also depend on how long is a dissertation . If your dissertation is 70 pages, your defense will definitely run shorter than if it is 300 pages long. The length of your paper will also influence the length of your PowerPoint presentation and the number of questions you get.

But how do you defend a dissertation? Defense is just an academic word for presenting your findings. You do your research, you present it to the board, and they ask you questions. By answering these questions, you defend the legitimacy and academic value of your doctoral defense research.

The key here is preparedness. Being well-acquainted with the contents of your paper and being able to defend it is your key to success. If you’re not sure about some parts of your dissertation, consult your academic advisor. They will be willing to help and advise you on whether you should take another semester to prepare.

Of course, it’s a great thing that ‘ write my dissertation ’ services exist. You can address a service like Studyfy and rely on it completely in the dissertation writing process. If you do, you can order your dissertation chapter by chapter and bring each draft to the professor for their notes and critiques.

What else do I need to know?

The most important part is you need to be prepared to defend dissertation meaning, and you need to know your dissertation by heart and be ready to justify every word in it. Sure, it may sound terrifying but thinking that millions of people have done that before you might give you some ease. 

How long is a dissertation defense?

Normally, defending my dissertation shouldn’t take more than an hour and a half. It usually lasts anywhere between 30 minutes and 1,5 hours.

It depends on your academic level, the number of people defending, and your preparedness. If the committee members sense you’re ill-prepared, they will ask you more questions.

It’s not because they want to thank you, but actually because they want to give you more chances. Asking more questions is usually an attempt to find an area that you’re very good at to give you a chance to redeem yourself.Your doctoral defense ia an important part of your doctoral journey, and it's bound to be more intense than a bachelor’s one. That’s only natural. Since your doctoral dissertation will be more in-depth, show a deeper understanding of the subject and better proficiency. 

The length of your defense will depend on many factors. But the most important one is your preparedness and confidence. If you are not prepared well, the dissertation committee will ask you lots of questions. They do that to find an area of study that you are good at, but at that moment, it might make you even more stressed. So, coming prepared is the best thing you can do for your defense to be successful. 

Using services like Studyfy is also an option. Yet, you must understand that if you show up with a perfectly written paper, yet you have no idea what it’s about, it will raise even more questions. That’s why you must prepare very well, regardless if you write your paper yourself or outsource it. If you still have some questions about how to write a dissertation , make sure to read our guide.

What is the key to dissertation defense?

Comprehensive Preparation: Familiarize yourself with your institution's defense protocols and engage in extensive practice. Segment your thesis for easier presentation, manage timing, highlight essential arguments, and anticipate likely inquiries. Organize a practice defense session to gain comfort with the procedure.

The most important thing you need to do to defend my dissertation is to start your prep early enough. What does it mean to defend your dissertation? Your defense is the pinnacle of all the hard work you've put in your studies throughout the years. Every time you write a paper, you must understand that you may use that research for your dissertation. So, your prep for dissertation defense starts as soon as you enter college.

What is defending a dissertation? Are there dissertation committee members?

Defending dissertation meaning is the process of presenting your research and findings to the board. Regardless if you buy dissertation or write it yourself, you will need to defend it. This is why you need to prepare carefully for your defense - study your paper through and through, think about all the possible questions you may be asked and think of the answers.

The dissertation committee or the dissertation chair are faculty members that will simply ask dissertation defense questions - some about research methodology, and some about the primary role of your work. Before the actual oral defense, try setting up a mock defense with your friend and go over the important topics.

How long is a thesis defense?

It depends on the length of your paper. Since your master’s thesis will probably be a bit shorter than a doctorate dissertation, you can count on your oral defense lasting up to an hour. Again, the length of the doctorate defense depends on how well you are prepared and how you handle the professors’ questions. 

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Dissertation Defense: Steps To Follow To Succeed

A dissertation defense is arguably one of the most important milestones in every student’s career. While it signals that your tenure as a student is soon about to close, it validates all your efforts towards your thesis.

Being cautious about including all the necessary details is very important to successfully complete your dissertation proposal defense. This article tells you everything that you need to know about writing a defense that can add great credibility to you as a student.

What is A Dissertation Defense?

The first thing that you need to learn is what is a dissertation defense and what is its purpose. In simple terms, it is a presentation made by a student to defend all the ideas and views that are presented in a dissertation.

The presenter must include details like what is the reason for choosing specific research methods, the theory that has been selected for the paper, and other such points. This presentation is made before an audience that comprises of the university committee, professors and even fellow-students. It is met with questions and answers that gives the student an opportunity to provide more clarity on the dissertation in order to convince the committee to approve it.

Stages of a Dissertation Defense

One of the most important dissertation defense tips provided by several professors is to breakdown the process into three steps:

• Preparation : This stage involves collection of all the necessary information that must be included in the defense dissertation and making all the arrangements for the actual meeting.
• The defense meeting : This is where you decide how you will present the defense. The actual meeting is hugely reliant on the performance, body language and the confidence in your oral defense.
• After the defense meeting : This stage, also known as the follow up, requires you to make the necessary revisions suggested by the university committee. You can even provide bound copies of the whole dissertation to distribute among different members of your departments. In the follow up stage, one must also think about expense that are related to publishing the Ph.D. dissertation defense as well as printing additional copies of the manuscript, if required.

How Long is a Dissertation Defense?

The first thing that a student should know is how long does a dissertation defense last? The length has to be carefully calculated to make the impact that you want. One of the most important steps in the dissertation preparation is to understand how much time each department allocates to the closing oral defense. When you plan in the early stages of your dissertation itself, you can write it in a manner that allows you to defend it in the allocated time.

Usually these meetings including the presentation, the oral defense and the question and answer session last for about two hours. In most cases, these two hours also encompass the time needed by members of the committee to deliberate.

How to Prepare for the Dissertation Defense

Now that you know how long is a dissertation defense, the next step is to prepare well enough to make your presentation impressive.

Here are some tips on how to prepare for a dissertation defense:

• Watch other students in action to learn about different presentation styles. You can attend defenses of different colleagues in your department as well as other departments in your university.
• Get all the details about the deadlines and the rules of your college or university about scheduling your defense.
• Scheduling is also a very important part of your preparation. It is important to note that members of the committee and University chairs need to make time for these defences in a very packed schedule. Coordinate the date, venue and time of your defense as early as possible.
• Prepare a manuscript adhering to the necessary formatting rules. Review your manuscript thoroughly before you hand it in. During your PH.D, your faculty will also assist you with the defense. For this, they must have a crisp and polished copy of your manuscript.
• Most colleges have the facility for a pre-defense meeting. This is the best opportunity to sort out any concerns that you may have about the actual meeting. It is a good idea to ask the chairs what types of questions may be put forward and if there are any problems with the defense that need to be resolved. When you prepare for a pre-defense meeting, think of it as the final one and give it your all.
• Put together all the material that you need for the defense. A detailed, yet to-the-point presentation must be prepared.
• The final stage of preparation is practicing your presentation over and over again. It is not just the presentation but also the approach towards the questions that you must practice.

Tips To Nail Your Actual Meeting

With these tips you will be one step closer towards a successful defense that will help your dissertation pass and be approved:

• All meetings should begin by addressing the chair. Make sure you thank all the committee members and the advisors for the efforts that they have put it. This gives you a professional start to the presentation.
• The presentation should cover the following subjects in brief:
• The research topic
• Literature review
• The methods used for analysis
• The primary findings of the research
• Recommendations of additional research on the subject in the focus.
• Do not get rattled by any discussions among the chairs. They will deliberate on any disagreements or topics of interest. This is a part of the process and is not a reflection of the presentation itself.
• There are two questions that are commonly asked that you should be prepared for. This includes the weaknesses of the dissertation and the research plans that you have made post-dissertation.
• Use subtle gestures when you are talking. Do not overuse your hands when doing so. The whole meeting including the question and answer session should have a very formal appeal.
• The tone of your voice must be assertive without making it seem like you are trying to hard. Be clear and enunciate when you speak.

Once the questions have been answered, the committee will leave the room. Then, after the deliberation, you will be informed if your dissertation has passed or not.

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Dissertation Defense | Final Oral Exam

• Created by Brittain Sobey , last modified by Cyndi Goodson on Apr 02, 2024

Students complete their dissertation defense (or final oral exam) typically at the end of their fifth year. The Graduate School provides critical information regarding deadlines, paperwork, and scheduling. Students file to graduate in their final semester. The Graduate School typically hosts workshops that are helpful and recommended.

Currently, final oral exams may take place virtually or in person, subject to BME room capacity limits.

Please use DocuSign for all forms. Forms must be submitted to the Graduate School electronically at  [email protected] . 

To graduate on time, your dissertation must be uploaded to the Texas Digital Library and all paperwork submitted to the Graduate School by 3 PM on the submission deadline . 

Dissertation Defense Step-by-Step

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At Your Defense

Immediately After Your Defense

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The Cockrell School of Engineering hosts one commencement ceremony each spring. Students who graduated in the summer or fall semesters prior to the ceremony and those who have applied to graduate in the spring may participate. Learn more here about the Cockrell School of Engineering Commencement Ceremony . 

The Graduate School hosts one convocation ceremony each spring. Students who graduated in the summer or fall semesters prior to the ceremony and those who have applied to graduate in the spring may participate. Learn more here about the Graduate School Convocation Ceremony . 

Regalia must be purchased or rented for the ceremonies and details for required regalia can be found online at the links for each ceremony. You can purchase or rent regalia at the University Co-op . Check the co-op site for details and deadlines.

Prior to graduation, you will receive a “Degree Candidate” email from the Office of the Registrar (sent to the email on file with the university), which will ask you to  confirm your diploma name and the degree you will earn .  Please remember to update your email if it has changed.

Effective spring 2021 and future semesters, degree candidates may select to have a diploma name that is different from the legal name on their student record. A diploma name can be updated the semester of graduation, but unless specified, your legal name will be the default name on the diploma. If you have designated a chosen name on your student record and would like your diploma name to match your chosen name, you will still need to update your diploma name during your graduating semester.

Options for how to receive your diploma are given online .

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The latest COVID-19 news and information is available at  Penn State's Coronavirus Information website . 

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Update

On March 11 th  the University announced that beginning March 16 th  instruction for all students will be moving to a remote delivery format. Graduate students enrolled in resident courses should plan on participating remotely, and not coming to campus specifically for face-to-face instruction. Learn more at gradschool.psu.edu/covid19 .

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Thesis, Dissertation, Performance and Oral Presentation Deadlines Calendar

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•  /  Thesis and Dissertation Information
•  /  Thesis, Dissertation, Performance and Oral Presentation Deadlines Calendar

Important Deadlines for spring 2024, summer 2024, and fall 2024

The following deadlines are for theses, dissertations, DMA performances and DEng, D.B.A., Dr.P.H., and DNP final oral presentations only. Students writing master's papers should contact their plan of study for deadlines.

*Questions about the doctoral dissertation defense should be directed to Graduate Enrollment Services (814-865-1795). Students with questions regarding the master's thesis defense should contact their plan of study.

More information about Commencement is available at commencement.psu.edu .

Disquisition Deadline Information

Oral defense deadline.

Student’s planning to graduate in the current semester, must defend their master’s paper, thesis, or dissertation by this date to be eligible to submit their document to the Graduate School for format review.

The Notification of Scheduled Examination (Defense) form must be received (all signatures completed) by the Graduate School a minimum of seven (7) calendar days prior to the defense date. Forms received less than seven (7) calendar days prior will not approved by the Graduate school.

Post-defense Submission for Format Review Deadline

The date by which the master’s paper, thesis, or dissertation and all of the following items must be successfully submitted to the Graduate School to attempt to graduate in the current semester.  Successfully submitted means all required signatures on the form have be received, not the date on which you initiated the form. Your official submission date is the date on which the last item is received.  

• Report of Final Exam
• IRB/IBC/IACUC Compliance form , with any required documentation attached
• Signed Approval Page  (Docusign form; it will route to the Grad School after all signers have signed it)
• Pay disquisition processing fee

Disquisition Submission Links and Procedures  Be sure to follow the Disquisition Formatting Guidelines . Some frequently asked questions about the review process are answered here . 

Final Degree Clearance Deadline

By this date, the student must make all changes requested by the Graduate School to gain final approval. The review process must be completed and final revisions submitted by 11:59 p.m. on the last day of the semester.

Any incomplete grades and outstanding items on your Graduation Audit must be completed by this deadline. Final clearance of academic requirements will be made when current term grades have been submitted.

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