Thesis & Defense
Once the student has completed all the research that was agreed upon at the prospectus meeting, they must write a PhD thesis and orally defend it.
ECE adheres to CIT's policy on PhD completion timelines. The CIT policy is as follows: "Passing the PhD Qualifying Examination admits a student to candidacy for the PhD degree for a period of no longer than six calendar years. If, at the end of this six-year period, the PhD has not been awarded, the student must reapply for admission to the graduate program and will be judged competitively with other students applying at the same time." Students wishing to obtain an extension due to special circumstances must submit a formal petition at least one semester prior to the expiration of their defense timeline.
Once their PhD thesis is written, the student must submit the Defense Declaration Form to Greta Ruperto, PhD Senior Academic Program Advisor, at least two weeks before the defense date. The Thesis Committee is usually the same as the Prospectus Committee. If there is any change in the committee, the student must submit a one-page biographical description of any new committee member from outside Carnegie Mellon for approval. Additionally, the student is expected to adhere to CIT's guidelines: they should provide the committee with a copy of their thesis at least one-and -a-half months prior to the defense.
The oral defense is a public examination open to all members of the Carnegie Mellon community. All four members of the Prospectus Committee must actively participate in the defense meeting. It is desirable to have all committee members participate in person; however, a student is allowed to have one committee member of four participate by teleconferencing. Any deviation from this teleconferencing policy is exceptional and must be petitioned for approval from the Department via the Final Defense Declaration Form.
Due to the nature of the ICTI dual-degree program, teleconferencing requests by ICTI students will be approved by default. It is expected that any committee members participating remotely will have full audio and visual access to the presentation via teleconferencing equipment. It is the responsibility of the student to provide teleconferencing access to committee members participating remotely. Students can email help@ece.cmu.edu for assistance in setting up teleconferencing equipment.
Students will not be eligible to participate in any commencement ceremonies until their degree has been formally certified by the ECE Department.
In addition to these ECE requirements, CIT has its own requirements pertaining to the thesis and defense process. This site includes instructions for the document standards and format. Students should pay particular attention to the format of the thesis title page and required content of the acknowledgements section.
Per CIT requirements, all defenses should be completed at least two weeks prior to the final grade deadline of a given semester. Doing so should grant students sufficient time to make necessary revisions and complete all post-defense paperwork prior to the end of the semester. Any deviation from this timeline is discouraged and may hinder a student’s ability to graduate on time. Such deviation from the cited timeline may be subject to additional departmental approval and should be discussed with the Academic Affairs Office well in advance of the planned defense.
Please note: Students who do not successfully complete the dissertation, defense, and all defense-related paperwork prior to the final grades deadline of a given semester may be required to register for the following semester, and thus the faculty advisor will be responsible for supporting the student for an additional semester with tuition and stipend.
After the defense, the Academic Affairs Office will review additional paperwork that will need to be completed prior to a student’s degree certification with the student.
Summer 2024 PhD Thesis Defense Deadlines
Summer 2024 Certification Deadline: Friday, August 23rd
Summer 2024 ECE Internal Deadlines:
- Defense: August 9th
- Completion of post-defense steps: August 16th
- Degree Certification Deadline: August 23rd
Thesis Defense Information Sessions
Thursday, January 18: Thesis defense information session