The information on this page is only a summary. The complete set of rules and procedures concerning
registration, defense and deposit of the dissertation should be consulted by all students who are completing a dissertation. It is available through links on the main page of the website of the
Dissertation Office.
Registration: A student must be registered for Matriculation and
Facilities during the term in which the sponsor-approved dissertation is
distributed to the dissertation committee unless the student is required to
register for a Residence Unit or Extended Residence for reasons other than
defense (e.g. holding a teaching appointment, completing course work, or
completing a requirement for the M.Phil. degree). Note that students are
required to register during the summer if distribution of the dissertation
takes place during that period.
Defense: The student defends the dissertation in a final
examination before a committee of five faculty, who must all meet the conditions for serving on a defense committee.
Students intending to defend the
Ph.D. dissertation must file an Application for Dissertation Defense at their
department. The defense application is used in place of a Ph.D. degree
application.
The GSAS dissertation officer
(whose office is in 107 Low Library) normally schedules
dissertation defenses in departments in the humanities and social sciences. In departments in the natural sciences and in doctoral program subcommittees, the department or program chair schedules dissertation defenses. The defense is scheduled only after the Dean has approved the examining committee; the dissertation
sponsor and second reader (if applicable) have indicated their agreement that the dissertation is ready to be defended;
and copies of the dissertation have been distributed to members of the
examining committee in accordance with the rules pertaining to distribution. Students do not schedule their own defenses.
At the defense, the candidate
will be given all materials necessary to complete the deposit of all copies of
the dissertation, as revised after the defense, in the Graduate School
office.
Degrees are conferred
three times a year, in October, February and May. See the GSAS Academic
Calendar for the particular date of conferral and the
associated deadlines for defense, distribution and deposit.
Deposit: After a successful defense, the candidate must, in order to receive the
degree, arrange with the GSAS dissertation officer for the deposit of the
dissertation. A fee is payable at the
time of deposit.
The dissertation officer
certifies that all Ph.D. requirements have been completed only after the
dissertation has been deposited. When
all requirements for the Ph.D. degree have been completed, the candidate is
given or sent a letter of completion by the Office of the Dean, and the
Registrar is notified that the degree should be awarded on the next degree
date.
Completion of Ph.D. Degree Extra Muros: At any time within ten
years from the date of the award of the M.Phil. degree, and subject to approval
for continuation toward the Ph.D. degree by the department or Ph.D. program chair,
a recipient of the M.Phil. degree who has not continued studies in residence at
the University may present to the Dean, in lieu of a sponsored dissertation, a
substantial body of independent and original published scholarship toward
completion of the requirements for the Ph.D. degree.
A recipient of the M.Phil. degree
who wishes to submit such material prepared extra
muros should request from the GSAS dissertation officer the specific
requirements of the Graduate
School and the
department.
The final examination is designed
to satisfy the examination committee that in its judgment the quality of the
candidate’s work meets the standards of the University for the award of the
Ph.D. degree. The examination may be taken only
once, and it is either passed or failed.
For complete rules and a
description of procedures, see the section on Ph.D. Degree Extra
Muros on the web pages of the Dissertation Office.
| 
