Thesis and Thesis Defense

Procedure:

1. Obtain the permission of your graduate committee to begin writing your thesis. This is usually done at an annual committee meeting.
2. Register for PBS 920 seminar credit in the semester you are planning to defend.
3. Write your thesis. Please consult the Graduate School's website for specific thesis requirements.
4. Schedule your thesis defense.
5. Submit a request for a Masters or PhD degree warrant to the Comp Biomed Graduate Coordinator at least 4 weeks prior to the defense date.
6. Submit the title, time and date, and abstract for your PBS 920 seminar to the Comp Biomed Graduate Coordinator at least 2 weeks before the defense date.
7. Your completed thesis should be distributed to all members of your committee approximately 2 weeks before the defense.
8. At your defense, you will need to present your PBS 920 seminar (approximately 40 minute talk) to the public. You will then have a private oral defense of your thesis research with your committee. The committee will sign the thesis warrant either at the end of the thesis defense or when thesis requirements are completed.
9. The signed thesis warrant must be submitted to the Graduate School for your degree to be awarded.

For the MS thesis, the graduate committee can request either a traditional thesis or a substantial scientific paper, suitable for publication.