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Dissertation
- Dissertation Committee
Students must assemble a Dissertation Committee prior to their defense of their research proposal in the fourth semester of study. The committee will consist of the Research Advisor, who will serve as the chair for the committee, plus three additional members. Two of the additional members must be faculty in the PB Program, while the third member must be outside of the PB Program. This outside member may be a graduate faculty member in another program, or an expert from outside the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. The names of the committee members must be submitted to the PB office and subsequently approved by the Graduate Operations Committee and the Graduate School. It is the responsibility of the Dissertation Committee to monitor the student's research and progress toward the Ph.D. degree. The Dissertation Committee shall meet with the student at least once per year to discuss the course of the research and will file a brief report with the GPD. It is the responsibility of the student to arrange these annual meetings. - Dissertation Prospectus
A student is required to present a Dissertation Prospectus to his/her Dissertation Committee and receive approval of its contents by the end of the sixth semester of study. The prospectus must be submitted to the Graduate School at least seven months prior to the date of the Final Doctoral Oral Examination and must be accompanied by a cover sheet signed by each member of the Dissertation Committee (See Sample Cover Sheet/Signature Page in the Graduate Student Handbook). A copy of the prospectus must be placed in the student’s file in the PB office. - Final Doctoral Oral Examination (Dissertation Defense)
The format of the Ph.D. dissertation document is set by the Graduate School. (Refer to the student dissertation/thesis guidelines on the UMass Graduate School It is the responsibility of the student to learn about and follow the rules governing the dissertation format. The student must deliver his/her completed dissertation to the Dissertation Committee no later than four weeks before the Final Oral Examination. The time and place of the Final Oral Examination must be publicly announced by the Graduate School; information as to the time and place of the examination must, therefore, be submitted to the Graduate School by the Graduate Program Director at least three weeks prior to the examination.
The Final Oral Examination will consist of two parts. The student will first present an open seminar on his/her research results. The seminar will be followed by questioning by the Dissertation Committee. The seminar and the questioning by the committee can take place on the same day or on different days. The student will then submit the “Doctoral degree eligibility form to the Graduate Program Director for submission to the Graduate School.