Dissertation Defense & Graduation for Ph.D. Students
The dissertation defense consists of a formal presentation of the dissertation followed by a closed session where the examining committee reviews the student’s work. The dissertation must be prepared in written form under the guidance of the student’s dissertation advisor and presented for approval by the student’s dissertation committee that has been approved by the Graduate Office and the Office of the Registrar. The Doctor of Philosophy Degree is granted only upon sufficient evidence of high attainment in scholarship and the ability to engage in independent research. It is not awarded for the completion of course and seminar requirements* no matter how successfully completed.
A dissertation is required of all candidates for a Doctor of Philosophy degree. The Graduate School has established the following procedures for the conduct of the doctoral dissertation examination:
Eligibility: A student is eligible to defend a dissertation if the student (a) has advanced to candidacy, (b) has met all program requirements for a dissertation examination, (c) is in good standing as a graduate student at the University, (d) is registered for at least 1 credit and, (e) has a valid Graduate School-approved Dissertation Examining Committee.
Timeline: Following the advisor’s approval, a copy of the dissertation must be provided to each member of the Dissertation Committee at least 2 weeks prior to the date of the defense. In addition, 2 weeks prior to the date of the defense, a notice that includes the defense date and time, location, title, abstract, and names of committee members, and that invites faculty and students to attend the public portion of the defense, must be sent to the Graduate Studies Office at megrad@umd.edu for forwarding to departmental listservs and posting on the web.
Virtual Committee Participation: Dissertation defenses must be in-person with the student and their entire committee present. Under extenuating circumstances, permission to have virtual committee members for a dissertation defense may be granted by the Graduate School (our department cannot grant waivers).
Scholarly output: For students completing a Ph.D. degree, the scholarly output is in the form of a dissertation describing their research. The dissertation is presented formally at an oral defense, conducted in English and partially open to the public, and must be approved by the student’s Dissertation Committee for the degree to be awarded.
Report of Examining Committee: A few days before the examination is scheduled to take place, the University will send the Report of the Examining Committee Form (REC) via email to all committee members except for the Chair. Upon passing the examination, the REC must be signed by each member of the examining committee. Once all members sign, the form will be routed to the chair and then the Director of Graduate Studies. The REC must be submitted by the deadline set by the Graduate School.
Previously Published Materials: If previously published work is included in the dissertation, the forward to the dissertation must include a letter signed by the Director of Graduate Studies, advisor, and student that states the student made substantial contributions to the relevant aspects of the jointly authored work included in the dissertation. Please email the Graduate office at megrad@umd.edu for a letter template.
Thesis and Dissertation Embargo Request: The Thesis and Dissertation Embargo Request form is used if you are requesting an embargo on your dissertation for more than 2 years which requires approval from the Graduate School. If you want to place an embargo for less than 2 years, you must email ProQuest at disspub@proquest.com to request your embargo.
*In addition to coursework, all on-campus full-time Ph.D. students are required to attend a minimum of 8 seminars in each of their fall and spring semesters in the program. The list of seminars attended by the student must be approved by the advisor at the end of each semester, and that approval will be necessary in addition to other metrics for satisfactory progress in the program. Off-campus and part-time doctoral students are encouraged to attend seminars, whenever possible, and share this information with their respective doctoral advisors.
Graduation
Students must apply for graduation via Testudo no later than the end of the Schedule Adjustment Period at the beginning of the semester in which they intend to graduate. You can find official registration dates and deadlines here.
In addition to the items listed above, students are responsible for confirming that they are registered for at least 1 credit in the semester they intend to graduate in and that they have met the coursework and research credit requirements to be eligible to graduate.