Preparation and Procedures for PhD Defense
This document outlines the main steps in preparing for and arranging a Final Public Oral (FPO) Examination of a Ph.D. thesis. A printable checklist with appropriate links can be found here.
- FPO Paperwork. To obtain permission from the Graduate School to hold an FPO, certain paper work must be completed and submitted
first to your graduate program coordinator (B-209), and then onwards to the
Graduate School. It can be submitted online in SCORE, in person to your coordinator, or via email to your coordinator. This paperwork (which
can be found on the Graduate School's Academic Affairs website) includes:
- Graduation application in SCORE
- 3 Reader's Report forms (one must be from your advisor)
- Prior Presentation and Publication Form (signed by your advisor)
- A copy of your title page
- A copy of your abstract
After successful completion of your FPO, additional items must be submitted to the graduate coordinator, as follows:
- Upload your thesis to the UMI website and complete their publication form. Print two copies of the confirmation email you receive from UMI.
- $15 Dissertation fee in exact cash or a check
- Two bound copies of your thesis (please refer to Mudd Library's website for publication requirements)
- Exit Questionnaire (you must first log in, and then submit the form directly online.) Print two copies of the confirmation page
- The Survey of Earned Doctorates (you must print the confirmation page and bring/email it to the Graduate Coordinator)
- End of Enrollment form (if not previously filled out)
- EE Graduate Student Exit Info form
- Webpage Release form
- Have an updated photo taken by the Graduate Coordinator
- Desk keys after cleaning out your desk space
- Time Table. Due to Graduate School requirements, all required paperwork is due to the Graduate Studies Office (B-209)
2.5 WEEKS PRIOR to the date you intend to hold your FPO. This policy significantly impacts your preparation time. Following is a guideline to help you plan a "preparation and completion" timetable of the final draft and submission of your PhD dissertation. Please allow:
- 3 WEEKS for a first reading by your readers
- 2 WEEKS for making revisions
- 2 WEEKS for the second reading by your readers
- 1 WEEK to make a final version
- 2 WEEKS FPO Request Paperwork you deliver to the Dean at least two weeks PRIOR to the date of your FPO. Therefore, plan to complete the "draft" of your PhD thesis 10 WEEKS before the proposed day of your Final Public Oral Exam (FPO).
- Readers. The policy of the EE Dept., set by a vote of the faculty, requires TWO READERS in addition to your advisor. That means, your advisor and two readers must complete and submit a Reader's Report. For someone outside the University to act as a reader of your thesis, that potential reader must have a Ph.D. and must provide a current RESUME.
- Room for FPO and Nonreaders. When you know the date you are planning to defend your thesis, and you have made arrangements with the faculty examiners (TWO OF WHICH MUST BE NON-READERS OF YOUR THESIS), please ask your Program Assistant to reserve a room and then you send
the graduate coordinator an email with the names of your faculty examiners; the time, date, and room of your FPO. This information is required by the Dean as part of the FPO Request paperwork.
- Thesis on Display. When you have a final copy of your thesis, it must be put "ON DISPLAY" (traditionally in a 3-ring binder) for one week prior to your FPO. The graduate coordinator will put the copy in F-210. At the same time, the graduate coordinator will email out to ee-all@ a seminar announcement about the date, time, and room for the FPO.
- FPO. The FPO is nominally a 45-60 minute talk about your research. Two of the faculty examiners present at the FPO must be non-readers of your thesis. Following the public presentation, faculty examiners excuse the public audience and can ask you questions privately. Following the private questions, you will be excused and the faculty will vote. Following the FPO, your thesis adviser should notify the graduate coordinator with the following information: Student's name, names of faculty present at FPO, and the result of the vote. It is this notification that begins your final graduation paperwork.
- Bound Copies. TWO bound copies of your thesis are required to be available at your FPO. We then require TWO bound copies of your thesis to be submitted to the Graduate Studies Office (B-209) no later than the day following your FPO.
The department keeps one copy and the other one is given to the Mudd Library for processing. Binding is your responsibility.
Information outlining the correct and acceptable preparation of your final thesis copies
can be found on the Mudd Library website. If you do not follow the policy, the thesis can be rejected.
- Degree Lists. The trustees approve degree lists only five times
per year. In order to have a degree officially conferred by the conferral
date, the FPO must occur before a university-wide deadline typically at least
six weeks before the conferral date. Your thesis cover page should use
appropriate conferral date for your case.
- Letter of Completion. If you are to begin a fulltime job shortly after your FPO,
The Graduate School staff can prepare a letter stating you have completed the requirements for the PhD and the next Trustees meeting conferring the award is in September (or November, January, April, or June, depending on when you finish). When you take the FPO paperwork to the Dean, remember to ask the data management staff to prepare such a letter and you can pick it up from them after your FPO. The data management group email is
gsdmg@princeton.edu.
- End of Enrollment Form. Within one week subsequent to your FPO defense, you must fill out the End of Enrollment form and have Housing (if you live in campus housing) and Firestone Library sign off on the second page. Please submit the form to the graduate coordinator in B-209.
Sarah McGovern
Graduate Program Coordinator
Department of Electrical Engineering
Princeton University
Princeton, NJ 08544
609-258-6728
ee-gradadmin@princeton.edu