Dissertation & Final Oral Exam

Dissertation

A doctoral dissertation is the culminating activity for the Doctorate of Philosophy Degree Program. It is expected to present a new and undiscovered concept within a specific field. Students have conducted research and come up with an original hypothesis.

Two options are available for students to publish their research. Your major advisor will guide you towards either the traditional Ph.D. dissertation or the manuscript dissertation. Note that the requirements stated below are the minimum expectations and will vary from advisor to advisor.

• A traditional Ph.D. Dissertation. A traditional dissertation is a comprehensive collection of your research effort typically comprised of five chapters: (i) Introduction, (ii) Background Information, (iii) Experimental Methods, (iv) Results and Discussion, and (v) Conclusion.

• A manuscript-based Ph.D. Dissertation. The manuscript-based dissertation enables students who have prepared multiple peer-reviewed publications as part of their research to present and defend a dissertation comprised of these publications. Note - At least one of the manuscripts must be in-press prior to your defense. Any additional manuscripts must be submitted prior to your defense.

While performing research as part of your dissertation, you must register for at least one credit of MSE 693 Dissertation Research, including the semester(s) in which you present your final oral examination, and submit the final dissertation. Ph.D. students typically enroll in at least one credit of dissertation research each semester, and up to 9 credits so that their full-time (9 credits) enrollment status is maintained.

The dissertation must conform to the standards of the Graduate College. Refer to the Graduate College website instructions. Students are expected to provide a physical copy of the published dissertation to the committee chair and the department upon graduation.

Final Oral Exam

The final oral examination for a PhD student (also called a defense) must consist of three sequential parts in which the student presents and defends the dissertation research:

• a public presentation,

• a public question and answer session, and

• a private question and answer session with the defense committee.

The final oral examination should occur no later than the date specified in the academic calendar. "is date is set to allow time for final revision and processing of the dissertation so that if you pass the final oral examination, you have a reasonable chance for graduation in the same semester or session. Announcement of the public presentation to the university community is required and should precede the presentation by at least two (2) weeks. Thee defense committee must include the entire supervisory committee plus a nonvoting Graduate Faculty Representative (GFR), nominated by the student and approved by the Graduate Dean. The result of a final oral examination can only be reported as pass or fail. The determination of pass or fail is by a vote of the voting members of the defense committee with a simple majority determining the outcome unless the graduate program requires a unanimous vote for pass. If a tie vote occurs, then you are considered to have failed the final oral examination. A result of pass is immediately documented by the signatures of the voting members of the defense committee on the Defense Committee Approval form that is to be bound with the paper copies of the thesis. A result of fail is immediately documented on a Report of Failure of a Final Oral Examination form that is submitted to the Graduate College by the GFR.

When the final oral exam defense is completed with a result of pass, the Supervisory Committee completes the defense committee approval form. The committee may require changes, updates, or modifications to the dissertation. When these requirements have been met to the satisfaction of the Supervisory Committee, the final reading approval page of the dissertation is signed by your Major Advisor.

Dissertation Format

Manuscript Based Dissertation

A manuscript-based dissertation/thesis options provides a number of benefits to the student, the Major Advisor and the scientific community: for instance, experience in the manuscript writing process, an easily accessible demonstration of original research and ability to communicate, timely dissemination of results, and a direct measure of the investment provided by funding agencies.

While the benefits are substantial, the manuscript-based option will challenge students as the process for peer- reviewed publications is rigorous and the journal articles will need to be supplemented with additional information in order to ensure a cohesive dissertation/thesis.

A minimum of one first author manuscript is required for the M.S. Thesis option. Multiple first-author manuscripts are required for the manuscript-based Ph.D. Dissertation option, the number to be determined by the advisor and supervisory committee. For M.S. students, your manuscript(s), at a minimum, should be submitted by the time you defend. For Ph.D. students, at least one manuscript must be in press by the time you defend. All others must be submitted by the time you defend.

For a manuscript-based Ph.D. dissertation or M.S. thesis, each publication stands as a chapter. As publications are very concise documents of research findings, supplemental text must be included within the dissertation/thesis to not only support the publication, but to also seamlessly integrate the publication into the dissertation/thesis. As such, in addition to the requirements outlined in the Standards and Guidelines for Theses and Dissertations handbook, a manuscript-based Ph.D. dissertation/thesis must include the following:

• An abstract that clearly and succinctly summarizes the overarching scope of work that includes the motivation, hypothesis and objectives of the research, approach, key results and concluding remarks.

• The first chapter should be an introduction that includes the background needed to clearly relate the publication(s) to the entire body of work associate with the thesis/dissertation.

• For each publication (i.e., chapter), a paragraph must be included prior to the references that clearly specifies the role and contributions of the author and co-authors.

• A concluding chapter that outlines the principal findings and implications of the total research effort.

• In addition, the Major Advisor or supervisory committee may request additional supplemental information (introduction, background, literature review, methods/experimental, results, discussion and appendices) that supports the total research effort.

The dissertation/thesis in final form must conform to the standards of the Graduate College. Refer to Chapter Two of the Boise State University Graduate College Standards and Guidelines for Theses and Dissertations handbook for detailed instructions and requirements. A Dissertation/Thesis that does not conform to the Standards and Guidelines for Theses and Dissertations will be returned by the Graduate College to the student for corrections.

Process

Materials Science and Engineering Graduate Students must notify the academic programs manager of their intended defense date a minimum of three weeks in advance. Once you are ready to schedule, work with Jessica Economy to identify a room and determine any additional scheduling needs