MS Defense Frequently Asked Questions

Graduate students completing a research project or thesis must complete an oral MS defense. Students completing the comprehensive exam option do not complete the standard MS defense.

Thesis defenses are typically held in early November (Fall semester) or mid-April (Spring semester). Project defenses are typically held in late November to early December (Fall semester) or late April to early May (Spring semester). Summer defenses are discouraged but may be possible with committee approval.

The full defense meeting is usually 90 minutes. 

The student and committee members attend. Guests are not permitted at the defense. Guests may attend the separate department MS student presentation event, if applicable.

Project committees usually include 2 faculty members.

Thesis committees usually include 3 faculty members. 

Project presentations are usually about 10 minutes. 

Thesis presentations are usually about 15 minutes.

Consult with your faculty advisor regarding which format your MS presentation should be: poster or slides.

If presenting a poster:

• If your poster was previously approved by your faculty advisor and you have it printed, then hang your poster to present during your defense. 

• If your poster has not been printed, you will need to project your poster from your computer onto a projector screen and zoom into various sections during your presentation. Practice doing this so that it's not akward during your defense presentation.

If presenting slides:

• Introduction/background: 2 minutes

• Methods: 2 minutes

• Results: 3 to 4 minutes

• Discussion, limitations, implications: 2 minutes

• Conclusion: 30 to 45 seconds

• References/Acknowlegements: no need to present, just show to signal end of presentation

• A typical defense deck has about 10 to 15 slides, depending on content and pacing. A useful pacing guide is about one slide per minute. Avoid standalone section title slides.

• Include slide numbers on your slides. 

The student is responsible for scheduling the defense. 

This includes coordinating committee availability, reserving a room or setting up Zoom, sending the calendar invitation, sharing meeting materials, and sending reminders.

In person is preferred. Online defenses are acceptable when needed because of scheduling or special circumstances.

For in-person defenses, reserve an appropriate room and follow university room reservation procedures. 

• Central Classroom Building room reservations can be made by filling out the Room Reservations Form after looking at room availability: https://www.sjsu.edu/nufspkg/about-us/room-reservations/index.php (scroll down to look at room availability for various rooms before filling out the Room Reservations form!)

• Room recommendations: CCB 222 (most preferred), CCB 122, CCB 128, HB 102 

For online defenses, use your SJSU Zoom account, add your faculty advisor as co-host, and prepare a backup plan for technology issues.

Schedule only when your written thesis or project is near-final, or when your advisor says you are ready. 

Make sure you give your committee enough time to review your MS write-up prior to your defense date.

Yes. Your committee must review, and usually tentatively approve, your written thesis or project before the defense. The defense evaluates both the written document and the oral presentation.

You will present your project or thesis. Aim for about 10 minutes.

Your committee will ask questions about every aspect of the project, including your research question, methods, data analysis, results, interpretation, and limitations. Make sure you understand your analysis choices and what your findings can and cannot support.

The committee will also give feedback on your presentation and written document. Take notes while you are receiving feedback. Your notes will guide your revisions to your presentation and/or MS write-up. It is the student's responsibility to understand what edits/action items need to be completed for MS completion sign off.

You will then exit the room briefly while the committee discusses the outcome. After deliberation, you will be notified of your MS completion status and any additional pending action items.

A typical defense includes:

1. Opening: Faculty advisor outlines the agenda and may ask initial questions

2. Student presentation: Student presents without interruptions

3. Committee Q&A: Committee asks about the presentation and written document

4. Feedback: Committee gives feedback on the presentation and write-up; Student should take notes during this discussion

5. Closed deliberation: Student leaves while committee discusses the outcome

6. Decision and next steps: Student returns and receives completion status and any additional pending action items

7. Student questions: Student may ask follow-up questions

8. Follow-up: Student sends written next steps by email to committee members

The committee evaluates whether you can clearly explain your research problem, gap, methods, results, limitations, and main takeaways. They also assess whether you can interpret your findings, justify your decisions, answer questions thoughtfully, and keep your written document and presentation aligned.

When presenting, focus on the logic of your research study: 

Problem → gap → question → methods → results → interpretation → why it matters

Every slide should help answer one of these questions:

• What did you study?

• What did you find?

• Why does it matter?

• Avoid long literature reviews, step-by-step procedure details, overly technical statistical language, dense tables you will not explain, repeated text, and claims that go beyond your data. 

• Use more visuals than text in your poster/presentation slides.

• Results should be the clearest part of the presentation. Use figures and tables with takeaway titles, not generic labels. Explain what the numbers mean in plain language, including direction, size, significance, and practical or clinical meaning when relevant. 

• Prepare backup slides for extra methods details, instrument definitions, supporting results, subgroup details, validation statistics, complicated figures, or anything you mention but do not show in the main presentation.

• Have your final presentation saved in more than one location, a searchable copy of your written document, backup slides, a plain-language explanation of your main decisions and findings, and a technology backup plan.

1. Why this study?

2. What gap does the study address, and why does it matter?

3. Why these choices?

4. Why this dataset, sample, design, model, covariates, or instrument?

5. Why did you use this statistical analysis?

6. What do the numbers mean?

7. Can you explain the findings in plain language?

8. How strong are the findings?

9. Are they statistically, practically, or clinically meaningful?

10. What are the study limitations?

11. How do limitations affect interpretation or generalizability?

12. What next?

13. What study would better answer the question with more time or resources?

Common mistakes include: 

• scheduling too early, 

• preparing only for the slide presentation, 

• spending too much time on background, 

• running out of time for results, 

• using unexplained technical language, 

• restating results instead of interpreting them, 

• overclaiming, 

• and assuming the defense automatically completes all graduation requirements.

• Immediately after the defense, you need to send written next steps by email to your committee members

• Then, update your presentation and written document based on committee feedback. 

• Send the revised materials to your committee for final approval.

• Once final approval is granted, send the MS write-up signature page to your committee through DocuSign.

• You must also present your work at the Department MS presentations event.

Passing the defense does not necessarily mean you are fully done. Revisions, final approval, committee signatures, department presentation requirements, and other graduation requirements may still need to be completed.

Yes. Students must present their work at the Department MS presentations event, either as a poster or oral presentation. This is separate from the defense and may be open to a broader audience.

Before the defense, make sure you can:

• Explain your study in a concise manner (practice versions explaining your research in 1 sentence, in 30 seconds, or in 2 minutes).

• Stay within the presentation time limit of 10 minutes (projects) or 15 minutes (thesis).

• Clearly explain your methods, results, limitations, and main conclusion.

• Interpret your results rather than just describe them.

• Explain what your findings mean and why they matter.

• Anticipate and practice answering likely committee questions.