Thesis and Defense
The thesis must be based on a research project carried out by the student in consultation with a faculty advisor. The thesis topic can be derived from a student’s duties as a graduate research assistant or students can also propose an independently conceived research idea and then develop and refine the research plan in consultation with the graduate advisor.
The M.S. thesis, while not of the length or complexity of a Ph.D. thesis, must represent an original contribution to the field. Your defense will be evaluated if it meets the criteria for originality and contribution to the field by the committee.
Students should distribute a finished, complete draft of the thesis to their committee members at least two weeks prior to the intended defense date.
The final defense is closed to the public. Only the student and committee members may attend. The defense is typically 60-90 minutes in length and includes a formal presentation of the thesis research followed by questions and comments from the committee.
After the defense, committee members may suggest some thesis revisions, which must be made before the thesis is submitted to the advisor and then to the Graduate School. Students are required to submit in electronic format the final version of the thesis to the Graduate School.
You can see some examples of thesis work completed across the University here
https://conservancy.umn.edu/communities/70c2eddf-bfa2-4ce0-b911-6a5fc9642529
External Committee Member Approval Process
Students can include a committee member external to the University of Minnesota--the steps to get this approval are listed below.
First, send a copy of the external committee member's CV to Director of Graduate Studies, Prof. Murti Salapaka (murtis@umn.edu). In that email, please include your reasoning for including the external committee member and what expertise they will add to your committee. Please cc your faculty advisor and graduate advisor (ecedgsoffice@umn.edu).
After Prof. Salapaka approves of this external committee member, the Graduate Advisor will get approval from the CSE Dean's Office.
After the CSE Dean's Office approves, the approval will need to be forwarded to Jeanine Maiden (maiden@umn.edu) in ECE. Please cc the graduate advisor (ecedgsoffice@umn.edu). Jeanine will process the Person of Interest (POI) appointment for the external committee member. Jeanine needs the following information:
a copy of the CV
the faculty member's email address
the dates for the appointment (essentially when you plan to complete your degree)
Jeanine will contact the faculty member to fill out an HR form. When that is complete, she will provide the x500 and UMN ID number so the external committee faculty can be assigned as a committee member.
Note: if you plan to assign the external committee member as a Reviewer, they will need to contact OIT (612-301-4357) to set up their UMN email account. The form sent to Reviewers can only be sent to a UMN email account.