Topic Defense

Once a dissertation topic is determined, it must presented it in a defense to your doctoral committee. Each area differs as to when students present this defense, so please confirm with your advisor as to when this requirement should be completed. Note that you may combine your Ph.D. advancement with your topic defense with the consent of your advisor.

A “Topic Defense ” form must be brought to the committee at the time of the defense, to be signed after they have approved your defense. These forms are available for download from the ICS Graduate Student Affairs website page for Forms. The signed form should be returned to the ICS Graduate Office.

 

Final Defense

The Ph.D. final defense committee is a three member committee of senate faculty drawn from your advancement committee. The majority of the committee MUST be from your department. Consult with the ICS graduate counselors if changes to the composition of your defense committee occur.

For the final defense of your dissertation, e-mail the ICS Graduate Office with the date, time and location of the defense, the names of your committee members, and the title and abstract of your dissertation. This information will be made available to all Bren School faculty and graduate students. In addition to your committee members, anyone else who wishes to attend your defense may do so.

Also, be sure to obtain a "Ph.D. Form II: Report on Final Examination for the Ph.D. Degree" from Graduate Division, available for download here. At the end of the defense, have each of your committee members sign it.

When you have finished your dissertation, submit it and the Ph.D. Form II to the UCI Library Archives (Langson Library, Room 525). Alternatively, the dissertation may be submitted electronically. Guidelines for thesis submission can be found on the UCI Library website here. A Thesis Submission Checklist can also be downloaded from the Graduate Division website here.

The Library will notify the UCI Graduate Division that your dissertation has been turned in and your degree is ready for conferral. Graduate Division will notify you once your degree has been conferred.