Chapter 8: Thesis Proposal

GT Thesis and Dissertation Policy: Thesis and Dissertation Policy, Georgia Tech

A student must have passed the qualifying examination to do a PhD proposal. Students must be enrolled full-time during the semester in which they propose.

The PhD Thesis Proposal consists of:

  1. A proposal document written by the student in which he/she will propose the research work to be undertaken as part of his/her doctoral work and a schedule for completion.
  2. An oral defense of the proposal document.

Residency requirements post-proposal differ by program in IC:

Program Post-Proposal Residence Requirement
CS PhD One-term post proposal residence requirement
HCC PhD A gap is not required
ROBO PhD Minimum of 6 months post-proposal requirement
ML PhD Minimum of 6 months post-proposal requirement

Committee

The PhD proposal will be administered by the student's thesis advisory committee (the advisor plus at least two other faculty members), chosen jointly by the student and the advisor. A majority of the members of the advisory committee must hold their primary appointments in the College of Computing faculty. It is a good practice to have all members (including the external committee member) of your dissertation defense committee in your proposal committee.

Proposal Announcement

The proposal must be announced publicly to the College at least two weeks prior to the date of the oral defense.

Email Announcement Template

From: You Sent: Date To: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected] Cc: your advisor, committee, program coordinator (Theresa Nash)

Subject: Ph.D. Dissertation Proposal Announcement

Title

YOUR NAME Ph.D. Student in Human-centered Computing School of Interactive Computing Georgia Institute of Technology Insert url

Date: Time: Location: Committee: X (Advisor) - School of Interactive Computing, Georgia Institute of Technology [committee members] Abstract Meeting Details

Thanks, YOUR NAME

Format

There is no fixed format for the oral defense. The advisor, as the chair of the committee, conducts the examination. Here is a typical way in which it may be run:

  1. The student will make a presentation to the committee and others present.
  2. After the presentation there is a question and answer period. The chair then asks everyone other than the committee members and Georgia Tech faculty to leave. The committee members then have an opportunity to ask more questions. Then the student is asked to leave.
  3. The committee deliberates and then decides whether the student has passed the proposal defense. They give feedback to the student on the proposal either individually or through the advisor.

A student who has passed the proposal defense and has also completed all course requirements (except the minor), maintaining a satisfactory scholastic record, has achieved PhD candidacy and should submit the Candidacy form.

Q&A

Q: Does a student have to be enrolled during their proposal semester?

A proposal is an exam and part of the curriculum; as such students must be enrolled to take it. If a student is completing a part-time internship, they may enroll in 3 credits of PhD Research.

HCC Specifications

See: HCC PhD Course of Study

Georgia Tech requires that "Doctoral students must spend at least two full-time semesters in residence at the Georgia Institute of Technology and ordinarily must complete research for the dissertation while in residence" (Georgia Tech 2014-15 General Catalog).

Committee Requirements

All HCC students need to present and defend a written Ph.D. proposal to a thesis proposal committee of at least four members as follows:

All committee members must have a Ph.D. degree. Committee members external to Georgia Tech need not be affiliated with a university.

We expect all students to defend their thesis proposal by the end of the fourth year of their Ph.D. program. After the proposal is accepted, the student is expected to initiate a meeting with the thesis committee at least once a year to review research progress.

When completed, the dissertation must be publicly defended before a dissertation committee of at least five members (in addition to the four above, at least one committee member must be external to Georgia Tech). See Georgia Tech Guidelines for thesis proposals.

HCC Proposal Timing

The goal is to have an extended time to meet where 25% of the time is the student's presentation and 75% of the time is for discussion and committee deliberation.

3-hour block Standard

2-hour block

At the discretion of the advisor; must be cleared with HCC Program Director and HCC faculty.

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