PhD Thesis and Defense
The University and the Department accept that a candidate for a PhD degree “shall present a thesis embodying the results of original investigation conducted by the candidate … The thesis shall constitute a significant contribution to the knowledge of the field” (from the SGS Degree Regulations page).
Students Finishing their Degree should also consult the page on Final Year Fees and Funding.
Process Overview
The following outlines the general process students will follow to complete their PhD Thesis and Examination. Additional information on each step may be found in the tabs below. Please also consult the SGS Guidelines on Program Completion for further details and formal policy wording, and consult with the Graduate Program Team as you progress.
All forms are available through request to the Graduate Program Administrator, Carrie Harber, carrie.harber@utoronto.ca.
- Obtain Permission to Write from the Supervisory Committee.
- Within 6 months, Write, Revise, and Submit the Thesis (~4 months); Schedule, Prepare for, and Complete the Exam (~2 months).
- Schedule the Examination. Students must allow for 9 weeks between Submission of the Thesis and Request for Examination Form and the Examination Date.
- 6 weeks prior to Examination: distribute Thesis to Examiners.
- Two weeks prior to the Examination, the Student will receive a written Appraisal of the Thesis by their External Examiner.
- Examination Date: 45 minute seminar and in camera Oral Defense of the Thesis.
- Post-Exam Requirements: submit any Corrections or Modifications as requested by the Examining Committee.
- Submission of Final Thesis.
Permission to Write
Permission to Write
When nearing completion of experimental work, the student must schedule a Supervisory Committee meeting to obtain approval to write his/her thesis. Permission to Write must be indicated explicitly on the Final Committee Meeting Report Form and via a signed and dated Permission to Write Form. This signifies that the student, Supervisor, and Supervisory Committee members agree that the experimental work required for the thesis has been completed.
Writing and Revising
Format and Structure of the Written Thesis - Please see Guidelines Below
The Process
A student will have six months between receiving Permission to Write the thesis and the date of the PhD Oral Examination. This includes three months to write the thesis, one month to revise and obtain approval from the Supervisor and Supervisory Committee members via Thesis Approval and Exam Request Forms, and two months for the exam to be scheduled and completed.
Except under exceptional circumstances, and provided that the SGS time limit has not been exceeded, all students will be expected to maintain their full-time (on campus) status in their respective laboratories until their thesis is complete. Completeness means that the thesis has been approved by the Supervisory Committee and has been submitted to the members of the Senate Oral Committee/Examination Committee.
Timeframes will vary depending on the number of revisions required, the availability of Examination Committee members, and the student’s writing skills. However, if the PhD Oral Examination has not been completed within six months of receiving permission to write, the graduate stipend may be withdrawn.
If the student feels that he/she will require additional time to complete the thesis (i.e. he/she is approaching the six month deadline between permission to write and submission of the Thesis Approval and Exam Request Forms), the student should discuss this with his/her Supervisor well before the deadline and apply to the Chair and/or Graduate Coordinator for an extension. The Supervisor may agree to continue funding if there is clear evidence of continued progress towards completion of the thesis.
In the event of unusual delays (e.g. health problems, family crisis etc.), the student should consult with the Graduate Program Team.
Editorial Input from the Supervisor
It is expected that the student will consult with his/her supervisor and, where appropriate, with Supervisory Committee members throughout the planning and writing of the thesis. The student should include in his/her discussions with his/her Supervisor the timeframe expected for completion of various stages of the thesis as well as the total time required.
Throughout the preparation of the written document, the student should be in regular consultation with his/her Supervisor. It is not unusual for a student to submit individual chapters to his/her Supervisor once they have been completed. Indeed, the editorial input of the Supervisor during the writing of the PhD thesis is considered to be an essential part of the student’s training.
It is reasonable for the student to expect to receive comments from his/her Supervisor and Supervisory Committee members within two to three weeks after providing them with the thesis. If agreeable with the Supervisor and Supervisory Committee members, it may be more expeditious to seek approval on a chapter-by-chapter basis rather than waiting until the entire thesis is written.
Thesis Approval Form
When the thesis is nearing completion, the student should consult with his/her supervisor and the Graduate Program Administrator about necessary documents and protocols for setting up the Senate Oral Defense (e.g. arrangements for the External Examiner, date of the final oral examination etc.).
After writing the thesis, the student must obtain written approval of the thesis from his/her supervisor via the Thesis Approval Form obtained from the Graduate Program Administrator (included in the PhD Defense Package); at this point the student can give his/her thesis to the Supervisory Committee members to read.
Organizing the Examination and Examining Committee
As the exam reflects the culmination of the student's full program, the examination will not be scheduled until:
- the student has completed all course and seminar requirements;
- the thesis has been approved to go forward to an oral defense;
- the Graduate Program Administrator has received the fully signed Permission to Write (via Final Committee Meeting Report or Permission to Write Form), Thesis Approval Form, and an Exam Request Form;
- and the Graduate Program Administrator has received an electronic version of the thesis abstract and an up-to-date CV from the External Examiner.
The student will have a maximum of six months from the Permission to Write date to prepare his/her thesis and the scheduled date of the Examination. Scheduling of the exam will take approximately two months.
Exam Request Form
Once the Supervisory Committee members have read and approved the thesis via the Thesis Approval Form, the student can begin completing the Exam Request Form. This form will include the proposed membership of the Examination Committee including the External Examiner. The student should discuss possible dates for the defense with his/her Supervisor, Examination Committee members and the External Examiner prior to submitting the Exam Request Form. Once the Exam Request Form has been completed and signed by the student and Supervisor, it must be brought to the Graduate Program Administrator who will seek approval of the Graduate Coordinator. At this time, an electronic copy of the External Examiner’s CV should be forwarded to the Graduate Program Administrator.
Membership of the Examining Committee
Although the student and his/her Supervisor give suggestions for the composition of the Examining Committee on the Exam Request Form, the composition is not final until approved by the Graduate Coordinator. SGS rules state that the maximum number of voting members is six and that a quorum is four voting members.
The Examining Committee will normally have the following composition:
- the External Examiner (VOTING member); see below
- the Supervisor (NON-VOTING member);
- the Co-Supervisor, if relevant (NON-VOTING member);
- two members of the Supervisory Committee (VOTING members);
- if the student has more than two faculty on the Supervisory Committee the additional members can attend as NON VOTING members of the examination committee;
- one other Biochemistry faculty member (VOTING member) *Transfer/Qualifying Exam Chairs excluded*;
- one non-Biochemistry faculty member from a cognate department who has not been involved with the supervision of the thesis or collaborated with the work therein (extra-departmental, VOTING member);
- a Chair of the Exam who is assigned by SGS (NON-VOTING member).
External Examiner
The student should carefully read their package for information regarding exam dates and the External Examiner. The student and his/her Supervisor should decide on an appropriate External Examiner and the Supervisor should contact this person to confirm that he/she is willing and able to write the appraisal and to come to Toronto for the defense.
Note that it is the Supervisor’s responsibility to host the External Examiner.
External Examiner's Appraisal
A formal appraisal of the thesis is written by the External Examiner who must be from outside of the University of Toronto and who, except under exceptional circumstances, must agree to attend the final PhD Senate Oral Defense.
SGS rules require that the External Examiner’s appraisal be available two weeks before the examination is to take place. The appraisal will be distributed to the student and to the members of the Examining Committee but not beyond this group. The student is not permitted to discuss the appraisal with members of the Examining Committee until the examination takes place.
If the appraisal has not been received two weeks prior to the exam date, the department will ask the student if he/she is willing to proceed despite the delay in the receipt of the appraisal. If the student agrees, he/she will be asked to sign a waiver. If the student does not wish to proceed, the oral exam will be postponed.
Exam Day
The PhD Thesis Seminar
Before the start of the oral exam the student will give a 45 minute seminar summarizing the results of his/her PhD thesis research. In addition to the members of the Examination Committee, this seminar may be open to the public. All graduate students and members of the faculty are encouraged to attend.
At the end of the seminar the student may take questions from the audience but not from members of the Examining Committee.
The Senate Oral Defense
Once the open seminar has been completed, the Senate Oral Defense will proceed in camera with only the Examining Committee and the Chairperson. After the Examination, the student will leave while the Examining Committee deliberates and votes.
Students should consult the Guidelines for the Doctoral Oral Final Examination or the SGS Calendar for information on the voting procedure at a PhD Defense. In brief, the student passes if there is no more than one negative vote or abstention. In some cases, minor corrections or minor modifications will be indicated as a condition of acceptance of the thesis. If there is more than one negative vote or abstention, or if major changes are required, the examination must be adjourned. In the event of adjournment, the Examining Committee must provide the student, as soon as possible, with a written statement that indicates the reasons for adjournment and the committee’s requirements for a reconvened oral examination.
Immediately after the exam, the Chair of the Examining Committee will take the post-exam paperwork to the SGS PhD office
Post-Exam Revisions
In some cases, the Examining Committee will request minor corrections or minor modifications as a condition of thesis acceptance
If minor corrections in style are a condition of acceptance of the thesis, the supervisor will inform the student of the necessary corrections and the student must complete these corrections within one month of the date of the examination. The supervisor must notify the School of Graduate Studies directly in writing that the required corrections have been made. A copy of this letter must go to the Graduate Program Administrator who will then forward it to the Graduate Coordinator, before the student will be recommended for the PhD degree.
If minor modifications are a condition of acceptance of the thesis, the Chair of the Examining Committee will appoint a subcommittee to supervise the proposed modifications. The student will be given a statement detailing the modifications required, which must be completed within three months of the date of the oral examination. If all members of the subcommittee approve the completed modifications, the student will then have passed his/her Senate Oral Defense.
The convener of the subcommittee must certify in writing to the School of Graduate Studies within three months of the original examination, with a copy of the letter going to the Graduate Program Administrator, that the modifications have been satisfactorily completed. Students should consult the SGS Calendar for the rules that apply if the modifications are not accepted.
Final Submission of the Thesis
Prior to final submission, the student must ensure they have:
1. Completed any corrections or modifications required by the Examining Committee, and received signoff for these changes
2. Obtained any required copyright permissions. This may require inclusion of a line of text at the beginning of the Results Chapters, if they’ve been published.
3. Formatted the thesis according to SGS guidelines.
The student must submit the final thesis in an Electronic Thesis/ Dissertation (ETD) format to the School of Graduate Studies through T-Space the University’s digital library repository, along with payment of the required thesis processing fee. Students can register as a digital library repository user at any time, but to submit an ETD, a student must first provide the Graduate Program Completion Office with the following written confirmation (letter or email) from the supervisor (for minor corrections) or the convenor of the Final Oral Examination Subcommittee (for minor modifications), that the thesis is in final form and approved. If any restrictions to the release of the thesis content are required, please consult with procedures outlined here.
The department requests that the student also produce a bound copy of his/her thesis for addition to the departmental library of theses housed in the departmental seminar room.
Thesis Document
Guidelines for Style, Sections, and Format of Thesis
The department has no rule as to the number of research chapters that constitute a PhD thesis. As a general guideline, however, a thesis includes three research chapters. Generally, at least two of these typically represent published or publishable material. Often one of the chapters presents unpublished material. There are many exceptions to this guideline. Students may find it useful to consult previous theses from their labs or to check past theses collected in the departmental seminar room.
The student must ensure the final thesis is formatted according to SGS Formatting guidelines.
The student must not hard-bind the thesis prior to completion of the Oral Examination (coil-binding is acceptable).
The thesis can be organized in either of the following ways:
i) Traditional Style
Introduction (in which the pertinent literature is reviewed and the problem or hypothesis stated), Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusions or Summary, Bibliography and Appendices.
ii) Publishable Style
Discrete chapters, each in a format suitable for submission for publication. Papers already published may be used without major modifications but reprints may not be bound into the body of the thesis.
General Introduction and Discussion sections should be included, as well as Conclusions or Summary. The Bibliographies of the individual chapters may be combined, as may be the Methods sections, if appropriate.
One significant difference from a manuscript prepared for publication is that figures must be included at the appropriate places in the text.
A Doctoral Thesis should include the following:
Abstract
Table of Contents
List of Figures
List of Tables
List of Abbreviations
Introduction Although the length of the introduction is somewhat field-specific, in most cases 40-60 double-spaced pages of text should be sufficient. The last section of the General Introduction in either format should provide a clear rationale for the thesis project.
Results Chapters with Title Pages and Data Attribution If any one other than the student has contributed data to the thesis the student should clearly state this on the title page of the relevant Results Chapter(s). The student should indicate the nature of the contribution (e.g. technical assistance under the student’s guidance; independent design and interpretation of specific experiments in the Chapter etc.). If the work has been published or submitted, the full citation should also be given on this page.The student must obtain any required copyright permissions, which may be needed for work that has been published. Journals often require specifically-worded citations to be included on the first page of the relevant Results Chapter. The student will need to submit the copyright permissions to SGS when submitting the final thesis.
Methods Sufficient details of the methods should be given such that the research could be readily reproduced.
Figures The quality of halftone figures must allow for unambiguous assessment of the data.
Bibliography Most examiners prefer that the bibliography include titles.
Appendices Appendices may be included to cover such topics as additional details pertaining to Methods; speculative ideas; projects-in-progress; and/or negative results, particularly if the second format is chosen
Formatting
The student must ensure the final thesis is formatted according to SGS Formatting guidelines.
The student must not hard-bind the thesis prior to completion of the Senate Oral Examination (coil-binding is acceptable).