Academics | Candidacy & Defense

Thesis Submission

The deadline to submit for December degree conferral has passed. The deadline to submit for the May degree conferral is noon CDT on Friday, April 19, 2024. Be sure to upload your Signed Title Page and Original Approval of Candidacy form at the website here after submitting your thesis through thesis.rice.edu.

Students must submit the final thesis to the Office of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies no later than six months from the date of the defense. However, in order to qualify for a specific degree conferral date, the submission deadline for that semester must be met. See the academic calendar for deadlines. The General Announcements has complete information on thesis defense.

Am I ready to submit?

If your thesis is defended but not final (e.g., changes to your thesis are required), within one week, you must follow the steps as described in Part 1 below. Once you have defended and all changes are made, you must then submit your thesis within six months of your defense. Instructions for both scenarios are listed below. If you are ready to submit your thesis within a week of your defense, you may complete all of the steps in both parts at once. If you choose to do this, you'll need to include all of your supplementary documents as described in Part 2. Do not press "submit" until you have reviewed both sets of instructions. Please contact us if you have trouble accessing the thesis site.

How will the new online thesis verification and submission generally work?

  • Once your thesis defense announcement has been registered with the Office of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies via events.rice.edu/rgs, it will be posted online by the GPS office, provided it is approved.
  • Thesis Title Page through AdobeSign. Both you and your graduate program administrator will be notified when this is ready. If your committee changes prior to your defense, please ask the department chair, program director, or director of graduate study to notify GPS as soon as possible. The new committee will need to be approved, and we will need to generate a completely new Approval of Candidacy form and Thesis Title Page form to be completed via AdobeSign.
  • On the day of your defense, you should fill out the electronic Original Approval of Candidacy form. It will then go to your committee for signing after your successful defense. Once the committee has signed the Original Approval of Candidacy, the AdobeSign process will come back to you for the next steps.
  • Once your thesis has been approved in its final form, you will return to the AdobeSign form and complete your Thesis Title page. Once completed, it will be sent to your committee again to sign and recognize that your final thesis is approved for submission. Your committee can sign in parallel. Your graduate administrator will receive notifications for every signature and you will receive a notification when the title page has been signed in full. Please contact your graduate administrator if you would like an update on the progress of your thesis title page.
  • When all of the committee members have signed the Thesis Title Page, the GPS office will receive a final copy of the form to be validated when you finalize your thesis defense.

You’ll get notifications in each phase. Once all committee members have signed both forms, you’ll receive a final PDF via email. To prep for upload to thesis.rice.edu, you will need to separate this PDF into two documents. Because the PDF is protected, you’ll follow some specific instructions here (Microsoft) or here - after opening the .pdf using a browser such as Google Chrome (Mac) to do this. To separate the pages of a protected PDF, go to print, then select "Microsoft Word to .pdf" as the printer name. Once you’ve separated the pages into the two documents, upload to thesis.rice.edu as outlined in the processes here.

Once your thesis is final and everything has been verified in thesis.rice.edu, you must fill out the webform here. This replaces what is normally a visit to GPS and Office of the Registrar for final submission.

For tips on how to approach an online thesis defense, click here.

How do I submit?

  • If your thesis is defended but not complete (e.g., you need to make changes), follow the instructions in Part 1 within one week of your defense.

  • If your thesis is defended and all changes have been made, submit your thesis using Part 2 below within six months of your defense.

  • If your thesis is defended and no changes were necessary, complete all of the steps in Part 1 and 2.

  • Questions? Email graduate@rice.edu.

Part 1: Within a week of your defense

Step 1: Login to thesis.rice.edu

  • Navigate to thesis.rice.edu
  • Click "Start your submission"
  • Login with your NetID and password
  • Follow the instructions on the site, using the guides for assistance
Step 2: Verify your information

Verify that all the information is accurate before moving forward.

Step 3: Read the License and UMI Publication Agreements

Assent to the terms of the agreement by checking the appropriate boxes.

Step 4: Provide information about your thesis and committee

  • Enter your thesis title, graduation date, abstract, and keywords. The information entered here should match the information in your document.
  • Supply the names of your committee members.
Step 5: Upload your signed documents

If you’ve used the online thesis submission process, once all your committee members have signed virtually, you will receive the PDF of the Original Approval of Candidacy form. Print this form, digitally separate the two pages and upload them to thesis.rice.edu:

  • The Original Approval of Candidacy is uploaded as an administrative file, and
  • The defended version of the manuscript is uploaded as the "Manuscript in PDF".
  • The title page should not be signed or submitted until the advisor confirms that the thesis is in its final form and ready to submit.

For guidelines on supplemental files, please click here.

Step 6: Confirm and submit

  • Confirm that your information is correct and click the "Confirm and Submit Button".
  • This initial submission (Part 1) is not final. Your submission will be sent to GPS for an initial review. You will still be able to edit your submission, thesis, and uploaded documents following the GPS review, typically within two business days.
  • If you need to make changes to your submission at this point, do not start a new submission. Contact graduate@rice.edu to have your thesis status changed so you can make edits.
Important Information

  • Once GPS acknowledges your defense, your status will be changed to "Defended, Not Final." Please review the thesis format guidelines if you have not already done so prior to submitting the final copy of your thesis.
  • Within six months of your defense, you must upload and submit the final copy of your thesis and all supplemental documents. This is Part 2. Once you submit a final copy of your thesis and your signatures have been received, and you’ve completed the required electronic Thesis Submission webform (see Part 2), you will not be permitted to alter your thesis.
  • Please make all corrections prior to submitting your thesis. The online webform referenced above replaces the visit to GPS and the Office of the Registrar.

Part 2: Changes made, ready to submit

Step 1: Prepare files for upload

Please note all thesis and administrative files must be PDFs.

  • Create a single PDF of your thesis, including the signed electronic Thesis Title Page form. Please review the thesis format guidelines if you have not already done so.
  • Separate your electronic Original Approval of Candidacy.
  • Doctoral only: complete the Survey of Earned Doctorates and create PDF of the certificate you'll receive upon completion.
Step 2: Login to thesis.rice.edu

  • Open http://thesis.rice.edu in your web browser.
  • Select "Start your submission."
  • Login with your Rice NetID and password.
  • If you have already started a submission previously, select the action "Edit" or "Continue" to continue a previous submission. Otherwise, select "Start a new submission."
Step 3: View your application

If any of the information is incorrect or needs to be updated, email graduate@rice.edu.

Step 4: Upload the final version of your thesis

  • Upload defended and corrected copy of your thesis as your primary document. This action will archive the defended version.
  • You must include your signed electronic Thesis Title Page form as the first page of your final version of your thesis.
Step 5: Upload your administrative and supplemental files

Upload the following required documents as ADMINISTRATIVE FILES:

  • Your signed Original Approval of Candidacy
  • Survey of Earned Doctorates Certificate (Doctoral only)
  • Supplemental files are optional and may include non-PDF materials, such as videos, that complement your thesis.

For guidelines on supplemental files, please click here.

Step 6: Send a message (optional)

Add a note here if there have been any changes in your thesis submission data.

Step 7: Once your corrections are complete and all files are uploaded, click the "Complete Corrections" button

Verify that all the information is accurate before moving forward.

Step 8: Complete the online Thesis Submission Form

  • Complete the webform here. This replaces what is normally a visit to GPS and the Office of the Registrar for final submission.
  • GPS will review the thesis submission and sign the form accordingly.
  • You'll receive the form back as a receipt once complete.
  • GPS will also sign the Original Approval of Candidacy form, and you and your graduate program administrator will receive a copy.
  • The thesis will be published with the electronic title page if there are no embargoes.

Updated November 2023