The General Announcements linked to on this page are important reading.

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

The public oral defense of a thesis is intended to be an examination of a completed body of work and should be scheduled only when the dissertation is essentially completed. The General Announcements is the authority on all things related to candidacy, defense and thesis submission. Information for doctoral degrees can be found here, and master's degrees can be found here. Your graduate program may have additional requirements.

Students may also consult the last semester timeline for detailed information on the defense process, as well as the thesis defense instructions here. Forms related to candidacy and defense can be found here. A direct link to the thesis defense webform is available here.

*Individual time boundaries for candidacy and defense can be found in Esther.

GPS Tiebrary

Doctoral students stop by the GPS office for a tie to celebrate your successful defense at Valhalla! We have a wide selection to choose from. The Tiebrary is open Monday - Friday, 9:00 am - 12:00 pm and 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm.

Updated July 2024