Dissertation and Oral Defense

Dissertation

A dissertation is required of every candidate for the Ph.D. degree. The form of the dissertation must conform to the procedures set forth in the booklet of Preparation and Submission Manual for Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses, available online. A final draft of the dissertation and an email attachment of the dissertation must be submitted to each member of the committee and to the Graduate Advisor (copy to the Graduate Advisor will be returned to student or advisor upon request) at least two weeks prior to the final examination. The email attachment will replace the previously used sign-off sheet. At least three (3) quarters must elapse between advancement to candidacy and the final examination on the dissertation, which shall be public. There is another form to file, available from the Graduate Coordinator and the Librarian must accept the final form of the dissertation before a candidate can be awarded the Ph.D.

Publications in lieu of a Dissertation

Publications may be used in place of a written dissertation (aka “Staple Defense”). Final approval for the use of published papers is from OGS. Requests must be submitted to OGS at least three weeks before the dissertation defense. Final decisions about the requirements associated with this option rest with the dissertation committee, but departmental guidelines are as follows:

• Three published papers may be used in lieu of a dissertation, though a brief introduction and conclusion should be prepared.
• The three papers should be related in a coherent way.
• The student should be first author on all three papers.
• The papers should be published in high quality, refereed journals.
• The work described in the publications should have been performed while the student was enrolled in a graduate program at UCSD.

Oral Defense

An oral defense of the dissertation is required. The Oral Defense will be public. Graduates should attempt to provide sufficient advance notice to the department to allow for appropriate public notification. The Dissertation Committee and other members of the department and the public may attend the defense. After the student has presented his or her work, the audience may ask questions. After general audience questions, the Committee will meet in private with the student. After this private meeting, the committee will confer to determine whether awarding the Ph.D. is appropriate given the defense.

Leaving after Completion of Ph.D.

Students must vacate their office at the end of the quarter of their defense. Students defending in the summer must leave their office by September 1. All personal belongings and other materials must be removed. Student exams less than one year old must be given to the Student Affairs Office; exams older than one year must be shredded. Should you become a post doc in the Department of Psychology, you must vacate student office space. The faculty member sponsoring the post doc is responsible for providing an office.