Candidacy and Dissertation
Candidacy
Admission to candidacy requires:
- Successful completion of the qualifying examination (which satisfies the research tool requirement of the Graduate School)
- Successful completion of 24 hours of credit (which satisfies the residency requirement of the Graduate School)
In addition, the Candidacy Exam Committee will be composed of at least three graduate faculty members consisting of the advisor of the student, along with at least one graduate faculty from each campus. It is recommended that these same faculty members also serve on the student’s PhD Committee. For full details on the Candidacy Exam process, please view the SIUC Graduate Catalog.
Dissertation
Following the admission to candidacy and upon completion of all the coursework, the candidate will prepare and submit a formal written dissertation proposal, defining the proposed research and the proposed line of inquiry. The candidate subsequently must make an oral presentation of the dissertation proposal to the members of the dissertation committee in an open forum. A public announcement of this event must be made at least five days in advance.
In the framework of the oral presentation of the dissertation proposal, the candidate is expected to address and respond to any question (by the members of the committee) related to material covered by all the courses taken during his doctoral studies or to the background necessary for the specific area of the proposed research. In addition, the candidate is expected to defend the research methodology and the proposed line of inquiry.
A dissertation must be written under the direction or co-direction of an engineering faculty member and approved by a dissertation committee consisting of at least six members, three SIUC faculty members and three SIUE faculty members, with a chair from SIUE and a co-chair from SIUC. The dissertation advisor must be chosen by the end of the student’s first academic year. The dissertation committee should be formed after successful completion of the candidacy examination. The members of this committee need not be the same as the members of the candidacy examination committee. A dissertation research proposal must be approved by the dissertation committee. Candidates will be required to present an acceptable dissertation describing original research performed with minimal supervision. Dissertation approval is based on a successful oral defense of the dissertation research and approval of the dissertation. This requires approval of at least 80% of the dissertation committee.
The dissertation must be prepared in accordance with the Guidelines for Dissertations, Theses and Research Papers of the SIUC Graduate School. Dissertation approval is based on successful defense of the research performed in terms of originality, relevance and presentation (written and oral). This requires approval by at least 80% of the members of the dissertation committee.
Upon completion of the dissertation, which must demonstrate the ability of the candidate to conduct independent research, the committee will administer the final oral examination. The objective of the final oral examination, conducted in an open forum, will be the defense of the dissertation. Upon satisfactory completion of the dissertation and the final oral examination the committee will recommend the candidate for the doctoral degree.
