PhD Thesis Proposal Requirement

Each PhD candidate is required to submit a thesis proposal and to defend the proposal at a public oral examination, normally within one (1) year after satisfying the qualifying requirement.

A thesis proposal examination committee, consisting of the supervisor(s) and at least two (2) additional faculty members, should be set up at least six (6) weeks before the thesis proposal defense date. A majority of the thesis proposal examination committee members must be from the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, which would include faculty from "regular," and "joint appointments," as listed in CSE Faculty. Students who would like to find a committee member that is not from CSE (and not a co-supervisor of the student) would be asked to provide justifications. The Director of Postgraduate Studies/supervisor of student shall appoint the chair of the examination committee. The thesis proposal should be distributed by email to the committee members with copy to and at least two (2) weeks prior to the oral examination. Students would also be asked to fill in an abstract form for uploading the PQE information to the department website, and students would need to submit the filled form to and at least two (2) weeks prior to the oral examination.

The PhD thesis proposal requirement can be attempted at most twice (2). The second attempt must be completed within six (6) months of the first attempt. The thesis proposal requirement must be completed before attempting the final thesis defense.

To schedule a PhD thesis proposal defense, please complete and submit the online form Request to Schedule a PhD Thesis Proposal Defense (ITSC login required).

Chairpersons of thesis proposal defences would need to update and the exam result within 3 days of the exams.