Here are some notes for candidates going into a PhD or MSc thesis defence. For more detailed guidance on the thesis examination, see the Thesis Examination Policy document at the bottom of the FGPA Thesis Forms, Templates, and Policies page.
Procedure
- Please arrive at the exam room early to set up the projector and meet with the exam committee.
- The “Chair” for a defence will run the exam. The Chair may be someone from outside the Physics Department.
- When all the examiners have arrived, the Exam Chair will ask you to leave the room while the committee reviews your academic record and gets set for the exam. This could take 10 minutes or more.
- The Exam Chair will then ask you to return to the room and will review the procedures.
- You will be asked to present the essence of your thesis to the committee. Your presentation can be up to 20 minutes long. Two rounds of questions follow this.
- In the first round of questions, the order of questioners is typically from most "distant" to "closest" in terms of field. So the External (for PhD) or Internal (for MSc) will ask first, and your supervisor will ask last. The Exam Chair is also permitted to ask questions. Questioning in this round is one-on-one, with no interventions from other committee members.
- In the second round of questions, the same order of questioning is followed, but people can now interject and discuss. The duration of this round is usually much shorter than the first.
- After both rounds of questions, you may make a closing statement if you desire.
- The Exam Chair will ask you to leave the room while the committee decides on the outcome of the exam, including recommending any medals. The time to deliberate varies—from a few minutes to tens of minutes.
- After some time, you will be invited to return. The Exam Chair will tell you the outcome. It's over!
- It is usually the case that revisions will be required. Usually, each examiner will have either a list for you or will return your thesis with changes highlighted. In addition to the detailed material from everyone, the Exam Chair will make up a master list.
Thesis Presentation
Your thesis presentation can be up to 20 minutes long.
It can be challenging to squeeze all the work of a thesis into 20 min or less, but remember that the examiners have all read your thesis and prepared questions for you in advance. Make the general intro slightly shorter than needed for an OCIP talk, then try to cover the highlights of your thesis, and finish with the essential bottom line of what advancement your work has made. When you use figures and tables from the thesis, direct reference to figure number/table number or page numbers can be helpful.
Observers
The exam is "closed". Other faculty from the university or joint institutes (e.g., OCIP) are permitted by the rules to attend the examination as an observer. Anyone else, such as students, may attend only with your permission and that of the Exam Chair. Observers are not allowed to participate in the exam, i.e., they cannot ask questions.
Faculty members other than those on the examination committee can be granted permission to ask questions if they submit them to the Exam Chair at least two working days before the exam.
General Advice
You should bring your thesis to the exam (open it on the presentation computer). Feel free to consult it as needed before answering a question.
Come prepared to discuss and defend your scientific work. While the examiners can ask whatever they want, the questions almost always arise from the thesis work or the motivation for doing it.
Do not rush to answer a question off the top of your head—take your time to compose yourself. Ensure you understand the question and ask for clarification if not. Use the blackboard as needed. If you do not know the answer to a question, say so.
The examiners will have already assessed your written work. During the exam, they want to hear more about it, clarify some items, and assess your scientific mastery of the project. You are the expert. Go in there and just tell them what you did.