Cellular and Molecular Biology Graduate Program

Thesis Defense

Overview

The Thesis Defense is a presentation of the student’s independent research topic, an overview of the experiments completed, and a summary of the analyzed data and results. Most students are able to complete their PhD within five to six years after entering the CMB Program. The Thesis Defense must be completed within five years after completion of the Preliminary Exam. For more information on this policy, see the Graduate School Academic Policies and Procedures website. It is also important to be aware of the Graduate School’s Degree Deadlines when deciding when to defend and deposit your thesis.

We encourage you to review Preparing for Graduation (a list of resources compiled by CMB to help you prepare for your thesis defense and graduation) well in advance of scheduling your thesis defense. If an in person meeting is not possible, please see the CMB Virtual Meeting Guide.

The UW-Madison Committee on the Future of the Dissertation has created some general Proposed Standards for Examining Dissertations, which might be useful to students and their committees as they prepare their dissertations. Be sure to detail your contributions and the contributions of others on the title page of each research chapter in your written dissertation. For example, if data or specific figures were generated by others in your lab, acknowledge this contribution. In addition, if the work in the chapter has been published, provide complete citations including the title, names of all authors, book or journal, volume number, page numbers, and year of publication. You can also find sample dissertations through the Proquest UW-Madison Dissertations & Theses search on the UW-Madison Libraries website (note: we’ve had the best luck finding theses using the searches under the “In Library Databases” section). If a publication or a patent is pending, students may request an embargo on their thesis for up to two years, so it is possible that recent theses will not yet be available.

Requirements to Complete

A Few Months Prior to the Thesis Defense (“Six-month meeting”):

  • A few months prior to the thesis defense, students should have a meeting with their committee to determine whether they are ready to move on to the thesis defense. The committee should agree the student is ready before the thesis defense is scheduled. This meeting usually occurs about six months prior to the defense but the timing can vary significantly. At the six-month meeting, students should present an outline of their thesis to their committee (an outline example can be found on the Progress Report page under Six-Month Meeting). Please fill out and submit a Progress Report Form and check the box indicating that this is your six-month meeting.

Sample Thesis Outline:

Title

I. Chapter 1: Introduction*

II. Chapter 2: Paper 1 (published, submitted, or in preparation)**

III. Chapter 3: Paper 2 (same as Chapter 2)

IV. Chapter 4: Paper 3 (same as Chapter 2)

V. Chapter 5: Future directions

VI. Appendix 1: Unpublished data***

VII. Appendix 2: Unpublished data (same as Appendix 1)

*Provide a chapter title that encapsulates the topic for the entire thesis. The title page for each of the research chapters should indicate your contributions to the work (e.g., Figures 1-5) as well as the contributions of others.

**Provide the paper title. It would also be helpful to include subheadings (A, B, C…) with the major findings of the paper. If the paper has been published, you should provide the citation.

***Provide a title for data that do not fit into one of the paper chapters but constitute an important part of your thesis research.  Each appendix could include single or multiple figures.

CMB’s thesis format is the same as the one outlined by the Graduate School.

At Least Three Weeks Prior to the Thesis Defense:

  • Schedule the Thesis Defense with the Thesis Committee
  • Send an email notification with the scheduled date, defense location, defense time, thesis title, and listing of thesis committee members to the CMB Office
  • The CMB Office will then request a warrant from the Graduate School
  • Upon approval, the Graduate School will send an email notification to the student and the CMB Office. The CMB Office will then send additional details to the student
  • Read through the Graduate School’s page on “Guide to Preparing Your Doctoral Dissertation” and follow the instructions outlined here to submit your Thesis Defense.
  • If changes in the Thesis Committee or date of the dissertation are made after a warrant has been requested, please notify the CMB Office immediately so we can request edits to the warrant.

At Least Two Weeks Prior to the Thesis Defense:

  • Submit a copy of the Thesis Defense to all members of the Thesis Committee
  • The CMB Office will create a Thesis Defense flyer and distribute this announcement to the current CMB faculty trainer and graduate student email list, publish it in the weekly e-newsletter, and post it on the calendar of events on the CMB website
  • Notify your departmental payroll coordinator of the date you are expecting to defend and deposit your thesis

At the Thesis Defense:

  • All five committee members must be present
  • Give a presentation about the research
  • Defend and answer questions asked by the Thesis Committee

Following the Thesis Defense:

  • Request electronic signatures of all Thesis Committee members on the Thesis Defense warrant through MyGradPortal
  • All corrections and revisions of the Thesis Defense must be made before submitting your Thesis Defense
  • Submit Thesis Defense electronically

Submit the Following Materials:

  • To the CMB Office:
    • Alumni Information Form
  • To the Graduate School:
    • Thesis Defense warrant via MyGradPortal
    • Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED) certificate of completion
    • Graduate School Doctoral Exit Survey (DES) certificate of completion

Professionally Print Your Thesis:

If you’d like to turn your thesis into a lasting keepsake, here’s how:

  • Navigate to Houchen Bindery, where they specialize in on demand printing.
  • Printing Suggestions: Go for a vertical layout, print on both sides, and choose a sleek black binding with either white or gold printing. You will need to note how many pages need color, as it is a factor in the final price.
  • Make sure the spine of your printed thesis includes: Last Name, First Name M.I. – Ph.D. – 2024 (Example: Wassarman, David A. – Ph.D. – 2024)
  • Expect your professionally printed thesis to be ready in around 2-3 weeks.