Dissertation & Defense

When your Dissertation Advisory Committee has determined that you are ready to begin writing your thesis, your committee will "check your box." The OGE PhD Defense Coordinator will reach out to schedule a meeting with you to discuss next steps, including dissertation & defense requirements, forming your exam committee, scheduling your defense, and preparing for graduation. Students are required to defend within 6 months of getting their box checked. Harvard awards official degrees only three times during the year: March, May, and November. However, students may defend any time during the year. Detailed guidelines here.

After meeting with the DMS defense coordinator, students form a defense exam committee in consultation with their DAC, the program director, and their thesis advisor, which should comprise three examiners, one alternate examiner, and an exam committee chair. All examiners must hold an assistant professorship or higher. Students are required to select one examiner from outside Harvard, and no more than one examiner may have served on a student's DAC. Detailed guidelines here.