A student who has been accepted by the Graduate School is formally admitted to candidacy for the PhD by the University at the recommendation of the student’s supervisory committee. Admission to candidacy occurs after the student:
● Forms a supervisory committee,
● Files an approved Program of Study form,
● Completes the course requirements,
● Passes the written portion of the qualifying examination, and
● Passes the oral portion of the qualifying examination (i.e., the proposal defense).
For the degree to be conferred, the approved Program of Study form must be completed. The dissertation must also be completed, publicly defended, and submitted to the Thesis Office.
A PhD Supervisory Committee conducts the student’s written qualifying examination, oral qualifying examination, and dissertation defense. This committee consists of five faculty members, with the following policies:
1. The majority of the Supervisory Committee must be regular faculty members (tenured/tenure track) from the Core Robotics Faculty.
2. The Committee must be comprised of faculty from at least two departments.
All official decisions of the committee are made by a majority vote, with tie-breaking decisions made by the Director of Robotics Studies.