Ph.D Thesis

• Timing
• Abstract
• Number of Copies
• Costs
• SGS Guidelines for the Preparation of Theses for Microfilming and Binding (including forms required)

Timing of Ph.D. thesis

The normal length of the direct-entry Ph.D. programme is five years, and four years for entry into Ph.D. after an acceptable M.Sc.degree. Supervisors and students are urged to design reasonable Ph.D. thesis projects which can be done in three years.

There is a natural tendency on the part of students to delay the actual writing of their thesis as long as possible. Coupled with some deadline when the student must take up an employment offer, this can lead to a squeeze on the date of the final SGS thesis exam. The examining committee often is given too little time to read and digest the thesis, and the student's departure immediately after the exam makes for difficulty in dealing with corrections to the thesis.

Please read and note the section on Policies and Procedures of the Final Oral Examination in the SGS website. Definite procedures and deadlines are laid out there; in particular a lead time of six weeks is required in scheduling thesis exams.  Please notify the Graduate Administrator as soon as the exam date and time have been decided and she will reserve the room at SGS and begin the required paperwork. This paperwork must be in SGS at least six weeks before the exam. THESES MUST BE READY FOUR WEEKS BEFORE THE EXAM for internal examiners and SIX WEEKS BEFORE THE EXAM for external examiners, and the appraisals must be at SGS two weeks before the exam. Otherwise a delay may be forced upon the student. Keep in mind that the appraiser's reports must be at SGS two weeks in advance of the exam.  Furthermore, students and supervisors can find information in the SGS website that will aid them throughout the final oral examination process; this includes information on procedures prior to the final oral, during the examination, and following the defense. 

It is the responsibility of supervisors to discuss with the Graduate Chair the composition of the examining committee, and to then approach the individuals concerned to get their agreement. This applies particularly to obtaining an external examiner/appraiser for which there are various rules.

Abstract

As soon as your thesis defence is over and your abstract is finalized, submit an ascii or html copy of the abstract to robbins@astro.utoronto.ca. It will be mounted on our website.

Number of Copies

The School of Graduate Studies requires the submission of theses in electronic format - Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs). Please refer to the SGS website on how to submit ETD, thesis formatting requirements and forms required for electronic submission.

In addition, the department requires one bound copy of the Ph.D. thesis for its DA library as well as an electronic version to be hosted on the DA library website. However, no binding should be done until after the oral thesis defence exam in case corrections are required. As soon as your thesis is approved, send an ascii version of your thesis abstract to the library and a pdf (or postscript) version of the full final thesis by email to robbins@astro.utoronto.ca for mounting on the department website. Furthermore, copies must be made temporarily available to the thesis appraisers and members of the examining committee and, therefore, students are responsible for producing at least six copies of the penultimate version of the thesis before the final oral examination.

Costs

The department, through its Reinhardt Fund, will pay up to $300 toward the costs of the three mandatory copies of Ph.D. theses. These costs are understood to include production of diagrams (where they must be done outside), photocopying, and binding.

If a student's supervisor feels that the production of additional thesis copies for distribution to other researchers is very desirable, the costs are the responsibility of the supervisor.

Reimbursements for costs can only be made after receipts for them have been given to the Financial Officer.