Dissertation Defense

The dissertation is the capstone project for PhD students. It is perhaps the most important and far-reaching undertaking in the entire doctoral program, having an impact that extends well beyond graduate studies.

Harvard has strict policies to ensure that the dissertation and defense meet high standards of scholarship.

Requirements:

Every PhD candidate is required to successfully complete and submit a dissertation to qualify for degree conferral. Completion of the PhD requires writing a dissertation, presenting a seminar describing the results of this research, and passing an oral examination. Additionally, SHBT expects that most students will graduate with at least one first-author paper or two or more other papers. The average time to completion for the PhD is approximately 5½ years.

Dissertation Examination Committee

A Dissertation Examination Committee is formed when the Dissertation Advisory Committee has decided that the student is ready to defend his/her dissertation. At that time, the student makes an appointment with the OGE Defense Coordinator to review dissertation requirements and regulations. You can also find more information in the GSAS student Handbook. 

The Exam Committee consists of three examiners plus an Exam Committee Chair. Members of the Exam Committee are selected by the student with the help of the student's DAC and the dissertation advisor and must be approved by the Program Director.

The exam committee should be assembled as follows:

When the Chair is a Harvard faculty member:
Exam Chair: The chair of the DAC shall be an on-ladder faculty member of SHBT and be a member of the student’s Dissertation Advisory Committee (DAC). None of the members other than the chair may have served on the student’s DAC.

When the Chair is a non-Harvard faculty member (e.g., MIT or IHP faculty):
Exam Chair: If the chair moving from the student’s Dissertation Advisory Committee (DAC) to the defense is a non–Harvard faculty member, a co-chair who is SHBT faculty and an on-ladder Harvard faculty member must be added to the committee.

Rest of the Defense Examination Committee
Examiner 1: In addition to the Chair, at least one examiner must be an on-ladder Harvard faculty member of SHBT.
Examiner 2:Examiner 2: To broaden the examination and enhance its significance, one member of the examination committee must be a non-Harvard faculty member of equivalent appointment rank to on-ladder faculty at Harvard.
Examiner 3: Faculty member from any academic institution.

*Per GSAS policy: “On ladder” refers to faculty members with tenure or who are tenure-track. The phrase “on ladder” is generally not used at HMS, but all HMS and HCSPH assistant, associate, and full professors are considered to be “on ladder” according to HMS Faculty Affairs, and, for the purposes of this legislation, may serve on the DAC/defense committee.

Important point to consider when assembling the exam committee:

  1. The dissertation advisor is not eligible to be an examiner or the chair, but usually attends the exam ex officio.
  2. All proposed examiners must be the rank of assistant professor or higher at an academic institution.
  3. Past collaborators and co‐authors are usually not appropriate to be examiners. Faculty members who have collaborated with the student or the student’s advisor on the student’s area of research within the past five years may not serve on the exam committee. Faculty with whom the student has done a regular laboratory rotation in the process of selecting the dissertation laboratories are eligible if there are no other collaborations. Students may therefore petition OGE to approve examiners whose collaboration with the student or advisor was not directly related to the dissertation research.
  4. Emeritus Faculty may not serve on a student’s examining committee unless that student has been under the supervision of that faculty member.
  5. Suppose the student’s non‐Harvard examiner is a former Harvard professor. In that case, the following requirements must be met before s/he is eligible to serve on the committee as an external examiner: the faculty member should have served in their post‐Harvard position for at least one year the faculty member should have not participated directly with the student in any other capacity (e.g. as a program advisor, dissertation advisory committee member, qualifying exam committee member) during her/his time at Harvard.
  6. An alternate examiner may be requested by the student, the dissertation advisor, the program, or the Office for Graduate Education. If an alternate examiner is selected, the alternate must be available to attend the seminar and defense and must receive and read a copy of the dissertation.
  7. All exceptions to these rules must be approved by the Director of Academic Administration in the Office for Graduate Education.

Timing

Harvard awards official degrees only three times during the year: March, May, and November. However, a student may defend his or her dissertation at any time during the year. Specific deadlines can be found on the OGE and GSAS websites. Recipients of November, March, and May degrees may participate in Harvard University Commencement and the GSAS Diploma Awarding Ceremony.

Forms

All of the following Defense forms must be submitted to OGE four weeks before the defense via email or in person (see degree application for specific deadlines and instructions).

  1. DAC Report: Before scheduling the defense and submitting any of the forms, a DAC report stating the student has permission to write the dissertation must be on file with the Office for Graduate Education
  2. Dissertation Packet meeting: Students must attend a dissertation packet meeting. The packet meeting will give the student all the relevant information for planning the defense. This meeting usually lasts 30-45 minutes.
  3. Program Approval Form – signed by Program Head & Dissertation Advisor (electronic signatures are accepted) and delivered via email/in person
  4. Proposed Examiners Form - signed by Program Head & Dissertation Advisor (electronic signatures are accepted) and delivered via email/in person. OGE will obtain the Vice Chairman's signature
  5. Exam Information Sheet
  6. Title Page and Abstract should be sent to samantha_reed@hms.harvard.edu four weeks or earlier before the date of the defense in one Word document.
  7. Post-Graduation Information Sheet

All the forms can be found on the OGE Dissertation and Defense webpage. 

 

Final Dissertation Submission Steps

Corrections

Following the examination, the candidate must, with the help of the dissertation advisor, make any necessary corrections to the dissertation. If corrections require review, those revisions should be approved by the examination committee chair or by a faculty member designated by the committee chair, who will then notify OGE in writing that all revisions are complete.

Dissertation Acceptance Certificate

If no corrections are required or once the corrections are complete, the Office for Graduate Education will email you an electronic copy of your Dissertation Acceptance Certificate (DAC). Please attach this DAC to your dissertation right before your title page with a blank page immediately following the DAC. No page number should be assigned to this page.

Submission

  • Before submitting your dissertation, review your final copy and make sure it abides by all of the formatting requirements set by Harvard Griffin GSAS. Students can embargo​​ their dissertation for six months, one year, two years, or more. Embargo periods over two years require a signed approval of delayed release form.
  • The dissertation must be submitted electronically through ProQuest ETD to the FAS Registrar’s Office for approval in order to receive the degree. Dissertations must be received by 11:59 PM on the deadline date for the given degree period. No extensions to this deadline are provided. Any supplemental material or copyright permissions should be included in the submission. Please see the Harvard Griffin GSAS website for more information on dissertation submission or the tutorial on the homepage of the ProQuest ETD submission tool for additional information.
  • Review the instructions for submitting your dissertation. 

SHBT students should consult the OGE Dissertation Defense page for important information regarding their dissertation and defense.

 

After Submission

Once the dissertation is submitted, you will receive an initial email stating that the dissertation has been received. The Registrar’s Office will review the document for formatting compliance, and you will then receive a second email once your dissertation has been approved. Any required changes or corrections will be communicated to you and must be resolved before the degree can be conferred. You will have up to one week past the submission deadline to submit any corrections requested by the Registrar’s Office.

 

Other Information

Stipend

If a student defends their dissertation before the 15th of the month, the stipend will be terminated at the end of that month. If the student defends on or after the 15th, the next month’s stipend will be the final month the student is paid, at the discretion of their advisor.

Students are encouraged to speak to their advisors directly about how they should be paid as they complete their graduate work. If an advisor wishes to pay the student for an additional month, beyond what has been explained above, the advisor must notify David Jablon via email as early as possible: dmsaccounting@hms.harvard.edu

For administrative reasons, a stipend cannot be issued to a student after his/her graduation date. If you defended and received a clear pass, you can no longer remain an enrolled student for the upcoming semester.

Registration & Health Insurance:

Please review the HUSHP graduating students website: https://hushp.harvard.edu/graduating-students