thesisdissertation defence degree

Path to DegreeCPSC 699Masters completion rates2003 cohort, 5 years laterUofCG13rank(%) including transfer to PhDHumanities84.981.18Social Sciences79.180.210Sciences86.384.68Engineering82.585.88Health Sciences84.585.47Total82.581.99SOURCE: FGS Council Minutes http://www.grad.ucalgary.ca/grad/files/grad/Council_Meeting_371_Package.pdfhttp://www.grad.ucalgary.ca/grad/files/grad/Minutes_355_FC_Approved.pdfG13:Group of Thirteen McGill UniversityUniversity of Western OntarioUniversity of TorontoUniversity of British ColumbiaQueen's UniversityMcMaster UniversityUniversity of AlbertaUniversit LavalUniversit de MontralUniversity of Waterloo

April, 2006

University of CalgaryDalhousie UniversityUniversity of Ottawa19 CenturyG3

1991G1020CenturyG7

U15:Group of FifteenMcGill UniversityUniversity of Western OntarioUniversity of TorontoUniversity of British ColumbiaQueen's UniversityMcMaster UniversityUniversity of AlbertaUniversit LavalUniversit de MontralUniversity of Waterloo

April, 2006

University of CalgaryDalhousie UniversityUniversity of Ottawa19 CenturyG3

1991G1020CenturyG7

February, 2011University of SaskatchewanUniversity of ManitobaPhD completion rates,2003 cohort, 5 years laterUofCG13Rank Humanities27.319.82Social Sciences41.724.02Sciences53.444.03Engineering45.946.56Health Sciences53.142.46Total46.336.33PhD completion rates,1999 cohort, 9 years laterUofCG13Rank

Humanities47.153.810Social Sciences78.464.73Sciences73.372.46Engineering72.771.46Health Sciences75.076.36Total72.567.76Milestones- MSc- CPSC

Course work699+ 4 half-courses (one-semester course)At least 2 graduate-level CPSC or SENG courses (6XX, 7 XX)At most ONE 5XX undergraduate course (need to be recommended by supervisor and approved by Graduate Director)Breadth: recommended for continuing on to a PhD programResearch (proposal determined by supervisor)Give a department seminar presentationWrite thesisDefend thesis : open oral defenseExpected Time: 2 years (full time), 3 years (part time)4 years maximumMilestones - MSc- SENG

Course work699+ 4 half-courses (one-semester course)At least 3 from Approved SENG ListAt most ONE 5XX undergraduate course (need to be recommended by supervisor and approved by Graduate Director)Breadth: recommended for continuing on to a PhD programResearch (proposal determined by supervisor)Give a department seminar presentationWrite thesisDefend thesis : open oral defenseExpected Time: 2 years (full time), 3 years (part time)4 years maximumMilestones- PhD

Breadth requirementsCourse work699 + At least grade B in at least 8 coursesAt least 3 must be taken in PhD program hereAt least 6 graduate level courses (6XX, 7XX)The other two can be 5XXEach of the 3 categories out of 4 Applications, Systems, Theory and External to Computer Science (be presented with a justification as to why they are another area, approved by supervisor and graduate committee) Not Applicable for PhD Students start from NOWselect supervisory committeeSupervisor(s) + two extra members Give at least 1 department seminar presentationNew Course Requirement for PhD At least four of the required courses must be taken from a degree-granting Computer Science Department.The above courses must be taken from multiple research areas. Not more than six courses in one research area is counted toward the minimum eight half courses. Courses in the intersection of two or more areas are counted in the area with the most completed course credits. New Course Requirement for PhDThe current research areas are:Artificial Intelligence and Multi-Agent Systems Bioinformatics and Biological ComputationsComputer GraphicsDatabaseHCI and VisualizationNetworks and SystemsSecurity Scientific ComputingNew Course Requirement for PhDThe current research areas are:Software EngineeringTheory and FoundationsVision and Image ProcessingOther areas in Computer scienceExternal to Computer ScienceCourses outside Computer Science must be approved by the students supervisor. Credits for courses external to the Department of Computer Science are only given on condition that no Computer Science course which covers similar content is counted toward the required eight courses. These courses will be counted toward the appropriate areas in Computer Science. New Course Requirement for PhDNot more than six courses in one research area will be counted toward the minimum eight half courses. Courses in the intersection of two or more areas are counted in the area with the most completed course credits.

New Course Requirement for PhDCredits for courses external to the Department of Computer Science are only given on condition that no Computer Science course which covers similar content is counted toward the required eight courses. These courses will be counted toward the appropriate areas in Computer Science.

Milestones- PhD

candidacy examSingle-authored Scientific PaperResearch ProposalFaculty Candidacy Examination (Oral) : Before 28 months Write thesisDefend thesis: open oral defense3-4 years typical (with M.Sc.) /4-5 years typical (without M.Sc.)6 years maximum

Milestones CMD Computational Media DesignM.Sc.1 graduate level course in CPSC1 graduate level course in either FINA or EVDS1 graduate level research methodology course (699)2 other graduate level courses

Ph.D.+ 1 additional graduate level course in CPSC+ 1 additional graduate level course in either FINA or EVDS+ other graduate level course

Course StandardsGPA < 3.0 in the current year OR B- in 2+ courses may be required to withdraw from programC+ or less in a course : course cannot count, warningB- in a course with GPA >=3.0 : warningWarning : both student and supervisor Transfer from M.Sc. To Ph.D.GPA 3.7+A dossier specifying a research program Meeting with Transfer Committee to give a 15-20 minute presentation and then responds to questions On to the defensecomplete researchcomplete dissertationselect examination committeeMScsupervisor(s)1 departmental1 extra-departmentalPhDsupervisory committeeextra-departmentalextra-universityOn to the defensePhD External ExaminerNo collaboration with supervisor in last 5 years, No collaboration with candidate, Not a supervisor in CPSC in last 3 years, Not close personal friend of supervisor, No closely related to candidateNeutral ChairNot a member in a examining committeeA University faculty member No close relationship with candidate and supervisorNot involved in candidate and supervisors researchScheduling the defense4-5 weeks before defenseto Faculty of Graduate Studies delivernames of examination committeescheduled timecopy of dissertation3 weeks beforedissertation in hands of examinersallow 8 weeks from completion of dissertation to defense

Defense format15 minute presentationrounds of questionsstart with externalfinish with supervisorrepeat until out of time (2hrs)committee deliberations (in camera)Result

What is a thesisA research claim that you support with evidence and argumentDissertationa documentstates thesispresents supporting evidence and argumentsThesis proposalrequirement for PhDoptional for MScearly draft of dissertationstate thesisdo not have to support, butindicate how you will collect evidenceWhat is a thesisA research claim that you support with evidence and argumentDissertationa documentstates thesispresents supporting evidence and argumentsThesis proposalrequirement for PhDoptional for MScearly draft of dissertationstate thesisdo not have to support, butindicate how you will collect evidenceElements (1)thesis - your hypothesis or claimsRiesbeck suggest 6 categoriesprocess X is a feasible way to do task Yprocess X is a better way to do task Y than any previously known methodtask Y requires process Xpeople use process X to do task Yprocess X is a terrible way to do Ypeople don't use processmust be a novel contribution for PhDElements (2)Motivationwhy is it interesting to othersrelated workliterature surveysummarize the work of othersorganizedoes not have to be exhaustiveshould be representativefocus on ideas, not technical detailadd value with your organizationa bad literature surveya disconnected collection of paraphrased papersno big-picture view of how they fit togetherElements (3)Approachhow will you gather evidence?how will you test hypotheses?evaluationwhat will your evidence look like?how will you know if it is valid?Elements (4)work donewhat have you accomplished so far?good to have started work on collecting evidencedo not go too faron PhD the proposal is your supervisory committees first chance to give you feedbackhelps convincesupervisorcommitteeyouElements (5)Plantime lineallow time forwriting thesisorganizing defenseSuggestionsfind good drawing softwareCorel DrawAdobe Illustratortype-setting softwareLatexMs Wordmake sure you can get math/diagrams into document

SourcesSaul Greenberg - Chapter 1 club notesChris Riesbeck, What is a thesis defense?http://www.cc.gatech.edu/faculty/ashwin/wisdom/what-is-a-thesis-defense.htmlCohen, Empirical Methods in AIJeff Boyd 699 notes