Dissertation Proposal

The dissertation proposal marks the beginnings of the doctoral research and the dissertation itself. The dissertation proposal and the speciality exam serve different purposes. They should be thought of as separate activities, even though they are often executed concurrently. The purposes of the dissertation proposal are:

• for the student to isolate and formulate a particular problem or a small set of particular, related problems whose solution is important to the research community and whose solution is significant enough to merit being called doctoral research,
• for the student to assimilate background information to demonstrate understanding of the research that has been done on the problem(s) and how to proceed,
• for the Advisory Committee to decide if the student has done the first two items sufficiently well,
• for the Advisory Committee to make suggestions as to
  • additional background information which should be considered
  • how the research problem(s) should be modified, and/or
  • how the proposed methods of investigation should be modified,
  and
• for the Advisory Committee to verify that, if the proposed research goes as planned, results will be worthly of doctoral research.

The first two items are, of course, interrelated. A student needs to do background studies to isolate and formulate research problem(s) and learn which research methods are appropriate to potentially (help) solve the proposed research problems.

From the perspective of a student beginning Ph.D. studies the thought of doing good and appropriate background studies may seem overwhelming. For some research questions there is, after all, a great deal of relevant background material, and, indeed, background studies for some research questions could be overwhelming, especially if a student had to do these without guidance. However, the advisor and other members of the Advisory Committee can help make this task of assimilating the appropriate background materials doable, exciting, and rewarding.

The dissertation proposal involves preparing a written document and then presenting it orally in a public forum. The written document should include:

• background material,
• a well defined research problem,
• a plan for solving the research problem, and
• criteria for determining that the problem has been adequately solved.

The background material should be adequate so that the final three parts of the dissertation proposal can be fully understood and evaluated. In addition to the above listed items, students are encouraged to provide both a timeline for completion of the research and dissertation and an outline of the proposed dissertation chapters. One goal of the proposal should be to describe the research and dissertation in as much detail as possible so that both student and committee have a clear view of the proposed work.

The date and time of the proposal shall be announced at least two weeks in advance, and the final version of the written proposal must be given to all Advisory Committee members at least two weeks in advance of the oral presentation. Further, at least two weeks in advance of the oral at least one copy of the proposal shall be available in the department office of the advisor and at least one copy in the department office of the CS&E Director.

After the dissertation proposal is presented, the Advisory Committee must decide if the student is prepared to proceed to the dissertation research project. Thus, the Advisory Committee must decide if the proposed research project is doable and whether the proposed work would be sufficient for a dissertation. A 75% vote of pass is required for the student to pass the proposal. However, it is in the student's best interest to work with the Advisory Committee on the written proposal until everyone on the committee feels comfortable voting pass because then each Advisory Committee member is in favor of the proposed research activities from the beginning. This reduces the likelihood of committee concerns about developments during the research process.

Following the proposal defense, the Advisory Committee may recommend changes and/or ask for additions to be made to the dissertation proposal. Depending on the magnitude and importance of the recommended changes and/or additions, the Advisory Committee may require a second public dissertation proposal presentation, may ask the student to make the changes/additions in writing and submit them to the Advisory Committee for their approval, or may simply ask the student to make note of their suggestions. After passing the dissertation proposal, the student must turn in to the Graduate School the form Approval of Dissertation Proposal(*).

Ideally, a student preparing for the dissertation proposal informs the Advisory Committee about progress. Thus, after obtaining most of the information needed for the dissertation proposal, the student could make a short outline of research plans and send this outline to the committee asking for comments and feedback. Further, the student, upon giving the written proposal to committee members, should ask for a meeting with each committee member in about a week or ten days to discuss any comments, suggestions, or questions regarding the proposal. The intent of maintaining close ties with the Advisory Committee is to avoid major surprises at an oral presentation. The Advisory Committee members should know what the student is doing and the student should know what the committee members think about the proposal. Then, at the oral presentation, the committee members can work together to see how the proposal can be improved which is what the student wants.