Thesis Submission and Defence

Both M.Sc. and Ph.D. students are required to defend the thesis in an oral examination attended by their Thesis Examination Committee. This committee must be appointed before the defence and generally is the same as a student’s advisory committee. A faculty member from the University will sit is as Chair of the thesis defence, which is arranged by the Faculty of Science Graduate Office.

For full details review the Thesis Defence Checklists (M.Sc. checklist; Ph.D. checklist) available on the Biology graduate website. Information can also be found on the Science webpage under Graduate students.

Defence requests must be submitted to the Biology Graduate Office:

M.Sc.: Minimum of 4 weeks (20 business days) before the defence
Ph.D.: Minimum of 7 weeks (35 business days) before the defence

Thesis Examination Committee

The M.Sc. thesis examination committee will be comprised of the supervisor (or co-supervisors), an additional faculty member from the University of Waterloo, and at least one additional examiner whose expertise can support the evaluation of the Master’s thesis. External adjunct appointments require the approval of the Associate Dean, Graduate. No more than one adjunct faculty member (including Professors Emeriti) may serve on the Examining Committee. It is the student’s responsibility to ensure that all members of the examining committee are available to attend the defence.

The Ph.D. thesis examination committee will be comprised of the supervisor (or co-supervisors), a minimum of three committee members, an Internal/External member and an External Examiner. A maximum of one adjunct faculty member may serve on the Ph.D. examining committee (including supervisor/co-supervisor).

Internal/External examiner

The Internal/External must be a University of Waterloo faculty member from a department other than Biology. Faculty that are cross-appointed to Biology meet this requirement. The internal/external appointment to the committee must be made prior to the Supervisor submitting an External Examiner for approval.

External examiner

The External Examiner is expected to be a tenured professor, a leader in their field related to the thesis topic, and must be at arm’s length from the supervisor and student. Your supervisor should make informal enquiries to two or three scientists who would be appropriate. Having established the willingness and availability of the individual, your supervisor will provide the Associate Chair one name, along with a current CV (including all publications) of that individual, and a statement of suitability and impartiality of the proposed candidate. The External Examiner must be approved by the Associate Chair and the Associate Dean of Graduate Studies.

Your supervisor is responsible for initiating the process that leads to the selection of an External Examiner a minimum of 4 months before your proposed defence. The student is not to have any contact with the External Examiner before the defence.

Examination Committee Attendance (In-Person Meetings)

Supervisors/Co-Supervisors MUST attend the thesis defence. Committee member attendance by phone or Skype is considered an absence. No more than one committee member can attend via electronic means. Approval of more than one committee member attending remotely must be approved by the Associate Dean.

If more than one committee member of a M.Sc. defence is absent (including those attending electronically), the defence must be rescheduled.

If there is an emergency absence of a committee member for a Ph.D. defence, the defence can proceed provided the supervisor, two other members of the committee, and the external examiner are present. Exceptions must be approved by the Associate Dean.

If more than two committee members of a Ph.D. defence are absent (including those attending electronically), the defence must be rescheduled. This includes the External Examiner.

Blackout dates and holidays

There are blackout dates for defences in the Spring, Fall and Winter terms. During these periods, defences cannot be scheduled. The blackout period is necessary and supported by GSPA, based on the need for availability of faculty members to chair examinations. Please contact the Biology Graduate Office to see when the blackout dates are and if they will affect the date you wish to defend and/or submit your thesis. These dates are also provided in the Biology Graduate Studies Bi-Weekly Digest.

If you are defending close to a blackout period, please confirm with the Biology Graduate Office when your defence request and thesis will be due.

Submission of Thesis for Defence

Students submit their thesis to the Faculty of Science Dissertation Coordinator via the Thesis Submission Form. The Dissertation Coordinator will distribute the thesis to your examining committee.

M.Sc. students must submit a PDF copy of their thesis by NOON a minimum of 3 weeks (15 business days, not including holidays) before the scheduled defence.

Ph.D. students must submit a PDF copy of their thesis by NOON at least 6 weeks (30 business days, not including holidays) before the defence date to the Faculty of Science Graduate Office.

Academic regulations state that the thesis will be distributed to your examination committee by the Faculty of Science Graduate Office. Students are not to provide copies of their thesis to individual committee members. Please schedule your defence in such a way that you have enough time to write your thesis properly and submit it within the timelines required.

The Defence

The defence will consist of a short presentation by the student, no longer than 30 minutes, followed by questions from the examiners. Following the formal exam, members of the audience may ask questions. At the end of questioning by the examiners, the chair will request that everyone except the examining committee members leave the room. The examination committee will then deliberate and reach one of three possible decisions (Accepted, Accepted Conditionally, Decision Deferred). The chair of the committee will notify the student of the decision.

After the Defence

After the defence, you will receive an email from the Faculty of Science Graduate Office. They will confirm the decision you received and provide you with instructions.

Once any required corrections have been completed and approved, students also need to submit their thesis electronically to UWSpace. Please refer to the Library's guidelines on submitting your electronic thesis or dissertation. There are very specific formatting requirements, so please confer with the Library and leave enough time to resolve any structural issues. Once your thesis is accepted by UWSpace, the Department will generate the Program Completion form.

If not already completed, students should apply to graduate on Quest approximately one month prior to the completion of their degree. The Biology Graduate Office will receive notification from GSPA that you have applied to graduate. Please note that if you do not finish in the term you applied to graduate, you will need to resubmit your form on Quest. It will not be automatically transferred to the next term.

Request to Restrict Thesis Circulation

Publication of a thesis on UWSpace may be delayed for four months to two years. The time is discussed at the defence and indicated under “Restriction Terms” when the thesis is uploaded to UWSpace. Please see the Guidelines for Thesis Examination without Public Disclosure and discuss this option with your supervisor.