Thesis defence and submission

PhD supervisors and students should carefully review the PhD thesis examination regulations and note the rules pertaining to the examining committee.  Approval of the external examiner must be received from the Faculty of Science graduate office, prior to scheduling the PhD thesis defence.

PhD supervisors are responsible for selecting and contacting the potential External Examiner, based on the PhD thesis examination regulations. A copy of the External Examiner's current CV should be obtained at this time.

The PhD Supervisor must complete and submit the Science Nomination of External Examiner and Confirmation of Arm's Length Status form (available from Administrative Coordinator Grad Studies and Research).

The completed form should be sent along with the External Examiner's CV to the Administrative Coordinator for Graduate Studies and Research (Grad Coordinator) for further processing, at least four months ahead of the intended PhD defence date.

At no point should the candidate be in communication with the external examiner prior to the defence. Students are not to circulate their thesis to their external examiner unless express permission is given by the Dissertation Coordinator to do so.  If a student has to communicate with the external they must copy science.dissertations@uwaterloo.ca on the correspondence. If the chair of the examination believes that the student and external examiner are not at arm’s-length they may call off the examination.  

The thesis examination committee for MSc normally consists of the advisory committee members plus an impartial chair, following the Minimum requirements for the Master's degree.  

The regulations for PhD thesis examination committees are more complex and are managed by the GSPA; refer to the PhD Thesis Examination Regulations for details.

An Impartial Chair will be appointed by the Science Graduate Office (MSc) or Graduate Studies Office (PhD). The Impartial Chair is responsible for keeping time during the oral defence presentation, coordinating questions, recording examiner’s grades and comments on the thesis defence report, and communicating the overall grade to the student.

The Impartial Chair is arranged after the thesis examination committee appointment form is received and approved by the Associate Dean of Science for Graduate Studies. The department graduate coordinator will prepare and process this appointment form once the Pharmacy thesis defence request webform has been received (assuming all other prerequisites have been met, such as the approval of the external examiner).

Remote participation for any thesis defence is permitted, following the PhD thesis examination regulations regarding participation through electronic media (remote participation).

Please confirm participation with each examining committee member (supervisor must confirm with the External Examiner) prior to submitting your thesis defence request webform.

The thesis defence is a public event that consists of an 25-30 minute oral presentation followed by a question period. The question period involves a first round of questions from the examination committee, which lasts 10-15 minutes per committee member, followed by a second round of questions in the same format but usually lasting only 5-10 minutes each.  Questions may be taken from the audience, and student responses to "public" questions may be considered in the assessment of the student.  For more detailed information on the process, see the PhD thesis examination regulations procedural guidelines.

The examination chair will record the examining committee's decision on the thesis examination report. The decision of the thesis examining committee is based both on the thesis and on the candidate's ability to defend it. Decisions for both MSc and PhD examinations will follow the decision procedure posted on the PhD thesis examination regulations page.

Thesis examinations without public disclosure

Students wishing to have a thesis examination without public disclosure (a closed defence) or wishing to restrict the circulation of their thesis for the protection of intellectual property should refer to the Faculty of Science Thesis Defence Submission Information for up to date information and instructions. Please confirm with your supervisor before scheduling your defence if you will need to request an examination without public disclosure (aka "closed defence" or "embargo").   

From the university's perspective, a student continues to be a student until the final thesis is accepted, uploaded and approved in UWSpace, and their degree completion is confirmed by the Department and the Faculty in Quest.

Students who plan to defend their thesis toward the end of a term should: 

• note the thesis restricted dates (Science)
• be aware that further changes to the thesis may be required prior to it being finally approved and accepted in UWSpace; additional time should be factored in for any such edits 
  • the average number of days between defence and degree completion for students in Pharmacy is 28 (spring 2022-winter 2024)
  • the median number of days between defence and degree completion for students in Pharmacy is 22 (spring 2022-winter 2024)
• complete a change of enrolment status form to register as a part-time student for the term following the defence in case extensive revisions are required (only after the thesis has been submitted for examination)
• apply to graduate in Quest as soon as you have submitted your thesis for the defence*

Graduate students must maintain continuous enrolment until the end of the term during which the requirements for the degree are completed.  For more information on residence requirements for graduate programs, see the Graduate Studies Academic Calendar Enrolment and time limits regulations.

*If the final thesis is not approved and accepted before the current convocation deadline, the application to graduate form will have to be resubmitted in Quest for the following convocation date.