Following is a list of milestones and forms that PhD students are expected to complete, as well as their corresponding deadline. All forms and papers must be turned into the Immunology Program Office.
Immunology Startup and First Year Advising
Since students enter with differing backgrounds, each student is assisted by the first-year adviser in selecting courses and lab rotations in the first year and in choosing a lab for the dissertation research. In addition, the Immunology Startup, a three-day introduction to immunology in early September, exposes incoming Immunology PhD students to a variety of techniques and concepts, resources and facilities, and in-depth discussions with faculty.
All students must be enrolled in exactly 10 units during Autumn, Winter, Spring, and Summer quarters until reaching Terminal Graduate Residence (TGR) status in the spring or summer quarter of their fourth year. Students are required to pass all courses in which they are enrolled. Students must earn a grade of 'B-' or better in all courses applicable to the degree and all courses required for the degree must be taken for a letter grade. Satisfactory completion of each year’s general and track specific requirements listed below is required. During the first year, degree progress is monitored closely by the first-year adviser, Dr. Olivia Martinez, in quarterly meetings and by the Stanford Graduate Program Committee in a final advising session in June.
First-year students are required to complete three lab rotations in at least two immunology labs. Faculty who are Academic Council members are eligible to serve as primary advisors to graduate students. In the Spring Quarter, two mini-rotations of six weeks each may be arranged. After joining a lab, students are required to meet with their thesis adviser within 30 days to complete the Individual Development Plan (IDP). Students continue to complete the IDP annually.
A specific program of study for each student is developed individually with the first-year adviser, Dr. Olivia Martinez.
Note: The Advisor-Advisee relationship is an important component of the graduate school experience.
When you have chosen a lab, you and your PI have access to resources to align your expectations and discuss future plans. Students are encouraged to meet weekly with their advisor regarding their thesis project and at least annually regarding career development. The Office of the Vice Provost for Graduate Education shares best practices for Advising & Mentoring relationships: https://vpge.stanford.edu/academic-guidance/advising-mentoring
Committee Meetings
Graduate students are required by the University, Biosciences, and Immunology Program to hold annual committee meetings. Usually, this committee consists of 3-4 faculty members selected by you in discussion with your PhD advisor. At least two of the committee members (including your advisor), must be members of the Immunology program faculty. Use these meetings to take a step back from day-to-day research, discuss your ideas, and receive feedback.
Best practices for arranging committee meetings are:
- Request a meeting at least 1-2 months in advance
- Send a Doodle calendar request or similar to your committee members
- The University Registrar requires graduate students to meet with their thesis committees as a group and not one-on-one. This best practice avoids miscommunication.
- Annual meetings should be held regardless of obstacles in research progress.
The Annual Committee Meeting Form should be filled out and signed by all of the committee members in attendance at each meeting (https://med.stanford.edu/immunol/phd-program/resources.html). Students should send the completed and signed form to Lina Hansen lhansen@stanford.edu. Dates of committee meetings for all immunology graduate students are reported to the Registrar.
Individual Development Plan
For the seventh year in a row, 99% of students completed their Individual Development Plan (IDP); thank you for making this past year’s program a success. The NIH requires a statement on the use of IDPs in annual progress reports, and the Committee on Graduate Admissions and Policy (CGAP) requires all Biosciences PhD candidates to complete and discuss an Individual Development Plan at least once annually. Students and advisors share responsibility for completing this requirement by August 1 each year; failure to do so results in a “hold” on student registration and may jeopardize Stanford’s competitiveness for NIH funding.
As a reminder, the IDP process and timeline to complete your IDP forms and conversations are as follows:
- SCHEDULE your annual IDP meeting with your thesis advisor before June 1.
- MEET with your advisor by August 1 to discuss the IDP, review progress and set goals. While the entire form should be completed by you and reviewed by your advisor, you and s/he might choose to focus your conversation on the sections that are most pressing or relevant for your needs.
- VERIFY by August 1 that the annual IDP meeting occurred. You will enter the meeting date in the GST system (see instructions here); your thesis advisor will be prompted by email to confirm the meeting.
There are three different IDP forms, tailored for students at different stages. You can find all necessary IDP information and forms on the Biosciences website: https://biosciences.stanford.edu/current/idp/.
Qualifying Exam Part I
During the Summer Quarter of year one, first-year immunology graduate students are required to give a presentation on one of their three rotations to the Immunology Graduate Program committee (Qualifying Examination Process, Part I). After the rotation presentation, the first-year student will meet with the Stanford Graduate Program committee in a one-on-one advising session to review degree progress and choice of a PhD thesis lab.
Qualifying Exam Part II
In Autumn Quarter of the second year, students focus on preparing for Part II of the Qualifying Examination Process, the general oral examination and the Ph.D. thesis dissertation proposal. The Qualifying Exam Part II is usually completed by December 17 of year 2 . The student is required to pass the oral examination and write a thesis dissertation proposal which is presented to and evaluated by a qualifying examination committee composed of three faculty members, two of whom must be from the Immunology program faculty and the third faculty member may be from a department outside the program. The PhD adviser is not present for Part II, but is required to submit an evaluation and grade for the PhD thesis dissertation written proposal. Upon successful completion of Part II, the student files a petition for PhD candidacy and form their reading dissertation committee.
Dissertation Proposal Committee Requirements: The members of the thesis committee are chosen by the student and the PhD advisor. The Qualifying Exam Committee is composed of at least two, and usually three, members of Immunology Program faculty and may include the thesis advisor. The thesis advisor is not present for the qualifying examination. The student should work with the PhD advisor to identify a chair of the committee in advance of the defense. The chair will be responsible for preparing a brief summary of the exam and providing this to the program administrator, the candidate and the PhD advisor after the exam is completed.
Guidelines for the Proposal Paper: For the written thesis proposal, the student will follow the instructions for an NIH research grant in terms of format, except that he/she may have limited preliminary results. The written proposal should be 18 pages double-spaced, instead of the standard 13-page single-spaced NIH (RO1, PHS form 398) proposal. All tables, graphs, figures, diagrams, and charts must be included in the 18-page limit. Failure to follow the NIH format, including exceeding font size (Arial font, 11 pitch), 0.5” margins, or page limits may result in the Committee’s decision to have the student rewrite the thesis proposal before giving a passing grade. It is strongly recommended that the student work closely with the Committee, particularly the Thesis Advisor, in preparing a hypothesis-driven thesis proposal. Students should review successful NIH grants prepared by Faculty members as a template. These are available through the Immunology Program Administrator. The content for the thesis proposal should include the following:
- Specific Aims. List the broad, long-term objectives and what the specific research proposed is intended to accomplish. What is the problem you are trying to solve? Why is it important? Include the hypothesis. The hypothesis answers the questions: what is it that you intend to do? And why is the work important? The single, biggest mistake made in grant applications and thesis proposals is failure to succinctly state a testable hypothesis. PHS 398, Part I. Section 5.5.2: “State concisely the goals of the proposed research and summarize the expected outcome(s), including the impact that the results of the proposed research will exert on the research field(s) involved. List succinctly the specific objectives of the research proposed, e.g., to test a stated hypothesis, create a novel design, solve a specific problem, challenge an existing paradigm or clinical practice, address a critical barrier to progress in the field, or develop new technology.”
- Research Strategy. The Research Strategy is composed of three distinct sections: Significance, Innovation, and Approach. Note that the Approach section also includes preliminary studies. What is the current scientific background of the thesis project? The existing body of knowledge in the relevant areas of the thesis project should be critically evaluated. What gaps are there in this body of knowledge? Where does your thesis project fall? State concisely the importance of the research described by relating the specific aims to the broad long-term objectives. The Research Strategy should be organized in the specified order with appropriate headings: Significance, Innovation, and Approach. The following is excerpted from PHS 398, Section 5.5.3:
a) Significance
- Explain the importance of the problem or critical barrier to progress in the field that the proposed project addresses.
- Explain how the proposed project will improve scientific knowledge, technical capability, and/or clinical practice in one or more broad fields.
- Describe how the concepts, methods, technologies, treatments, services, or preventative interventions that drive this field will be changed if the proposed aims are achieved.
b) Innovation
- Explain how the application challenges and seeks to shift current research or clinical practice paradigms.
- Describe any novel theoretical concepts, approaches or methodologies, instrumentation or intervention(s) to be developed or used, and any advantage over existing methodologies, instrumentation or intervention(s).
- Explain any refinements, improvements, or new applications of theoretical concepts, approaches or methodologies, instrumentation or interventions.
c) Approach
- Describe the overall strategy, methodology, and analyses to be used to accomplish the specific aims of the project. Unless addressed separately in the Resource Sharing Plan, include how the data will be collected, analyzed, and interpreted as well as any resource sharing plans as appropriate.
- Discuss potential problems, alternative strategies, and benchmarks for success anticipated to achieve the aims.
- If the project is in the early stages of development, describe any strategy to establish feasibility, and address the management of any high risk aspects of the proposed work.
- Point out any procedures, situations, or materials that may be hazardous to personnel and precautions to be exercised. A full discussion on the use of Select Agents should appear in 5.5.11 below.
- If research on Human Embryonic Stem Cells (hESCs) is proposed but an approved cell line from the NIH hESC Registry cannot be identified, provide a strong justification for why an appropriate cell line cannot be chosen from the Registry at this time.
If the qualifying exam proposal has multiple Specific Aims, then the applicant may address Significance, Innovation and Approach for each Specific Aim individually, or may address Significance, Innovation and Approach for all of the Specific Aims collectively.
The student should include any preliminary studies that will help establish the appropriateness and feasibility of the thesis project. The student is expected to make use of the faculty advisor’s preliminary results if he/she has not already obtained a significant amount of preliminary results. In light of the early deadline for the General Orals and Qualifying Examination, Dec 17th, a student’s thesis project may change several months after the dissertation proposal is defended. If such a change occurs, the student should inform his/her Dissertation Proposal Committee by submitting a short, three-page written report describing the necessary changes. If no changes are necessary, then the student should proceed in a normal fashion, e.g., scheduling the annual dissertation committee meeting a year later.
a. Human Subjects. Provide sufficient information for any human subject studies.
b. Vertebrate Animals. Provide sufficient information for any animal subject studies.
c. Literature Cited. Literature citations should be listed at the end of the proposal. Each literature citation must include the title, names of all authors, book or journal, volume number, page numbers, and year of publication.
Advancing to Candidacy
After successful completion of the Qualifying Examination, the student may apply for admission to PhD candidacy (https://stanford.app.box.com/v/appcanddoct).
Admission to PhD candidacy means that the student has completed the Qualifying Examination and most of the course requirements of the Immunology Program and is now ready to begin thesis research leading to a dissertation and University oral exam. The Application for Candidacy for Doctoral Degree form must be filled out and submitted to the Program Administrator at the end of the winter quarter of the second year; timely submission of graduate paperwork is required for certifying satisfactory degree progress for many fellowships, in particular the NSF and the SGF.
The schedule will be adjusted to fit the needs of MSTP and MD/PhD students, or students who transfer from another program.
Oral Exam: The Oral Examination is intended to test the student on the proposed research area but may also include an examination on general immunology knowledge. The format of the Oral Examination typically begins with a presentation of the thesis proposal. Students should prepare a presentation of 45-50 minutes on the proposed research focusing on experimental design, data interpretation and potential problems. Preliminary data should be included. Faculty will question the student about the work, its interpretation, the methods, and background questions relevant to the proposal. The thesis mentor is not allowed to be present at the Oral Examination.
After the Oral Examination is completed the designated Chair of the Dissertation Proposal Committee and the thesis advisor will both provide a written evaluation (paragraph) and grade of the dissertation proposal. The Qualifying Exam Part II/Dissertation Thesis Proposal Form should be signed by all of the committee members and is available on http://med.stanford.edu/immunol/phd-program/resources.html. The evaluation will describe the strengths and weakness of the proposal. The letter grade will be entered into the university’s system and appear on the student’s transcript. A student receiving a grade lower than B, may be asked to rewrite the dissertation proposal. If the Dissertation Proposal Committee does not give a passing grade to the student’s rewritten version, then the Graduate Program Committee will meet to consider whether extenuating circumstances warrant permitting the student to be examined a second time. The second opportunity to take the Qualifying Exam should occur before the student’s third year begins. If so, the Graduate Program Committee will permit a second examination, or if he or she is given such an opportunity and fails the second examination, he or she will be dismissed from the Program. The dismissal shall be made in writing.
______ Student joins a Lab
______ Student forms and confirms Quals Committee
______ Program Director and Administrator are notified of Quals Committee members
______ Student sets a date for qualifying exam that is usually before Dec. 17 of Year 2.
______ Student notifies Program Administrator of exam date and time
______ Student reserves a room for the exam.
______ Student notifies Quals Committee and Program Administrators of exam location
______ No later than 3 weeks prior to the exam, student confirms the Quals Chair and notifies the Program Administrators
______ 2 weeks prior to the scheduled exam date, student emails the written proposal to the Quals Committee and Program Administrators. Failing to email this document 2 weeks in advance may result in committee opting to reschedule the exam.
______ On exam day: Student brings the following forms to the exam in order to easily obtain the required signatures: Immunology Program Qualifying Exam Form, Application for Candidacy, Doctoral Dissertation Reading Committee Form, and Petition for Non-Academic Council Doctoral Committee Members Form (if applicable)
______ Within one week of the Qualifying Exam date: Student submits all completed and signed forms to the Program Administrator, who will record the milestones in Axess.
TGR Status
Terminal Graduate Registration (TGR) allows students to register at a significantly reduced tuition rate while they work on the dissertation or thesis, or department project.
Eligibility and Timing
To be eligible for TGR, you must have:
- Completed at least 135 units prior to starting the TGR quarter, and completed all residency requirements for both your active and completed degree programs
- Completed all course requirements, including the courses that you listed on your Application for Doctoral Candidacy (or had any changes approved by the Program Chair)
- Submitted your Doctoral Dissertation Reading Committee (DDRC) form
The timing for each student may be different; as such, it’s important that you track your own progress and keep tabs on how many units you have/will complete, and when you will be eligible for TGR. The Program will do its best to send reminders, but it’s ultimately each student’s responsibility to know where s/he stands with regard to degree progress.
Withdrawing from a course, receiving No Credit for a course, or having a grade not reported by an instructor will all affect your Cumulative Unit Count, and your eligibility for TGR status. As such, it is important that you review your own transcript. The typical student will near TGR status in the 4th year of study. Assuming a student successfully completes 10 units per quarter, s/he will have completed 130 units at the end of Fall quarter of the 4th year. This leaves just 5 more units necessary to reach TGR status.
- A student in this situation may consider requesting Reduced Tuition from the Registrar; this status allows a student to register for 3-7 units for the one quarter prior to being on TGR status.
- This is not an option for students on an F-1 or J-1 visa, and those who may have existing student loans, as a drop to below normal full-time registration status may be problematic.
Please note: While it may seem like a good idea to register for more than 10 units a quarter in order to reach TGR status sooner, doing so will increase tuition costs by about $5,000 per quarter, and most funding sources (Training Grant, NSF, SGF) won’t cover that level of tuition spending.
TGR CHECKLIST (Download checklist here)
How to Apply for TGR Status
Deadline: The petition for TGR status must be submitted to the Registrar’s office prior to the start of the quarter in which you would like to be under that status (e.g., if you want to be TGR in Spring, the form must be submitted before the end of Winter quarter).
______ Complete at least 135 units prior to the term in which you will be on TGR status. Look at your transcript; your Earned Unit Cumulative Total at the very end of the transcript must be at least 135 and the transcript should not have any GNRs
______ Complete all Immunology course requirements (Core Requirements, Journal Club, TAships, advanced courses, and area requirements and statistics as applicable).
______ Complete the TGR Request form on Stanford eForms. Log in to Axess, click on the Student tab, and choose “Student eForms” from the Quick Links menu. Click on “Available Forms” to find student forms.
______ Sign the form, have your advisor sign the form, and notify the program administrators at least two weeks prior to the start of the quarter in which you would like to start TGR status.
______ After a decision is made on your request, you’ll get instructions from the Registrar. We don’t receive notification of this status, so please let us know when you’ve been approved
______ If you do not receive an email, the Registrar did not receive your form and you are not on TGR status. You should follow up immediately.
Registering Under TGR Status
Once TGR status has been approved:
______ Register for Immunol 802 with your mentor for 0 units
______ Do not register for research units again. You will always register for Immunol 802 for 0 units.
______ You can take up to 3 units of coursework without additional charge. If you would like to take more than 3 units of coursework, you will need to ask you mentor to cover the overage in tuition fees.
______ If you do end up taking a class, you will still need to enroll for TGR (Immunol 802) each quarter.
Finishing up: The Final Year
Please become familiar with all of the dates and deadlines regarding your oral defense, submitting your dissertation, and submitting required forms and paperwork. Under no circumstances are extensions granted, and missing deadlines can mean that you don’t graduate as planned.
The Final Countdown
There are three administrative hurdles to finishing your degree:
- Defending your thesis
- Submitting your dissertation
- Applying to graduate
With some advanced planning, it is possible for all three steps to completed in one quarter. Some students make an arrangement with their mentor to take the quarter after their defense to complete work on, and submit, their thesis. This is called a “Graduation Quarter.” During Graduation Quarter your tuition can be reduced to $150 for one quarter only, which leaves your mentor only covering your stipend and health insurance. You must have completed your thesis defense in order to qualify for the Graduation Quarter.
- The form to enroll in this status must be submitted before the first day of classes of the intended Graduation Quarter (but please don’t wait until the last minute to get the required signatures)
- Complete the Graduation Quarter Petition form on Stanford eForms. Log in to Axess, click on the Student tab, and choose “Student eForms” from the Quick Links menu. Click on “Available Forms” to find student forms.
- MSTP students usually submit their dissertation and apply to graduate at the same time they will be awarded the MD degree.
First Author Paper Submission
By the fourth or fifth year, graduate students are expected to submit a first author paper for publication. This milestone must be completed before defending a Ph.D. thesis.
Doctoral Dissertation
Before embarking on the dissertation defense process, the graduate student must submit a Petition to Defend to the Director of the Immunology Graduate Program and meet with the Director. Important milestones and degree requirements must be met before proceeding to the oral examination including submission or publication of a first author manuscript. A substantial draft of the dissertation must be turned in to the student's oral examination committee at least one month before the oral exam is scheduled to take place. Prior to the PhD orals defense, an orals chair is chosen to lead the orals committee, which is a distinct committee, but the basic membership is identical to that of the dissertation reading committee.
University Oral Examination Form Policy
The chair of the examining committee may not have a full or joint appointment in the adviser's or student's department, but may have a courtesy appointment in the department. The chair can be from the same department as any other member(s) of the examination committee and can be from the student's minor department provided that the student's adviser does not have a full or joint appointment in the minor department.
For Interdisciplinary Degree Programs (IDPs), the chair of the examining committee may not have a full or joint appointment in the primary adviser’s major department and must have independence from the student and adviser and the IDP Director is not eligible to serve as the chair.
In the case of large departments such as Medicine, the Departmental Division of the Chair must not be shared by the advisor. The correct number of faculty committee members for the orals committee is five. For students with two PhD thesis co-advisors, the number of faculty committee members is still five. The final written dissertation must be approved by the student's reading committee and submitted to the Registrar's Office. Upon completion of this final requirement, a student is eligible for conferral of the PhD degree.
Timing of the Thesis Defense
All of your committee members (including the chair, see Thesis Defense Instructions for more information) must be present at your oral defense, so this date may hinge largely on when they are available. In addition, if you plan to defend, submit your dissertation, and graduate during the same quarter, you want to allow enough time after the defense to complete, format, and submit your dissertation – and submit all required graduation forms - in accordance with posted deadlines.
Timing of the Dissertation Submission
It’s extremely important to consider the timing surrounding submitting your dissertation. You want to allow enough time after your oral defense to incorporate any resulting changes and finish the written dissertation in time for the submission and approval deadline. If your oral defense is well in advance of the deadline to submit the dissertation, you’ll have plenty of time to make revisions. If your oral defense date is close to that quarter’s dissertation submission deadline, you may not have enough time to finish the dissertation. If you find yourself in a pinch for time, it would make sense to talk with your mentor about arranging for a “graduation quarter” as described above, and withdrawing your application to graduate if you’ve already submitted it.
Timing of the Application to Graduate
You must file a Notice of Intention to Graduate (“Apply to Graduate”) through AXESS for the quarter you complete the degree requirements. If you do not finish in time, you will need to annul the initial Intention to Graduate and submit a new one for the quarter in which you intend to finish. Please refer to the University calendar for deadlines. There are no exceptions for missed deadlines and is a hard and fast University rule. The deadlines are listed in AXESS and on the academic calendar.
Deadlines to submit the Application to Graduate in Axess are posted here: http://studentaffairs.stanford.edu/registrar/academic-calendar
If you miss the standard Application to Graduate deadline, there is also a Late Application deadline, with a fee that you will be responsible for paying: https://registrar.stanford.edu/students/graduation/applying-graduate
Withdrawing an Application to Graduate
If you apply to graduate but are not able to submit your thesis by the deadline, you will need to withdraw your application to graduate for that quarter via Axess. Visit the Registrar’s Office website for more information: https://registrar.stanford.edu/resources-and-help/student-forms/graduation-and-commencement-forms
This form must be submitted to the Registrar’s office no later than 12:00 pm (noon) on the day of the thesis submission deadline. If you withdraw your application to graduate, be sure to ask the Registrar if you are required to submit a new Application to Graduate in the subsequent quarter.
Degree Conferral and Statement of Completion
In order to have your degree conferred, you must have completed all the University and Department requirements and submitted all work before the deadlines. The University imposes requirements such as residency, submission of official scores and transcripts, payment of fees, return of library books, etc., that the Immunology Program has no control over and sometimes no knowledge of. Please pay attention to the messages, letters, and notes you receive and respond to them in a timely manner.
Degrees are officially conferred weeks after the end of a given quarter. In the interim, PhD students often need what is called a Statement of Completion. This is a letter from the University Registrar confirming that a student has submitted a dissertation/thesis and will be recommended for a degree by the Faculty Senate. Students typically use this for postdoctoral appointments or to obtain employment before their degree is actually conferred.
Prior to requesting a Statement of Completion, the submission must first be approved by both the Final Reader and Registrar's Office. Then, students should submit a HelpSU ticket directed to the Records Unit in the Office of the University Registrar. If you prefer to have the letter emailed, please provide an email address in your ticket.
Make Initial Arrangements
______ Submit a Petition to Defend to Dr. Olivia Martinez and arrange to meet with her in person. Once the Petition to Defend is approved, students may proceed with the dissertation defense process.
______ Make sure that you have a first-author manuscript that has been submitted, is in press, or has been published.
______ Schedule the orals at least two months prior to the anticipated date to accommodate the committee members’ schedule. Inform the Program Administrator and Dr. Martinez of the date. You should plan on one hour for a public presentation, including time for questions from the audience, followed by 30-90 minutes of closed session with your committee, leading to a vote.
Oral Examination Chair
Students should confirm the Orals Examination chair no later than three weeks prior to the defense date.
The role of the Oral Exam (Thesis Defense) chair is similar to that of the qualifying exam chair; s/he oversees the proceedings. The chair sets the tone and organization of the oral exam, i.e., order of questioning, timing of questioning, leads the discussion when student has left the room, provides ballots for a secret vote, signs the Oral Examination Form at the end of the meeting, and may write up a brief report for the program director and administrator stating that the student has passed. The chair is allowed to participate in the scientific discussion but is not required to do so.
Things to note when selecting your oral examination chair:
- The responsibility of selecting a chairperson for your oral exam falls on the student, with advice from the mentor.
- The orals chair cannot be someone who is already part of your committee.
- The orals chair must be a member of the Academic Council; faculty with University Medical Line (UML) appointments cannot serve as Oral Exam chairs.
- The Oral Exam chair cannot have a primary appointment in the same department as the thesis advisor/mentor(s). A courtesy appointment in that department is fine.
- In the end, the orals committee will consist of: The mentor (or co-mentors), 3 Readers, and 1 Committee Chair.
(No later than) Three Weeks Prior to Defense Day
______ Send program administrators the following information:
- Defense Information: Date, Time, Location, and Title of the thesis (for publicity purposes).
- Flyer to be distributed and posted on the Immunology website
- Name of the oral examination chair
- Completed University Oral Examination Form (without signatures) https://stanford.app.box.com/v/doc-orals
- One-page abstract of the thesis
______ Send a reminder to all members of your committee and confirm that they will be present; Program Administrators will send the first announcement of your defense to Immunology List.
Two Weeks Prior to Defense Day
______ Submit your complete thesis to the entire orals committee (including the chair). The student’s thesis advisor should read and approve the thesis document before it is sent to the committee.
______ Program Administrators will email all related documents to your oral examination chair that including your abstract, Oral Examination Form, voting ballots (done via Google Forms for virtual defenses), instructions on how to lead the defense/meeting, and what to do with the Oral Examination Form after the defense.
______ Practice presentation;
______ Only one slide (and 2-3 minutes of comments) should be included for acknowledgements
______ Check audiovisual setup for the defense room or for Zoom defense
______ Send email announcement of defense
One Week Prior to Defense Day
______ Program Administrators will send the second announcement of your defense to Immunology List.
On Defense Day
______ Orals committee chair brings the packet (with Orals Form) to the defense
______ Bring your (properly formatted) dissertation Signature Page so you can get the signature of all your committee members while they are in the same room. Refer to the Registrar’s Office for the Dissertation and Thesis Submission guidelines.
Due to COVID, the Registrar’s Office created a new Reading Committee Page eForm. This new procedure should be used by PhD, JSD, DMA, and Engineer students who need to virtually gather signatures from each reading committee member, and will enable them to fully satisfy both the title page and reading committee signature page requirements. Students will need to provide documentation of an email to each individual reader, asking for approval of their signature page, and then upload the email approval from each reader to the eForm platform.
Before the eForm is submitted, students must first confirm the departmentally approved reading committee members are correctly listed in Item 2 "Confirm Reading Committee" as shown on the eDissertation/eThesis Center.
If the committee is not correctly listed, such as a missing committee member or a committee member that should be removed or simply no reading committee members are listed in Axess, students contact their department Student Services Officer to have the information updated before beginning the eForm process. Without successful completion of the eForm, students will not be able to clear Item 3, "Signature Page Submitted,’" as shown on the Axess eDissertation/eThesis Center pages.
______ All members of your committee must be physically or virtually present for the entire public portion, and the private portion, of your defense. If a committee member is not present, you will not be able to graduate and will need to reschedule your defense.
After Thesis Defense
______ Have your orals chair sign the University Oral Examination Form and return the form and chair packet to the Program Administrators by the next business day. They will enter the Oral Examination Milestone as completed in Axess.
______ Due to COVID, the Registrar’s Office created a new Reading Committee Page eForm. This new procedure should be used by PhD, JSD, DMA, and Engineer students who need to virtually gather signatures from each reading committee member, and will enable them to fully satisfy both the title page and reading committee signature page requirements. Students will need to provide documentation of an email to each individual reader, asking for approval of their signature page, and then upload the email approval from each reader to the eForm platform.
______ Finish thesis, obtain reading committee members’ signatures, and submit to the Registrar. Instructions may be found on: http://studentaffairs.stanford.edu/registrar/students/dissertation-thesis
______ Apply to graduate (or for a Graduation Quarter) by the Registrar’s deadline
______ Celebrate!