Information for completing your degree can be found at Completing your Degree (See also completing degree requirements in the Graduate School Handbook.)
Please also review on the Graduate School's web site Final Semester Procedures
Please contact the Physics Graduate Studies office (Prof. Jon Pelz, Kris Dunlap, Crystal Moloney) with any questions.
Timeline for finishing PhD
When
Who and What to do
Before final semester
Student: Check your earned credit hours and verify that you will have 80 credit hours when you complete your final semester. Discuss with Advisor when to schedule PhD exam. You must be enrolled for the term you will finish your degree.
Faculty Advisor: Discuss with student expectations for written thesis (eg., scope) and any possible ODS accommodations.
Before start of term and no later than 2nd Friday after a term starts see graduation calendar:
Student: Submit "Application to Graduate" on gradforms.osu.edu
Faculty Advisor: Approve "Application to Graduate" form to approve student's intent to schedule oral exam and submit thesis before end of the term.
Graduate Studies Office: Review degree requirements and approve "Application to Graduate" form.
First Week of Term
Student: Set and confirm PhD Oral Exam date with advisor and your other 3 committee members.
Check Graduate School's Graduation Calendar for mid semester deadlines for scheduling defense to participate in graduation for the current term.
Student: Please check the Graduate School's graduation calendar to know the defense due date for the current term if you are planning to participate in the current semester's graduation. For Autumn it is in the 14th week around November 22nd, just before Thanksgiving. Spring it is in the 14th week around mid-April. For Summer it is in the 11th week around mid-July.
When you schedule your defense AFTER the mid semester deadlines, you will automatically roll over to the End of Semester option for graduation processing during the NEXT term and your degree is conferred at next semester's graduation.
At least 3 weeks before date of PhD Oral Exam
Student: Schedule room in Physics Research Building and submit “Application for Final Exam” form on gradforms.osu.edu to officially register with the Graduate School to schedule the date of your PhD Oral Exam.
Send advisor and committee members your thesis draft.
Faculty Advisor and Committee members: Approve “Application for Final Exam” form via gradforms.osu.edu no later than 14 days before exam date. Read thesis draft before date of examination.
No later than 14 days before PhD Oral Exam date
Student: Monitor your approvals for your “Application for Final Exam” form on gradforms.osu.edu on the history tab. Status Pending means department approvals needed. Pending-GS means all department approvals received and pending Graduate School approval. Pending GS will be the status on your form until a few days before your oral defense date. Contact Kris Dunlap or Crystal Moloney for assistance in reserving a large conference room in Physics Research Building. The exam location will be needed to complete the "Application for Final Exam" form.
Faculty Advisor and Committee members: Approve “Application for Final Exam” form via gradforms.osu.edu no later than 14 days before exam date.
No later than 14 days before PhD Oral Exam date
Student: undergo dissertation format check by/at the Graduate School. See https://gradsch.osu.edu/format-review-and-submission for more information. Starting November 2020, students will need to send an e-mail, including their full name and University ID number, to grad-schoolgraduationservices@osu.edu to request the format check. The Graduate School will respond by sending the student a link via which they may upload their document for review.
Approximately 7 days before PhD Oral Exam date
Student: Per email from Graduate School Graduation Services office, deliver copy of dissertation to Graduate Faculty Representative.
Student: Check logistics of exam including room, projector, *zoom or other video application for any members participating remotely. * (See PDF for using Zoom for oral defense.)
Day of PhD Oral Exam
Student: Deliver your defense. (Total exam period including deliberation by committee is at most 2 hours.)
Faculty Advisor and Committee members: Within 24 hours, record approval on gradforms.osu.edu "Report on Final Examination" form
Day After PhD Oral Exam
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Student: Verify all committee members recorded their approval on your "Report on Final Examination" form on gradforms.osu.edu under the History tab. Monitor for associated deadlines for current semester graduation or End of Semester (EOS) option. |
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Student: Make revisions to written thesis as specified by committee and submit to advisor. |
Before deadline to submit final dissertation (link to calendar TBD)
Student: Create new registrion for Ohio Link here. You must use your name.#@buckeyemail.osu.edu as your email address as no other email will work. After receiving a password via email, you can reset your password and log in to your account.
Advisor: Review final written thesis and enter approval on "Report on Written Report" form on gradforms.osu.edu.
Deadline 8 AM for last business day of current semester graduation OR the End of Semester (EOS) option. (see calendar above)
Student: To upload your thesis on OhioLink according to the associated deadlines for current semester graduation or End of Semester (EOS) options, from their right menu select Electronic Thesis Dissertation Center (ETD) and you lang on their search page for dissertaions. At the top right of the page, click "Submit your Thesis or Dissertation" text and then "Go to ETD Submission Site" link on that page and that finally takes you to the login page. Please note that multiple parts, such as the abstract, must be uploaded individually and checked for formatting. Also, you must enter your committee names, key words for search results, and select information about copyright and publication which will take 15-45 min if you check all your information.
After you complete you complete your Oral Exam and submit your final thesis, the Physics Graduate Studies Program Coordinator will submit your termination in Workday.
Student: After you complete your defense and your final written thesis submission the Physics Graduate Studies Program Coordinator will submit your termination in Workday. You will receive a full paycheck for December on 12/31, 1/2 a paycheck for May posted on May 31 if finish in the Spring, and 1/2 a paycheck for August if finish in Summer term. No steps need to be taken by you other than ensuring your final payment is received.
If transferring to Post Doc or Research Staff position at OSU, your transfer process must start 6 Weeks before the start of the next term.
International students on F1 visas should contact & check website for Office of International Affairs (OIA) about filing for your OPT. OPT processing can take up to 3 months.
Guidelines for written thesis:
Formatting guidelines: See https://gradsch.osu.edu/format-review-and-submission for more information. Starting November 2020, students will need to send an e-mail, including their full name and University ID number, to grad-schoolgraduationservices@osu.edu to request the format check. The Graduate School will respond by sending the student a link via which they may upload their document for review.
Thesis content/structure: Student should discuss scope of thesis in advance with advisor and possibly the advisory committee. Thesis is on your original work but the scope may reflect norms in the subfield of physics and/or special details for individual research groups.
3 weeks before Exam: Send the draft of your written thesis to your advisor and committee. This draft should include the entire chapters of your thesis but could be missing some final edits, formatting or final figures.
After Oral Exam: Make revisions to written thesis as specified by committee and submit to advisor for final approval.
Upload final thesis to OhioLink: See last the 2nd to last row in table above
Guidelines for oral exam (including the public portion vs. committee & student only):
Logistics of exam: Contact Kris Dunlap or Crystal Moloney for assistance in reserving a large conference room in the Physics Research Building. The exam location will be needed to complete the "Application for Final Exam" form. Room should include an accessible chalk or white board & you should plan to bring your own chalk or white board markers and eraser. Room should include accessible electrical outlets for laptop and projector. If your research group does not have a projector, you can reserve one from the Physics Front Desk. See below for Zoom or other video conference technology for exam. Plan for exam to last 2 hours and request to book your room for a 1/2 hour before your exam start time to allow for set up.
- If the written or oral exam must be postponed for any reason OR if there is a change of committee member due to an emergency, the student MUST NOT start the exam until he/she/they has filed a "Committee and Examination Petition" form on gradforms.osu.edu. BEFORE starting the oral exam. this form needs immediate online approval by the Advisor and a member of the Physics Graduate Studies office before the form will reach the Graduate School for their final approval. The Graduate School’s Office of Graduation Services will update the “Report on Final Examination” and the "Report on Final Document" forms in order to change out the faculty member's name to allow the exam to be valid. Please also contact the Physics Graduate Studies office to alert them of the issue so that they can facilitate the petition to notify the Graduate School that one is pending their immediate review. Usually the exam can proceed within 5 to 10 minutes of the notification to the Graduate School so the delay is usually minimal.
Public part of the exam: The public portion shall be at most 45 minutes, during which the candidate makes an oral presentation, typically using slides shared from his/her computer. Per Physics custom, questions by the committee during the presentation are allowed, and questions by guests are allowed at the discretion of the committee. At the end of the presentation or by the 45-minute mark, whichever is earlier, all guests will be dismissed and the closed portion of the exam will continue.
Closed part of the exam: Committee members are each guaranteed roughly 15 minutes for questions during the private portion, but they can defer some of their time to other committee members. Per Physics custom, any committee member can follow up on questions initiated by another member.
Zoom based exam: See current Graduate School guidelines for details of how video conferencing is allowed. The following amendments of the above guidelines apply for Zoom exams.
- Committee members should identify and iterate logistical questions or special issues by email and/or zoom in advance of the exam.
- Exam should be completed in two hours unless there are technical problems (e.g., zoom or internet goes out for one or more committee members for a few minutes), in which case it can be extended within reason (up to 30-45 minutes).
- The exam shall be conducted by CarmenZoom. The committee chair (usually the main advisor) is responsible for setting up and hosting the zoom meeting. The time allocated should begin at least 15 minutes before the start of the exam and allow 3 hours in total duration in case of delays. (The start may be 30 minutes before the exam because scheduledmeeting start times for CarmenZoom are spaced at 30-minute intervals unless adjusted by hand.)
- The candidate should connect to the zoom meeting and try out screen sharing at least 15 minutes before the start of the exam. The committee should join 5-10 minutes in advance to allow for introductions and to try out zoom logistics.
- For the public portion a zoom link will be sent in advance to invited guests (the link should not be generally broadcast). At the end of the presentation or by the 45-minute mark, whichever is earlier, all guests will be dismissed (the host must ensure they have exited) and the closed portion of the exam will continue.
- A whiteboard can be shared on zoom (it is an option when you share your screen and works with a mouse or your finder on a touchpad) if needed to answer questions. Another solution that allows the candidate to write answers is to connect to the zoom meeting independently with a cellphone using the Zoom app and propping the phone so the camera shows a piece of paper for writing equations or drawing pictures. Whatever solution is used, it should be tested in advance of the defense.
- During the committee deliberation the candidate must exit from the exam or be sent to a Zoom breakout room but should remain in contact by email or messaging so he/she can rejoin the exam at short notice.