Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics Graduate Group

Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics Graduate Group

Permission to Schedule Thesis Defense

The thesis committee of

______on ______

(Student's name) (date of thesis committee meeting)

has granted him/her permission to schedule the defense of the thesis

on or before ______

Date of permission

______(signature of Thesis Committee Chair)

______(signature of Thesis Advisor)

At this point the student, in consultation with her/his advisor, should form the full examination committee, consisting of a fourth internal member of the committee and an external examiner. A written draft of the thesis is to be given to the examination committee at least two weeks prior to the defense, and no later than six months from the date of permission to defend. Students are expected to work full-time on the completion of the written draft of the thesis, and upon request demonstrate reasonable progress to their thesis advisor and committee.

If the student will not meet the six-month deadline for submitting the thesis, s/he must meet with the committee again before the end of the six months. The committee will review the student’s progress and set a new deadline for the submission of the thesis. Under normal circumstances, no more than one additional month will be granted. If the student does not submit the thesis or meet with the committee during the six-month period, the graduate group will put the student on academic probation. The graduate group’s academic review committee will determine whether the student should be given permission to defend the thesis, and under what circumstances, or whether the student should be withdrawn from the graduate group or offered a terminal masters degree.

Instructions for Students: Please review policy with Thesis Committee Chair and Thesis Advisor, obtain their signatures, and return this form to Kelli McKenna within one week of receiving permission. Also, please follow the graduation checklist below.

BMB Graduation Checklist

Pre-Defense

Complete the Final Thesis Committee Approval form, including the name of the External Examiner.

(The External Examiner is given a $250 honorarium. There is no additional reimbursement for travel or hotel. The External Examiner must complete a W9 form. This form can be completed the day of the defense and the original copy should be returned to Kelli McKenna for processing).

Register for the degree in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

Consult the University's on-line Doctoral Dissertation Manual for proper formatting of your dissertation.

Confirm defense date and time with Final Thesis Committee and Advisor.

Reserve a room for the defense (contact Kelli McKenna)

Send the thesis defense information to Kelli McKenna 1-2 weeks prior to defense (figure for monitors, date, time and place of defense).

Defense

Bring a copy of Form 152 to the thesis defense. Chair of the Thesis Committee should get signatures of committee members at the defense, if possible.

Get signature of Chair of GG on Form 152 and return the form to Kelli McKenna.

Thesis Deposit

Make an appointment with Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GAS) to deposit thesis according to their schedule (tel: 215-898-7444; Suite 322A, 3401 Walnut Street).

Let Kelli McKenna know the date of your thesis deposit.

Take completed Form 153 with you to your thesis deposit (Kelli McKenna will complete the form once she has received Form 152).

Complete the “Survey of Earned Doctorates” and bring verification document to thesis deposit.

(Upon registering you will instantaneously receive an email with the link to the web survey, along with your individual PIN and password. If you have any difficulty with the site, contact 1-800-248-8649 or write to .).

Complete the “Ph.D. Exit Survey” and bring the final “congratulations” page to thesis deposit. (password: P3nn_PhD!)

Submit your dissertation online.

All Ph.D. dissertations are now submitted electronically directly to Proquest using ETD Administrator and one printed copy of the dissertation is deposited in the Graduate Division Office. The dissertation manual and URL to access ETD Administrator are at http://provost.upenn.edu/education/graduate/dissertation-resources

After submitting the electronic version of your dissertation on ETD Administrator, you should wait for confirmation that no changes are necessary before printing the paper copy to deposit at the appointment. Make sure your title page exactly matches the formatting instructions in the Dissertation Manual before you have it signed.

Satisfy any financial obligations (contact Nam Narain in BGS if you have any questions).

Additional items to be submitted to Kelli McKenna

1 copy of your thesis on ordinary paper (two-sided preferred; title page with signatures).

2 additional copies of Title Page with signatures (original signatures not required).

2 additional copies of Abstract.

Complete post-graduation information here (Form 154).