You will face a committee of five professors who will evaluate your readiness to do PhD research. This PhD Oral Exam (POE) is a university examination required of all doctoral students at JHU. You should aim to complete the POE requirement by the end of your third year as a PhD student. Coursework requirements and one qualifying project must be completed prior to scheduling your exam.

POE Preliminary Research Proposal

In our department’s tradition, the core of the POE is a Preliminary Research Proposal that you write and present. This does not have to be a fully developed thesis proposal (although it could be, if you have progressed quickly). It should at least motivate some interesting research problem in the context of previous work and sketch your possible approaches to solving it. Preliminary results are helpful but not required.

Writing the proposal should be useful for you; it will typically develop into your thesis topic. However, it is not a commitment to a topic. Its purpose is simply to focus the POE. You must distribute it to all POE examiners at least 2 weeks before your POE. A length of 8–10 pages is sufficient.

POE Format

The POE is a closed-door exam two hours in length. You will begin by presenting your Preliminary Research Proposal, and then the examiners are free to ask any questions they wish. The department prefers that examiners focus on your readiness to do original research in the area of your Preliminary Research Proposal. We hope that their questions will focus on the technical substance of the proposal; your ability to discuss the broad area with clarity, flexibility and maturity; and your knowledge of subjects that are likely to come up in your work. However, the examiners are not bound by our requests and may assess you in any way they choose. You are therefore advised to discuss expectations with them before the exam, if they are willing. Further POE policies and guidelines can be found here.

POE Examiners

The sitting POE committee will consist of five examiners. You may select two from inside the department and two from outside the department, plus a fifth member either inside or outside the department. You must also name one additional inside alternate and one additional outside alternate in the unlikely event of a last-minute cancellation. Your advisor always counts as an inside examiner and so do all faculty with primary appointments in Computer Science, including Bloomberg Distinguished Professors. Faculty holding primary appointments outside of Computer Science who have a department affiliation are considered outside examiners. Outside examiners are intended to contribute valuable perspectives and also ensure that the department doesn’t let its standards slip. At least one of the outside examiners must be an associate, full, or emeritus professor at JHU, and there must be another such-ranked outside professor proposed to sit on your POE committee or as an alternate. The most senior outside examiner will serve as committee chair; an alternate for that role is also required. You may contact your faculty examiners prior to your POE to inquire about their expectations. Please keep in mind that an examiner is not required to discuss expectations—if they choose to do so, it is as a courtesy to you.

Most commonly, examiners are tenure-track JHU faculty. However, the Graduate Board can approve scholars from outside JHU or research faculty within JHU. The department must petition the Graduate Board four weeks in advance to authorize such persons. See below for details on this process.

POE Outcomes

Possible exam outcomes are located on the WSE PhD Oral Exam website. The most common ones are “unconditional pass” and “conditional pass.” In a conditional pass, the committee will require you to remedy some weakness in your preparation (e.g., by earning an A- or better in a particular course).

Scheduling the POE

It is the department’s job to schedule your POE.  At least a month before you are to take the exam, you or your advisor should inform the CS Graduate Academic Program Manager. The hardest part of the POE is finding an appropriate committee of five faculty examiners plus two alternates who are all free at the same time as you are. Fortunately, this is not your responsibility. It is handled by the department, namely the Academic Program Manager and the Director of Graduate Studies.

The Academic Program Manager will suggest that you and your advisor supply the names of appropriate potential examiners; in particular, you and your advisor should predict who will be on your thesis committee so that those faculty can be included on your POE committee, if possible. It is helpful if you approach your chosen committee members in advance to remind them who you are and to inquire if they are generally available and willing to serve as a POE committee member. Further POE guidance can be found here.

In consultation with your advisor, you should send the Academic Program Manager:

  • The POE form containing the name, rank, and department affiliation of seven potential POE committee members in addition to your name, Hopkins ID, and advisor’s name. Note that alternates are called in to participate only when someone cancels or doesn’t show up.
    • Depending on how you wish to shape your committee (see the “POE Examiners” section above for more detail), three or four of your potential members will be inside the department. Your advisor will serve as an inside member, regardless of their primary department affiliation.
    • Depending on how you wish to shape your committee, three or four of your potential members will be outside the department. At least two of these potential outside members must be associate, full, or emeritus professors so that someone can serve as chair and you have a back-up chair, if needed. The POE chair is appointed by the Graduate Board and is typically the most senior outside associate professor or above.
  • If any of the above is not a tenure-track JHU faculty member, then you should also send the Academic Program Manager:
    • That person’s full CV;
    • A one-page summary of your research; and
    • An explanation of why that person’s expertise is needed at your POE or on your thesis committee.

The department will combine these into a letter petitioning the WSE Office of Graduate Education and Lifelong Learning for pre-approval. Note that this can take several weeks, so pre-prepare accordingly. Of course, this is unnecessary if the external examiner is already approved; special authorization to serve on a POE committee lasts for five years.

The Academic Program Manager will ask for your and your advisor’s availability so that he or she can begin scheduling the exam. Once an exam date and two-hour timeframe has been identified, committee members will be notified with a calendar invite and the department will reach out to the WSE Office of Graduate Education and Lifelong Learning for its approval.

Once the exam is scheduled, you can send your committee your Preliminary Research Proposal at least two weeks in advance.