The PhD thesis, or dissertation, is the signal achievement of the PhD degree. It is a large, careful, and substantive piece of original work. Most computer science dissertations are 150–200 pages long, with hundreds of bibliographic references, and systematically investigate a set of ideas.

Your dissertation is presumably not the last piece of research you will ever publish—or even the most important. However, it may be one of the largest. Writing this document is a satisfying way to wrap up your graduate experience, but is in itself a considerable creative act requiring plenty of time. You’ll want to synthesize and explain several years of work (a process that may lead to new insights) and fill in the gaps. By the third year of your PhD, you should have begun to assemble your thesis committee. By the fourth year, you should be having annual meetings with your thesis committee and engaging in dissertation research.

Your advisor will help you decide when your thesis is essentially finished and ready to defend. You must give the thesis to your committee members at least 2 weeks before your scheduled defense date (preferably earlier) so that they have time to read it carefully. Your defense date must also be publicly announced to the department.

The thesis defense is a public event, usually consisting of a one-hour talk followed by questions from the committee and other audience members. Following the defense, the committee will decide what changes are required before they will sign off on the thesis.

Thesis committees almost always ask for changes, ranging from expository improvements to substantial further research. You can reduce this workload somewhat by consulting your committee frequently before your defense. But even so, you should plan for a month or more of hard work after your defense.

Unlike the GBO, you are responsible for scheduling your defense. Once you and your committee finalize scheduling details, please provide the following to the Academic Program Manager:

  • Date and time;
  • Thesis title and abstract;
  • A link to your research or thesis website;
  • Your professional plans after Hopkins;
  • A brief biography;
  • A high-resolution photo as an attachment; and
  • Your Zoom link, ID, and password (if applicable). Should your defense be remote, please be sure to use a WSE Zoom account so that your time and participants aren’t limited. More details on WSE Zoom accounts can be found here.

Your dissertation will be submitted to the Johns Hopkins Sheridan Libraries for electronic publication and must follow certain formatting guidelines. Do not submit your dissertation until your advisor has provided a Reader’s Letter to the Academic Program Manager, documenting final approval. The department will cover your submission fee. You should contact the Academic Program Manager to make these arrangements.

Time management can be tricky in the final year of the PhD program. You may be applying and interviewing for jobs as you try to finish your research and write your thesis. And everything will take longer than you expect—so make sure to leave lots of slack in your schedule. International students should be in touch with Office of International Services at least one month prior to their defense in order to start the Optional Practical Training approval process. All students should report their intended last day on payroll to the Academic Program Manager with at least 3 weeks notice.