PhD Dissertation and Completion Process

The submission of a dissertation stands as an imperative requirement for the conferral of the PhD degree. A dissertation is a formal document or scholarly product wherein a candidate meticulously presents their original research contribution.

While the content of the dissertation adheres to the scholarly standards of the specific discipline and is guided by the dissertation committee, the candidate assumes a primary role in conducting the research and authoring the dissertation.

PhD conferral calendar

First, consult the PhD conferral calendar. Degress are conferred five times per year (March, May, August, October, and December). The exact deadlines for each conferral period will change every year. The calendar can be found by searching the university website for "PhD completion process."

Dissertation committee

In the Fall semester of you fourth year, you will assemble a dissertation committee, which consists of at least three members, two of which are full-time tenure track or tenured faculty with a primary appointment in the Department of Linguistics and one of which are external to the linguistics program. Closer to the defense, a chair of the committee, who must be external to the linguistics program, will be added.

The committee is formed by the student and their program advisor, and its approved by the department in a majority vote by September 30.

Committee requirements

  • At minimum, two tenured or tenure track faculty members in the Department of Linguistics at the University of Rochester.
  • At minimum, one faculty member external to the linguistics program (either at the University of Rochester or at another accredited university).
  • One faculty member of the University of Rochester, external to the program, with no significant scholarly relationship to either the candidate or other members of the committee, who will serve as chair of the dissertation oral defense.
  • With the exception of the chair, the ratio of external to internal committee members with a vote should not exceed 50 percent, ensuring that equivalence or majority are internal to the program or department.
  • At maximum, five members are permitted to vote. Additional members may participate without a vote.

Considerations can be found in the GEPA Rules & Regulations Guide.

Preparing for your defense

You should contact the department manager at least six months before you anticipate defending for details regarding the defense and dissertation submission process.

Once you initiate this process, the department manager will review your student record and verify your eligibility to defend based on the credits you've completed, your grades, continuous enrollment, and teaching requirement.

Once you're cleared to proceed, the department manager will establish a comprehensive record within the University’s online PhD processing system on your behalf. This record includes details such as the planned defense date and time, committee members, and other pertinent information. You must provide this information to the department manager by completing a defense registration form.

After your record is created, you will receive an email to access the system and update your record as needed. You will continue to receive emails every step of the way leading up to and after your defense.

The timeline

Form committee

The committee is formed by the student and their program advisor in the Fall semester of the fourth year, due by September 15, and its approved by the department in a majority vote by September 30.

Dissertation proposal

Students must prepare a dissertation proposal (min. 15 pages single spaced) including an appropriate bibliography. The proposal will be presented by the student in a private meeting with the committee at the end of the fall semester of the student’s fourth year. If the committee determines that the proposal needs more work, another deadline will be set up for later that academic year.

At least 8 weeks before your defense

Confirm the date and time of your defense so the department manager can reserve a room. Refer to the Dissertation Manual for formatting information. The University has strict formatting requirements and this manual provides everything you need to know. Before sending your dissertation to your committee, you may send it to the department manager to review for formatting requirements. If the dissertation isn't formatted correctly, you may not be approved to defend it.

At least 5 weeks before your defense

You must send a PDF copy of your dissertation to your committee members and the department manager. The same exact copy must be uploaded to your online record. Committee members need at least two weeks to review your dissertation before they can approve it for defense.

At least 15 business days before your defense

Once your record is complete the department manager will lock your online record. After it's locked, no changes can be made. Your record will go through a round of approvals (each committee member, School of Arts & Sciences (SAS) staff, SAS Graduate Dean, GEPA staff, and finally the University Dean of Graduate Education).

You will receive periodic updates from the PhD completion website as these approvals move forward. Once you've received all your approvals, your dissertation is officially registered, and you must wait a minimum of five days to defend it.

The department manager will create a flyer and invite all graduate students and faculty in the Department of Linguistics to your defense. You must provide the contact information for anyone else you want to receive the official invitation.

After your defense

The day after your defense, you will receive an email that outlines the next steps and final requirements for your degree.

For a more comprehensive overview of the PhD program, go to the detailed PhD timeline.

GEPA's Rules and Regulations guide will outline the specifics of the PhD completion process, including preparing for your defense, scheduling your defense, defending, and what happens afterwards. Formatting imformation can be found in the Dissertation Manual. 

Frequently asked questions

Do the topics of QP1, QP2, and the dissertation have to be different?

The topic of QP2 must be different from QP1 and it must be in a distinct subfield. For instance, it cannot be the case that both QPs are in formal semantics. The faculty will make a determination on a case-by-case basis whether a proposed QP2 is sufficiently distinct in terms of topic and subfield from QP1. We encourage students to discuss possible topics for QP2 with their advisor well in advance of the proposal, so the advisor can discuss any unclear cases with the rest of the faculty. The dissertation, however, can build upon a topic in one of your QPs.

Can a Visiting Assistant Professor serve on my dissertation committee?

Typically all members of the dissertation committee must be tenured or tenure track faculty; however, it is possible to petition GEPA to allow a VAP to serve as a member on your committee. VAPs in our department would be considered internal members and VAPs in other departments, even at the University of Rochester, would be considered external.

Do I have to pay for the dissertation fee that comes with LING 999?

If a student is registered for LING 999 in their fifth year, the dissertation fee is covered by GEPA as a part of the student's funding package, just as if the student were taking a normal course in their first four years.

After a student's fifth year, the dissertation fee associated with LING 999 will not be covered by GEPA and it will be the student's responsibility to cover this fee. Students can petition the department to cover this fee on their behalf, but only for one semester, after which, it will strictly be up to the student to pay.

If a student can't finish their PhD by the end of their 5th year, can they apply to be funded for a 6th year?

GEPA firmly only allows PhD stipend funding and tuition coverage for five years. After that period, the financial package expires and PhD students must cover their own expenses.

It's not common practice for the department to cover dissertation fees after the initial five years, and it's expected that students will seek external funding for any year past the fifth one.

If I receive external funding during my first five years, can I receive university funding after the initial five years?

PhD funding packages last five full academic years. GEPA doesn't allow any exceptions for funding to be extended past the five years.

If you receive external funding within the first five years, that doesn't mean because the university isn't paying you that you can make up for those years afterwards. (i.e. if you receive a year of external funding during the first five years, you can't receive a year of university funding after the five years to make up for missing out on that one year of university funding.)

If you want funding for an additional year, you'd either have to get an extension on the external funding you received in your first five years when the time comes or try to find other external funding.