Students who successfully complete the Doctoral Qualifying Exam must submit the Thesis Monitoring Committee Assignment Form (FBE Form 29-A = G4 in our department website) to the Graduate School within one month. According to Article 43 of the Graduate Study Regulations, the Thesis Monitoring Committee (TMC) consists of three faculty members: the thesis advisor, one member from the department, and one member from outside the department. If a co-supervisor has been appointed, the co-supervisor may attend the meetings. Committee members may be replaced in later semesters by recommendation of the Department Chair and approval of the Graduate School.
The TMC approves the student’s thesis proposal and monitors the progress of the thesis work throughout the doctoral studies (see Thesis & Defence page).
Students who have successfully completed the Doctoral Qualifying Exam must defend their thesis proposal before the TMC within six months. The proposal, presented orally and in English, covers the purpose of the thesis, the research method, and the future work plan. The student must submit a written proposal report to the TMC members at least 15 days before the meeting. Students who passed the Qualifying Exam in the previous semester and will defend their thesis proposal in the current semester must add the course with code 5690099 during registration.
The TMC decides by absolute majority to approve, return for revision, or reject the proposal. One month is given for revisions, after which the final decision is either approval or rejection. The result is reported to the Graduate School, and FBE Form 30-B must be submitted within three days after the defense.
Students who fail to attend the thesis proposal defense by the specified date without a valid excuse, and who do not submit a request for postponement to the Graduate School, will be considered unsuccessful, and their thesis proposals will be rejected. Reasons such as business trips, lack of information, or forgetfulness may not be considered valid for postponement requests or subsequent applications.
Students whose thesis proposals are rejected may choose a new thesis topic or advisor, in which case a new TMC may be assigned. They must defend a thesis proposal again within three months if they continue with the same thesis advisor, or within six months if they change their thesis topic and advisor. Students whose thesis proposals are rejected a second time are dismissed from the program.