Most of the forms required by the Graduate Office and referenced in the following sections are available online.
The basic requirements for this degree are:
A thesis advisor should be chosen by the student based on shared research interests. The doctoral Thesis Committee must consist of at least five members, including the advisor. At least one member of the Thesis Committee must be from outside the Department. The advisor will help the student by recommending committee members. The final composition of the Thesis Committee is subject to the approval of the department head and Graduate Dean. Students should fill out the Thesis Committee Request Form
While all committee members share responsibility for conducting oral examinations, providing technical assistance and advice, etc., the thesis advisor assumes the major responsibility for monitoring the student's progress, directing the research, and coordinating times of exams. It is possible to have two co-advisors, one of whom may be from another department.
The purpose of the Qualifying Examination is to determine whether a student is qualified to further pursue a Ph.D. degree in the department. For this reason, it is an important milestone on the road to a Ph.D.
Students are expected to pass the Qualifying Examination within four semester after entering the Ph.D. program. The Qualifying exam is normally offered once a semester. Students must inform the MCS Graduate Director of their intention no later than the first class day of the semester. The format of the qualifying exam depends upon your program of study.
After successfully completing the Qualifying Exam and forming a Thesis Committee, the student should file an Admission to Candidacy form with the Graduate School. This form lists all the courses to be counted towards the degree; subsequent changes must be approved by the Thesis Committee and the Graduate Dean.
The thesis proposal consists of a written description of the research topic. The proposal is presented to the thesis committee. This should be done at least one year before the Thesis Defense. Typically, students defend the proposal in an oral presentation to the thesis commitee.
The doctoral thesis must show original research of substantial quality in a suitable technical field and must exhibit satisfactory grammatical style. The subject is selected by mutual agreement between the candidate and the advisor, with the concurrence of the Thesis Committee. It is the responsibility of the thesis advisor/co-advisors to supervise the research and to ensure appropriate accuracy, completeness, organization, style, grammar, etc., of the initial drafts of the thesis. Other members of the committee can be involved as needed.
The student should consult the Graduate School's Thesis Writer's Guide regarding rules for the format required for the final version of the thesis, including how many copies must be submitted, copyright releases, etc. CSM also has a Writing Center, where help with writing is freely available. There are also some good books on mathematical writing, one by Higham published by SIAM and one by Krantz published by the AMS.
A LaTeX thesis template that conforms to the Colorado School of Mines format is available through the Graduate Student Association (GSA).
The final draft of the thesis should be available to every member of the committee at least two weeks prior to the defense. The defense is scheduled via the Thesis Defense Request form; all members of the Thesis Committee must sign this form which is then submitted to the Department office no later than two weeks prior to the date of the defense. A Statement of Work Completion form must be given to the thesis advisor prior to the defense.
The final oral defense, open to the public, consists of a presentation by the candidate of the results of the thesis, followed by (or accompanied by) questions from the committee members. These questions need not be restricted to the thesis material itself.
An oral defense of theses should be announced at least one week in advance. The announcement should include (at least) the following:
The student should announce the oral defense via two methods:
Any revisions requested by the committee must be incorporated into the final copy of the thesis submitted to the Graduate School.
The Graduation Application form should be filed near the beginning of the semester in which the student expects to graduate.
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