Master's Thesis Submission and the Defence Process
Preparing the Thesis
As students get ready to submit their thesis to the College of Graduate Studies (CGS) for defence, they must be aware of the following:
There are very specific formatting requirements for the thesis, which are available online here.
- Students are encouraged to work closely with their Supervisor and Committee to ensure the thesis is properly formatted.
- We recommend that students contact Jennifer Cook at jennifer.cook@ubc.ca in Graduate Studies for a copy of the formatting checklist.
Submitting the Thesis to Graduate Studies for the Defence
Students are required to submit the following documents to Jennifer Cook in ART 360 in order to initiate the thesis defence process. Please note it can take approximately 6 weeks to schedule a defence, due to room and committee members availability.
- Two paper copies (may be double-sided) of their thesis (not bound) - mandatory.
- One digital (PDF) or Word document of the thesis emailed to jennifer.cook@ubc.ca. mandatory
- Masters Examining Committee Selection Form - mandatory.
- Masters Thesis Recommendation for Examination Form Form - mandatory.
- Student/supervisor should provide three (3) different possible defence dates and times for a minimum of two and one half to three hours on which all defence committee members can attend, to Graduate Studies
Defence Arrangements
- The Dean confirms the defence committe participants, and University Examiner, then appoints the Chair.
- Graduate Studies forwards hard copies of the thesis (provided by the student) to the Chair and University Examiner.
- The supervisor/student must ensure all committee members have the same copy of the thesis which is sent to Graduate Studies for the Chair and Examiner.
- Graduate Studies schedules a defence date based on one of the recommended dates, if a room is available.
- Candidate and all defence committee members are notified of the defence date, time and location.
- Graduate Studies notifies the University community of the defence.
- Information on the structure and procedure of the defence can be found here.
The Defence
After the successful defence of the thesis:
- Students have a maximum of thirty days to make the required revisions to the thesis, obtain their supervisors approval and have it approved by Graduate Studies and uploaded to the UBC repository.
- Once any revisions are completed, approved by their supervisor, students must meet with Jennifer Cook jennifer.cook@ubc.ca in Graduate Studies to have their thesis checked to ensure it meets UBC guidelines. This must be prior to the 30 day deadline.
Submit the Final Thesis
Students must submit a final approved electronic copy of the thesis to CGS, Jennifer Cook, once the following have been completed.
- All revisions are completed and approved.
- Formatting has been checked and approved by Graduate Studies.
- All relevant documents are completed and submitted to Graduate Studies.
- A student may submit the thesis and relevant documents at any point within the thirty day time period allowed.
The following forms must have been submitted or accompany all final Master's thesis submissions:
-
Master's Thesis Approval and Program Completion form
Depending on the content of your thesis, you may require one of the following forms:
For a detailed explanation of these forms click here.
Once CGS has accepted the final thesis the student will be given information to enable them to upload their thesis to cIRcle, the theses repository at UBC Vancouver. STUDENTS MUST NOT REVISE THEIR THESIS IN ANY WAY ONCE GRADUATE STUDIES HAS APPROVED IT FOR UPLOADING.
Improperly formatted theses may result in delayed graduation. Remember to check your thesis carefully and ensure it meets UBC formatting guidelines.
Thesis Review and Recommendation to Graduate
Graduate Studies must review and approve the thesis. Once CGS has approved the thesis and verified the program requirements have been met, the Dean will sign a recommendation to graduate and the student's name will be submitted to Senate for approval. For deadline dates for submission and approval of your thesis please contact the College of Graduate Studies.
Timeline Reminder
To facilitate the scheduling and evaluation of the thesis and allow for any required revisions, students should work towards having their thesis submitted to CGS approximately three months before they intend to graduate. Students will continue to pay tuition until the last day of the month in which the final copy of the thesis is submitted and approved by the College of Graduate Studies as long as they have made the minimum number of payments required for their program.
Last reviewed 
1/18/2012 1:18:58 PM
