The final oral examination (FOE) of the Ph.D. thesis may be scheduled upon successful completion of the DOE.
The supervisor will select professors to serve on the FOE committee according to the following regulations:
The committee will consist of five professors who will attend the examination and vote on the Ph.D. thesis and the candidate’s oral defense of the thesis. The five members will include the supervisor(s) and external examiner.
An external appraiser may be appointed, instead of an external examiner. In such cases, the FOE committee will consist of six members, including the supervisor and external appraiser.
The FOE committee may not include more than three professors who have been closely involved with the supervision of the Ph.D. thesis.
The external examiner or external appraiser must hold the rank of at least associate professor, or its equivalent.
The external examiner or external appraiser must have an “arm’s length” relationship with the supervisor and candidate.
SGS will assign a professor from outside ECE to chair the FOE. The chair will oversee the conduct of the FOE, but will not read the thesis or examine the student.
The committee will examine the Ph.D. thesis and the candidate’s oral defense of the Ph.D. thesis.
The supervisor and candidate will schedule the FOE, in consultation with the committee.
The candidate must submit the FOE booking form to the ECE Graduate Office at least six weeks prior to the FOE. The following documents must accompany the booking form:
a letter from the supervisor confirming that the candidate has completed all revisions to the Ph.D. thesis as recommended by the DOE committee
a statement from the supervisor concerning the suitability of the external examiner or external appraiser
the CV of the external examiner or appraiser, including a full list of his publications, or the URL where this information is available
the Ph.D. thesis abstract
Upon receipt of the FOE booking form, the ECE Graduate Office will confirm the examination with SGS and seek SGS approval for the committee. The ECE Graduate Office will notify the supervisor and candidate when SGS approval is obtained. At that time, the supervisor may forward the Ph.D. thesis to the committee.
