University Oral Examination

As part of the requirements for the Ph.D. degree, each doctoral candidate must take a Special University Oral Examination. This examination is intended to verify that the research represents the candidate's own contribution to knowledge and to test the candidate's understanding of the research. The oral examination is a dissertation defense in which the candidate is expected to:

1. Demonstrate his or her ability to explain and defend the thesis and its contribution to knowledge before experts in the field.
2. Present an understandable picture of the research and its setting to scholars whose special areas of interest lie outside the candidate's area of research.
3. Answer satisfactorily any questions deemed pertinent by the examining committee.

The examination begins with a public presentation of research results by the Ph.D. candidate, during which clarifying questions may be asked by any members of the audience. This part of the examination is open to the public. After a brief recess, the examination continues in private session with only the candidate and members of the examining committee in attendance. The examination, including the public portion, should not exceed three hours in length. Print the EE Department Oral Exam Pack from here.

The Special University Oral Examination committee consists of at least four examiners, generally all members of the Academic Council. The chair of the examination is a faculty member who is not in the laboratory of the candidate's research supervisor. Usually the chair is a member of the Electrical Engineering Department, but faculty from other departments are permitted to serve as chair. The other members will usually be the members of the dissertation reading committee, including the primary and associate dissertation advisers. In special circumstances it is possible to include examiners who are not Academic Council members.

It is the candidate's responsibility to arrange the examination date and time with the members of the reading committee and to reserve a room. The oral examination should be scheduled at least three weeks in advance to allow a notice to be placed in the Stanford Report. When you pick your Orals Chair, the faculty must be outside your lab and a member of Academic Council. The candidate must be registered for the quarter in which the oral examination is given, and the Doctoral Dissertation Reading Committee form must be on file with the Department.

The candidate will provide the oral examination chair with a folder that includes the examination schedule, ballots, Department and University guidelines for the exam, and an abstract. This folder and information about arranging the oral examination contact Diane Shankle in Packard 177.

Candidates for the Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering must pass the oral examination within one year of the date of completion of the other requirements for the degree. If the oral examination was passed more than one year prior to the date of completion, the examination is void and the candidate may be asked to repeat the examination. The 12-month period of validity for the orals examination may be extended by petition to the Department Coordinator of Doctoral Examinations, Prof. John Gill in Packard Room 266.

Further information on the University Oral Examinations, including procedures for scheduling, is available in an information packet from http://ee.stanford.edu/student_info.php under the forms section.

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