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FINISHING UP |
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A. Completion of Dissertation Research
Prior to beginning the writing of the thesis, the thesis committee must meet and certify that the experimental
results necessary for writing the dissertation have been completed. It is very helpful for the student to present
an outline of their thesis to their committee members for this meeting. Often, additional experiments are still
being performed, and it is important for the committee to decide if the outcome of those results is necessary
for completion of the thesis or whether the thesis can be submitted successfully without the results of those
remaining experiments. If difficulties arise or if it is unclear whether the final experiments were successful,
another meeting of the thesis committee should be held and a decision reached whether or not further
experimentation is required. As always, a report of the meeting must be sent to the DGS, committee members,
and the student.
B. PhD Dissertation
See Appendix 6, The
Nature and Role of the Doctoral Dissertation. Principles and Suggested
Guidelines from the Executive Committee of the Graduate School.
1. Writing the Dissertation
The Graduate School provides a booklet of instructions for the preparation and presentation of the doctoral
dissertation. A Dissertation Submission Packet is available from the Genetics Registrar as well as at the
Graduate School Information Office. Thesis-quality paper is available through Yale RIS; this is far cheaper
than other sources, they will deliver, and they can charge a grant.
Most students devote one to several months’ full-time effort to writing their thesis. Submission deadlines
always come up faster than is imagined; be sure to allow ample time to receive and incorporate the comments
of the thesis committee members. The Department and the Graduate School expect the thesis advisor and the
thesis committee members to be actively involved in assuring the quality of the thesis by reading unbound
copies and offering constructive criticisms. Some advisors are willing to read the thesis on a chapter-by-chapter
basis as it is being written, while others prefer to see a complete version. Most committee members prefer
to see the complete version after the comments of the advisor are incorporated. Each student should discuss
the schedule of writing and review with the advisor and committee members early in the process. A completed
draft of the thesis should be given to all committee members at least 3 weeks prior to the submission date.
Each committee member will provide written and/or verbal comments that the student should address in the final
copy of the thesis that is turned in to the Graduate School. The student must obtain approval from the advisor
or DGS of the final version before it is finally submitted.
Graduate School degrees are awarded in December and May. Students must file a Petition for Degree with the
Registrar (see Appendix 5, Schedule of Academic Dates and Deadlines and the Yale University
Graduate School Programs and Policies booklet). Forms
and instructions are available from the Genetics Registrar, the Graduate School or on-line. Final deadlines
for petition and submission of dissertations to the Graduate School are around October 1 (for December degrees)
and March 15 (for May degrees).
The Graduate School requires one original unbound copy as well as one softbound copy for each reader (usually
2 inside and 1 outside). The student should be prepared to make any changes required by any of the readers in
the final copies. Prior review by the thesis advisor and thesis committee makes revisions in the final,
submitted version a rare exception. If necessary, however, revisions must be submitted to the Graduate School.
One bound final copy is required for the Department and students normally prepare additional copies for their
thesis advisor and for themselves. The student is reimbursed for the Department hardbound copy by submitting
a receipt with the bound dissertation to the Genetics Registrar.
2. Evaluation of the Dissertation
The dissertation will be evaluated by two "inside" readers (usually members of the thesis advisory committee,
but not the thesis advisor) and one "outside" reader (who cannot be a member of the thesis committee, a member
of the faculty of the Department of Genetics, or a collaborator on the thesis project or on a closely related
project of the advisor). Outside readers are usually from another institution. The outside reader provides an
impartial critique that helps the Graduate School to judge the quality of the thesis and to evaluate its own
processes of review. Readers should be chosen by the advisor in consultation with the student.
Six weeks before the submission date, the student must provide the names and contact information for at least two
potential outside readers to the DGS for approval.
Please provide the DGS with this information on the
attached form After the DGS approves
the selection of the readers, the student invites
the inside readers to evaluate the thesis. The DGS invites the outside reader to evaluate the thesis; neither the student nor
his/her advisor should communicate directly with the outside reader about the thesis at any time.
A Notification of Readers form must be signed by the DGS and accompany the dissertation at the time of
submission. After the student submits the thesis to the Graduate School, the Registrar will send these copies of
the thesis to the readers, who are asked to judge the acceptability of the dissertation and to provide comments.
Students, in consultation with their advisor, are expected to incorporate any additional changes required by the
readers into the Graduate School's unbound copy. After the Graduate School and the Department receive written
copies of all readers' reports and the requested changes have been made, the DGS, acting as the representative
of the faculty of the Department of Genetics, signs a departmental recommendation form for conferral of the Ph.D.
degree. The Graduate School Deans committee and the Corporation vote to approve that recommendation. The student is
notified by the Dean that the degree has been conferred.
3. Thesis Seminar
Each student is required to give a department seminar on his/her research. The thesis seminar is scheduled through
the Genetics Registrar and can occur after submission of the thesis. However, the seminar must be presented before
the DGS signs the departmental recommendation form for conferral of the Ph.D. degree. See the Graduate School Calendar for the
date that the departmental recommendations are due.
4. Thesis Research Publications
When material is published from dissertation research, the Graduate School requires that it include a statement saying
that the paper is taken from (or based on): "a dissertation submitted to fulfill in part the requirements for the degree
of Doctor of Philosophy, Yale University".
Where a student has been supported by a training grant, regulations require that the following statement be included in
publications: "This investigation was supported by National Research Service Award (number of the training grant) from
the NIH (awarding unit)”.
The Genetics Registrar can supply the relevant grant information. If a student has received other grants (for example,
NSF), these should be acknowledged, as should any financial aid received from faculty research grants.
5. Starting Postdoctoral Positions
Students frequently start postdoctoral positions before the degree has been formally awarded. In such cases, most
institutions require a letter from an appropriate University official, such as the Registrar, DGS, or Department Chairman,
which certifies that the student has satisfactorily completed all the requirements for the degree. Such a letter cannot
be written until the Department has received the readers' evaluation of the thesis.
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