Notes on the Thesis Prospectus Requirement

February 4, 2002

The typical thesis prospectus is on the order of 25-30 pages, with an additional 4-6 pages of tables and figures, and a reference list with roughly 30 or so references.  The reference list should be complete and up to date.  Each paper cited in the text should appear on the reference list.

The paper should have a logical organization with, say, 5-6 sections organized in a manner similar to the following:

                        1 Introduction

                        2 Description of model/problem

                        3 …

                        4 Findings to date

                        5 Outline of plan to finish

                        6 Conclusions

                           Tables and figures

                           References

The paper must be neatly assembled and clearly written. Latex or Scientific Word are best-suited for this, as they are among the few software packages that handle mathematics well.

The paper should be distributed to the examination committee (which is also the Ph.D. committee) at least one week before the defense. The entire Ph.D. committee must be present at the defense, which will be at a Monday lunch meeting.  The defense is a very serious matter, as it provides the basis for thesis work over the next year or two. Upon conclusion of the oral defense, the faculty will meet separately from the students to determine whether the student passes or fails.