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Thesis Writing/Defense

When writing your thesis, here are a few things to think about.

Contents

  1. 1 References
  2. 2 Tips from Students
    1. 2.1 The Dissertation
      1. 2.1.1 Guidelines
      2. 2.1.2 Printing
      3. 2.1.3 Binding
    2. 2.2 The Paperwork
      1. 2.2.1 Before the Defense
    3. 2.3 The Defending
    4. 2.4 Graduation
      1. 2.4.1 The Forms
      2. 2.4.2 The Diploma
    5. 2.5 After Graduation
      1. 2.5.1 Payment
      2. 2.5.2 Health Insurance
      3. 2.5.3 International Students
  3. 3 Information from the PhD Student Handbook
    1. 3.1 The Doctoral Dissertation
    2. 3.2 Planning the Dissertation
    3. 3.3 Writing the Dissertation
    4. 3.4 Approval of the Dissertation
    5. 3.5 The Dissertation Defense
    6. 3.6 Additional Information Concerning the Meeting of Degree Requirements

References

A few reference links on Thesis Writing: Good luck! :)

Tips from Students

The Dissertation

Guidelines

Printing

A few important points, as stated in the Dissertation Guidelines:
  • You must use a laser printer, with ink on acid-free paper. (Usually, if the package said "Acid Free," you should be fine.)
  • If you don't have convenient access to a color laser printer, you can ask PathPhoto, JHU's Pathology Photography and Computer Graphics Department, which prints posters, passport photos, and figures. Check their website, http://photography.jhu.edu/ for guidelines on cost of printing or scheduling.
  • You will need multiple copies of your thesis:
    • One for the library (essential for graduation)
    • One for your department
    • One for your advisor
    • One for you!
  • Go through the dissertation submission checklist, available on the Hopkins Library's Guidelines page.
  • Make sure that the title on your thesis title page is EXACTLY the same as the one indicated in the letter of dissertation approval (see below). There have been a few cases in which students got into trouble with even a slight inconsistency.
  • If your dissertation contains any copyrighted material, make sure you get permission letter(s) to use that material. The permission letter(s) should be placed at the end of the dissertation (with no page numbers). In general for most publishers, if you are using materials from your own papers, then you, as an author, retain the right to use the material "in part or full" in a thesis or dissertation. Therefore, in these cases, you will not need a permission letter. However, you may want to check with the publishers of your papers, as the policy may differ for different publications.

Binding

Before binding your thesis dissertation, you will need to obtain and complete a few forms from the Registrar's Office, which include:
  • The Graduation Clearance Form (one page)
  • The NSF Survey of Earned Doctorates (a booklet)
Directions
The binding office is located on the north side of the A-Level in the Milton S. Eisenhower Library on Homewood campus. Once you enter the library, take the staircase down, then turn right, go straight to the end, then turn right again. The binding office will be the first door on your left. You will see stacks of yellowish-brown envelopes in the office. You may want to call the binding office before you go there, to ascertain their hours of operation. Their phone number is (410) 516-8397.

The binding office might need to tweak your title page or abstract so that it fits the library's format for thesis dissertations. Therefore, you might want to bring an electronic copy of your thesis dissertation (or at least the title page and the abstract) on a USB drive or a CD, along with some acid-free paper. They can let you make the necessary changes using their computer or printer.

The cost for binding the library copy is about $90, but the cost for binding the other copies is about $17 each. You also have the option to apply for copyright registration, which costs about $65. As of now, the only acceptable methods of payment are cash, check, or M&S budget number. You should check the following websites for more information: Make sure you keep your receipt!!

You should fill out the paperwork (see below) before bringing your thesis to the binding office.

The Paperwork

Before the Defense

Before binding your thesis dissertation, you will need to obtain and complete a few forms from the Registrar's Office, which include:
  • The Graduation Clearance Form (one page)
  • The NSF Survey of Earned Doctorates (a booklet)
Before presenting your thesis at the formal defense, you will also need to fill out a few approval forms, which are available in the "Thesis Defense" folder on the Downloads page. These include:
  • A letter to the Co-Directors of the BME PhD Program from your committee members that you have passed your defense. (You will have to fill in their names, their departments, and other miscellaneous info.)
  • A letter to the Graduate Board that your thesis dissertation has been approved by your committee members. (You will have to fill in their names, your name, etc. You need at least two readers for your dissertation.)
  • An announcement flier for a thesis in the BME Department. (You will send this to Hong Lan (hlan1@jhmi.edu) so that she can send the announcement to the department about your thesis presentation.)
The Hopkins Library's Guidelines page has a dissertation submission checklist, and a few other essential guidelines, concerning formatting or approval. When you complete the schedule, send the Announcement Flyer to Hong Lan.

The Defending

The following templates are located on the Downloads page, in the "Forms: Thesis Defense" folder.
  • When you complete the schedule, send the Announcement Flyer to Hong Lan, so she can send the announcement to the department.
  • You need to send a list of your committee members to Dr. Reza Shadmehr and Dr. David Yue for approval.
  • Your committee members will need to fill out the Thesis Defense Approval letter and send it to Drs. Shadmehr and Yue to prove that you've defended your thesis successfully.

Graduation

The Forms

After successful defense of your thesis, you will need to bring the following items to Hong Lan's office:
  1. Curriculum Vitae of candidate (your resume, which is not the same one as prepared for the last page of your dissertation)
  2. Abstract and title page of dissertation
  3. Original letter of dissertation approval from the referees (who read your dissertation) to the Graduate Board
  4. Original letter of successful defense of thesis from the thesis defense committee to the Chairman of the Committee on Biomedical Engineering
  5. A statement concerning the postgraduate plans of the candidate
  6. A Graduation Clearance Form
  7. NSF Survey of Earned Doctorates
  8. Receipt certifying that the dissertation has been delivered to the Eisenhower Library for binding.
She will check if you have completed the rest of the degree requirements, including course work, teaching assistantships, and passing of the GBO. Then she will issue a Certificate of Completion, and bring the paperwork to the Registrar's Office. And then, you will be officially done! :)

The Diploma

Diplomas are only awarded to students in May of each academic school year. If you need certification showing that you have completed the degree, you can ask Hong Lan for a letter saying that you have completed all of the requirements. After you have submitted all of your paperwork and after the Registrar's Office has entered your status into their system, you can also request a transcript directly from the Registrar's Office.

After Graduation

Payment

You will receive a salary until the day that you have submitted all of the required paperwork for graduation, which includes delivering a copy of the thesis for binding to the Milton S. Eisenhower Library and having the program director sign off on the Degree Completion Certificate.

Health Insurance

If you are insured through the Employee Health Program (EHP) at Hopkins, you will be covered until the last day of whatever month the paperwork is finalized. You can request an extension of your health insurance. More information can be found on the Graduation Clearance Form.

International Students

You will need an OPT to work with your F1 status so that you will be authorized to work under an OPT/F1 status. However, it is recommended that you apply for the OPT at least three months before your graduation.

If you are a citizen of Canada or Mexico, you may also consider working with a TN visa. For more information, please refer to http://travel.state.gov/visa/temp/types/types_1274.html

Information from the PhD Student Handbook

(This information was last updated a few years ago, so please double-check the details with Hong Lan (hlan1@jhmi.edu).

The Doctoral Dissertation

Planning the Dissertation

Although it may sound obvious, it is a good idea, when conducting one's research, to keep in mind that a dissertation must eventually be written. The dissertation will need to include enough application of engineering or mathematical concepts that it qualifies as a Biomedical Engineering dissertation. The need for engineering or mathematical content may not necessarily be obvious to either students or faculty when one is conducting research in a department not typically associated with Biomedical Engineering (such as Cell Biology and Anatomy or Biochemistry). A student conducting research in such departments is assigned an "in-house" advisor who is a member of the Biomedical Engineering Faculty or of the Committee on Biomedical Engineering. Students should consult the section of this handbook on the Senior Progress Committee for more information on checkpoints in conducting and completing dissertation research.

Writing the Dissertation

It is essential for a student to come to an agreement with his/her thesis committee before terminating the research and beginning to write a dissertation. Experimental setups, once torn down, can rarely be reestablished without considerable pain and expense.

Most recent students have written dissertations that consist of chapters, each of which will form the bulk of a published manuscript. In addition, the dissertation must contain a general introduction and a general discussion that pull together the results from individual studies. Exact Hopkins requirements regarding the doctoral dissertation (size, margins, paper type, etc.) can be obtained from Hong Lan.

The Committee will not accept as a dissertation a series of self-contained manuscripts. There are several reasons for this restriction. First, dissertation research often generates results which, while important to the specialist, may be difficult to publish in their current form. These results may only see the light of day in the dissertation. Second, The Committee envisions the dissertation as a contribution to a relatively wide field, and the relationship of individual experiments to this wide field can only be properly expressed in a general introduction and discussion.

Approval of the Dissertation

Johns Hopkins requires that a doctoral dissertation be read by two "primary" readers. One of these readers is the dissertation advisor, and the second should be someone with a thorough knowledge of the student's field of research. These readers must write a letter to the University's Graduate Board stating that the dissertation describes original and publishable research. Sample letters may be obtained from the program office. The original copy of this letter should be given to Hong Lan.

The Dissertation Defense

In addition to the University's requirement, the Program requires that a student defend his/her dissertation before a defense committee. A defense committee consists of the thesis advisor and four other faculty members. The members of this committee should be discussed with the program director, and they must be approved by the Biomedical Engineering Committee. However, they need not be members of the Biomedical Engineering faculty or even of the Johns Hopkins Faculty. Indeed, at least one member of the committee must have a primary appointment outside of Biomedical Engineering.

When it is financially(1) and logistically feasible, it is often valuable to invite a member of another institution to serve on an examination committee. Not only does this broaden the viewpoint of the defense committee, but it serves to acquaint other institutions with our students.

Upon the successful defense of the dissertation, the defense committee must submit a letter addressed to the Chairman of the Committee on Biomedical Engineering stating that the dissertation has been defended. This letter must include the name of the candidate, the date of the defense and the dissertation title. The letter must also be signed by all members of the defense committee.

Additional Information Concerning the Meeting of Degree Requirements

The Committee on Biomedical Engineering requires one bound copy of the dissertation for placing in the Talbot Library.

Students completing their Ph.D. requirements are also required to complete the on-line form located at: http://bme-admin1.bme.jhu.edu/CFDOCS/Alumni_Form.CFM

The following is a list of items required by the Committee on Biomedical Engineering before the submission of the dissertation to the Binding Office. These items should be submitted directly to Hong Lan:
  1. Curriculum Vitae of candidate (your resume, which is not the same one as prepared for the last page of your dissertation)
  2. Abstract and title page of dissertation
  3. Original letter of dissertation approval from the referees (who read your dissertation) to the Graduate Board
  4. Original letter of successful defense of thesis from the thesis defense committee to the Chairman of the Committee on Biomedical Engineering
  5. A statement concerning the postgraduate plans of the candidate
  6. A Graduation Clearance Form
  7. NSF Survey of Earned Doctorates
  8. Receipt certifying that the dissertation has been delivered to the Eisenhower Library for binding.

 1 The cost of bringing in an outside examiner cannot be borne by the Program.