During the first year of the Ph.D. program, each student is assigned an academic advisor. This faculty member will typically not be the student’s ultimate supervisor. Their role is to help with planning coursework and with initiating the process of binding with a permanent research advisor.

It is the student’s responsibility during the first year to explore relationships with potential research advisors. Ways of doing this include taking courses (especially advanced seminars) taught by faculty members in the student’s area of interest, attending research group meetings, and undertaking independent studies with potential advisors.

It is very strongly recommended that Ph.D. students take at least one independent study during their first year; taking one or more each semester is encouraged. Note, however, that this is not a requirement: it is a good idea for most, but not all, students. For example, a student coming into the Ph.D. program from a non-CS undergraduate program may need to spend a significant part of the first year building up background knowledge; this should be discussed between the student and their academic advisor.

Official bindings between students and research advisors are made at the end of the second semester, following final exams. This process is overseen by the graduate chair, taking into account both faculty and student preferences. Students should talk with potential advisors before the binding process begins, to settle, if possible, on plans for advising arrangements. (I.e., the official binding process is intended mainly to ratify arrangements that have been agreed in advance.) In rare cases, the binding process may fail, resulting in no binding to an advisor for a particular student. In this case, the student’s support will continue for the remainder of the first year — i.e., until the end of the summer – by which time they must find a research advisor in order to continue in the program.

Students fulfill the teaching practicum requirement by acting as a teaching assistant for two semesters. Students participating in the teaching practicum will be registered for one credit of CIS 895/Teaching Practicum, in addition to three course/independent study credits for a total of four credit units.

Teaching Practicum assignments are made by the graduate coordinator, the graduate chair, taking into consideration specific requests from faculty and/or students. Satisfaction of the requirement is based on end-of-semester evaluations by course instructors.

It is expected that a student will spend approximately 15 hours per week on the teaching practicum.

In accordance with the Pennsylvania English Fluency in Higher Education Act, Penn is required to certify to the English fluency of all students acting as teaching assistants whose native language is other than English. To fulfill this requirement, international students must register for Penn’s English Language Program (ELP) Speak Test.

Information re: the Interactive Performance Test (IPT) for international students who will be TAs can be accessed @ http://www.elp.upenn.edu/itaj-1-testing-and-training/ita-testing-and-training-phd-candidates/ita-test-dates

To register for the IPT online – You are completing the form as an individual student.
Check “My department has agreed to pay the test fee.”
The 26-digit BEN number to be charged is
130 – 1303 – 1 – 000000 – 5304 – 4323 – 0000
CNAC ORG BC FUND OBJEC PROG C-REF

For “Name of department personnel who can verify the above BEN number” – Britton Carnevali
For “Email of department personnel who can verify the above BEN number” – brittonc@seas.upenn.edu
For “Phone of department personnel who can verify the above Ben number” – 8-5515

If there is a question send email to brittonc@seas.upenn.edu

The objective of the thesis proposal approval is to evaluate the direction and progress of the thesis project, to assess its suitability, to determine whether the student has in-depth knowledge of concepts fundamental to the research, and to ensure that the student is capable of pursuing independent research.

During the third year of doctoral studies, students must assemble a thesis committee of at least three Penn faculty, (the dissertation advisor is not one of the three), and one external committee member. The external need not attend the meeting. You should discuss expectations with your committee.

Students complete the Dissertation Proposal Approval Form which is approved by their Advisor and the Graduate Group Chair; email brittonc@seas.upenn.edu to access the Dissertation Proposal Approval Form; you can share the google doc Dissertation Approval Form with your advisor, committee and the graduate group chair. If needed the thesis committee may be changed prior to the thesis proposal.

Students must defend their thesis proposal by the end of their fourth year in the doctoral program, and at least a year before the thesis defense.

The proposal consists of a written document and a 1-hour oral presentation. The document should be at least 10,000 words and include a proposal for remaining work to be completed prior to graduation. The document and presentation should clearly address the following questions:

• What exact problem, issue, or question is this research concerned with?
• What limitations or failings of current understanding, knowledge, methods, or technologies does this research resolve?
• How significant is the problem, issue, or question?
• What new understanding, knowledge, methods, or technologies will this research generate? How does this address the purpose of the work?
• What experiments, studies, or prototypes will be produced to achieve the stated goal?
• How will achievement of the goal be demonstrated and the contribution of the work measured?

The thesis proposal defense must take place at least one year before the thesis defense.
The proposal document should be delivered to the committee at least two weeks in advance of the defense, to allow time for thorough reading.

The School’s Space Reservation website has information re: availability, technology, and reserving CIS/Engineering conference rooms.

CIS doctoral students can use cis-doctoral@seas.upenn.edu to send the announcement of the: dissertation proposal defense to their fellow CIS Ph.D. students, faculty, and post-docs; click here to access the guidelines for using cis-doctoral@seas.upenn.edu.

The scheduling of the oral defense of the WPE-II, thesis proposal, and thesis are the responsibility of the student. Given that these events all involve multiple busy people, it is a good idea to begin scheduling them well in advance (a few weeks ahead for the WPE-II and thesis proposal; at least two months ahead for the thesis defense).

CIS doctoral students can use cis-doctoral@seas.upenn.edu to send announcements re: their WPE II presentation, dissertation proposal defense, and dissertation defense to their fellow CIS PhD student, faculty, and post-docs; click here to access the guidelines for using cis-doctoral@seas.upenn.edu.

The School’s Space Reservation website has information re: availability, technology, & reserving CIS/Engineering conference rooms.  Use this to reserve the room for your presentation that best fits your needs.

When the student and research advisor are satisfied with the dissertation, the dissertation committee evaluates the written dissertation and there is a second oral defense at which the committee establishes that the project has been completed and makes an original contribution to knowledge worthy of the PhD degree. The thesis defense should take place at least a year following the dissertation proposal defense. The committee’s decision and any additional feedback is communicated informally to the candidate on the day of the defense, followed by a formal recommendation to the graduate chair within the next few days. The dissertation should be delivered to the committee at least three weeks in advance of the defense, to allow time for thorough reading.

The School’s Space Reservation website has information re: availability, technology, & reserving CIS/Engineering conference rooms.

CIS doctoral students can use cis-doctoral@seas.upenn.edu to the announcement of the dissertation defense to their fellow CIS Ph.D. students, faculty, and post-docs click here to access the guidelines for using cis-doctoral@seas.upenn.edu.

Click here to download the University Acceptance of Dissertation form 152 complete the Acceptance of Dissertation form and have your advisor(s) and all committee member sign it at the defense.

Information and links for formatting the thesis, submission of the thesis to the University, etc. can be found here.

Once the thesis has been defended, the student can request that tuition/fees be waived; click here for the form to make this request. Please note, commencing 2019 SEAS administrative regulations have made approval for the tuition/fees waiver difficult to obtain and it is not recommended to follow this option.

Doctoral Dissertation Resources:

Penn Graduate Student Center (GSC): links to Penn resources including the Dissertation Manual, preparation guidelines, online resources, useful software, etc.

GSC “Navigating the Dissertation” events: Navigating the Dissertation seeks to help doctoral students be successful in the dissertation process through workshops, resources, dissertation groups, and Dissertation Boot Camp. The Boot Camp offers an environment and support for intense, focused writing time, and provides participants with the structure and motivation to overcome typical roadblocks in the dissertation process.

EAS 510 Course: The EAS 510 course is primarily for Penn Engineering graduate students who use English as a second language and who need to develop the communication skills for their academic and professional careers.

Weingarten Learning Resources Center: The WLRC provides academic support services and programs for undergraduate, graduate, and professional students.