MIT Libraries logo MIT Libraries
MIT Specifications for Thesis Preparation
Approved November 2022 for use in the 2022-2023 academic year
Table of Contents
- Thesis Preparation Checklist
Timeline for submission and publication
- Bachelor’s degree thesis
- Graduate degree thesis
Dual degree theses
Joint theses, what happens to your thesis, title selection, embedded links.
- Special circumstances
Signature page
Abstract page.
- Acknowledgments
Biographical notes
Table of contents, list of figures.
- List of tables
- List of supplemental material
Notes and bibliographic references
Open licensing, labeling copyright in your thesis, use of previously published material in your thesis, digital supplementary material, physical supplementary material, starting with accessible source files, file naming.
- How to submit thesis information to the MIT Libraries
Placing a temporary hold on your thesis
Changes to a thesis after submission, permission to reuse or republish from mit theses, general information.
This guide has been prepared by the MIT Libraries, as prescribed by the Committee on Graduate Programs and the Committee on Undergraduate Program, to assist students and faculty in the preparation of theses. The Institute is committed to the preservation of each student’s thesis because it is both a requirement for the MIT degree and a record of original research that contains information of lasting value.
In this guide, “department” refers to a graduate or undergraduate program within an academic unit, and “thesis” refers to the digital copy of the written thesis. The official thesis version of record, which is submitted to the MIT Libraries, is the digital copy of the written thesis that has been approved by the thesis committee and certified by the department in fulfillment of a student’s graduation requirement.
The requirements in this guide apply to all theses and have been specified both to facilitate the care and dissemination of the thesis and to assure the preservation of the final approved document. Individual departments may dictate more stringent requirements.
Before beginning your thesis research, remember that the final output of this research—your thesis document—should only include research findings that may be shared publicly, in adherence with MIT’s policy on Open Research and Free Interchange of Information . If you anticipate that your thesis will contain content that requires review by an external sponsor or agency, it is critical that you allow sufficient time for this review to take place prior to thesis submission.
Questions not answered in this guide should be referred to the appropriate department officer or to the MIT Libraries ( [email protected] ).
- Final edited and complete thesis PDF is due to your department on the date specified in the Academic Calendar.
- Hold requests should be submitted to the Vice Chancellor for Undergraduate and Graduate Education or TLO concurrent with your thesis submission.
- Thesis information is due to the MIT Libraries before your date of graduation.
- Departments must transfer theses to the MIT Libraries within 30 days from the last day of class (end of term).
- One week later (30 days from the last day of classes + 7 days) or one week after the degree award date (whichever is later) the MIT Libraries may begin publishing theses in [email protected]
- If you have requested and received a temporary (up to 90-day) hold on the publication of your thesis from the Vice Chancellor, your thesis will be placed on hold as soon as it is received by the Libraries, and the 90-day hold will begin 30 days from the last day of class (end of term).
- If your thesis research is included in a disclosure to the TLO, the TLO may place your thesis on hold with the Libraries for up to 90 days, as appropriate.
Submitting your thesis document to your department
Your thesis document will be submitted to your department as a PDF, formatted and including the appropriate rights statement and sections as outlined in these specifications. Your department will provide more specific guidance on submitting your files for certification and acceptance.
Your department will provide information on submitting:
- A PDF/A-1 of your final thesis document (with no signatures)
- Signature page (if required by your department; your department will provide specific guidance)
- Original source files used to create the PDF of your thesis (optional, but encouraged)
- Supplementary materials (optional and must be approved by your advisor and program)
Degree candidates must submit their thesis to the appropriate office of the department in which they are registered on the dates specified in the Academic Calendar. ( Academic Calendar | MIT Registrar ). September, February, and May/June are the only months in which degrees are awarded.
Bachelor’s degree theses
Graduate degree theses, submitting your thesis information to the libraries.
Information about your thesis must be submitted to the Libraries thesis submission and processing system prior to your day of graduation. The information you provide must match the title page and abstract of your thesis . See How to submit thesis information to the MIT Libraries section for more details .
The academic department is required to submit the thesis to the MIT Libraries within one month after the last day of the term in which the thesis was submitted ( Faculty Regulation 2.72 ). The thesis document becomes part of the permanent archival collection. All thesis documents that have been approved will be transferred electronically to the MIT Libraries by a department representative via the MIT Libraries thesis submission and processing system .
The full-text PDF of each thesis is made publicly available in [email protected] . A bibliographic record will appear in the MIT Libraries’ catalog, as well as the OCLC database WorldCat, which is accessible to libraries and individuals worldwide. Authors may also opt-in to having their thesis made available in the ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global database.
Formatting specifications
Your work will be a more valuable research tool for other scholars if it can be located easily. Search engines use the words in the title, and sometimes other descriptive words, to locate works. Therefore,
- Be sure to select a title that is a meaningful description of the content of your manuscript; and
- Do: “The Effects of Ion Implantation and Annealing on the Properties of Titanium Silicide Films on Silicon Substrates”
- Do: “Radiative Decays on the J/Psi to Two Pseudoscalar Final States”
You may include clickable links to online resources within the thesis file. Make the link self-descriptive so that it can stand on its own and is natural language that fits within the surrounding writing of your paragraph. The full URL should be included as a footnote or bibliography citation (dependent on citation style).
- Sentence in thesis: Further information is available on the MIT Writing and Communications Center’s website . The full-text PDF of each thesis is made publicly available in [email protected] .
- Footnote or Bibliography: follow the rules of your chosen citation style and include the full website URL, in this case http://libraries.mit.edu/mit-theses
Sections of your thesis
Required (all information should be on a single page)
The title page should contain the title, name of the author (this can be the author’s preferred name), previous degrees, the degree(s) to be awarded at MIT, the date the degree(s) will be conferred (May/June, September, or February only), copyright notice (and legend, if required), and appropriate names of thesis supervisor(s) and student’s home department or program officer.
The title page should have the following fields in the following order and centered (including spacing) :
Thesis title as submitted to registrar
Author’s preferred name
Previous degree information, if applicable
Submitted to the [department name] in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree(s) of
[degree name]
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Month and year degree will be granted (June, September, February ONLY)
Copyright statement
This permission legend MUST follow if copyright is owned by student (but not if owned by MIT): The author hereby grants to MIT permission to reproduce and to distribute publicly paper and electronic copies of this thesis document in whole or in part in any medium now known or hereafter created.
[Insert 2 blank lines]
Note: The remaining fields are left aligned and not centered
Authored by: [Author name]
[Author’s department name] (align with the beginning of the author’s name from the previous line)
[Date thesis is to be presented to the department] (align with the beginning of the author’s name from the first line)
Certified by: [Advisor’s full name as it appears in the MIT catalog]
[Advisor’s department as it appears in the MIT catalog] (align with the beginning of the advisor’s name from the previous line)
Thesis supervisor (align with the beginning of the advisor’s name from the first line)
Accepted by: [name]
[title – line 1] (align with the beginning of the name from the previous line)
[title – line 2] (align with the beginning of the name from the first line)
Note: The name and title of this person varies in different degree programs and may vary each term; contact the departmental thesis administrator for specific information
- Students in joint graduate programs (such as Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution) should list both their MIT thesis supervisor and the supervisor from the partner academic institution.
- The name and title of the department or the program officer varies in different degree programs and may vary each term. Contact the departmental graduate administrator for specific information.
- For candidates receiving two degrees, both degrees to be awarded should appear on the title page. For candidates in dual degree programs, all degrees and departments or programs should appear on the title page, and the names of both department heads/committee chairmen are required. Whenever there are co-supervisors, both names should appear on the title page.
Here are some PDF examples of title pages:
- Bachelor’s Degree – student owns the copyright and is using a Creative Commons license
- PhD candidate – MIT owns the copyright
- Master’s candidate – dual degrees
- Masters’ candidates – multiple authors
- Masters’ candidates – multiple authors & dual degrees
- Bachelor’s Degree – change of thesis supervisor
Title page: Special circumstances
If your supervisor has recently died or is no longer affiliated with the Institute:
- Both this person and your new supervisor should be listed on your title page
- Under the new supervisor’s name, state that they are approving the thesis on behalf of the previous supervisor
- An additional page should be added to the thesis, before the acknowledgments page, with an explanation about why a new supervisor is approving your thesis on behalf of your previous supervisor. You may also thank the new supervisor for acting in this capacity
- Review this PDF example of a title page with a change in supervisor
If your supervisor is external to the Institute (such as an industrial supervisor):
- You should acknowledge this individual on the Acknowledgements page as appropriate, but should not list this person on the thesis title page
- The full thesis committee and thesis readers can be acknowledged on the Acknowledgements page, but should not be included on the title page
Not Required
Please consult with your department to determine if they are requiring or requesting an additional signature page.
Each thesis must include an abstract of generally no more than 500 words single-spaced. The abstract should be thought of as a brief descriptive summary, not a lengthy introduction to the thesis. The abstract should immediately follow the title page.
The abstract page should have the following fields in the following order and centered (including spacing):
- Thesis title
Submitted to the [Department] on [date thesis will be submitted] in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of [Name of degree to be received]
[Insert 1 blank line]
Single-spaced summary; approximately 500 words or less; try not to use formulas or special characters
Thesis supervisor: [Supervisor’s name]
Title: [Title of supervisor]
The Abstract page should include the same information as on the title page. With the thesis title, author name, and submitting statement above the abstract, the word “ABSTRACT” typed before the body of the text, and the thesis supervisor’s name and title below the abstract.
Acknowledgements
An acknowledgement page may be included and is the appropriate place to include information such as external supervisor (such as an industrial advisor) or a list of the full thesis committee and thesis readers. Please note that your thesis will be publicly available online at [email protected] , which is regularly crawled and indexed by Google and other search-engine providers.
The thesis may contain a short biography of the candidate, including institutions attended and dates of attendance, degrees and honors, titles of publications, teaching and professional experience, and other matters that may be pertinent. Please note that your thesis will be publicly available online at [email protected] , which is regularly crawled and indexed by Google and other search-engine providers.
List of Tables
List of supplemental material.
Whenever possible, notes should be placed at the bottom of the appropriate page or in the body of the text. Notes should conform to the style appropriate to the discipline. If notes appear at the bottom of the page, they should be single-spaced and included within the specified margins.
It may be appropriate to place bibliographic references either at the end of the chapter in which they occur or at the end of the thesis.
The style of quotations, footnotes, and bibliographic references may be prescribed by your department. If your department does not prescribe a style or specify a style manual, choose one and be consistent. Further information is available on the MIT Writing and Communications Center’s website .
Ownership of copyright
The Institute’s policy concerning ownership of thesis copyright is covered in Rules and Regulations of the Faculty, 2.73 and MIT Policies and Procedures 13.1.3 . Copyright covers the intellectual property in the words and images in the thesis. If the thesis als includes patentable subject matter students should contact the Technology Licensing Office (TLO) prior to submission of their thesis.
Under these regulations, the Institute will hold ownership of the copyrights if:
- the thesis research is performed in whole or in part by the student with financial support in the form of wages, salary, stipend, or grant from funds administered by the Institute, or
- the thesis research is performed in whole or in part utilizing equipment or facilities provided to the Institute under conditions that impose copyright restrictions.
If neither of the above are true, the student retains copyright of the thesis. If you have questions about whether MIT holds copyright in your thesis, contact the Technology Licensing Office (TLO) and a determination can be made by referencing the accounts from which you receive support.
If MIT holds the copyright according to the determination above, you may request that the Institute waive copyright ownership to you by submitting a request to the TLO .
Regardless of whether copyright is held by the student or the Institute, the MIT Libraries publish the thesis on [email protected] , allowing open access to the research output of MIT.
If you retain copyright you may also, optionally, apply a Creative Commons License to your thesis. The Creative Commons License allows you to grant permissions and provide guidance on how your work can be reused by others. For more information about CC: https://creativecommons.org/about/cclicenses/ . To determine which CC license is right for you, you can use the CC license chooser .
You must include an appropriate copyright notice on the title page of your thesis. This should include the following:
- the symbol “c” with a circle around it © and/or the word “copyright”
- the year of publication (the year in which the degree is to be awarded)
- the name of the copyright owner
- the words “All rights reserved” or your chosen Creative Commons license
- Also include the following statement below the ©“ The Author hereby grants to MIT permission to reproduce and to distribute publicly copies of this thesis document in whole or in part.”
- Also include the following statement below the © “ The Author hereby grants to MIT permission to reproduce and to distribute publicly copies of this thesis document in whole or in part.”
- Institute is copyright owner: © 2008 Massachusetts Institute of Technology. All rights reserved
You are responsible for obtaining permission, if necessary, to include previously published material in your thesis. This applies to most figures, images, and excerpts of text created and published by someone else; it may also apply to your own previous work. For figures and short excerpts from academic works, permission may already be available through the MIT Libraries (see here for additional information ). Students may also rely on fair use , as appropriate. For assistance with copyright questions about your thesis, you can contact [email protected] .
When including your own previously published material in your thesis, you may also need to obtain copyright clearance. If, for example, a student has already published part of the thesis as a journal article and, as a condition of publication, has assigned copyright to the journal’s publisher, the student’s rights are limited by what the publisher allows. More information about publisher policies on reuse in theses is available here.
If permission is needed for reuse of any content in your thesis, a sample permission letter (pdf) is available from the Office of the General Counsel.
Students can hold onto sufficient rights to reuse published articles (or excerpts of these) in their thesis if they are covered by MIT’s open access policy. Learn more about MIT’s open access policy and opt-in here . Contact [email protected] for more information.
When including your own previously published articles in your thesis, check with your department for specific requirements, and consider the following:
- Ensure you have any necessary copyright permissions to include previously published material in your thesis.
- Be sure to discuss copyright clearance and embargo options with your co-authors and your advisor well in advance of preparing your thesis for submission.
- Include citations of where portions of the thesis have been previously published.
- When an article included has multiple authors, clearly designate the role you had in the research and production of the published paper that you are including in your thesis.
Supplemental material and research data
Supplemental material that may be submitted with your thesis is the materials that are essential to understanding the research findings of your thesis, but impossible to incorporate or embed into a PDF. Materials submitted to the MIT Libraries may be provided as supplemental digital files or in some cases physical items. All supplementary materials must be approved for submission by your advisor. The MIT Libraries can help answer questions you may have about managing the supplementary material and other research materials associated with your research.
Contact [email protected] early in your thesis writing process to determine the best way to include supplemental materials with your thesis.
You may also have other research data and outputs related to your thesis research that are not considered supplemental material and should not be submitted with your thesis. Research materials include the facts, observations, images, computer program results, recordings, measurements, or experiences on which a research output—an argument, theory, test or hypothesis, or other output—is based. These may also be termed, “research data.” This term relates to data generated, collected, or used during research projects, and in some cases may include the research output itself. Research materials should be deposited in appropriate research data repositories and cited in your thesis . You may consult the MIT Libraries’ Data Management Services website for guidance or reach out to Data Management Services (DMS)( [email protected] ), who can help answer questions you may have about managing your thesis data and choosing suitable solutions for longer term storage and access.
- Supplementary information may be submitted with your thesis to your program after approval from your thesis advisor.
- Supplemental material should be mentioned and summarized in the written document, for example, using a few key frames from a movie to create a figure.
- A list of supplementary information along with brief descriptions should be included in your thesis document. For digital files, the description should include information about the file types and any software and version needed to open and view the files.
- Issues regarding the format of non-traditional, supplemental content should be resolved with your advisor.
- Appendices and references are not considered supplementary information.
- If your research data has been submitted to a repository, it should not also be submitted with your thesis.
- Follow the required file-naming convention for supplementary files: authorLastName-kerb-degree-dept-year-type_supplemental.ext
- Captioning ( legally required ): text versions of the audio content, synchronized with the video: ways to get your video captioned
- Additional content, not required:
- For video, an audio description: a separate narrative audio track that describes important visual content, making it accessible to people who are unable to see the video
- Transcripts: should capture all the spoken audio, plus on-screen text and descriptions of key visual information that wouldn’t otherwise be accessible without seeing the video
For physical components that are integral to understanding the thesis document, and which cannot be meaningfully conveyed in a digital form, the author may submit the physical items to the MIT Libraries along with their thesis document. When photographs or a video of a physical item (such as a model) would be sufficient, the images should be included in the thesis document, and a video could be submitted as digital supplementary material.
An example of physical materials that would be approved for submission as part of the thesis would be photographs that cannot be shared digitally in our repository due to copyright restrictions. In this case, the photographs could be submitted as a physical volume that is referred to in the thesis document.
As with digital supplementary information and research materials, physical materials must be approved for submission by your advisor. Contact [email protected] early in your thesis writing process to determine if physical materials should accompany your thesis, and if so how to schedule a transfer of materials to the MIT Libraries.
Creating your thesis document/digital format
You are required to submit a PDF/A-1 formatted thesis document to your department. In addition, it is recommended that original files, or source files, (such a .doc or .tex) are submitted alongside the PDF/A-1 to better ensure long-term access to your thesis.
You should create accessible files that support the use of screen readers and make your document more easily readable by assistive technologies. This will expand who is able to access your thesis. By creating an accessible document from the beginning, there will be less work required to remediate the PDF that gets created. Most software offers a guide for creating documents that are accessible to screen readers. Review the guidelines provided by the MIT Libraries .
In general:
- Use styles and other layout features for headings, lists, tables, etc. If you don’t like the default styles associated with the headings, you can customize them.
- Avoid using blank lines to add visual spacing and instead increase the size of the spaces before and/or after the line.
- Avoid using text boxes.
- Embed URLs.
- Anchor images to text when inserting them into a doc.
- Add alt-text to any images or figures that convey meaning (including, math formulas).
- Use a sans serif font.
- Add basic embedded metadata, such as author, title, year of graduation, department, keywords etc. to your thesis via your original author tool.
Creating a PDF/A-1
PDF/A-1 (either a or b) is the more suitable format for long term preservation than a basic PDF. It ensures that the PDF format conforms to certain specifications which make it more likely to open and be viewable in the long term. It is best for static content that will not change in the future, as this is the most preservation-worthy version and does not allow for some complex elements that could corrupt or prevent the file from being viewable in the future. Guidelines on how to convert specific file types to PDF/A .
In general: (should we simplify these bullets)
- Convert to PDF/A directly from your original files (text, Word, InDesign, LaTeX, etc.). It is much easier and better to create valid PDF/A documents from your original files than from a regular PDF. Converting directly will ensure that fonts and hyperlinks are embedded in the document.
- Do not embed multimedia files (audio and video), scripts, executables, lab notebooks, etc. into your PDF. Still images are fine. The other formats mentioned may be able to be submitted as supplemental files.
- Do not password protect or encrypt your PDF file.
- Validate your PDF/A file before submitting it to your department.
All digital files must be named according to this scheme: authorLastName-kerb-degree-dept-year-type_other.ext
- Thesis PDF: macdonald-mssimon-mcp-dusp-2023-thesis.pdf
- Signature page: macdonald-mssimon-mcp-dusp-2023-sig.pdf
- Original source file: macdonald-mssimon-mcp-2023-source.docx
- Supplemental file: macdonald-mssimon-mcp-2023-supplmental_1.mov
- Second supplemental file: macdonald-mssimon-mcp-2023-supplmental_2.mov
- Read Me file about supplemental: macdonald-mssimon-mcp-2023-supplemental-readme.txt
How to submit thesis information to the MIT Libraries
Before your day of graduation, you should submit your thesis title page metadata to the MIT Libraries prior to your day of graduation. The submission form requires Kerberos login.
Student submitted metadata allows for quicker Libraries processing times. It also provides a note field for you to let Libraries’ staff know about any metadata discrepancies.
The information you provide must match the title page and abstract of your thesis . Please have a copy of your completed thesis on hand to enter this information directly from your thesis. If any discrepancies are found during processing, Libraries’ staff will publish using the information on the approved thesis document. You will be asked to confirm or provide:
- Preferred name of author(s)as they appear on the title page of the thesis
- ORCID provides a persistent digital identifier that distinguishes you from every other researcher. The goal is to support the creation of a permanent, clear, and unambiguous record of scholarly communication by enabling reliable attribution of authors and contributors. Read ORCID FAQs to learn more
- Department(s)
- A license is optional, and very difficult to remove once published. The Creative Commons License allows you to grant permissions and provide guidance on how your work can be reused by others. Read more information about CC .
- Thesis supervisor(s)
- If you would like the full-text of your thesis to be made openly available in the ProQuest Dissertation & Theses Global database (PQDT), you can indicate that in the Libraries submission form.
- Open access inclusion in PQDT is at no cost to you, and increases the visibility and discoverability of your thesis. By opting in you are granting ProQuest a license to distribute your thesis in accordance with ProQuest’s policies. Further information can be found in the ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Author FAQ .
- Full-text theses and associated supplemental files will only be sent to ProQuest once any temporary holds have been lifted, and the thesis has been published in [email protected]
- Regardless of opting-in to inclusion in PQDT, the full text of your thesis will still be made openly available in [email protected] . Doctoral Degrees: Regardless of opting-in the citation and abstract of your thesis will be included in PQDT.
Thesis research should be undertaken in light of MIT’s policy of open research and the free interchange of information . Openness requires that, as a general policy, thesis research should not be undertaken on campus when the results may not be published. From time to time, there may be a good reason for delaying the distribution of a thesis to obtain patent protection, or for reasons of privacy or security. To ensure that only those theses that meet certain criteria are withheld from distribution and that they are withheld for the minimum period, the Institute has established specific review procedures.
Written notification of patent holds and other restrictions must reach the MIT Libraries before the thesis in question is received by the MIT Libraries. Theses will not be available to the public prior to being published by the MIT Libraries. The Libraries may begin publishing theses in [email protected] one month and one week from the last day of classes.
Thesis hold requests should be directed to the Technology Licensing Office (TLO) when related to MIT-initiated patent applications (i.e., MIT holds intellectual property rights; patent application process via TLO). Requests for a thesis hold must be made jointly by the student and advisor directly to the MIT Technology Licensing Office as part of the technology disclosure process.
Thesis hold or restricted access requests should be directed to the Office of the Vice Chancellor ([email protected]) when related to:
- Student-initiated patents (student holds intellectual property rights as previously determined by TLO) [up to 90-day hold]
- Pursuit of business opportunities (student holds intellectual property rights as previously determined by TLO)[up to 90-day hold]
- Government restrictions [up to 90-day hold]
- Privacy and security [up to 90-day hold]
- Book publication [up to 24-month hold]
Temporary holds cannot be granted for planned or pending submissions to scholarly journals related to thesis work.
In the unusual circumstance that a student wants to request a hold beyond the initial 90-day period, they should contact the Office of Vice President for Research , who may consult with the TLO and/or the Office of the Vice Chancellor, as appropriate to extend the hold up to an additional 90-days. Such requests must be supported by evidence that explains the need for a longer period.
Find information about each type of publication hold, and to learn how to place a hold on your thesis
After publication
Your thesis will be published on [email protected] . Theses are processed by the MIT Libraries and published in the order they are transferred by your department. The Libraries will begin publishing theses in [email protected] one month and one week from the last day of classes.
All changes made to a thesis, after it has been submitted to the MIT Libraries by your department, must have approval from the Vice Chancellor or their designee. Thesis documents should be carefully reviewed prior to submission to ensure they do not contain misspellings or incorrect formatting. Change requests for these types of minor errors will not be approved.
There are two types of change requests that can be made:
- Errata: When the purpose is to correct significant errors in content, the author should create an errata sheet using the form and instructions (PDF) and obtain approval first from both the thesis supervisor or program chair, before submitting for review by the Vice Chancellor.
- Substitution: If the purpose of the change is to excise classified, proprietary, or confidential information, the author should fill out the application form (PDF) and have the request approved first by the thesis supervisor or program chair, before submitting for review by the Vice Chancellor.
Students and supervisors should vet thesis content carefully before submission to avoid these scenarios whenever possible.
You are always authorized to post electronic versions of your own thesis, in whole or in part, on a website, without asking permission. If the copyright in the thesis is held by MIT, further requests for reuse or republication should be directed to [email protected] . If you hold the copyright in the thesis, approving and/or denying requests for permission to use portions of the thesis in third-party publications is your responsibility.
MIT Libraries Thesis Team https://libguides.mit.edu/mit-thesis-faq [email protected] | https://thesis-submit.mit.edu/
Distinctive Collections Room 14N-118 | 617-253-5690 https://libraries.mit.edu/distinctive-collections/
Technology Licensing Office [email protected] | 617-253-6966 http://tlo.mit.edu/
Office of the General Counsel [email protected] | 617-452-2082 http://ogc.mit.edu/
Office of Graduate Education Room 3-107 | 617-253-4680 http://oge.mit.edu/ [email protected]
MIT Libraries, Scholarly Communications https://libraries.mit.edu/scholarly/ [email protected]
Office of the Vice Chancellor Room 7-133 | 617-253-6056 http://ovc.mit.edu [email protected]
Office of the Vice President for Research Room 3-234 | 617-253-8177 [email protected]
MIT Writing and Communications Center Room E18-233 [email protected] | https://cmsw.mit.edu/writing-and-communication-center/
MIT Libraries home [email protected]
- [email protected] Home
- MIT Libraries
Graduate Theses
Theses by department.
- Comparative Media Studies
- Computation for Design and Optimization
- Computational and Systems Biology
- Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics
- Department of Architecture
- Department of Biological Engineering
- Department of Biology
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences
- Department of Chemical Engineering
- Department of Chemistry
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
- Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
- Department of Economics
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences
- Department of Humanities
- Department of Linguistics and Philosophy
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering
- Department of Mathematics
- Department of Mechanical Engineering
- Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering
- Department of Ocean Engineering
- Department of Physics
- Department of Political Science
- Department of Urban Studies and Planning
- Engineering Systems Division
- Harvard-MIT Program of Health Sciences and Technology
- Institute for Data, Systems, and Society
- Media Arts & Sciences
- Operations Research Center
- Program in Real Estate Development
- Program in Writing and Humanistic Studies
- Science Writing
- Sloan School of Management
- Supply Chain Management
- System Design & Management
- Technology and Policy Program
Recent Submissions
The dynamics of interruptions in engineering project task execution
Calcutta University library architectural study
Frame-to-frame extrapolation of television fields
Show Statistical Information
The thesis comprises an original investigation, including a written document on a subject approved by a departmental or interdepartmental graduate committee prior to the beginning of the research. Thesis credit cannot be granted for work done prior to registration as a graduate student at the Institute, nor for work initiated without prior approval by the department of registration. The thesis must be completed while in residence, except as noted below.
A thesis may not be presented on research work done at the Institute while on academic, administrative, research staff appointment, or hourly payroll at MIT (including Lincoln Laboratory), the Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, or other affiliated research entities. Supervision by a faculty member of the Institute or a staff member approved by the department is a fixed requirement for doctoral, engineer’s, and master’s theses. Preliminary plans for pursuing an approved thesis may be required by thesis supervisors according to the requirements and time schedules of the departments. A thesis supervisor may, at his or her discretion, require progress reports in oral or written form as deemed necessary. Before the final written document is submitted, a draft may be required for editorial comment. An oral examination of the doctoral thesis will be held after the thesis has been submitted. The thesis process is not complete until the thesis document is signed, and therefore accepted formally, by the department.
Nonresident doctoral thesis research status
Details and expectations for non-residential doctoral students. Students must have passed the qualifying examination to be eligible to request this status.
Holds and restrictions on thesis publication
Information on thesis hold requests related to patent protection, pursuit of business opportunities, government restrictions, privacy and security, and book publication
Copyright and intellectual property policy
Information on the Institute’s policy concerning ownership of copyrights and rights to intellectual property
Preparation of graduate theses
Information for preparing a thesis
Joint theses
Details and expectations for collaborative research
Thesis research in absentia
Details and expectations for students conducting research off-campus. Students in both master’s and doctoral programs, at any stage in their studies, are eligible to request this status.
This site uses cookies to give you the best possible experience. By browsing our website, you agree to our use of cookies.
If you require further information and/or do not wish to have cookies placed when using the site, visit the Privacy Policy page.
Graduate Program
Pushing the Scholarly Frontier
PhD in Political Science
Our doctoral students are advancing political science as a discipline. They explore the empirical phenomena that produce new scholarly insights—insights that improve the way governments and societies function. As a result, MIT Political Science graduates are sought after for top teaching and research positions in the U.S. and abroad. Read where program alumni are working around the world.
How the PhD program works
The MIT PhD in Political Science requires preparation in two of these major fields:
- American Politics
- Comparative Politics
- International Relations
- Models and Methods
- Political Economy
- Security Studies
We recommend that you take a broad array of courses across your two major fields. In some cases, a single course may overlap across the subject matter of both fields. You may not use more than one such course to "double count" for the course distribution requirement. Keep in mind that specific fields may have additional requirements.
You are free to take subjects in other departments across the Institute. Cross-registration arrangements also permit enrollment in subjects taught in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University and in some of Harvard's other graduate schools.
Requirements
1. number of subjects.
You will need two full academic years of work to prepare for the general examinations and to meet other pre-dissertation requirements. Typically, a minimum of eight graduate subjects are required for a PhD.
2. Scope and Methods
This required one-semester seminar for first-year students introduces principles of empirical and theoretical analysis in political science.
3. Statistics
You must successfully complete at least one class in statistics.
You must successfully complete at least one class in empirical research methods.
5. Philosophy
You must successfully complete at least one class in political philosophy.
6. Foreign language or advanced statistics
You must demonstrate reading proficiency in one language other than English by successfully completing two semesters of intermediate-level coursework or an exam in that language, or you must demonstrate your knowledge of advanced statistics by successfully completing three semesters of coursework in advanced statistics. International students whose native language is not English are not subject to the language requirement.
7. Field research
We encourage you to conduct field research and to develop close working ties with faculty members engaged in major research activities.
8. Second Year Paper/workshop
You must complete an article-length research paper and related workshop in the spring semester of the second year. Designed to involve students in advanced research problems under faculty supervision, the second-year paper often develops into a dissertation topic.
9. Two examinations
In each of your two elected fields, you must take a general written and oral examination. To prepare for these examinations, you should take at least three courses in each of the two fields, including the field seminar.
10. Doctoral thesis
As a rule, the doctoral thesis requires at least one year of original research and data collection. Writing the dissertation usually takes a substantially longer time. The thesis process includes a first and second colloquium and an oral defense. Be sure to consult the MIT Specifications for Thesis Preparation as well as the MIT Political Science Thesis Guidelines . Consult the MIT academic calendar to learn the due date for final submission of your defended, signed thesis.
Questions? Consult the MIT Political Science Departmental Handbook or a member of the staff in the MIT Political Science Graduate Office .
- Pre-registration
- Spring registration
- Registration holds
- Add/drop/change
- Understanding your schedule
- Special student registration
- Instructions for Harvard students
- Converting Harvard credits to MIT units
- Translating Harvard grades to MIT grades
- Instructions for Wellesley students
- Other institutions
- General Institute Requirements
- HASS Exploration subjects
- HASS Concentration advisors
- Substitutions within the HASS Requirement
- First-year Essay Evaluation (FEE)
- Subject listing
- CI-H/HW subject selection
- Subject levels & credit
- Declaring a major
- Changing a major
- Double majors
- Declaring a minor
- Limited-enrollment waitlists
- Graduate requirements
- Progressing through MIT — the first year
- Progressing through MIT — beyond the first year
- Choosing to double major
- Transitioning to MIT
- VA education benefits
- Deployment and leave of absence
- Student veteran groups
- Additional resources for veterans
- Academic administrators & officers
- Transfer credit
- Leaves of absence & returns
- Registration load & light load
- Light load tuition
- Summer tuition subsidy
- Special student
- Sloan School of Management
- Visiting student
- Other programs with non-standard tuition
- Miscellaneous fees
- Summer proration
- Fall proration
- Spring proration
- Other degree dates & deadlines
- Undergraduate degree requirements
- Graduate degree requirements
- Ordering transcripts
- Express shipping
- Enrollment certifications
- Dean's certifications
- Apostille certifications
- Loan deferment letters
- Subject registration letters
- Paper diplomas
- Digital diploma verification
- Replacement diplomas
- Suppressing directory information
- Advisor access
- Heads of House access
- Address update
- Name changes
- Other biographic information
- Voter registration
- Schedule of classes
- Class lists
- Prerequisite reports
- Request a final exam
- Conflict exams
- First year core exams
- Advanced Standing Examinations
- Listener status (auditing)
- First year grading
- Flexible P/NR Grading Option
- Entering in Fall 2018
- Entering in Fall 2019
- Sophomore Exploratory Option
- Junior-Senior P/D/F Option
- Graduate P/D/F Option
- Advanced Standing Exam grades
- IAP grading
- Repeating a subject
- Changing a grade
- Incomplete work
- Calculating GPA
- Giving constructive feedback
- Custom question guidelines
- 1 Preferences
- 2 Teaching Data
- 3 Question Management
- 4 Evaluate Subjects
- Report access & use of data
- History & oversight
- Rules for conducting classes
- Managing limited-enrollment subjects
- Managing CI-H/HW subjects
- Non-Registrar rooms
- Equipment policies
- Event registration
- Room & event resources
- Current projects
- Recent projects
- Advising resources
- Proposing a major
- Proposing a minor
- Proposing a graduate program
- Proposing a HASS subject
- Proposing a HASS Concentration
- Proposing a CI-H/HW subject
- Proposing a CI-M subject
- Cross-listed
- Equivalent with Scheduling Relationship (EQSR)
- School-wide elective
- Special subjects
- Subjects involving digital content
- Prerequisites & corequisites
- Calculating instructional units
- Style guide
- Naming a subject
- Title guidelines: special subjects
- Transcript titles: standard abbreviations
- Subject descriptions
- Catalog & schedule coordinators
- Funded projects
- How to apply
- Additional funding sources
- How to nominate
- Former Fellows
- Event archive
- About Margaret MacVicar
- Program supporters
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Subjects: General Issues
- 3 Subjects: GIR Subjects
- 4 Subjects: The Communication Requirement
- 5 Subjects: First-Year Advising Seminars
- 6 Subjects: ROTC Subjects
- 7 Subjects: IAP Subjects
- 8 Subjects: Enrollment Management
- 9 Guidelines for Preparing Subject Proposals
- 10 Curricula: Majors
- 11 Curricula: Minors
- 12 Petitions
- 13 CoC as Advisory Body to Registrar
- 14 Appendix: Excerpts from Rules and Regulations of the Faculty Regarding Degrees
- 15 Appendix: Excerpts from Rules and Regulations of the Faculty Regarding Grades
- 16 Appendix: Degree Programs - Table of Required Votes
- 17 Appendix: Guidelines for Subject Numbering
- Meeting schedule
- Institute Laboratory substitution
- Restricted Elective in Science and Technology (REST) substitution
- CUP reports
Graduate tuition
What you need to know.
The table below reflects standard graduate tuition rates for the 2022-2023 academic year. Amounts are per term, unless noted. Payment of full tuition in the fall or spring terms also covers subjects offered for academic credit during the Independent Activities Period (IAP) in January.
Graduate programs in the Sloan School of Management have their own tuition rates , and certain other graduate programs at MIT also employ “non-standard” tuition . Special students and visiting students should refer to the tuition and fee information specific to them.
Some key points to remember:
- Tuition for thesis students is based on registration and residency status. View our Graduate Thesis Rules tables by year by choosing from the drop-down menu .
- There are a number of additional miscellaneous fees associated with registering at MIT.
- Students who finish their thesis early or withdraw during a term can have their tuition prorated .
- Students in approved programs registering for thesis work or other approved research subjects in the summer are eligible for a summer tuition subsidy .
Quick Links
- Skip to Content
- Bulletin Home
- This Is MIT >
- Graduate Education >
- Around Campus
- Academic Program
- Administration
- Arts at MIT
- Campus Media
- Fraternities, Sororities, and Independent Living Groups
- Medical Services
- Priscilla King Gray Public Service Center
- Religious Organizations
- Student Government
- Work/Life and Family Resources
- Advising and Support
- Digital Learning
- Disability and Access Services
- Information Systems and Technology
- Student Services Center
- Writing and Communication Center
- Major Course of Study
- General Institute Requirements
- Independent Activites Period
- Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program
- First-Year Advising Seminars
- Interphase EDGE/x
- Edgerton Center
- Grading Options
- Study at Other Universities
- Internships Abroad
- Career Advising and Professional Development
- Teacher Licensure and Education
- ROTC Programs
- Financial Aid
- Medical Requirements
- Graduate Study at MIT
- General Degree Requirements
- Other Institutions
- Registration
- Term Regulations and Examination Policies
- Academic Performance and Grades
- Policies and Procedures
- Privacy of Student Records
- Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab
- Art, Culture, and Technology Program
- Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard
- Center for Archaeological Materials
- Center for Bits and Atoms
- Center for Collective Intelligence
- Center for Computational Science and Engineering
- Center for Constructive Communication
- Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research
- Center for Environmental Health Sciences
- Center for Global Change Science
- Center for International Studies
- Center for Real Estate
- Center for Transportation & Logistics
- Clinical Research Center
- Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory
- Concrete Sustainability Hub
- D-Lab
- Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation
- Division of Comparative Medicine
- Haystack Observatory
- Initiative on the Digital Economy
- Institute for Medical Engineering and Science
- Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies
- Institute for Work and Employment Research
- Internet Policy Research Initiative
- Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change
- Knight Science Journalism Program
- Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research
- Laboratory for Financial Engineering
- Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems
- Laboratory for Manufacturing and Productivity
- Laboratory for Nuclear Science
- Legatum Center for Development and Entrepreneurship
- Lincoln Laboratory
- Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship
- Materials Research Laboratory
- McGovern Institute for Brain Research
- Microsystems Technology Laboratories
- MIT Center for Art, Science & Technology
- MIT Energy Initiative
- MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative
- MIT Innovation Initiative
- MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research
- MIT Media Lab
- MIT Open Learning
- MIT Portugal Program
- MIT Professional Education
- MIT Sea Grant College Program
- Nuclear Reactor Laboratory
- Operations Research Center
- Picower Institute for Learning and Memory
- Plasma Science and Fusion Center
- Research Laboratory of Electronics
- Simons Center for the Social Brain
- Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology Centre
- Sociotechnical Systems Research Center
- Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research
- Women's and Gender Studies Program
- Architecture (Course 4)
- Art and Design (Course 4-B)
- Art, Culture, and Technology (SM)
- Media Arts and Sciences
- Planning (Course 11)
- Urban Science and Planning with Computer Science (Course 11-6)
- Aerospace Engineering (Course 16)
- Engineering (Course 16-ENG)
- Biological Engineering (Course 20)
- Chemical Engineering (Course 10)
- Chemical-Biological Engineering (Course 10-B)
- Chemical Engineering (Course 10-C)
- Engineering (Course 10-ENG)
- Engineering (Course 1-ENG)
- Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (Course 6-2)
- Electrical Science and Engineering (Course 6-1)
- Computation and Cognition (Course 6-9)
- Computer Science and Engineering (Course 6-3)
- Computer Science and Molecular Biology (Course 6-7)
- Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (MEng)
- Computer Science and Molecular Biology (MEng)
- Health Sciences and Technology
- Materials Science and Engineering (Course 3)
- Materials Science and Engineering (Course 3-A)
- Archaeology and Materials (Course 3-C)
- Mechanical Engineering (Course 2)
- Mechanical and Ocean Engineering (Course 2-OE)
- Engineering (Course 2-A)
- Nuclear Science and Engineering (Course 22)
- Engineering (Course 22-ENG)
- Anthropology (Course 21A)
- Comparative Media Studies (CMS)
- Writing (Course 21W)
- Economics (Course 14-1)
- Mathematical Economics (Course 14-2)
- Data, Economics, and Development Policy (MASc)
- Global Studies and Languages (Course 21G)
- History (Course 21H)
- Linguistics and Philosophy (Course 24-2)
- Philosophy (Course 24-1)
- Literature (Course 21L)
- Music (Course 21M-1)
- Theater Arts (Course 21M-2)
- Political Science (Course 17)
- Science, Technology, and Society/Second Major (STS)
- Business Analytics (Course 15-2)
- Finance (Course 15-3)
- Management (Course 15-1)
- Biology (Course 7)
- Chemistry and Biology (Course 5-7)
- Brain and Cognitive Sciences (Course 9)
- Chemistry (Course 5)
- Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences (Course 12)
- Mathematics (Course 18)
- Mathematics with Computer Science (Course 18-C)
- Physics (Course 8)
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
- Institute for Data, Systems, and Society
- Chemistry and Biology
- Computation and Cognition
- Computer Science and Molecular Biology
- Computer Science, Economics, and Data Science
- Humanities and Engineering
- Humanities and Science
- Urban Science and Planning with Computer Science
- African and African Diaspora Studies
- American Studies
- Ancient and Medieval Studies
- Applied International Studies
- Asian and Asian Diaspora Studies
- Biomedical Engineering
- Energy Studies
- Entrepreneurship and Innovation
- Environment and Sustainability
- Latin American and Latino/a Studies
- Middle Eastern Studies
- Polymers and Soft Matter
- Public Policy
- Russian and Eurasian Studies
- Statistics and Data Science
- Women's and Gender Studies
- Advanced Urbanism
- Computational and Systems Biology
- Computational Science and Engineering
- Design and Management (IDM & SDM)
- Joint Program with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
- Leaders for Global Operations
- Microbiology
- Operations Research
- Real Estate Development
- Social and Engineering Systems
- Supply Chain Management
- Technology and Policy
- Transportation
- School of Architecture and Planning
- School of Engineering
- Aeronautics and Astronautics Fields (PhD)
- Artificial Intelligence and Decision Making (Course 6-4)
- Biological Engineering (PhD)
- Nuclear Science and Engineering (PhD)
- School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences
- Humanities (Course 21)
- Humanities and Engineering (Course 21E)
- Humanities and Science (Course 21S)
- Sloan School of Management
- School of Science
- Brain and Cognitive Sciences (PhD)
- Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences Fields (PhD)
- Interdisciplinary Programs (SB)
- Computer Science, Economics, and Data Science (Course 6-14)
- Interdisciplinary Programs (Graduate)
- Computation and Cognition (MEng)
- Computer Science, Economics, and Data Science (MEng)
- Real Estate Development (SM)
- Statistics (PhD)
- Supply Chain Management (MEng and MASc)
- Technology and Policy (SM)
- Transportation (SM)
- Aeronautics and Astronautics (Course 16)
- Aerospace Studies (AS)
- Civil and Environmental Engineering (Course 1)
- Comparative Media Studies / Writing (CMS)
- Comparative Media Studies / Writing (Course 21W)
- Computational and Systems Biology (CSB)
- Computational Science and Engineering (CSE)
- Concourse (CC)
- Data, Systems, and Society (IDS)
- Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences (Course 12)
- Economics (Course 14)
- Edgerton Center (EC)
- Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (Course 6)
- Engineering Management (EM)
- Experimental Study Group (ES)
- Global Languages (Course 21G)
- Health Sciences and Technology (HST)
- Linguistics and Philosophy (Course 24)
- Management (Course 15)
- Media Arts and Sciences (MAS)
- Military Science (MS)
- Music and Theater Arts (Course 21M)
- Naval Science (NS)
- Science, Technology, and Society (STS)
- Special Programs
- Supply Chain Management (SCM)
- Urban Studies and Planning (Course 11)
- Women's and Gender Studies (WGS)
Cooperative and Practice-School Programs
Summer tuition subsidy, mit sloan school of management tuition, other programs with non-standard tuition, special student tuition.
Visiting Student Fees
The table below reflects standard graduate tuition rates for the 2022–2023 academic year (which are reviewed and likely to increase next year). Graduate programs in the MIT Sloan School of Management have their own tuition rates . Certain other graduate programs, such as the Real Estate Development master's program and the master's programs in Supply Chain Management, also employ “non-standard” tuition . Special students and visiting students should refer to the tuition and fee information specific to them.
If the student was registered for thesis as a resident student in the immediately preceding term, regular or summer, tuition for thesis will be adjusted after acceptance by the department of the completed document on the basis of a charge of $2,395 per week from the starting date of the term, with a minimum of $2,395 for the master's or engineer's degree and $4,797 for the doctoral degree. If the immediately preceding term was the summer term and if the graduate student was not registered for thesis in that summer term, but was registered for thesis in residence in the previous second term, the minimum tuition for thesis is $14,397.
Key points:
- Tuition for thesis students is based on registration and residency status. The Registrar’s Office provides further tuition information by academic year .
- Resident graduate students making progress toward a degree are expected to register as and are considered full-time students. Tuition is prorated if a student withdraws early.
- A student who continues to hold a fellowship, traineeship, or graduate staff appointment for the remainder of the term after delivery of the thesis is still considered a full-time student and tuition will not be adjusted. In unusual circumstances, the Office of Graduate Education may set special tuition rates for graduate students.
- Students in approved programs registering for thesis work or other approved research subjects in the summer are eligible for a summer tuition subsidy .
- Students who are permitted to undertake nonresident thesis research must register as nonresident doctoral candidates. Following completion of the nonresident period, the student must return to resident status for completion and presentation of the doctoral thesis. If the student requires only part of this first term back in residence to complete the thesis, the tuition will be adjusted subject to a minimum of $14,397. Consult Graduate Policies and Procedures for additional information on nonresident status . The minimum term tuition charge for registration for doctoral thesis upon readmission as a resident student is $43,193 if not registered during the preceding regular term.
The tuition for all regular graduate students, including fellows, trainees, and academic staff in the 2022 summer session was $19,895.
- A number of miscellaneous fees may apply each term, unrelated to tuition.
Cooperative and practice-school programs offered by MIT provide industrial and research experience through a series of work assignments interwoven with regular study at the Institute. The tuition fees for these programs are the same as those for regular graduate students.
Cooperative and practice-school program tuition, per term, fall and spring, 2022–2023
Graduate students who are enrolled in a research degree program and who are not taking subjects are eligible to have their summer tuition subsidized from Institute general funds. The subsidy applies to new or continuing graduate students in normal resident status during the preceding spring term, and who are only registered for thesis or pre-thesis research credit during the summer session.
- Graduate students who register for other summer subjects will be charged tuition on a per unit basis up to the maximum tuition. This tuition may not be charged to research grants.
- Students registering for summer internship subjects are not eligible and will be charged the per unit rate, up to a maximum of four units.
Full details on the Summer Tuition Subsidy [PDF] are available online. Email the Registrar’s Office with questions about the subjects that currently qualify as thesis or pre-thesis in each department.
Graduate students who are enrolled in a research program, and who are not taking courses, will have their summer tuition subsidized (that is, paid from other Institute resources).
MIT Sloan master's programs, annual tuition rate (unless otherwise noted), 2022–2023
Certain other graduate programs have non-standard tuition rates.
Tuition for non-standard programs, 2022–2023
Special students are non-degree students who are taking classes at MIT for personal or professional reasons.
- Graduate special students, including Sloan students, should contact the Advanced Study Program for information about admission and tuition rates.
- There are additional miscellaneous fees associated with registering at MIT.
Visiting Student Fees
Students who are pursuing a degree at an institution of higher education other than MIT and have been invited by faculty in an MIT department, laboratory, or center to do research here may apply for visiting student status. Current regular or special MIT students, or MIT students who have withdrawn or are on a leave of absence, are not eligible.
Visiting students are subject to a monthly fee that includes registration, MIT's Student Health Insurance Plan (SHIP) , and student life fees. The fee entitles visiting students to conduct research, use our fitness facilities, participate in student life programming, and have access to care at MIT Medical. Full monthly fees are charged regardless of whether the student starts on the first or the 15th of the month. The total fee for the duration of their stay must be paid in full and in advance. Additional costs will be applied for those who wish to enroll family members in SHIP.
Visiting student fees, 2022–2023
withdrawal.
A student withdrawing before the start of a term is not charged any tuition for that term and any tuition payments previously made for that term will be refunded. Students withdrawing during the fall or spring term are charged one-twelfth of the stated tuition for the term for each week from the starting date of the term, with a minimum two-week charge. A student must pay full tuition and fees at the beginning of the term. Any subsequent reduction in fees is based on the date that cancellation of a subject or withdrawal from the Institute is effected. At that time, any excess payments which the student has made will be refunded.
All students pay a student life fee each term. Late registration or applications may result in additional fees. See the Academic Calendar for relevant dates and deadlines.
Miscellaneous student fees*, 2022–2023
Processing charges for late changes in registration.
A late change in registration , which requires a petition to the Office of Graduate Education, is defined as adding a subject after the fifth week or dropping a subject during the last three weeks of a term. The processing charge for late changes is $50. There is an additional charge of $50 for a retroactive change after the end of the term.
Student Health Insurance
Payment of tuition entitles all regular and special students to receive many health care services at MIT Medical at no charge. The MIT Student Health Insurance Plan (SHIP) covers hospitalization due to accidents or illness, along with other services and prescription medications, and meets the state’s requirement for comprehensive health insurance.
Enrollment in MIT SHIP is automatic for full-time students, unless they can demonstrate that they have comparable coverage through another insurance program, in which case they may submit an online request to waive coverage . Complete details on MIT SHIP are available on the MIT Medical website.
MIT Student Health Insurance, cost per year for single student, 2022–2023
Students can also purchase MIT SHIP coverage for family members, including partners and dependents. Refer to the Medical Requirements section for additional details or read more about the MIT Student Health Insurance Plan .
Graduate Payment of Tuition and Other Charges
An individual who registers as a student at MIT agrees to pay all charges on their account when due, and acknowledges that the Institute may charge a hold fee, suspend registration, revoke Institute services, and withhold the degree if these charges are not paid.
Student Financial Services (SFS) gathers, bills, and collects student charges and provides a student account statement of all activity. These charges originate in the offices from which the student receives Institute services. SFS bills by posting a monthly billing statement on MITPay —MIT's secure, online billing and payment system. The statement is posted on the 10th of the month and SFS sends students a monthly email reminder to check the statement and pay any balance due. The statement includes charges (e.g., tuition, fees, housing, and library fees), payments (financial aid, tuition awards), additional amounts due, and payment deadlines.
Payment in full or a satisfactory arrangement for payment is due by August 1 for the fall term and by January 1 for the spring term. New charges that occur after the initial statement will appear on a subsequent statement. If a student anticipates that they may not be able to pay the entire amount due by the term bill due date, they should consider the MIT Monthly Payment Plan.
The MIT Monthly Payment Plan allows students to pay their balance in monthly installments interest-free. The terms and conditions of the monthly payment plan are available on the SFS website. Enrollment can be accessed through MITPay.
SFS also offers information on federal student loan programs as additional options for eligible U.S. citizens and permanent residents.
A student who does not pay the balance due or make satisfactory arrangements for doing so will have a registration or degree hold placed, as well as being charged a hold fee of $100. The balance due, including the hold fee, must be paid in full before the hold can be released.
Notifications to Graduate Students with Unpaid Balances
In the fifth week of the term, SFS will reach out to graduate students who have an unpaid balance on their student account and who have not made satisfactory arrangements for payment of the balance. These students will be notified of MIT’s financial hold policy through the billing system as well as by email. SFS will send out a second reminder email and billing notification after the 11th week of the term, again notifying students of MIT’s financial hold policy.
Policy on Graduate Student Financial Holds and Other Actions
Graduate students who have not paid their prior term balances or made satisfactory arrangements to resolve their financial situation will not be allowed to register for subsequent terms, will not receive credit retroactively, will be charged a $100 hold fee, and may be restricted from Institute services. The student account must be paid in full before a degree can be awarded.
Student accounts unpaid after the student has left MIT for any reason may be reported to credit bureau agencies and/or sent to an outside collection agency and assessed additional fees on the outstanding balance. Please visit the SFS website for more information and to review the Student Financial Responsibility Statement .
Print this page.
The PDF includes all information on this page and its related tabs. Subject (course) information includes any changes approved for the current academic year.
EDUCATION @ MIT MECHE
Pursue your vision in a meche graduate program.
Earning a graduate degree from MechE hones your engineering skills through project-based learning, arming you with the technical acumen, creative spirit, and real-world experience to make a difference in the areas that matter to you most.
Scroll to Explore
- Grad Student Resources
- Applying for Admission
- Financial Support
- Enrolling Once Admitted
- Professional Development
Explore Our Graduate Programs
- News + Media
- Student Groups
MIT Graduate Admissions Policy Update
For the 2022 and 2023 graduate admission process, given the potential difficulty in access to testing due to the Covid-19 outbreak, the department of Mechanical Engineering will not require GRE tests for applications for graduate admission for 2022 and 2023. We will thus not use GRE scores as a basis for evaluating candidates for admission in the 2023 application process.
We offer 9 Graduate Degrees
Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering (SMME)
Master of Science in Ocean Engineering (SMOE)
Master of Science in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering (SMNAME)
Master of Science in Oceanographic Engineering (SMOGE, joint MIT/WHOI degree)
Master of Engineering in Manufacturing
Mechanical Engineer’s (ME) Degree
Naval Engineer’s (NE) Degree
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) or Doctor of Science (ScD), which differs in name only (this includes the joint MIT/WHOI degrees)
Dual degree with Leaders for Global Operations (LGO) Program in MIT Sloan School of Management (Please go to the following website: https://lgo.mit.edu/ to learn more about applying through LGO.)
Meet Some of Our Students
Founder, Disease Diagnostic Group
design as a way of life
Designing vehicles that drive, fly — and swim
Graduate Resources
- Guide to Graduate Study
- Key Dates and Deadlines
- Fabrication shops
- Graduate Qualifying Exam Guide
- Communications Lab
Graduate Program News + Media
Learning Through Creation
Class 2.00a, Fundamentals of Engineering Design: Explore Space, Sea and Earth, empowers first-year students to build machines early in their academic careers at MIT.
A factory for FrEDs at MIT
For their master's thesis, a group of Master of Engineering in Advanced Manufacturing and Design students designed a low-cost desktop fiber extrusion device and set up an assembly factory inside an MIT lab.
MIT.nano Immersion Lab Gaming Program awards third annual seed grants
Associate Professor Jeehwan Kim is developing a microLED/pupillary dilation-based gaze tracker and electronic, skin-based, controller-free motion tracker for next-generation AR/VR human computer interface.
Meet Some of Our Faculty
- bioengineering
Join a Student Group, Or Two
Alumni spotlight.
CEO, Rivian Automotive
Retired Navy Rear Admiral
Chief Technology Officer, Cummins
Graduate Office Contacts
- Diversity & Inclusion
- Community Values
- Visiting MIT Physics
- People Directory
- Faculty Awards
- History of MIT Physics
- Policies and Procedures
- Departmental Committees
- Academic Programs Team
- Finance Team
- Meet the Academic Programs Team
- Prospective Students
- Requirements
- Employment Opportunities
- Research Opportunities
- Graduate Admissions
- Doctoral Guidelines
- Financial Support
- Graduate Student Resources
- PhD in Physics, Statistics, and Data Science
- MIT LEAPS Program
- for Undergraduate Students
- for Graduate Students
- Mentoring Programs Info for Faculty
- Non-degree Programs
- Student Awards & Honors
- Astrophysics Observation, Instrumentation, and Experiment
- Astrophysics Theory
- Atomic Physics
- Condensed Matter Experiment
- Condensed Matter Theory
- High Energy and Particle Theory
- Nuclear Physics Experiment
- Particle Physics Experiment
- Quantum Gravity and Field Theory
- Quantum Information Science
- Strong Interactions and Nuclear Theory
- Center for Theoretical Physics
- Affiliated Labs & Centers
- Program Founder
- Competition
- Donor Profiles
- Patrons of Physics Fellows Society
- Giving Opportunties
- [email protected] Journal
- Events Calendar
- Physics Colloquia
- Search for: Search
For Graduate Students
The MIT Department of Physics has a graduate population of between 260 and 290 students, with approximately 45 students starting and graduating each year. Almost all students are pursuing a PhD degree in Physics, typically studying for 5 to 7 years and with the following degree structure:
Elements of the Doctoral Degree in Physics:
This is a roadmap for the path through our doctoral program. Each category is an element needed to complete your degree. Further information is available by clicking the accordion and links.. Read our Doctoral Guidelines PDF for more complete information.
Core Requirements – Written Exams/Classes
Students demonstrate knowledge in 4 four areas. Each of the Core Requirements can be satisfied either by:
- passing a written exam ; or
- receiving a qualifying grade in a related class.
A B+ grade or above in the related subject satisfies the requirement in:
- Classical Mechanics ( 8.309 )
- Electricity & Magnetism ( 8.311 )
- Quantum Mechanics ( 8.321 )
- Statistical Mechanics ( 8.333 )
See the Written Examination section of the General Doctoral Examination page for more information.
Fall 2023 Written Exam
Fall 2023 written exam schedule.
Date: To be posted May 2023 Location: TBA
The Physics Written Exams will be given as 4 separate sections. Incoming students have the option to take any or all sections before formally starting their studies.
NOTE: Students planning on taking the Written Exam in any term should file an Exam Application with the Academic Programs Office no later than one week prior to the exam.
Required Classes – Specialty & Breadth
In addition to the demonstrated proficiency in the 4 subject in the Written Exams, graduate students must take 4-5 additional subject classes in Physics Specialty and Breadth areas .
- The Specialty Area builds proficiency related to the student’s research area, with 2 subject classes required (3 in NUPAT) from the pre-approved Specialty Area chart.
- The Breadth Area extends the student’s knowledge beyond their research area with 2 subject classes in different areas of Physics. The pre-approved Breadth Area chart lists many options.
- Oral Exams are given in each Research Areas
- Team of 3 faculty examiners
- Research Supervision Form
- Research Co-Supervision Form
- Starting research work with the Supervisor’s Group
- After completing the Oral Exam
- Forming a Committee and Submitting a Thesis Proposal
Thesis Committee and Proposal
- Generally by the beginning of third year, after completing Oral Exam
- Submitting a Thesis Committee Proposal
- Completing the Committee
- Holding the first meeting
- Thesis Proposal Cover Sheet
- PHD Thesis Proposal Form
- SM Thesis Proposal Form
Preparing to Complete the Degree – Final Year
- Submitting any necessary requests for any subject substitutions, if needed.
- Consulting with Thesis Supervisor about scheduling the Thesis Defense
- International Students – Consulting International Students Office with post-completion plans
- Writing up Research in final Thesis document
Defense of Thesis Research
Student defends Thesis Research to Committee Members
Written Thesis
- Formatting Thesis
Thesis Submission and Degree Completion
- Submission of Written Thesis for MIT Archives
- Fill out the Degree Application through the student section of WebSIS . Petitioning to be on the degree list for a particular commencement is required. Note that it is easier to be removed from the degree list to be added, so students are encouraged to apply for the degree list if there is any reasonable chance they will complete the PhD in the coming term.
- Full Guidelines and Policies for the MIT Physics PhD program
- Progress Benchmarks and Nominal Timetable (found under Academic Issues section)
- Written General Exam Samples and Study Materials
- Catalog of Class Subject Descriptions
- In-depth information for Prospective Applicants
Note : Due to COVID limitations, we are not currently hosting or meeting with outside visitors in person, nor are we facilitating visits to our classrooms. Current graduate students and prospective applicants should direct any questions by email to [email protected] .
- Student Resources
- Chemistry Directory
- Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee
- Our Community Values
- Our History
- Quality of Life Committee
- Areas of Research
- Facilities and Centers
- Instructors
- Postdoctoral Research and Resources
- Graduate Program
- Undergraduate Programs
- Chemistry Undergraduate Teaching Laboratory
- Our Chemistry Education Office
- Elementary Schools
- High Schools
- Community Relations and Outreach
- Contact our Development Officer
- Funds to Support
- Meet Our Major Supporters
Thesis Preparation
The following information is provided to assist Chemistry graduate students as they prepare their theses. If graduate students have any questions that are not answered by this guide, they should email the Chemistry Education Office (questions about department policies) or MIT Libraries (for questions about thesis formatting, etc.)
Degree candidates must fill out the Degree Application via WebSIS at the start of the term. Important dates and deadlines (including late fees) for the upcoming academic year are listed below. It is strongly advised that degree candidates apply for the degree list even if there is uncertainty about completing the thesis defense and submission by the deadline, as there are no penalties for being removed from the degree list.
Students must successfully complete the thesis defense before submitting their final, signed thesis.
**Please note that the Specifications for Thesis Preparation were updated in November 2022. Please make sure you use these new guidelines.**
Important Dates & Deadlines
September 2022 degree list.
- Degree Application Deadline: June 10, 2022 ($50 late fee if submitted after this date, $85 late fee if submitted after July 15,2022)
- Thesis Title Deadline:July 15, 2022 ($85 late fee if submitted after this date. If your thesis title is not finalized by this date, please enter your current working title and the final title can be updated later)
- Thesis Submission Deadline: August 12, 2022
- Last day of work in the lab: on or before August 31, 2022. If you plan to end your RA appointment earlier than August 31, 2022, please contact Jennifer to review your timeline.
- Your degree will officially be conferred by MIT on September 21, 2022
- Information about the MIT Health Plan and graduation will be available online here.
February 2023 Degree List
- Degree Application Deadline: September 9, 2022 ($50 late fee if submitted after this date, $85 late fee if submitted after December 16, 2022)
- Thesis Title Deadline: December 16, 2022 ($85 late fee if submitted after this date. If your thesis title is not finalized by this date, please enter your current working title and the final title can be updated later)
- Thesis Submission Deadline: January 20, 2023
- Last day of work in the lab: on or before January 15, 2023. If you plan to end your RA appointment earlier than January 15, 2023, please contact Jennifer to review your timeline.
- Your degree will officially be conferred by MIT on February 15, 2023
June 2023 Degree List
- Degree Application Deadline: February 10, 2023 ($50 late fee if submitted after this date, $85 late fee if submitted after April 14, 2023)
- Thesis Title Deadline: April 14, 2023 ($85 late fee if submitted after this date. If your thesis title is not finalized by this date, please enter your current working title and the final title can be updated later)
- Thesis Submission Deadline: May 12, 2023
- Last day of work in the lab: on or before May 31, 2023. If you plan to end your RA appointment earlier than May 31, 2023, please contact Jennifer to review your timeline.
- Your degree will officially be conferred by MIT on June 1, 2023
Scheduling your Thesis Defense
All PhD candidates must have a Thesis Defense. As soon as your defense is finalized, please email the Chemistry Education Office with the date, time, location, and thesis title . Thesis defenses are strongly encouraged to be in-person. If there are questions or concerns about an in-person defense, please reach out to Jennifer Weisman. When thesis defenses are on campus, we recommend reserving a room once the defense date is finalized, student can reserve department rooms through the online scheduling system or request a classroom via this form .
Degree candidates should provide their advisor with a copy of the thesis at least two weeks before the defense and provide their thesis committee chair and member with a copy at least one week before the defense. However, degree candidates should talk with their advisor, committee chair, and committee member to find out if they need the thesis further in advance or if there are preferred formats. Degree candidates should allow time in between their thesis defense and the submission deadline to make edits and submit the final copies.
Please note that most receiving a PhD degree are required to present a seminar as part of the thesis defense. This seminar is open to the department. The degree candidate is responsible for providing the Chemistry Education Office with information about their thesis defense at least two weeks ahead of time. Following the seminar, the candidate will meet privately with the thesis committee.
Thesis Formatting
The Institute has very specific requirements for thesis preparation, which were updated in November 2022. Specifications for Thesis Preparation is available on the library’s website and should be read very carefully. The MIT Thesis FAQ may answer additional questions and a helpful checklist is also provided. The specifications also include information about copyright and use of previously published material in a thesis . Do not rely on any templates or prior theses from your research group – they may not reflect the most current guidelines. We have highlighted some especially important points below.
Font & Spacing
Title page & committee signature page.
- The title page of the first copy will be digitally signed by the author, advisor, and Professor Adam Willard. The title page should contain the title, name of the author, previous degrees, the degree(s) to be awarded at MIT, the date the degree(s) will be conferred (May, September, or February only), copyright notice, and appropriate names and signatures. Degrees are awarded in Chemistry, regardless of your specific research area. Regardless of when you defend or submit your thesis, the date of degree conferral must be May/June, September, or February.
- As noted above, the title page will be signed by you, your advisor, and Professor Willard. You do not need to have Professor Willard digitally sign the thesis before you submit it, we will arrange to have him sign it. If your advisor has a title (ex., Firmenich Professor of Chemistry) it should also be included under their name. If you are not sure if they have a title, you can consult the Faculty Directory . Professor Willard should have the following listed under his name, on two separate lines: Associate Professor of Chemistry; Graduate Officer
- Each student should place the appropriate copyright notice on the thesis title page. Copyright notice consists of four elements: the symbol “c” with a circle around it © and/or the word “copyright; the year of publication (the year in which the degree is to be awarded); the name of the copyright owner; and the words “All rights reserved.” Please carefully review the copyright information to determine the appropriate copyright ownership.
- The date under Signature of Author should be the date the final thesis is signed and submitted to the department.
- The title page is always considered to be page 1, and every page must be included in the count regardless of whether a number would be physically printed on a page. We recommend that you do not include the page number on the title page.
- There is also a signature page that will be digitally signed by your entire thesis committee. Your advisor will digitally sign your thesis twice, on the title page and signature page. The signature page is right after the title page.
- More details about digital signatures are provided below.
Table of Contents
Final thesis submission, general submission process.
Please carefully review the details below, including the file naming format . There are two steps to the final submissions process:
1. Submit the following documents to the Department of Chemistry:
- An electronic copy of your thesis in PDF/A-1 format (with no signatures)
- A PDF of the digitally signed title page and committee signature page (using DocuSign to obtain signatures)
Please send an email to your advisor, Jennifer Weisman, and William McCoy, which includes the 2 PDFs above and the following text:
“Dear Professor/Dr X: Attached is the final version of my thesis. Please use reply-all to this message to indicate your acceptance of my thesis document and your recommendation for certification by my department.”
2. Submit your information to MIT Libraries here . Choose to opt-in or opt-out of ProQuest license and publication. Include the same copyright and license information that is on your thesis title page.
Details for Thesis Submission Process
- After the defense, the student and thesis committee reach agreement on the final thesis document.
- Students should follow the format specifications as stated in the Specifications for Thesis Preparation . Do not print or physically sign pages.
- Students will have the thesis signed electronically through DocuSign. This process is described in detail in the section below.
- The title page is always considered to be page 1, and every page must be included in the count regardless of whether a number is physically printed on a page. The entire thesis (including title page, prefatory material, illustrations, and all text and appendices) must be paginated in one consecutive numbering sequence. Your committee signature page should be page 2. Please see the Sample Title Page and committee signature page for reference.
- You will still include the title page and committee signature page in the full thesis PDF, they just won’t have any signatures.
- The digitally signed title page and committee signature pages should be in one PDF, separate from the thesis document. This avoids a DocuSign tag at the top of each page of the full thesis. Please use the following naming convention: authorLastName-kerb-degree-dept-year-sig.pdf (ex., montgomery-mssimon-phd-chemistry-2021-sig.pdf).
- Students should save their final thesis document as a PDF using the following file naming convention: authorLastName-kerb-degree-dept-year-thesis .pdf (ex., montgomery-mssimon-phd-chemistry-2021-thesis.pdf).
- Students should not deposit the PDF of their thesis via the Libraries Library’s voluntary submission portal, as may have been required previously as they may have been required to do previously.
- Please send an email to your advisor, Jennifer, and William which includes the final thesis document and file with the digitally signed title/committee signature pages with the following text:
Please also complete the MIT Doctoral Student Exit Survey and your Laboratory Safety Clearance Form .
Digital Signatures
Please see here for a full guide (with screenshots) to using DocuSign to obtain digital signatures
Required Signatures:
These should be everyone’s uploaded digital signatures in their own handwriting, not one of the pre-formatted signatures created by DocuSign.
- Your signature on the thesis title page
- Your advisor’s signature on both the title page and committee signature page
- Your thesis committee chair’s and member’s signatures on the committee signature page
- You do not need to have Adam Willard sign your title page, the Chemistry Education Office will take care of that
- Full thesis with no signatures (including unsigned title page and thesis committee signature page)
- Title page and committee signature page with signatures via DocuSign
Accessing DocuSign
Thesis Hold Requests
Details about requesting a thesis hold are available here and the requests are made to different offices based on the type of request. Please note that planned or pending submissions to scholarly journals related to thesis work will not be considered for thesis holds.
Written notification of patent holds and other restrictions must reach the MIT Libraries before the thesis in question is received by the MIT Libraries. Theses will not be available to the public prior to being published by the MIT Libraries. The Libraries may begin publishing theses in [email protected] one month and one week from the last day of classes.
Graduate Student Exit Interviews
In order to best serve the educational, scientific, and social needs of graduate students in the Chemistry Department, it is critically important that Departmental leadership be appropriately informed of issues of importance to graduate students, ideally on an ongoing basis. Graduate student exit interviews provide information that alert the Department to acute issues that affect graduate students and provide data for longitudinal assessments of graduate student experience within the program.Graduate exit interviews are administered to all graduate students departing the Chemistry Department. The exit interview applies equally to graduate students departing with completed degrees (Ph.D. and M.S.) and without degrees.
- Graduating students will be sent a list of interview questions by the Chemistry Education Office when the student joins the degree list. Instructions about scheduling a time for the in-person or virtual discussion will be included with other informational correspondence from the Chemistry Education Office regarding degree completion. Graduating students will perform their exit interview after the thesis defense so as to avoid making the interview an additional burden.
- For students departing the program without a degree, the interview questions and instructions for scheduling an in-person discussion will be sent by the Chemistry Education Office at the point in time that a date for termination of their appointment in Chemistry is determined.
- For the majority of departing students, this interview coincides with the end of the semester, but a rolling schedule of surveys is anticipated.
Postdoctoral/Research Specialist Appointments
If you plan to transition to a postdoctoral/research specialist appointment within the Department of Chemistry at MIT, please contact Jennifer Weisman and Chemistry HR as soon as possible. Your final signed thesis must be submitted before a postdoc appointment can start. If you are an international student, it is extremely important that you start this process early to allow sufficient timing for visa processing. In addition to talking with Jennifer and HR, please consult with the International Students Office .
- => Start here
- Grad Housing FAQ
- News & video
- Other resources
- Career planning
- Student looking to start a company
- Student who already formed a company
- Serving on the board of an MIT member’s existing company
- Student who wants to work as a consultant
- Tips for supporting & working with students
- 2021 Program
- 2021 Application
- Student leadership
- Professional development
- 2021: Georgia Van de Zande
- 2020: Olivia Brode-Roger
- 2019: Andrew Turner and Claire Kim
- 2018: Or Gadish
- 2017: Cauam Ferreira Cardoso
- 2015: George Chen and Ramesh Sridharan
- 2013: Joe Steinmeyer and Tony Tao
- 2012: Adrian Chi-Yan Liu
- 2011: Taylor Barton
- 2010: Zhe Lu and Yoda Patta
- Regular student
- International student
- Special student
- Part time status
- Nonresident status
- Visiting student
- Exchange student
- Transfer student
- Institute research staff
- Status of registration
- Retention of student status
- Medical report requirement
- Academic terms
- Tuition and fees
- Add/Drop/Change
- Listener status
- Medical leave and return overview
- Medical leave and return policy
- Medical leave and return procedure
- Personal leave
- Childbirth Accommodation and Parental Leave
- Leave for U.S. National Service
- Withdrawal, readmission
- Denials of further registration
- Registration holds
- Cross registration
- Graduate Consortium in Women’s Studies
- MIT International Science and Technology Initiatives
- Exchange Scholar Program
- Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology
- Other interdisciplinary study and research
- Graduate academic standards
- Excused absences
- Cumulative rating
- Subject credits and designations
- Grade reports and transcripts
- Master of Science
- Master of Engineering
- Master of Architecture
- Master in City Planning
- Engineer’s degree
- Master of Applied Science
- Master of Business Administration
- Master of Finance
- Simultaneous registration for two master’s degrees
- Simultaneous award of bachelor’s and master’s degrees
- Language proficiency
- Interdisciplinary doctoral degree
- Interdisciplinary engineer’s degree
- Interdisciplinary master’s degree
- Nonresident doctoral thesis research status
- Holds and restrictions on thesis publication
- Copyright and intellectual property policies
- Preparation of graduate theses
- Thesis research in absentia
- Joint theses
- Degrees offered
- Diploma format
- MEng considerations
- I-9 obligations
- Instructor-G and teaching assistants
- Research assistants
- Terms of appointment
- Tuition and stipend payments
- Registration units
- Graduate resident advisors
- Finding employment
- International students
- Consultant work
- Veteran Benefits
- Departmental committees
- Committee on Graduate Programs
- Graduate Officers
- Graduate administrators
- Student and faculty
- Student and department
- Student and Institute
- Conflict of interest, commitment
- Research and teaching assistants
- Academic integrity
- Cost of attendance
- Transition Support Coordinators
- MIT Grant for Graduate Students with Children
- Graduate Student Short-Term Emergency Fund
- Doctoral Long-Term Financial Hardship Funding
- Identity Theft
- Food Insecurity
- Transitioning out of school
- Helpful Links
- Why a fellowship?
- What are granting organizations looking for?
- What does a typical application include?
- Before you apply
- How to get a fellowship
- Drafting a personal statement
- Drafting a research proposal
- Recommendation letters
- Tips for specific fellowships
- How to keep a fellowship
- Presidential Graduate Fellowship Program
- OGE fellowships
- Hugh Hampton Young Fellowship
- External fellowships
- iGrad scholarship database
- Study abroad grants
- Sample fellowship budget
- FAQs about student unionization
- Helpful Tax-related Links
- C2C Nomination Form
- Mentoring Guideposts
- Daron Acemoglu
- Athulya Aravind
- Alfredo Alexander-Katz
- Emilio Baglietto
- John Belcher
- Kristin Bergmann
- Ed Bertschinger
- Cullen Buie
- Kerri Cahoy
- Gabriella Carolini
- Paola Cappellaro
- Janet Conrad
- Cathy Drennan
- Anna Frebel
- Ahmed Ghoniem
- Amy Glasmeier
- Jeff Grossman
- Paula Hammond
- Wesley Harris
- Colette Heald
- Tim Jamison
- Caroline Jones
- Kate Kellogg
- Leslie Kolodziejski
- Jesse Kroll
- Gene-Wei Li
- John Lienhard
- Karthish Manthiram
- Anna Mikusheva
- Eytan Modiano
- Susan Murcott
- Bradley Olsen
- Heather Paxson
- Agustin Rayo
- Rebecca Saxe
- Warren Seering
- Matthew Shoulders
- Hadley Sikes
- Susan Silbey
- Alex Slocum
- Frank Solomon
- Gigliola Staffilani
- Justin Steil
- Larry Susskind
- David Trumper
- Harry Tuller
- Evelyn Wang
- Dennis Whyte
- Kamal Youcef-Toumi
- Jinhua Zhao
- Ezra Zuckerman Sivan
- Sexual Assault Prevention online module
- Fund for Graduate Community
- Current Fellow positions
- Request a new Fellow position
- Nikita Bansal
- Sarah Bening
- Helena Briones
- Aspen Hopkins
- Jennifer Hu
- Sidhant Pai
- Soyoung Park
- Michael Payne
- Daniel Rosengard
- Emily Salvador
- Tahoura Samad
- Alexander Shcherbakov
- Raspberry Simpson
- Kassi Stein
- Claire Webb
- Graduate Student Appreciation Week
- Apply for funding
- Promote your events
- Check other resources
- Funded in 2021-2022
- Funded in 2020-2021
- Funded in 2019-2020
- Funded in 2018-19
- Funded in 2017-18
- Funded in 2016-17
- Funded in 2015-16
- Funded in 2014-15
- Funded in 2013-14
- Funded in 2012-13
- Funded in 2011-12
- Funded in 2010-11
- Funded in 2009-10
- Funded in 2008-09
- Funded in 2007-08
- Funded in 2006-07
- Funded in 2005-06
- Funded in 2004-05
- Funded in 2003-04
- Funded in 2002-03
- Archive: 2017 Video
- Childbirth Accommodation and Parental Leave: Student FAQ
- Childbirth Accommodation and Parental Leave: School & Department FAQ
- DEI Resources
- Graduate application resources for prospective students
- Arthur Brown
- Alvin Harvey
- Mohamed Ismail
- Myles Sampson
- Bianca Lepe
- Juana Delao
- Cesar Dominguez
- Manraj Gill
- Christian Loyo
- Oscar Molina
- Giselle Valdes
- Tiwalayo Eisape
- James Levi Knippel
- Andrea N. Marcano-Delgado
- Axel Vera Sanchez
- Miela Gross
- Lelia Hampton
- Alvaro Sahagun
- Christian Landeros
- Kasie Uddoh
- Michael West
- Pedro Colon-Hernandez
- Ayse Guvenilir
- Raechel Walker
- Randi Williams
- Erica Salazar
- Enid Cruz-Colón
- Alejandro Jimenez Jaramillo
- GradDiversity Newsletter
- Graduate Student of Color Advisory Council
- MIT RISE Awards
- Ignite community series
- MOSAIC: MIT Outstanding Scholars. Achieve. Inspire. Change.
- University Center for Exemplary Mentoring (UCEM)
- GradCatalyst
- Eligibility Criteria
- MSRP Faculty Mentors
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Letícia Cardoso da Costa
- Ashley Hartwell
- Guillermo Herrera Arcos
- Ifueko Igbinedion
- Amanuella Mengiste
- Aaron Stinnett
- Mohammed Toure
- Sheena Vasquez
- Lindsey Backman
- Jesus Dones-Monroig
- Shahrin Islam
- Britney Johnson
- David Larson
- Inderraj Singh Grewal
- Cristina C. Torres Caban
- Renee Blackburn
- Sandy Booker
- Lucas Caretta
- Khalil Ramadi
- Candace Ross
- Malik Wagih
- Camila Acevedo Carrillo
- Fernando A. Acosta Pérez
- Abigail M. Adams
- Valerie Aguilar Dellisanti
- Naomi Aladekoba
- Mariam Alaverdian
- Ann-Marsha Alexis
- Mohini Anand
- Jevon Ashman
- Teona Bagashvili
- Christopher Bain
- Ekua Beneman
- Esteban Bermúdez-Berríos
- Florencia Burian
- Jackson Burns
- Diego Castro Estrada
- Carlos Catalano Santiago
- Maison Clouatre
- Arianna H. Colón Cesaní
- Florencia Corbo-Ferreira
- Manuel Cortes
- Octavio E. Lima
- Sebastian (Sebo) Diaz
- Maximino DiGiacomo-Castillo
- Samuel Figueroa
- Adrian Florea
- Andrea S. Flores Pérez
- Aldrin James Gaffud
- Jesse Garcia de Alva
- Isabella Almeida Guilherme
- Harley Gutierrez
- Laila Hayes
- Mohamed Fadil Isamotu
- Akram Ismail
- Christina James
- JiWoong Jang
- Anjali Kantharuban
- Sophia Keniston
- Cameron Kilpatrick
- Akshat Kumar
- Adriana Ladera
- Kiara Lewis
- Christian Lubin
- Fatima Madondo
- Guilherme Mainieri Eymael
- Tobi Majekodunmi
- Christina Marquez
- Ximena Mercado Garcia
- Jessica Mindel
- Lauren Moore
- Paola M. Morales-Carvajal
- Carlos Morell Rodriguez
- Phuc (Jerry) Ngo
- Cindy Serena Ngompe Massado
- Aliyah Osman
- Audrey Parker
- Ymbar Polanco Pino
- Brandon Rios
- Pedro E. Rivera-Cardona
- Isadora Rocha De Abreu
- Jehan Shalabi
- Divjyot Singh
- Reehan Siraj
- Xavier Smith
- Nadir Talha
- Taylor Talley
- Micah Thorpe
- Hurum Maksora Tohfa
- Manuel Torregrosa
- Brian Valladares
- Chantaly Villalona
- Gianna Williams
- Alejandro Aponte
- Luis Baldelomar Pinto
- Allison Chen
- Makaya Chilekwa
- Jerrell Cockerham
- Barak Davidi
- Autumn Deitrick
- Hawa Dembele
- Jeandele Elliot
- Tyler Gonzales
- Ivan Herrero
- Nadine Humphrey
- Devin Hunter
- Shira Jackson
- Nilreign Johnson
- Madison Kane
- Manuel La Torre-Poueymirou
- Karla Magaña
- Andrea Marcano-Delgado
- Ralitsa Mihaylova
- Favour Obuseh
- Bhargav Poudel
- Christopher Shallal
- Julia Simon
- Ebonye Smith
- Andria Tattersfield
- Marissa Vera
- Tyler White
- Chichezum Adibe
- Skye Bristol
- Mikayla Buford
- Nicolette Bugher
- Angel Chavira
- Stephen Colar Jr.
- Sara Davila
- Jonah Fields
- Angélica García-Macías
- Alana Gonzales
- Alejandro Gracia-Zhang
- Rafael Guerrafuentes
- Mariella Hansen
- Kemo Jammeh
- Kennard Johnston
- Valeria Juarez
- Tanja Kovacevic
- Manuel La Torre Poueymirou
- Luiz Fernando Leal Gomes
- Joyceline Marealle
- James Obute
- Junior Pena
- Felicia Rodriguez
- Allison Rojas
- Celia Sanchez Zelaya
- Joseph Schmidt
- James Spann
- Christian Strong
- Danilo Symonette
- Ursan Tchouteng Njike
- Nathalie Thelemaque
- Amanda Toledo Barrios
- Maria Vargas-Rivera
- Haley Warren
- Jaquesta Adams
- Mariam Ahmed
- Mayar Allam
- Kuba Anglin
- Malik Blackman
- Joseph Lance Casila
- Stephen Colar
- Gustavo Correa
- Leticia Costa
- Albert Djikeng
- Soala Ekine
- Al-Jalil Gault
- Louis Gomez
- Samuel Dutra Gollob
- Luis Felipe Gonzalez
- Oscar Gonzalez
- Ivan Alexander Herrero Loza
- Morgan Jones
- Emmanuel Kayiwa
- Janique Lee
- Ansar Lemon
- Joshua Lewis
- Jairo Maldonado-Contreras
- Jemaris Martes Villalobos
- Nicole Montoya
- Anisha Nakagawa
- Andrea Naranjo-Soledad
- Kingsley Nwosu
- Christopher Reis
- Aubrey Simonson
- Cora Touchstone
- Jean Carlos Vega Díaz
- Akinola Akinbote
- Luis Hurtado
- Recruitment events
- Additional resources
- Contact GradDiversity Staff
Prior to inclusion on a degree list, copies of each accepted thesis shall be delivered to the headquarters of the department or program in which the candidate is registered. The academic department delivers the required number of copies no later than one month after the end of the term in which the thesis was accepted to the MIT Libraries, which preserves and makes available the original and copies of the thesis. The Institute is committed to the preservation of each student’s thesis because it is both a requirement for the MIT degree and a record of original research that contains information of continuing value.
Guidance on the physical preparation of theses is described in the Specifications for Thesis Preparation , a manual published annually by the Director of Libraries as prescribed by the Committee on Graduate Programs for graduate theses. The manual specifies the number of copies to be submitted and explains the policies concerning copyright, temporary restrictions, and substitution of pages.
The technical requirements for the thesis are also explained. Each thesis submitted for an advanced MIT degree must conform to these specifications. Individual departments may dictate more stringent requirements. Individual departments, not the MIT Libraries, are responsible for the quality of the copies provided to the Institute Archives. Additional advice and assistance in thesis preparation are available from the MIT Libraries.
Master’s and doctoral theses may be submitted electronically. The process for electronic thesis submission is described on the website for the MIT Libraries.
Abstracts of all doctoral theses (PhD and ScD) will be submitted to ProQuest/UMI for inclusion in their publication ProQuest Dissertations & Theses . Each doctoral candidate must complete the UMI form . ProQuest forms will be submitted to the department along with the thesis PDF. The completed ProQuest form, unsigned thesis title page, and thesis abstract page should be a single PDF that combines all 3 documents.
Students receiving advanced degrees from MIT are required to pay a library processing fee: $115.00 for a doctoral thesis ($50 for processing and $65 for the ProQuest/UMI abstract fee) and $50.00 for all other advanced-degree theses. Thesis charges will be added to student bills during the semester immediately preceding graduation.
In order to permit evaluation and grading of theses, due dates for their receipt in department headquarters are published each term by the Registrar. Departmental graduate officers are responsible for ensuring that each candidate for an advanced degree has submitted an acceptable thesis document to his or her department before the final degree list is reviewed and approved by the Graduate Academic Performance Group, acting under the authority of the Committee on Graduate Programs, at its end-of-term meeting.
- Chemistry Directory
- Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee
- Our Community Values
- Our History
- Quality of Life Committee
- Areas of Research
- Facilities and Centers
- Instructors
- Postdoctoral Research and Resources
- Graduate Program
- Undergraduate Programs
- Our Chemistry Education Office
- Elementary Schools
- High Schools
- Community Relations and Outreach
- Contact our Development Officer
- Funds to Support
- Meet Our Major Supporters
PhD Program Requirements
The Chemistry Department offers a flexible program that allows students to select courses tailored to their individual background and research interests. Students also serve as a teaching assistant for two semesters.
As part of the requirement for a PhD degree, MIT requires a General Examination, with both an oral and written part. The Oral Examination for the PhD in Chemistry must be passed by the end of the fourth semester of graduate study. No other general written examinations are required. In particular, no qualifying (or entrance) examinations are given.
A final oral presentation of doctoral research is scheduled after the thesis has been submitted and evaluated by a committee of faculty.
Program Requirements
Coursework and teaching, 2nd year oral & written exams.
MIT requires that all Ph.D. candidates pass general oral and written examinations in their field of study. For chemistry students, these exams occur in the spring of the second year. The faculty committee will (i) assess whether the student has progressed sufficiently to be on-track for obtaining a Ph.D. degree in Chemistry and (ii) provide constructive feedback to help the student reach their full potential during the period of study at MIT. Thus, the overarching purpose of the examination includes fulfilling Institutional requirements for Ph.D. students and evaluating:
1. Progress towards the PhD degree (coursework, research) indicating that the student is on track to receive a doctoral degree in Chemistry 2. General knowledge and understanding in the broad field of study and specific sub-area 3. Critical thinking, including the ability to use core principles to think through unfamiliar topics 4. Ability to communicate effectively in oral and written forms, think logically and independently, and defend a point of view 5. Ability to formulate upcoming research plans and present a feasible timeline for progress towards completion of research goals 6. Overall scholarship
Thesis Committees
As the first step, second-year students meet with their research advisors to discuss which faculty might be appropriate as members of their thesis committee. Thesis committees must be composed of at least two other MIT faculty besides your advisor. Your thesis committee chair must be from the department of chemistry and in your area of chemistry (chemical biology, inorganic, organic, or physical). You are required to propose at least four faculty members as candidates for your committee in addition to your advisor, though you may propose up to six faculty members. Students should fill out the online Thesis Committee Nomination Form by Tuesday, September 15, 2021 . Submitted forms are then reviewed by the Graduate Officer and a faculty advisory group who assign final thesis committees. They will also choose one of these faculty members to be your Thesis Committee Chair. This process is necessary to avoid the past problem of some faculty being assigned to an inordinately large number of committees. If you are listing any faculty outside the department, you should contact them before submitting your form to confirm that they are willing to serve on your thesis committee and attend all relevant examinations and meetings. You do not need to reach out to any faculty within the department about serving on your thesis committee.
Students wishing subsequently to change their thesis committee, for reasons including significant changes in the direction of their research topic, should email Jennifer Weisman with the reason for requesting a change. Students must receive a positive response from the Chemistry Education Office in order for the change in committee to take effect. Since changes in Thesis Committee membership can only be granted in unusual circumstances, students should contact the members of their committee to schedule the date for their oral defense well in advance of when they expect to complete their dissertation.
In the second year, each student’s research progress and intellectual development is evaluated through the Oral Examination. If a division requires an examination after the second year, thesis committee members also meet then. The thesis committee also meets for the Plan to Finish Meeting described below. Students (and research advisors) may arrange an additional meeting of the Thesis Committee in special circumstances by contacting the chair of the committee. Additionally, beginning in the second year of graduate study, each student meets with the Chair of their Thesis Committee at least once during the fall semester.
Annual Meeting with Research Advisor
Under this system, research advisors are required to meet with each graduate student in their group who is in their second or later year to discuss the student’s intellectual and professional development over the past year and progress toward the degree. Prior to this meeting, students should complete Parts I-II of the required form on their own. Send the file to your Advisor the night before the meeting . At the meeting, students discuss their progress, future plans, and concerns with their advisor. The completed Graduate Student Annual Research Advisor Meeting form must be signed by both the student and their research advisor. Note that this is only a suggested format for the meeting. You and your advisor may choose a different format for the discussion as long as there is some written summary.
Annual Meeting with Thesis Committee Chair
Beginning in the second year of graduate student, each student meets annually with the Chair of their Thesis Committee. At these meetings, students update the Thesis Committee (TC) Chair on their on their research progress and general intellectual development in an informal and relaxed setting. The time, place, and format for this discussion is arranged between the student and Thesis Committee Chair. These meetings aim to encourage productive and stimulating discussions of science and to facilitate the development of further interactions between students and other members of the faculty besides research advisors. Students should keep in mind that these meetings are intended to focus primarily on academic and scientific matters, and that Thesis Committee Chairs are not bound by the same obligations with respect to privacy as are the Chemistry Department Mediators.
Plan to Finish Meeting
By the end of the fourth year, all PhD students will participate in a meeting – the plan to finish (PTF) meeting – with their thesis committee. The purpose of this meeting is for the student to discuss their timeline and plans for finishing a PhD.
In the fifth year and beyond, the PTF meeting will be repeated annually until the year the student defends their thesis. Thus, a student who graduates in year five will have one PTF meeting, one who graduates in year six will have two, and so forth.
Before the meeting: The student will share slides containing a summary of their research progress and their research plans.
- Projects that will be wrapped up and/or relinquished
- Papers that will be written and/or submitted
- Opportunities for professional development
- The presentation should: (1) Be succinct, not more than 8–10 slides total; (2) One introductory slide; (3) 1–3 slides per thesis chapter and associated future work linked to each chapter; (4) One slide summarizing future plans with a realistic timeline for completion of all the proposed activities (the PTF timeline). The student should consult with their research advisor in preparing the PTF timeline.
- The slides must be sent to the committee at least one week in advance of the meeting.
- Meetings will be scheduled at the student’s direction and be organized by the research supervisor’s administrative assistant. The research supervisor and the thesis committee chair must participate in-person. Other committee members may participate by teleconference.
During the meeting: The meeting will follow the format below.
First, the student will provide a short (10-20 minute) presentation of their research progress and future plans based on their slides. Faculty will participate in discussion of the research and plans during this presentation.
Next, the research supervisor will be asked to leave the room so that the thesis committee can confer privately with the student.
Subsequently, the student will be asked to leave the room for a short period so that the committee can confer privately with the research supervisor.
The thesis committee will offer constructive feedback during and after the presentation and following the private discussions. The committee may request changes and/or revisions to the PTF outline as part of the discussion.
The plan to finish meeting will last ~1 hour altogether.
After the meeting: The student will write-up a brief summary of the meeting, and submit it along with the PTF timeline and a signed PTF Form to the Chemistry Education Office as proof of completion. These items can be submitted as hard copies to the Chemistry Education Office or emailed to Dr. Jennifer Weisman .
- While the deadline to hold the PTF meeting is September 1st (i.e., just prior to the start of your 5th year), students are strongly encouraged to complete their PTF Meeting during the academic year to avoid scheduling issues. As a reminder, the research supervisor’s admin will schedule the meeting upon the student’s request.
- There is no possibility of failing the PTF meeting. The purposes of the meeting are fulfilled by the process of having it.
- Annual meetings with the research advisor are still required every year, including the fourth year.
Graduate Student Exit Interviews
- Graduating students will be sent a list of interview questions by the Chemistry Education Office when the student joins the degree list. Instructions about scheduling a time for the in-person or virtual discussion will be included with other informational correspondence from the Chemistry Education Office regarding degree completion. Graduating students will perform their exit interview after the thesis defense so as to avoid making the interview an additional burden.
- For students departing the program without a degree, the interview questions and instructions for scheduling an in-person discussion will be sent by the Chemistry Education Office at the point in time that a date for termination of their appointment in Chemistry is determined.
- For the majority of departing students, this interview coincides with the end of the semester, but a rolling schedule of surveys is anticipated.
Guide for Graduate Students
SMACT Thesis
Rae Yuping Hsu, Fall 2019 Final Reviews.
The SMACT thesis is twofold, consisting of a dissertation and a realized project presented at the ACT Studio Final Review during the student’s last semester.
This curriculum worksheet and the ArchThesis portal from the Department of Architecture may be useful to students during their writing of their theses, as well as in preparation of thesis documents for submission.
Preparing for thesis
It is a good idea for students to start looking for a thesis advisor and readers as early in their time at ACT as possible. In addition to being a good way to confirm the availability of faculty they would like to work with, it also gives them an opportunity to clarify their choice of topic, as well as to network.
Once students have confirmed their topics, they might reach out to the ACT Project Archivist to discuss research resources that may be particularly relevant to their work, including databases and special collections at MIT and elsewhere. The archivist’s assistance may be useful as soon as a student’s second semester at ACT, if not earlier.
Thesis advisor
A student’s thesis advisor does not need to be the same faculty member as their academic advisor, who is assigned in the first semester and with whom they consult regarding course selections, academic plan, and overall progress. Their thesis advisor does need to be a tenured or tenure-track (core) ACT faculty member. Students should familiarize themselves with potential advisors’ approaches to theory as well as their practice, and schedule a meeting with whichever faculty member(s) may be most interested to discuss likely thesis topics. In anticipation of selecting a thesis committee by the October of their third semester, students may begin meeting with potential advisors and readers as early as the beginning of their second semester. A good place for students to begin their analysis of which ACT faculty member has research interests that may overlap with their own is the ACT faculty profile pages. Students can only have one thesis supervisor.
Thesis readers
Students can recruit thesis readers from within ACT or Architecture, within MIT, or from outside the Institute. They should focus on individuals whose research interests and background are applicable to their topics. Students are required to have at least one reader from within MIT. Readers may be tenured or non-tenured. Students must have one and are encouraged to have two thesis readers.
How to find thesis readers
Once students have determined one or two likely topics for their theses, they should research scholars within MIT and elsewhere who may be well suited to provide guidance. Within MIT, a good way for them to begin looking for readers is to read what they can on MIT websites about individuals and research groups who may be investigating subjects similar to their topics.
Most department websites have profiles of faculty and groups that can give students a sense of the kind of scholarship taking place there.
On the Architecture website, these pages are
- architecture.mit.edu/people and
- architecture.mit.edu/program/research ;
At the Media Lab, these listings are available at
- media.mit.edu/people/faculty and
- media.mit.edu/research/groups-projects
If students are not sure which departments would be the best fit, they can browse through all department websites from this list of departments and programs: web.mit.edu/education
Once students have found 4 or so faculty who may have interest in their thesis topic, they should contact them to arrange for meetings. Availability as well as relevance is important to consider when looking for readers.
In the first semester , students take 4.387 Theory and History Colloquium . Over the semester students produce a thesis statement, a revision of that statement, an annotated bibliography, and two 1500 word papers addressing their thesis topic from two different perspectives. These two short papers will then be combined into one 10 page final paper.
During the second semester , students take 4.388 Thesis Preparation . Deliverables for 4.388 include a further developed thesis proposal, an outline of their thesis, a further developed annotated bibliography, and either a methodologies chapter or a sample chapter – in many cases the student is strongly encouraged to produce both. These documents are sent over the summer to potential committee members, with the aim that in the beginning of the third semester the student’s committee will have been formed and their thesis advisor will have been chosen. Due dates for these assignments are specified in the course syllabus.
During their third semester, students enroll in 4.389 Thesis Tutorial. In the October of the third semester, they officially confirm their thesis supervisor and two readers and submit their thesis committee forms to the Academic Liaison. The committee selections are forwarded to Architecture HQ. Also in October or late September, students meet with the entire ACT academic community and present their thesis proposals to the group.
The student writes the remainder of the thesis during this semester – three to four chapters – and submits a full first draft of the thesis by December 14. The full first draft must conform to the Chicago Manual of Style using Notes and Bibliography, and must include a title page as well as an abstract. There is no set length for the thesis.
Third semester deadlines: End of September or beginning of October: Thesis proposal presentations in ACT Studio. End of October: Thesis Committee Form due. December 14: Full first draft of thesis due. The committee form and first draft must be submitted on time in order to obtain a passing grade in Tutorial and ACT Studio. A thesis title must be included.
During their fourth semester , students apply for their degrees by the February deadline ($50 Registrar fee for late application), enroll in 4.THG Thesis , and revise the thesis, often several times. Final drafts are due to the thesis committee on April 1st, and to the Department of Architecture in early May by the Institute deadline for Master’s theses as published in the MIT Academic Calendar , with email or other written confirmation of submission to the Academic Liaison. Students must adhere to the Specifications for Thesis Preparation published by MIT Libraries. Confirmations of spring semester thesis submission dates will be provided in early March. Theses cannot be completed over the summer, as ACT faculty will not be present.
Fourth semester deadlines: February: Institute deadline to apply for degree. $50 late fee. See MIT Graduation Checklist . April: See MIT Graduation Checklist . Order your cap and gown by the deadline this month if you have not already done so. Thesis due to committee and academic assistant April 1. ACT Studio Finals: Thesis project presented during ACT Studio Final Reviews. Institute Masters’ Thesis deadline: Final thesis submitted to Arch HQ, early May.
Thesis submission
Before printing the thesis on archival paper, students should submit the full document for a thesis formatting pre-check. See ArchThesis for guidelines on formatting, specs, and submission.
Digital Copy
Students can upload high-resolution color PDFs of their theses to MIT’s DSpace repository. If they do not elect to do so, low-res black and white scans of the hard copy submitted to Architecture HQ will be archived instead.
Degree Requirements
Our Community
- Alumni Impact Stories
- Community Recognition
- Faculty Awards & Honors
- Researchers & Postdocs Association (RPA^3)
- Student Groups
- DEI Dashboard (Internal)
- Environment, Health, and Safety
- Wright Brothers Wind Tunnel
- Professors Emeriti
- Autonomous Systems & Decision-Making
- Computational Science & Engineering
- Earth & Space Sciences
- Human-System Collaboration
- Systems Design & Engineering
- Transportation & Exploration
- Vehicle Design & Engineering
Undergraduate Program
- Undergraduate Degrees & Requirements
- Apply (via MIT Admissions)
- Objectives & Outcomes
- Research Opportunities
- Work, Internships, & Extracurricular Activities
Graduate Program
Graduate degrees & requirements.
- Graduate Fields
- For Prospective Students
- For Current Students
- View Thesis Archive (via DSpace)
Certificate in Aerospace Innovation
Academics & resources.
- Academic Calendar (via MIT Registrar)
- AeroAstro Communication Lab
- Resources & Support
- Special Course Listings
- Subject Listing (via MIT Course Catalog Bulletin)
- Subject Evaluation (via MIT Registrar)
- News & Impact
- Events Calendar
Graduate study in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics includes graduate-level subjects in Course 16 and others at MIT, and research work culminating in a thesis. Degrees are awarded at the master’s and doctoral levels. The range of subject matter is described under Graduate Fields of Study . Departmental research centers’ websites offer information on research interests. Detailed information may be obtained from the Department Academic Programs Office or from individual faculty members. For more information about MIT AeroAstro graduate degree programs, email [email protected] .
Master of Science (SM)
The Master of Science (SM) degree is a one to two-year graduate program with beginning research or design experience represented by the SM thesis. This degree prepares the graduate for an advanced position in the aerospace field, and provides a solid foundation for future doctoral study. The general requirements for the Master of Science degree are cited in the section on General Degree Requirements for graduate students. The specific departmental requirements include at least 66 graduate subject units, typically in subjects relevant to the candidate’s area of technical interest. Of the 66 units, at least 21 units must be in departmental subjects. To be credited toward the degree, graduate subjects must carry a grade of B or better. In addition, a 24-unit thesis is required beyond the 66 units of coursework. Full-time students normally must be in residence one full academic year. Special students admitted to the SM program in this department must enroll in and satisfactorily complete at least two graduate subjects while in residence (i.e., after being admitted as a degree candidate) regardless of the number of subjects completed before admission to the program. Students holding research assistantships typically require a longer period of residence. In addition, the department’s SM program requires one graduate-level mathematics subject. The requirement is satisfied only by graduate-level subjects on the list approved by the department graduate committee. The specific choice of math subjects is arranged individually by each student in consultation with their faculty advisor.
SM Requirements
- English evaluation Test (for non-native English-speakers if not previously satisfied at MIT)
- Technical writing requirement if not previously satisfied at MIT
- Math requirement
- 66 subject units, not including thesis units, in graduate subjects in the candidate’s area of technical interest
- Within the 66 subject units, a minimum of 21 units from AeroAstro subjects
- Classes taken on a pass/fail basis do not count towards degree requirements
- Minimum cumulative grade point average of 4.0
- Term-by-term thesis (16THG) registration and progress evaluation
- Acceptable thesis. View SM Thesis Archive (via DSpace).
Doctoral Degree (Ph.D. or Sc.D.)
AeroAstro offers Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) and Doctor of Science (Sc.D.) doctoral degrees that emphasize in-depth study, with a significant research project in a focused area. The admission process for the department’s doctoral program is described previously in this section under Admission Requirements. The doctoral degree is awarded after completion of an individual course of study, submission, and defense of a thesis proposal, and submission and defense of a thesis embodying an original research contribution. The general requirements for this degree are given in the section on General Degree Requirements . Program requirements are outlined in a booklet titled The Doctoral Program [PDF] . After successful admission to the doctoral program, the doctoral candidate selects a field of study and research in consultation with the thesis supervisor and forms a doctoral thesis committee, which assists in the formulation of the candidate’s research and study programs and monitors his or her progress. Demonstrated competence for original research at the forefront of aerospace engineering is the final and main criterion for granting the doctoral degree. The candidate’s thesis serves in part to demonstrate such competence and, upon completion, is defended orally in a presentation to the faculty of the department, who may then recommend that the degree be awarded.
Doctoral Program Objectives & Outcomes
AeroAstro’s doctoral program objectives are:
- to produce original research and technologies critical to the engineering of aerospace vehicles, information, and systems.
- to educate future leaders in aerospace research and technology.
Upon graduation, our doctoral students will have:
- a strong foundation in analytical skills and reasoning
- the ability to solve challenging, engineering problems
- an understanding of the importance and strategic value of their research
- the ability to communicate their research with context and clarity
These degrees, for which the requirements are identical, are for students who wish to carry out original research in a focused field, and already hold a master’s degree. AeroAstro offers doctoral degrees in 13 fields. A description of general MIT doctoral requirements appears in the MIT Course Catalogue .
Ph.D./Sc.D. Requirements
- Qualifying Field Evaluation, completed within three terms of entering the department. (See below for more information.)
- Completion of Research Process and Communication (RPC) Course
- Formation of a thesis committee and first meeting confirmed by filing a virtual Doctoral Record Card within 2 regular terms of admission to the doctoral program.
- Five graduate-level subjects in the major concentration with a minimum of 60 units and three graduate level subjects for the minor concentration (minimum 30 units), as approved by the student’s thesis committee
- Minimum cumulative 4.4 grade point average
- Thesis proposal and defense within 3 regular terms of admission into the doctoral program.
- Successful thesis submission and defense within 4 regular terms of passing the thesis proposal defense. View the doctoral thesis archive (via DSpace.)
See the AeroAstro Doctoral Program Guide for additional guidelines and the PhD Quick Guide for a complete overview.
Doctoral Qualifying Field Evaluation
A student seeking entrance to the department’s doctoral program must complete a course-based evaluation in their chosen field of study . Information about the doctoral program and the doctoral qualifying process can be found in the department’s Doctoral Program Guide .
Field Evaluation Process Timeline
Thesis proposal and defense examples.
The following are a few examples of successfully written and defended thesis proposals by doctoral candidates within AeroAstro. These may be downloaded and examined as part of your preparation for the Thesis Proposal Defense, a required part of our doctoral program.
- Xun Huan – A Bayesian Approach to Optimal Sequential Experimental Design Using Approximate Dynamic Programming – 2013 – Proposal – Defense
- Ashley Carlton – Scientific Imagers as High-Energy Radiation Sensors – 2017 – Proposal – Defense
- Maria de Soria Santacruz Pich – Electromagnetic Ion Cyclotron Waves for RBR Applications – 2013 – Proposal – Defense
Interdisciplinary Programs
The department participates in several interdisciplinary fields at the graduate level, which are of special importance for aeronautics and astronautics in both research and the curriculum.
Aeronautics, Astronautics, and Statistics
The Interdisciplinary Doctoral Program in Statistics provides training in statistics, including classical statistics and probability as well as computation and data analysis, to students who wish to integrate these valuable skills into their primary academic program. The program is administered jointly by the departments of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Economics, Mathematics, Mechanical Engineering, Physics, and Political Science, and the Statistics and Data Science Center within the Institute for Data, Systems, and Society. It is open to current doctoral students in participating departments. For more information, including department-specific requirements, see the full program description under Interdisciplinary Graduate Programs.
Air Transportation
For students interested in a career in flight transportation, a program is available that incorporates a broader graduate education in disciplines such as economics, management, and operations research than is normally pursued by candidates for degrees in engineering. Graduate research emphasizes one of the four areas of flight transportation: airport planning and design, air traffic control, air transportation systems analysis, and airline economics and management, with subjects selected appropriately from those available in the departments of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Economics, and the interdepartmental Master of Science in Transportation (MST) program. Doctoral students may pursue a Ph.D. with specialization in air transportation in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics or in the interdepartmental Ph.D. program in transportation or in the Ph.D. program of the Operations Research Center (see the section on Graduate Programs in Operations Research under Research and Study).
Biomedical Engineering
The department offers opportunities for students interested in biomedical instrumentation and physiological control systems where the disciplines involved in aeronautics and astronautics are applied to biology and medicine. Graduate study combining aerospace engineering with biomedical engineering may be pursued through the Bioastronautics program offered as part of the Medical Engineering and Medical Physics Ph.D. program in the Institute for Medical Engineering and Science (IMES) via the Harvard-MIT Program in Health Sciences and Technology (HST). Students wishing to pursue a degree through HST must apply to that graduate program. At the master’s degree level, students in the department may specialize in biomedical engineering research, emphasizing space life sciences and life support, instrumentation and control, or in human factors engineering and in instrumentation and statistics. Most biomedical engineering research in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics is conducted in the Human Systems Laboratory.
Today, the aerospace sector has returned to its original roots of innovation and entrepreneurship, driven not exclusively by large government or corporate entities, but by small and mid-size firms. These are experimenting with, and launching electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing and electric Short Takeoff and Landing (eVTOL and eSTOL) vehicles, cutting-edge CubeSat missions, and new drone-enabled services that offer data analytics in agriculture, renewable energy and in other sectors. Students in Aerospace Engineering and related fields have expressed a strong desire to hear from and learn about how to launch their own ventures and initiatives in aerospace. Responding to this need, AeroAstro is proud to launch a new Certificate in Aerospace Innovation in collaboration with the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship. To learn more, please visit the website for Certificate in Aerospace Innovation . Registration opened on Monday, August 29, 2022 and closed on Friday, October 7, 2022.
Computational Science and Engineering (SM or Ph.D.)
The Master of Science in Computational Science and Engineering (CSE SM) is an interdisciplinary program for students interested in the development, analysis, and application of computational approaches to science and engineering. The curriculum is designed with a common core serving all science and engineering disciplines and an elective component focusing on specific disciplinary topics. Current MIT graduate students may pursue the CSE SM as a standalone degree or as leading to the CSE Ph.D. program described below. The Doctoral Program in Computational Science and Engineering (CSE Ph.D.) allows students to specialize at the doctoral level in a computation-related field of their choice through focused coursework and a thesis through a number of participating host departments. The CSE Ph.D. program is administered jointly by the Center for Computational Science and Engineering (CCSE) and the host departments; the emphasis of thesis research activities is the development of new computational methods and/or the innovative application of computational techniques to important problems in engineering and science. For more information, see the program descriptions under Interdisciplinary Graduate Programs.
Joint Program with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
The Joint Program with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) is intended for students whose primary career objective is oceanography or oceanographic engineering. Students divide their academic and research efforts between the campuses of MIT and WHOI. Joint Program students are assigned an MIT faculty member as an academic advisor; thesis research may be supervised by MIT or WHOI faculty. While in residence at MIT, students follow a program similar to that of other students in their home department. The program is described in more detail under Interdisciplinary Graduate Programs.
Leaders for Global Operations
The 24-month Leaders for Global Operations (LGO) program combines graduate degrees in engineering and management for those with previous postgraduate work experience and strong undergraduate degrees in a technical field. During the two-year program, students complete a six-month internship at one of LGO’s partner companies, where they conduct research that forms the basis of a dual-degree thesis. Students finish the program with two MIT degrees: an MBA (or SM in management) and an SM from one of eight engineering programs, some of which have optional or required LGO tracks. After graduation, alumni lead strategic initiatives in high-tech, operations, and manufacturing companies.
System Design and Management
The System Design and Management (SDM) program is a partnership among industry, government, and the university for educating technically grounded leaders of 21st-century enterprises. Jointly sponsored by the School of Engineering and the Sloan School of Management, it is MIT’s first degree program to be offered with a distance learning option in addition to a full-time in-residence option.
Technology and Policy
The Master of Science in Technology and Policy is an engineering research degree with a strong focus on the role of technology in policy analysis and formulation. The Technology and Policy Program (TPP) curriculum provides a solid grounding in technology and policy by combining advanced subjects in the student’s chosen technical field with courses in economics, politics, quantitative methods, and social science. Many students combine TPP’s curriculum with complementary subjects to obtain dual degrees in TPP and either a specialized branch of engineering or an applied social science such as political science or urban studies and planning. See the program description under the Institute for Data, Systems, and Society.
PhD Building Technology
Phd computation, graduate programs.
Degree Requirements
See an overview of sa+p groups and chart of all degree programs.
Details below for each graduate program’s degree requirements:
- PhD- Building Technology
- PhD- Computation
- PhD- History and Theory of Architecture; and the History and Theory of Art
See MArch program overview
March curriculum chart.
Those who are admitted to MArch require 3½ academic years of residency to fulfill the degree requirements.
Faculty Advising
A faculty advisor with a design background will be assigned to each MArch student before the first term of registration. The advisor will monitor the student’s progress through completion of the degree.
Subjects and Credit Units
The MArch is awarded upon satisfactory completion of an approved program of 282 graduate units and an acceptable 24-unit thesis for 306 total graduate credits.
Subjects required for the 3½-year program include the following:
- Six architectural design studios (3 core studios and 3 research studios)
- Geometric Disciplines and Architectural Skills I (4.105)
- One Computation restricted elective (4.117, 4.511, 4.521, or 4.567)
- Three Building Technology subjects (4.464, 4.462, and 4.463)
- Architectural Assemblies (4.123)
- Precedents in Critical Practice (4.210)
- Professional Practice (4.222)
- Architecture from 1750 to the Present (4.645)
- One History, Theory and Criticism restricted elective (4.607, 4.612, 4.621, 4.647, 4.241, or 4.652)
- One History, Theory and Criticism elective
- One Computation/Media Lab elective (4.5xx or MAS.xxx)
- Urban Design elective (11.xxx)
- ACT elective (4.3xx)
- Three open elective subjects (or 24 total credits)
- Preparation for MArch Thesis (4.189)
- Graduate Design Thesis (4.ThG)
Credit for Previous Academic Work
MArch students who have successfully completed the equivalent of one or more required architecture subjects outside MIT (or within MIT as undergraduates) may be given advanced credit for those subjects by submitting a p etition for curriculum adjustment with as much relevant material as possible (including a transcript, syllabi, reading lists, problem sets, paper assignments, or portfolios). Petitions are submitted to [email protected] before the first day of class each term and are then reviewed by the MArch Program Committee by the end of the first month of term. The Committee is composed of one faculty member from each of the four discipline groups. Depending on the subject for which MIT credit is requested, students may substitute an elective in the discipline group or substitute a free elective. All requests must be resolved by the beginning of the penultimate semester.
Alternate Course Petitions
MArch students may submit a petition for an alternate course to be considered for required coursework (i.e., all non-Open Electives). Submit as much relevant material as possible (syllabi, reading lists, problem sets, paper assignments, or portfolios) to [email protected] before the first day of class each term. Please indicate the course title, number, credit units, and for which required course you are requesting the alternate course be substituted. These requests are then reviewed by the MArch Program Committee by the end of the first month of term. The Committee is composed of one faculty member from each of the four discipline groups. All requests must be resolved by the beginning of the penultimate semester.
English Proficiency Requirement
An Institute-wide requirement, all students whose first language is not English are required to take the English Evaluation Test (EET) prior to registration at MIT. Even students who satisfy the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) or the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) requirement for admission may be required to take specialized subjects in the English Language Studies Program (ELS), depending on their EET results. These subjects do not count toward the required units, but will prove helpful to students who need to develop the skills necessary to write a thesis.
Faculty advisors may not waive these requirements for their advisees, and students may not defer registration in any English grammar review subject. They should take the courses within their first term or year. The most common results from the EET for Architecture students are to take the following two courses, and they must be taken in sequence:
- To be completed in the first term, for a letter grade only.
- To be completed in the second term; may be taken as optional P/D/F grading, but not as Listener status.
However, MArch students are exempted from the Advanced Writing Workshop course, due to the nature of their research and thesis work, unless otherwise flagged by their instructors and MArch faculty. Failure to take these required courses will result in an internal registration hold being placed on your account.
Jumpstart
MIT Architecture's Jumpstart is designed to prepare incoming MArch students for the rigors of the first design studio and to develop basic skills. The course is intended for students with little architectural studio experience but is also open to others who would benefit from introductory exposure to unfamiliar software. Jumpstart is created for our MArch student community by our MArch student community. This experience is taught through exercises that have been handed down from year to year and taught by our esteemed teaching fellows (recent graduates).
Policy on Incomplete Subjects and Thesis Semester
MArch students may have no more than one incomplete in a required subject when they register for thesis (4.THG). This incomplete can be no older than one term (received the term prior to thesis registration).
Students who have incompletes from several subjects or incompletes from earlier terms will be denied registration until those subjects are finished and graded. This policy applies to incompletes in subjects required by the degree curriculum or necessary for units toward the degree.
Academic Audits
A chart indicating progress through the academic requirements will be maintained as part of each student’s file. The administrator of master’s degree programs will distribute this audit to students and to faculty advisors each term.
Thesis Preparation and Thesis
An MArch thesis at MIT operates as an independent thesis project, interrogating the discipline of architecture. The thesis is developed by the student and is supported by a committee of readers and an advisor. In the next-to-last term of registration (the semester prior to thesis), students enroll in Preparation for MArch Thesis (4.189). This course guides students towards declaring a thesis statement as well as forming the thesis committee. The result of this 9-unit subject is a thesis proposal.
The MArch thesis committee is composed of three members. The thesis advisor must be a permanent member of the Department of Architecture faculty with an architecture design background. The second and third members (also known as readers) may be any member of the MIT faculty or research staff, an outside professional, or a faculty member from another institution. Download the Thesis Committee Guidelines here.
Thesis co-advising is permitted as long as one of the advisors is a permanent member of the Department of Architecture faculty with an architecture design background. The other advisor may be any member of the MIT faculty or research staff, an outside professional, or a faculty member from another institution.
MArch students are required to register for 24 units of thesis (4.THG) the final term.
The thesis proposal, including a thesis proposal form signed by all the thesis committee members, is due the first week of the term in which the student registers for thesis.
The MArch Thesis Review Schedule includes deadlines for proposal review, public mid-review, penultimate review, final review, and final thesis document.
The MArch degree is awarded after all the degree requirements have been met and the approved, archival-ready thesis has been submitted to the Department of Architecture by the Institute deadline for master’s theses as published in the MIT Academic Calendar . Students must adhere to the Specifications for Thesis Preparation published by the Institute Archives.
SMArchS degree requirement chart
The SMArchS degree may be pursued in one of six areas:
Architectural Design Architecture and Urbanism Building Technology Design and Computation History, Theory and Criticism Aga Khan Program in Islamic Architecture
With one of these areas as an intellectual home, students are encouraged to explore connections in their research across these areas, and beyond to other programs and departments throughout MIT. See the SMArchS degree requirement chart for information on the degree requirements for each of the six areas.
SMArchS Urbanism
The minimum required residency for students enrolled in the SMArchS program is two full academic years, to be completed in four consecutive semesters of enrollment.
A faculty advisor from the Department of Architecture is assigned to each SMArchS student at matriculation. The advisor weighs in on the student's initial plan of study and on each subsequent term's choice of subjects. This individual should be a faculty member with whom the student is in close contact. The advisor monitors the student's progress through completion of the degree.
The SMArchS degree is awarded upon satisfactory completion of an approved program of at least 96 graduate units and an acceptable thesis.
Students, with their advisors, construct individual programs of study focused on their particular interests. Subjects that must be taken include the following:
- 4.221, Architecture Studies Colloquium (1st term)
- Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture: 4.619, Historiography of Islamic Architecture, and 4.621, Orientalism and Representation
- Architectural Design: 4.130, Architecture Design Theory and Methodologies
- Architecture and Urbanism: 4.228, Contemporary Urbanism Proseminar: Theory and Representation, and 4.163J, Urban Design Studio
- Building Technology: 4.481, Building Technology Seminar
- Computation: 4.580, Inquiry into Computation and Design
- History, Theory and Criticism: 4.661, Theory and Method in the Study of Architecture and Art (HTC students are required to take this subject both fall terms of their residency)
- In the Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture, one additional required subject is 4.612 Islamic Architecture and the Environment
- In Architecture and Urbanism, two of these subjects must be 4.241J, Theory of City Form, and one approved Option Design Studio
- Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture: 4.686 SMArchS AKPIA Pre-Thesis Preparation
- Architectural Design: 4.s14 SMArchS Architectural Design Pre-Thesis Preparation, 4.288, Preparation for SMArchS Thesis for SMArchS AD only (2nd term)
- Architecture and Urbanism: 4.286, SMArchS Urbanism Pre-Thesis Preparation
- Building Technology: NA
- Computation: 4.587, SMArchS Computation Pre-Thesis Preparation
- History, Theory and Criticism: 4.688 HTC Pre-Thesis Preparation
- Thesis Preparation: 4.288, Preparation for SMArchS Thesis (3rd term)
- Thesis: Graduate Thesis, 4.THG (final term)
English Proficiency Requirement
All students whose first language is not English are required to take the English Evaluation Test (EET) prior to registration at MIT. Even students who satisfy the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) or the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) requirement for admission may be required to take specialized subjects in the English Language Studies Program (ELS), depending on their EET results. These subjects do not count toward the required units, but will prove helpful to students who need to develop the skills necessary to write a thesis.
Faculty advisors may not waive these requirements for their advisees, and students may not defer registration in any English grammar review subject. They should take the courses within their first term or year. The most common result for Architecture students are to take either the following two courses, or only the secondary course. When both are recommended, they must be taken in sequence:
- To be completed in the first term, for a letter grade only.
- To be completed in the second term; may be taken as optional P/D/F grading, but not as Listener status.
SMArchS students may have no more than one incomplete in a required subject when they register for thesis (4.THG). This incomplete can be no older than one term (received the term prior to thesis registration).
Students who have incompletes from several subjects or incompletes from earlier terms will be denied registration until those subjects are finished and graded. This policy applies to incompletes in subjects required by the degree curriculum or needed for units toward the degree.
SMArchS Thesis Preparation and Thesis Schedule
Thesis preparation.
Students enroll in Preparation for SMArchS Thesis (4.288) their third term of registration.
By Week 7, students finalize selecting a thesis advisor. The result of this 9-unit subject is a well-formulated thesis proposal and a department-scheduled presentation of the thesis proposal at the end of the term. By Week 14, students must submit a signed copy of the thesis proposal form and thesis proposal to the degree administrator for master's programs in the headquarters of the Department of Architecture. Once the SMArch Committee has approved the thesis proposals in consultation with the thesis advisor, students are permitted to register for thesis the following semester. Any student who is not able to produce an acceptable thesis proposal by the end of the term will be given until the end of IAP to produce a thesis proposal. If the proposal is still not acceptable, the student will be required to retake Preparation for SMArchS Thesis (4.288) their fourth term of registration.
The SMArchS thesis committee is composed of at least two and no more than three members. The thesis advisor must be permanent member of the Department of Architecture faculty. The first reader must be a permanent faculty member of the Department of Architecture or a related department at MIT. The third member (second reader) may be any member of the MIT faculty or research staff, an outside professional, or a faculty member from another institution.
Co-thesis supervision is permitted as long as one of the advisors in a permanent member of the Department of Architecture faculty. The other advisor may be any member of the MIT faculty or research staff, an outside professional, or a faculty member from another institution.
SMArchS students who have an approved thesis proposal are required to register for 36 units of thesis (4.THG) in their fourth and final term.
During Week 7 (before Spring Vacation), each discipline area will schedule the thesis review for its students. At the review, students will submit a draft or prototype or complete conceptual design of the thesis to his/her thesis committee, and reviewers from across the discipline areas will attend the reviews. If a student's progress is not satisfactory, the student will not be permitted to present at the final review.
During Week 11, SMArchS students will submit one copy of the thesis book to their thesis committees and meet with their thesis committees to formally defend the thesis.
NOTE: The Week 11 defense is a penultimate review. Presenting at the final review is seen as a privilege, not a right. Faculty is under no compunction to pass inadequate work. If a student's work is found wanting, the student will not be allowed to present at the public final review. The committee may decide not to pass the thesis, or alternatively, pass it only after the student undertakes additional work to meet targets set by the committee (on a date agreed on by the latter). An extension beyond the academic year will only be granted in response to a written petition by the student concerned. The petition must be addressed to the SMArchS Committee, upon which the committee will reach a decision in consultation with the thesis advisor.
By Week 14, students will submit a digital copy of the final approved, archival-ready thesis to the headquarters of the Department of Architecture by the Institute deadline for master's theses as published in the MIT Academic Calendar. Consult the SMArchS Degree Administrator to confirm the thesis submission deadline. Students must adhere to the Specifications for Thesis Preparation published by the Institute Archives.
The SMArchS thesis final presentations are scheduled by the Department during the last week of the term (Week 15). These presentations, also known as final reviews, are made to the Department of Architecture community, faculty, students, and invited external reviewers.
The SMArchS degree is awarded after all the degree requirements have been met and after the approved, archival-ready thesis has been submitted to and approved by the headquarters of the Department of Architecture.
SMArchS Design
The SMArchS degree is awarded upon satisfactory completion of an approved program of at least 96 graduate units, and an acceptable thesis.
Students, with their advisors, construct individual programs of study focused on their particular interests. Subjects that must be taken include:
- Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture: 4.619 Historiography of Islamic Architecture and 4.621 Orientalism and Representation
- Architectural Design: 4.130 Architecture Design Theory and Methodologies
- Architecture and Urbanism: 4.228 Contemporary Urbanism Proseminar: Theory and Representation, and 4.163J Urban Design Studio
- Six subjects within the student’s area of interest; in the Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture, one additional required subject is 4.612 Islamic Architecture and the Environment; in Architecture and Urbanism, two of the subjects must be 4.241J Theory of City Form and one approved option design studio
- 4.s14 SMArchS Architectural Design Pre-Thesis Preparation, 4.286 SMArchS Urbanism Pre-Thesis Preparation, 4.587 SMArchS Computation Pre-Thesis Preparation, 4.686 SMArchS AKPIA Pre-Thesis Preparation, 4.688 HTC Pre-Thesis Preparation, 4.288 Preparation for SMArchS Thesis for SMArchS AD only (2nd term)
- 4.288, Preparation for SMArchS Thesis; SMArchS AD students register for 4.ThG Graduate Thesis (3rd term)
- 4.THG, Graduate Thesis (final term)
All students whose first language is not English are required to take the English Evaluation Test (EET) prior to registration at MIT. Even students who satisfy the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) or the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) requirement for admission may be required to take specialized subjects in the English Language Studies Program (ELS), depending on their EET results. These subjects do not count toward the required units, but will prove helpful to students who need to develop the skills necessary to write a thesis.
The SMArchS thesis committee is composed of at least two and no more than three members. The thesis advisor must be permanent member of the Department of Architecture faculty. The first reader must be a permanent faculty member of the Department of Architecture or a related department at MIT. The third member (second reader) may be any member of the MIT faculty or research staff, an outside professional or a faculty member from another institution.
Co-thesis supervision is permitted as long as one of the advisors in a permanent member of the Department of Architecture faculty. The other advisor may be any member of the MIT faculty or research staff, an outside professional or a faculty member from another institution.
NOTE: The Week 11 defense is a penultimate review. Presenting at the final review is seen as a privilege, not a right. Faculty is under no compunction to pass inadequate work. If a student's work is found wanting, s/he will not be allowed to present at the public final review. The committee may decide not to pass the thesis, or alternatively, pass it only after the student undertakes additional work to meet targets set by the committee, on a date agreed on by the latter. An extension beyond the academic year will only be granted in response to a written petition by the student concerned. The petition must be addressed to the SMArchS committee, upon which the committee will reach a decision in consultation with the thesis advisor.
By Week 14, students will submit two copies of the final approved, archival-ready thesis to the headquarters of the Department of Architecture by the Institute deadline for master's theses as published in the MIT Academic Calendar. Consult the SMArchS Degree Administrator to confirm the thesis submission deadline. Students must adhere to the Specifications for Thesis Preparation published by the Institute Archives.
The SMArchS thesis final presentations are scheduled by the Department during the last week of the term (Week 15). These presentations, also known as final reviews, are made to the Department of Architecture community, faculty, students, and invited external reviewers. A copy of each thesis book submitted during Week 14 will be available at the reviews.
The SMArchS degree is awarded after all the degree requirements have been met, and after two copies of the approved, archival-ready thesis have been submitted to the headquarters of the Department of Architecture by the Institute deadline for master's theses as published in the MIT Academic Calendar . Consult the SMArchS Degree Administrator to confirm the thesis submission deadline. Students must adhere to the Specifications for Thesis Preparation published by the Institute Archives.
SMArchS Computation
Smarchs htc / akpia, see smact program overview, smact degree requirements.
The minimum required residency for students enrolled in the SMACT program is two academic years. SMACT students do not register for summer term.
A faculty advisor from the Art, Culture and Technology Program is assigned to each SMACT student at matriculation. The advisor will consult on the student's initial plan of study and on each subsequent term's choice of subjects. This individual should be a faculty member with whom the student is in close contact; changes in advisor may be made to make this possible. The advisor monitors the student's progress through completion of the degree.
A minimum of 135 units of graduate-level coursework is required, not including thesis. Subjects to be taken:
- 4.390 Art, Culture and Technology Studio is taken each of the four terms of enrollment in the program
- Two ACT graduate subjects, one of which must be taken with an ACT core faculty member
- Two elective subjects that support student's area of study
- 4.387, SMACT Theory & Criticism Colloquium, taken during first term
- 4.388, SMACT Thesis Preparation, taken during second term
- 4.389 SMACT Thesis Tutorial, taken during third term
- 4.THG, Thesis (registration for thesis), taken during fourth term
Art, Culture and Technology Studio
Art, Culture and Technology Studio (4.390) is restricted to SMACT degree students and serves as the core of the curriculum. It is coordinated by an ACT faculty member and involves the participation of all faculty currently advising SMACT candidates. Students are expected to participate in all class meetings. Attendance at the ACT Lecture Series and other ACT events is expected.
SMACT Thesis
For requirements, timeline, and updates, please visit the ArchThesis Website .
See SMBT program overview
Smbt requirements form.
The minimum required residency for students enrolled in the SMBT program is three terms, one of which may be a summer term. However, many take two academic years to complete all the requirements.
Each student in Building Technology is assigned a faculty advisor at matriculation. The advisor weighs in on the student's initial plan of study and on each subsequent term's choice of subjects. This individual should be a faculty member with whom the student is in close contact; changes can be made to make this possible. The advisor monitors the student's progress through completion of the degree.
A Report of Completed SMBT Requirements form is kept by the degree administrator in the headquarters of the Department of Architecture. It is the student's responsibility to work with the thesis advisor to keep this report updated and on file.
A minimum of 66 units of graduate-level coursework is required. Credit received for thesis (4.THG) registration does not count toward this minimum.
Subjects to be taken include the following:
- 4.481, Building Technology Seminar, taken in the fall of the first year of registration. It is expected that the thesis proposal will be a product of this subject.
- 2 subjects in a single field of specialization (major), chosen from thermal science, structures, materials, controls, lighting, or systems analysis.
- 1 subject from another field of specialization (minor) in Building Technology. Other fields may also be accepted for specialization with advisor approval.
- 1 subject in applied mathematics.
- Thesis registration, 4.THG, is allowed only if the thesis proposal has been approved and the Report of Completed SMBT Requirements has been submitted.
A thesis is required for the SMBT degree. The topic is selected from a subject currently being investigated by the faculty, and research is carried out under the direct supervision of a faculty member in the program. This faculty member will be the student's advisor and must approve the thesis proposal prior to thesis registration. Thesis readers are optional.
The SMBT is awarded after a digital copy of the defended, approved, archival-ready thesis has been submitted to Department of Architecture headquarters by the Institute deadline for master's theses as published in the MIT Academic Calendar. Students must adhere to the Specification for Thesis Preparation published by the Institute Archives.
All students whose first language is not English are required to take the English Evaluation Test (EET) prior to registration at MIT. Even students who satisfy the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) requirement for admission may be required to take specialized subjects in the English Language Studies Program (ELS), depending on their EET results. These subjects do not count toward the required units, but will prove helpful to students who need to develop the skills necessary to write a thesis.
See BT/PhD program overview
Bt/phd requirements.
It is the student's responsibility to fill out the appropriate section of the Report of Completed BT/PhD Requirements upon completion of the requirements listed below. This document is submitted to the degree administrator and kept in the student's official departmental file. The degree administrator informs the MIT registrar when the degree requirements have been fulfilled.
Qualifying Paper
The qualifying paper, which often emerges from the Building Technology Seminar (4.481), should demonstrate the student's potential for work at a high standard of scholarship. The paper must be completed and accepted by the dissertation committee before a student can continue to the general examination. Insufficiencies in the qualifying paper may require remedial subject work on the part of the student.
Dissertation Proposal
The PhD dissertation is a major work that makes an original scholarly contribution to the field of investigation. Most BT/PhD dissertation research will be a portion of a sponsored research project. The dissertation is the main focus of the doctoral program and the primary indicator of a PhD student's ability to carry out significant independent research. The Building Technology dissertation must result in advances in the state of the art that are worthy of publication in a respected technical journal in the field.
Approval of the dissertation topic is gained through a proposal submitted to the dissertation committee no later than the end of the second term of registration. Once the proposal has been approved, the student may register for Graduate Thesis (4.THG).
Coursework: Major and Minor Fields
Coursework is selected in consultation with the faculty advisor. A normal registration load is 36 units, which would be a combination of specific subjects and research. Though the core group of subjects will be within the department, students are encouraged to take outside subjects. Building Technology Seminar (4.481) is the only specific subject required for the degree and is taken during the student's first term. Typically a student's program will include at least five graduate subjects in the major field and three in the minor field. Preparation for Building Technology PhD Thesis (4.489) is used as registration for research until the dissertation proposal has been approved. After that point, Graduate Thesis (4.THG) is used as registration for research.
General Examination
The purpose of the qualifying examination is to determine whether the student possesses the attributes of a doctoral candidate: mastery of the disciplines of importance to building technology and ingenuity and skill in identifying and solving unfamiliar problems. The examination consists of two parts. (1) A demonstration of mastery in three areas through coursework and (2) a presentation of research as explained below.
Subject Area Mastery Allowable subjects are listed in Discipline areas for the Building Technology PhD General Exam / Record of subject mastery. To pass the subject area mastery portion of the doctoral general exam, students must earn three As and one B (or four As) in at least four subjects chosen across three of the seven areas from Table 1. Substitutions of subjects not included in the table will be considered on a case-by-case basis and will require approval from all BT faculty.
Research Presentation The research presentation exam will take place over 120 minutes, and should include a 45 minute formal presentation by the doctoral student, followed by 45-60 minutes of questions and discussion with all BT faculty. The research presented should be ongoing research or recently completed research carried out in Building Technology. The presentation should put the work in context, present research findings and propose future work. It will be evaluated both for intellectual content and for clarity of communication. The discussion portion of the exam led by BT faculty may cover both the presented work specifically as well as a broader range of related topics to gauge the student's familiarity with their research content.
Logistics Examinations are offered in January (last week of IAP) and May (the week after final exams). Students must obtain permission of their advisor to take the exam. In case a student is working on a multidisciplinary research topic with a significant component falling outside the expertise of any BT faculty, an expert (ideally MIT faculty) representing the topic area should participate in the general exam. The advisor will invite this expert in consultation with the student. All students must complete the coursework and research presentation portions of the exam by the end of their fourth semester in the PhD program. Advisors of PhD students will submit to the BT faculty the proposed plan for coursework completion for each of their advisees at least three months before the research presentation. Students who do not pass may be invited to retake certain subjects or repeat the research presentation, or they may be asked to terminate their enrollment in the PhD program.
Dissertation Defense
A dissertation committee of three or more people, generally assembled in the first semester of registration, supervises research and writing of the dissertation. The student's advisor is always a member of the dissertation committee and typically serves as its chair. The chair must be a member of the Building Technology faculty. In special circumstances, one of the three members of the dissertation committee may be selected from outside the Department of Architecture. The student is responsible for arranging meetings with the committee at least once each term.
A final draft of the completed dissertation must be delivered to each committee member one month prior to the scheduled defense. The dissertation is presented orally in an open meeting of the faculty of the department; at least three faculty members must be present. After the presentation, the dissertation is either accepted or rejected.
The PhD is awarded after two copies of the defended, approved, archival-ready dissertation have been submitted to the Department of Architecture at its headquarters. The copies must be submitted by the Institute deadline for doctoral theses as published in the MIT Academic Calendar . Students must adhere to the Specifications for Thesis Preparation published by the Institute Archives.
Nonresident Research Status
Students are expected to carry out thesis research while in residence at the Institute. It is rare that a PhD candidate in BT will need to apply for nonresident status. However, should a student who has completed all requirements except for the dissertation need to continue thesis research in years beyond the awarded funding, he or she may opt to apply for nonresident research status with the permission of the dissertation advisor.
All students whose first language is not English are required to take the English Evaluation Test (EET) prior to registration at MIT. Even students who satisfy the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) or Test of English as a Foreign Language requirement for admission may be required to take specialized subjects in the English Language Studies Program (ELS), depending on their EET results. These subjects do not count toward the required units, but will prove helpful to students who need to develop the skills necessary to write a dissertation.
See Computation/PhD program overview
Computation/phd requirements.
It is the student's responsibility to fill out the appropriate section of the Report of Completed Computation/PhD Requirements upon completion of the requirements listed below. This document is submitted to the degree administrator and kept in the student's official departmental file. The degree administrator informs the MIT registrar that the degree requirements have been fulfilled.
Subject Work
PhD Students are expected to complete at 144 units of subject work while in residency at MIT. This is usually accomplished over two years by enrolling in an average of 36 units per term, which equals three or four subjects per term. In those special cases where the student is awarded advanced standing at admission, the unit requirement is lowered accordingly. The only specific subject requirement is 4.581 Proseminar in Computation. All other subjects are selected in consultation with the faculty advisor and may be taken both in and out of the Department of Architecture. Registration in 4.THG, Graduate Thesis, does not count toward the 144-unit requirement.
PhD students in Computation are expected to enroll in 4.581, Proseminar in Computation, during their first year in residence. The Proseminar is meant to provide a rigorous grounding in the field with a focus on specific research topics related to architecture and design practice.
Major and Minor Fields
Major and minor fields must be approved by the student's advisory committee, which is selected with the assistance of the advisor in the first year of enrollment. Normally, the minor field requirement will be satisfied by outstanding performance in three related subjects (not less than 27 units). The major field requirement is satisfied upon successful completion of the general examination.
The general examination is given after required subject work is completed and is taken no later than the third year of residency. The general examination is meant to show broad and detailed competence in the student's major field of concentration and supporting areas of study. The content and format of the general examination are decided by the student's advisory committee in consultation with the student. The committee evaluates the examination upon completion and may 1) accept the examination, 2) ask for further evidence of competence, or 3) determine that the examination has not been passed. In the event that the general examination is not passed, the committee may allow the student to repeat the examination or may recommend that the student withdraw from the PhD program.
The PhD dissertation is a major work that makes an original scholarly contribution. It is the main focus of the doctoral program in Design and Computation, and it serves as the primary indicator of a PhD student's ability to carry out significant independent research.
The dissertation committee comprises a minimum of three members — one thesis advisor, who also serves as the dissertation committee chair, and two readers. The chair must be a permanent member of the Computation faculty and the student's advisor. The first reader must be a permanent faculty member of MIT. The second reader may come from Computation or may be a faculty member appointed from outside the department or the Institute. Students may add more members in consultation with their advisor. The student is responsible for arranging meetings with the committee members on a regular basis.
Formal approval of the dissertation topic is gained through a proposal, which the student submits and defends to his or her dissertation committee prior to the completion of the sixth semester of registration. The proposal should contain these elements:
- General statement of scope of the thesis
- Significance of the thesis
- Survey of existing research and literature with critical comments and an assessment of the extent to which this material will be utilized
- Method of the thesis work
- Outline or brief sketch of the thesis
- Working bibliography
- Resources for primary material
- Plan of work, including a timetable
An oral examination in which the candidate meets with the dissertation committee to discuss the proposal marks the formal acceptance of the topic. The result of the defense can be that the thesis proposal is accepted, accepted with revisions or rejected.
Students will often register for Preparation for Computation PhD Thesis (4.589) in the term leading up to their proposal defense. Once the proposal has been approved, the student may register for 4.THG, Graduate Thesis. The student may be asked to present his or her dissertation proposal in the class Research Seminar in Computation (4.582).
Students are advised to meet with committee members to obtain comments and guidance throughout the writing phase of the project. Regular contact with committee members during the process of drafting the thesis can ensure a student's readiness for thesis defense. The final draft should be submitted to committee members at least one month prior to the defense. The defense should be scheduled at least two weeks prior to the published Institute PhD thesis deadline.
The dissertation is defended by oral presentation in front of the dissertation committee. At least three faculty members must be present. If a member of the committee is not able to attend, he or she must contact the committee chair with comments and questions. That member must also inform the committee chair of a vote.
The result of the defense can be that the thesis is accepted, accepted with revisions or rejected. If the thesis is accepted with revisions, the student makes the necessary changes to the document and submits them within an agreed time frame to all or some of the committee members. If rejected, the student must re-defend according to a timetable agreed upon at the defense.
The PhD is awarded after a PDF copy of the defended, approved, archival-ready dissertation has been submitted to the Department of Architecture through the Thesis Submission Portal . The copy must be submitted by the Department deadline for theses as published on the archthesis website . Students must adhere to the Specifications for Thesis Preparation published by the Institute Archives.
Students are expected to carry out thesis research while in residence at MIT. It is rare that a PhD candidate in Design and Computation will need to apply for nonresident status. However, should a student who has completed all requirements except for the dissertation need to continue thesis research in years beyond the awarded funding, he or she may opt to apply for nonresident research status with the permission of the dissertation advisor.
All students whose first language is not English are required to take the English Evaluation Test (EET) prior to registration at MIT. Even students who satisfy the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) or Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) requirement for admission may be required to take specialized subjects in the English Language Studies Program (ELS), depending on their EET results. These subjects do not count toward the required units, but will prove helpful to students who need to develop the skills necessary to write a dissertation.
See HTC/ PhD program overview
PhD students complete 204 units (not including registration in 4.THG) during their residency at MIT. This is usually accomplished over the first three years of residency by enrolling in an average of 36 units per term, the equivalent of three subjects. The breakdown of required subjects is as follows:
- 4.661, Methods Seminar, is taken each fall term for first two years—2 x 12 = 24 units
- Nine subjects completed by the end of the second year: lecture, seminar and/or independent study—9 x 12 = 108 units
- 4.684 Preparation for HTC Major Exam = 27 units; taken in the 5th semester
- 4.685 Preparation for HTC Minor Exam = 15 units; taken in the 4th semester
- 4.689 Preparation for HTC PhD Thesis = 27 units; taken in the 6th semester
Independent study subjects may be taken with advisor approval after the first year of residency. No more than one independent study project may be taken per term, and no more than 12 units may be devoted to any one research project. Registration for an independent study project requires completion of a departmental Independent Study Project form, this constitutes a contract for the deadlines and deliverables for the subject and the definition of supervisory involvement.
Advancement to Candidacy
A student is advanced to doctoral candidacy upon completion of the following “hurdles,” which should be completed by the end of the third year
- General exam: major field—register for 4.684 (27 credit units)
- General exam: minor field—register for 4.685 (15 credit units)
- Language requirement
- Dissertation proposal—register for 4.689 (15 credit units)
Students are responsible for planning their hurdles in consultation with their advisor in a timely manner, in order to complete degree requirements by the end of semester 6 or the third year. The planner is submitted in the fall of the second year, with updates as needed. The sequence of hurdles completion is determined by the student in consultation with his/her advisor. All pre-thesis requirements* must be completed and approved by the end of the third year. Failure to complete pre-thesis requirements by the end of the third year (term 7) may result in recommended or required withdrawal from the program. When the Dissertation Proposal/Prospectus is filed, with all other hurdles completed, the student may enroll in “Thesis,” 4.THG.
Copies of each hurdle are submitted to HTC Staff for filing and completion. The HTC faculty meet at the end of each semester to review student progress in general and advance students to ABD candidacy status. . The degree administrator communicates with the Registrar when degree requirements have been fulfilled, and allows the Institute to certify candidacy.
General Examination: Major and Minor Fields
The fields of examination are set by mutual agreement between the student and their advisor. The purpose is to demonstrate the breadth and depth of the student's critical awareness of the discipline in which he or she works. Most universities, research institutions and other potential employers require assurance that a graduate has areas of competency beyond his or her specialization.
It is strongly recommended that work on the minor exam be completed in three months. The minor exam may cover a different time period from the major exam, or it may have a theoretical focus that complements the historical focus of the major exam, or it may cover in depth a topic within the broader field covered in the major exam. The minor exam may be a three-hour written test, or it may consist of preparing materials for a subject: specifically, a detailed syllabus, a bibliography, an introductory lecture and at least one other lecture. Register for 15 credit units of 4.685 the term in which the minor is completed (the fourth term).
It is strongly recommended that work on the major exam be completed in three months. The major exam is a three-hour written test covering a historically broad area of interest that includes components of history, historiography and theory. Preparation for the exam will focus on four or five themes agreed upon in advance. Register for 27 credit units of 4.684 during the term in which the major is completed (the fifth term).
Although it is possible for one professor to supervise both exams, such an arrangement limits the student's collaboration with the faculty. With approval, a faculty member outside HTC may administer one of the exams. In this case, an HTC faculty member will also read the exam and submit the grade.
Topics and examiners for the Major and Minor exams should be finalized no later than the fourth semester.
Language Requirement
It is recommended that students complete their language requirement by the end of the fourth semester. Because of the foundational role French and German have played in the discipline of art and architectural history and theory, successful study or testing in these two languages constitutes the usual fulfillment of this requirement. For students working on topics for which there is another primary language, a substitution may be approved by the advisor. The MIT Global Studies and Languages department administers graduate language examinations.
The language exam can only be waived under the following circumstances:
- The student is a native speaker of the language needed
- Two years (or four semesters) of university courses have been completed for a language not administered by the language department, and a “B” or better average grade was maintained
Credits accumulated from language subjects taken to fulfill this requirement cannot be used toward the 204 credits of coursework required for the degree.
A dissertation advisor should be selected by the end of the fourth semester. During the sixth semester, the Dissertation Topic will be presented to students and faculty colleagues. It is estimated that the writing and revision of the proposal should take no more than four months.
Following the Thesis Topic Presentation in the sixth semester, an appropriate dissertation committee should be proposed by the student and approved in principle by the advisor. (The committee may be changed with the approval of the advisor up to the eighth semester.) The dissertation committee comprises a minimum of three members; two must be MIT Department of Architecture faculty members, and the chair a member of the HTC faculty (and the student's main advisor). The third member may come from HTC or appointed from outside the department or outside the Institute. Students may add additional members in consultation with their advisor.
The dissertation proposal should be drafted and defended by the end of the sixth semester. Formal approval of the dissertation topic is gained through a proposal, which the student submits and defends to his or her dissertation committee prior to the end of the sixth semester of registration. The student is strongly advised to have an informal meeting of the committee some weeks prior to the formal defense, to reach a consensus that the thesis topic is of the right scale and the prospectus itself is ready to be defended. Register for 15 credit units of 4.689 the term in which the dissertation proposal is submitted.
A dissertation proposal (also called a prospectus) should contain the following elements:
- General thesis statement
- Scope, significance or “stakes” of the thesis
- Method of the thesis work
- Outline or brief sketch of the dissertation, e.g. summaries of proposed chapters
- Archives and proof of access; IRB approval if required
- Plan of work, and may include a timetable
The formal defense of the prospectus consists of an oral examination in which the candidate meets with the dissertation committee; the committee decides whether the prospectus is approved as is, requires further revision, or does not pass the defense.
When the approved proposal is filed with the HTC administrator in acknowledgment of successful completion, the dissertation topic and proposal are approved, advancing the student to candidacy. At this point, the student registers for 4.THG, Graduate Thesis.
Regular contact with committee members during the process of drafting the thesis can ensure a student's readiness for the final thesis defense. Students are advised to meet with committee members to obtain comments and guidance throughout the writing phase of the project. The final draft should be submitted to committee members no later than one month prior to the defense. The defense cannot be scheduled any later than two weeks prior to the published Institute PhD thesis deadline.
The dissertation is defended in the presence of the full dissertation committee. If a member of the committee is not able to attend or participate by virtual means, he or she must contact the committee chair with comments and questions. That member should also inform the committee chair of a vote.
The result of the defense is either accepted, accepted with revisions or rejected. If the thesis is accepted with revisions, the student makes necessary changes to the document and submits them within an agreed time frame to committee members, as determined at the defense meeting. If rejected, the student will re-defend to the committee in a timely manner. Students are strongly advised to set a defense date three months in advance of the deadline to allow for revisions by the committee.
The PhD is awarded upon submission of the defended, approved, archival-ready dissertation to the Department of Architecture, via the PhD Academic Administrator. The final dissertation is submitted by the Institute deadline for doctoral theses as published in the MIT Academic Calendar. The final document conforms with Specifications for Thesis Preparation published by the Institute Archives.
Thesis Research in Absentia
Acceptance into the program is granted with the presumption that students will remain in residence at the Institute during their degree. However, on occasion, work outside the Institute may be essential to gather archival or other materials. Students who have completed all requirements apart from the dissertation may apply to take one or occasionally two semesters in absentia. A proposal for thesis in absentia , which outlines work to be accomplished, should be delivered to the director and administrator in HTC no later than the drop date of the semester prior to the one in which the student plans to be away. The student should consult with the Academic Programs Manager in Headquarters as well as HTC staff for a review of the financial and academic implications of TIA status. The HTC faculty, the Department, and the dean of the graduate school grant approval. Students must return to regular registration status for the final term the dissertation is submitted for their degree. However, the dissertation draft may be submitted to the student’s primary advisor and committee members at any time during the TIA period. Similarly, the defense may be scheduled at any time (as long as the committee has at least 4 weeks to read the full and final draft). Regular registration status is required in order to file the final archival copy for the degree. Students are required to apply for the degree in Websis during the term prior to degree completion.
Graduate Thesis
The thesis comprises an original investigation, including a written report in English, on a subject approved by the Department of Architecture in advance. The Institute requires that each graduate student research and write an individual thesis and submit a final digital copy to the Institute as a permanent record. In order for a degree to be awarded, the department must receive the thesis in accordance with the Specifications for Thesis Preparation published by the MIT Libraries Institute Archives. Please refer to archthesis.mit.edu for timelines, specifications, and other useful information.
Thesis work in all master's degree programs in the Department of Architecture extends over two to three terms. Thesis work in doctoral programs extends over four to six terms. Registration for thesis and pre-thesis subjects differs by degree program.
The thesis process begins with one or more terms of thesis preparation and ends with one or more terms of thesis. Thesis registration (4.THG) for all programs begins once the thesis supervisor and/or committee have approved the thesis proposal. An integral element to a successful thesis lies in choosing an appropriate thesis committee. The Thesis Committee Guidelines document addresses the composition of a thesis committee for each degree program.
The objective of registering for thesis preparation is to produce an acceptable thesis proposal. Students in every degree program register for the thesis preparation subject(s) specific to their program.
MArch Program
- 4.189, Preparation for MArch Thesis , graded A-F, 9 units, taken the penultimate semester of the program.
SMArchS Program
- 4.288, Preparation for SMArchS Thesis , graded P/D/F, 9 units (6 units for those in Design & Computation) is taken the third semester of the program. Students in Architecture & Urbanism and Design, and Computation will have separate classes; students in all other areas take 4.288 as an independent study subject graded by the thesis advisor.
- 4.s14, SMArchS Architectural Design Pre-Thesis Preparation , graded P/D/F, 6 units, taken in the second semester of the program for students in the AD area.
- 4.587, SMArchS Computation Pre-Thesis Preparation , graded P/D/F, 6 units, taken in the second semester of the program for students in the Design and Computation area.
- 4.686 SMArchS AKPIA Pre-Thesis Preparation , graded P/D/F, 3 units, taken in the second semester of the program for students in the AKPIA area.
- 4.687 SMArchS HTC Pre-Thesis Preparation , graded P/D/F, 3 units, taken in the second semester of the program for students in the HTC area.
SMACT Program
- 4.388, Preparation for SMACT Thesis , graded A-F, 9 units, taken in the second semester of the program. Thesis Preparation will develop a proposal for the written thesis. A ten-page thesis proposal is the final project of this class.
- 4.389, SMACT Thesis Tutorial , graded A-F, 9 units, taken in the fourth semester to support the writing of the thesis book.
- SMACT students will submit a twenty-page thesis outline, select their thesis committee, and submit a SMACT Thesis Proposal Completion form by the end of their third term. These must be submitted to the ACT administrative offices for distribution to ACT faculty, by May 1.
SMBT Program
- 4.481, Building Technology Seminar , graded P/D/F, 3 units. All SMBT students are required to register for 4.481 during the first term of the program. The thesis proposal is expected to be a product of this seminar, but the student may register for 4.488 to complete the proposal.
- 4.488, Preparation for SMBT Thesis , graded P/D/F, variable units. 4.488 is an independent study subject graded by the thesis advisor and taken the second term of the program, if necessary to complete the thesis proposal.
Dissertation and Doctoral Programs
- 4.481, Building Technology Seminar , graded P/D/F, 3 H-level units. All BT/PhD students must register for 4.481 during the first term of the program. The thesis proposal is expected to be a product of this seminar, but the student may register for 4.489 to complete the proposal.
- 4.489, Preparation for Building Technology PhD Thesis , graded P/D/F, variable units. This is an independent study subject graded by the thesis advisor and taken the second and third term of the program, if necessary to complete the thesis proposal.
- 4.589, Preparation for Design and Computation PhD Thesis , graded P/D/F, variable units. An optional independent study subject graded by the thesis advisor and generally taken after coursework is completed. 4.589 is taken as preparation for the general examination and/or the dissertation proposal.
- 4.683, Preparation for HTC Qualifying Paper , graded P/D/F, variable units. Required of HTC PhD students as a prerequisite for work on the doctoral dissertation. The qualifying paper is a scholarly article fit to be published in a peer-reviewed journal that is the result of research in the history, theory and criticism of architecture and art. Topic may not be in the area of the proposed thesis. Work is done in consultation with HTC faculty, in accordance with the HTC PhD Degree Program Guidelines.
- 4.684, Preparation for HTC Major Exam , graded P/D/F, variable units. This is required of HTC PhD students as a prerequisite for work on the doctoral dissertation. The Major Exam covers a historically broad area of interest and includes components of history, historiography, and theory. Preparation for the exam will focus on four or five themes agreed upon in advance by the student and the examiner, and are defined by their area of teaching interest. Work is done in consultation with HTC faculty, in accordance with the HTC PhD Degree Program Guidelines.
- 4.685, Preparation for HTC Minor Exam , graded P/D/F, variable units. This is required of HTC PhD students as a prerequisite for work on the doctoral dissertation. The Minor Exam focuses on a specific area of specialization through which the student might develop their particular zone of expertise. Work is done in consultation with HTC faculty, in accordance with the HTC PhD Degree Program Guidelines.
- 4.689, Preparation for History, Theory and Criticism PhD Thesis , graded P/D/F, variable units. This is required of HTC PhD students as a prerequisite for work on the doctoral dissertation. Prior to candidacy, doctoral students are required to write and orally defend a proposal laying out the scope of their thesis, its significance, a survey of existing research and literature, the methods of research to be adopted, a bibliography and plan of work. Work is done in consultation with HTC faculty, in accordance with the HTC PhD Degree Program Guidelines. Students in this program do not register for thesis (4.THG) until all requirements except thesis have been completed.
Thesis Registration—4.THG
Once the thesis proposal is approved and the degree administrators have been notified, students register for thesis and continue to do so each term until graduation. Students who do not have an approved thesis proposal may not register for thesis. The number of units varies by degree program (upon submission of the thesis, 12 units of the grade awarded for 4.THG are entered into the student's cumulative grade point average).
MArch students Register for 24 units of 4.THG. Except for architectural design studio, other subjects needed to complete the degree requirements may be taken simultaneously. The e/signed Thesis Proposal form is due by 8:59am the first Friday of a student's final term. Several reviews of student work lead to the final thesis.
- Proposal Review—Week 2
- Mid-Review—Week 7
- Penultimate Review—Week 10
- Final Review—Week 15
SMArchS students register for 36 units of 4.THG in their fourth and final term. All subjects needed to complete the degree (except architecture design studio) may be taken simultaneously. The e/signed SMArchS Thesis Proposal form is due to [email protected] by 8:59am the Drop Date of a student's penultimate term. The penultimate semester, a Preliminary Thesis Review is held during Reading Period. These Preliminary Reviews serve as an opportunity for SMArchs students to present a summary of their proposed Thesis Projects in a forum where thesis ideas can gain exposure and feedback from faculty and peers. The final semester, three major reviews of the student's thesis work are held with the advisor(s) and all readers — the first, in Week 7, is scheduled by the discipline area, the second is scheduled by the student with the entire thesis committee for a formal thesis defense in Week 11, and the public final review in Week 14. The department degree administrator schedules final reviews during Reading Period.
SMBT students register for 4.THG upon approval of the thesis proposal and continue to do so each term until graduation. Units will vary according to the number of other subjects being taken. A normal course load for a term is not more than 48 credit units. SMBT students are expected to schedule a Content Review directly with the thesis advisor to take place near the end of the final term. At this point the thesis should be substantially complete; the Content Review marks the point at which the student may turn to production of the final thesis.
SMACT students register for 24 units of 4.THG in their fourth and final term. Thesis is taken in conjunction with 4.390, Art, Culture, and Technology Studio, which is taken each term, and 4.389, SMACT Thesis Tutorial, which is taken the final two terms. Thesis reviews are scheduled within the forum of 4.390, which is restricted to SMACT students.
PhD students register for 48 units of 4.THG for terms in which they are resident and not taking other subjects. Students who have been granted nonresident status register for 36 units of 4.THG only (nonresident status is not permitted in the term during which the thesis is submitted). Regular meetings with members of the dissertation committee to review thesis progress is expected and left to the student to schedule. At the conclusion of the thesis, PhD students are required to hold an oral defense of their dissertation. This defense is scheduled directly with the thesis committee, and the date is reported to the degree administrator.
Policy on Incompletes and Thesis Semester
MArch, SMArchS, and SMACT students entering thesis term may have no more than one incomplete in a subject required for the degree, and that incomplete can be no older than the term previous to thesis. Students with several incompletes and/or incompletes from terms further back will be denied registration until those subjects are completed and graded. This policy applies to subjects required by curriculum or needed for units toward the degree.
Policy on Credit and Thesis
MArch students must have their curriculum credits in order by the end of the thesis prep. No substitutions or petitions for credit will be accepted or processed during the thesis term.
Thesis for Dual Degrees
Thesis research for dual degrees must be done under the supervision of an approved member of one of the two participating departments, with the other department providing a co-advisor or thesis reader. Students expecting to receive two advanced degrees must submit all thesis materials to the department in which they register during their final semester and are bound by the thesis specifications and deadlines of that department.
Thesis Guidelines and Deadlines
The Thesis Committee Guidelines document addresses the composition of a thesis committee for each degree program. The thesis committee must be established and approved before thesis registration is permitted.
- Specifications for Thesis Preparation is published by the MIT Libraries Institute Archives to assist students in the preparation of the thesis document. The Institute is committed to the preservation of the student’s thesis because it is both a requirement of the MIT degree and a record of original research. The library also publishes a guide for following copyright law, which students should review carefully to make certain they remain in compliance and the thesis is acceptable by the MIT Archives .
- The department upholds the requirements of the Institute specifications. In addition, the Department of Architecture requires that each thesis contain a page listing the names and titles of each member of the thesis committee. This page is to be inserted between the title page and the abstract. Students should review the thesis checklist before submitting the thesis to the Department.
- At the beginning of the final thesis term, all students must file an online Application for Advanced Degree at MIT via WebSIS. The deadline is the end of the first week of term.
- Graduate Policies and Procedures can be found on a website provided by the Office of the Dean for Graduate Education (ODGE). This document offers additional information on the thesis process, including joint theses; restrictions on thesis publication; patent protection, privacy and security; intellectual property policy; and thesis holds.
- The deadline for submitting the approved, archival copies of the thesis is set by the Institute and can be found on the MIT Academic Calendar . Only minor errors in formatting and proofing will be subject to change after this date and only at the discretion of the department administrators.
All theses are submitted to the department degree administrators:
- Master's programs: Kateri Bertin
- Doctoral programs: Tessa Haynes
Nonresident Doctoral Research
A doctoral student who has completed all requirements except for the dissertation may apply for nonresident thesis research status. Students granted this status pay approximately 5% of regular tuition for the first three terms of nonresident status and 15% for the following three terms. Students are limited to six terms of nonresident status.
Application
Permission to become a nonresident doctoral candidate must be sought from the Dean of Graduate Students. The request form is submitted to the Office of the Dean of Graduate Education (ODGE) at least one month before the start of term (a fee is assessed for late requests). The student’s thesis advisor and the department’s graduate officer must approve the application prior to submission.
Approval can be granted for two successive regular terms in the same academic year (for example, Fall 2016 and Spring 2017, but not Spring 2017 and Fall 2018). Registration as a nonresident student is not required during the summer. Students must reapply each year for additional terms of nonresident status up to a maximum of six terms. Students must return to regular status to defend and submit their doctoral dissertation.
Eligibility
To be eligible to apply for non-resident thesis research status, students must be
- registered in a doctoral program,
- in residence as a regular graduate student for at least four regular terms,
- have completed all degree requirements except for the dissertation and have submitted required paperwork to the Degree Administrator,
- and have an approved thesis proposal.
Privileges of a Nonresident Student
Nonresident students are considered full-time students. They may retain their MIT IDs and are permitted access to the libraries and athletic facilities. They continue to have the same student health plan options as resident students, although, students are financially responsible for their own health insurance.
However, nonresident students are NOT eligible to
- use offices, laboratories, design studios or computer facilities in the Department unless specifically approved;
- reside in student housing;
- serve as graduate resident tutors;
- nor accept employment of any kind at MIT.
For the first three semesters of nonresident status, a student may receive fellowship support from MIT for an amount up to 5% of the cost of tuition per semester. In subsequent terms of nonresident status, students are not eligible to receive financial support from any MIT department, lab, or cost center. This includes fellowships, research or teaching assistantships as well as any work-study programs.
Although nonresident students are responsible for payment of tuition and appropriate fees, U.S. citizens or Permanent Resident students may apply for federal and alternative loans. Current loans may be adjusted because tuition will be decreased to nonresident levels. Questions regarding loans should be addressed to Student Financial Services.
Thesis research is ordinarily done in residence at the Institute. However, on occasion, work away from the Institute may be essential for such tasks as gathering data. Students with compelling educational reasons to do so may therefore apply to take one or two semesters in absentia.
A proposal for thesis research to be done in absentia must be approved by both the faculty of the specific PhD degree program, the Department's graduate officer, and the Dean of the Graduate School.
Criteria for thesis in absentia include, but are not limited to the following:
- Evidence that this opportunity will provide continuing intellectual growth.
- Evidence of completion of required coursework and all degree requirements except the thesis.
- The thesis must continue to be supervised by an Institute faculty member or by a senior academic staff member approved by the Department.
- The student must be registered as a regular student during the final term.
- The student must devote full time to thesis research while absent from MIT.
Students approved for thesis in absentia will continue to be registered as full-time students and receive tuition plus their normal fellowship stipends.
The proposal needs to include the following and submitted to the Department's PhD degree administrator:
- Current address
- Current phone
- Current e-mail
- Degree program
- Completion date of general exams
- Completion date of thesis proposal and working title for thesis
- Proposed terms in absentia
- Expected degree date
- Reasons for requesting thesis research in absentia—the opportunity for continued intellectual growth must be evident
- Thesis advisor’s name and title
- Thesis advisor’s signature of approval
- Degree program director’s signature of approval
- Graduate officer’s signature of approval
- A copy of the signed thesis proposal
The approved and signed thesis proposal must be attached to the research-in-absentia proposal before the latter is submitted to the Department and, subsequently, the Office of the Dean for Graduate Education (ODGE).
MIT Libraries logo MIT Libraries
Mit thesis faq: new degree candidates.
- New Degree Candidates
- Thesis Checklist
- Creating an Accessible Thesis
- Saving Your Thesis as a PDF/A-1
- Student Frequently Asked Questions
- Access and Availability Questions
Instructions
Reminder: students - submit your thesis electronically to your department or program. .
Please pay close attention to the following sections of the Specifications for Thesis Preparation :
- Joint Thesis
- Copyright (and review the copyright and licensing section below)
- Permission to Reuse or Republish a Thesis
- Changes to a Thesis After Submission
Here are some sample title and abstract pages to assist you with formatting:
- Title page examples
- Abstract page example
What to submit to your Department/Program
Submit the following:
- A PDF/A-1 of your final thesis document (with no signatures)
- Signature page (if required by your department; your department will provide specific guidance)
- Source files (not required)
File naming
Files must be named according to this scheme: authorLastName-kerberos ID-degree-dept-year-type_other.ext
- Thesis PDF: macdonald-mssimon-mcp-dusp-2023-thesis.pdf
- Signature Page: macdonald-mssimon-mcp-dusp-2023-sig.pdf
Temporary Holds
Please review the Holds section of the Thesis Specifications . The Office of Graduate Education oversees the policies and procedures for requesting a temporary publication hold of your thesis. They offer this form for publication hold requests.
Note: Request for temporary holds must be submitted prior to graduation . To contact OGE and the Vice Chancellor's office, email [email protected] To contact the Technology and Licensing Office, email [email protected]
What to submit to the Libraries
This form must be completed by the day of graduation: https://thesis-submit.mit.edu/ .
The information you provide must match the title page and abstract of your thesis. You will be asked to confirm or provide:
- Your name as it appears on your thesis (Family Name, Given Name Middle Name)
- Thesis title
- Department or Program
- Supervisor(s)
- Copyright (see the Copyright and Licensing section below)
- ProQuest opt-in (for Graduate and Doctoral candidates only)
Copyright and Licensing
If you retain copyright you may also, optionally, apply a Creative Commons License to your thesis. The Creative Commons License allows you to grant permissions and provide guidance on how your work can be reused by others. For more information about CC: https://creativecommons.org/about/cclicenses/
Before you apply a CC license or CC0 (public domain) to your work, please note that the licenses cannot be revoked. This means once you apply a CC license to your material, anyone who receives it may rely on that license for as long as the material is protected by copyright, even if you later stop distributing it.
- Review the policy to determine if you may retain copyright to your thesis. If you need help confirming, check with your department.
- If you believe you retain copyright, submit this form to TLO. Additional information from TLO can be found here . (not required for undergraduate degrees)
- To determine which CC license is right for you, use the CC license chooser
- Note: You do not need to apply a CC license to your work. If you choose not to, your thesis will be available in [email protected] with the following statement: In Copyright https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/
Formatting Your Copyright Statement
- Following the instructions in the thesis specifications under How To Copyright a Thesis .
- If using a CC license, replace "All Rights Reserved" with your chosen CC license (CC-BY-NC 4.0).
- Remember to also include the following statement below your (c) : " The author hereby grants to MIT permission to reproduce and to distribute publicly paper and electronic copies of this thesis document in whole or in part in any medium now known or hereafter created. "
What Copyright information to submit to the Libraries
- MIT holds copyright
- I hold copyright (if you choose this option you will have the option of also choosing a CC license)
- I hold copyright and give it up to the public domain (this means that your thesis will be released openly under CC0 "No Rights Reserved" and opts out of copyright and database protection. This may not be revoked.)
- This is a work of the US government
- Another person or organization owns copyright
For more information Review the Copyright section of the Thesis Specifications .
Here is an example of a title page with one of the CC license options .
ORCID: Open Researcher & Contributor ID
What is ORCID?
ORCID is an open, non-profit, community-based effort to provide a registry of unique researcher identifiers and a method of linking research-related items, such as articles as datasets, to these identifiers.
ORCID provides a persistent digital identifier that distinguishes you from every other researcher. The goal is to support the creation of a permanent, clear, and unambiguous record of scholarly communication by enabling reliable attribution of authors and contributors.
Register for an ORCID ID.
This process also associates your ORCID with your MIT profile. Once you have the ID you also have the option to build your profile through the “import works” button, associating your papers, data sets, and other research output with your ID. You can then include the ID as a link on your CV or web page. You can also create an account without linking it to your MIT profile here .
See our ORCID FAQ for more information.
ProQuest Opt-in
What is the ProQuest Opt-in?
When submitting your title page information to MIT Libraries, you may choose to opt in to the pilot program to provide additional open access to MIT theses through ProQuest Dissertation & Theses Global (PQDT). The aim is to make theses more visible and discoverable. By opting in, you consent to your full thesis being available in ProQuest's database. If you are a Bachelor's candidate or do not opt in, ProQuest will only access your abstract.
There is no cost to you and your thesis will not be sent to ProQuest until it is published by MIT. See the Thesis Specificatio n and PQDT's Author Dissertations FAQs for more information about participating.
Quick links
- Thesis Specifications
- Distinctive Collections
- Scholarly [email protected]
- About [email protected]
- Dissertation/Theses
Have questions?
Contact us at [email protected] .
- Next: Thesis Checklist >>
- Last Updated: Jan 24, 2023 11:39 AM
- URL: https://libguides.mit.edu/mit-thesis-faq
MIT Department of Biological Engineering
Search form
- DEI Collaborative
- DEI Current Efforts
- DEI Newsletter
- Learning Resources
- Faculty Directory
- Staff Directory
- Open Faculty Positions
- Prospective Undergraduate
- Major Degree Requirements
- Minor Programs
- Undergraduate Thesis
- Research Prize
- BE Student Life
- Career Resources
- Master's Degree
- Graduate PhD Application
- Application Assistance Program
- Graduate FAQ
- Graduate Life
- Meet The Graduate Students
- PhD Course Requirements
- Advisor Selection
- PhD Written Exam
- Thesis Committee
- PhD Oral Exam
- PhD Dissertation Requirements
- BE Graduate Student Board
- Teaching Assistant Award Winners
- BE Communication Lab
- Research Areas
- Wishnok Prize
- BATS Resources
- BATS Archive
- For Undergraduate Students
- Professional Development
- For Post Docs
- Covid-19 Resources
- Laboratory Safety
- Faculty & Instructors
Discovery and Engineering of Plant Chemistry
Date/Time:
Speaker: , title: , hosts: , location: , access: .
- Open to the MIT Community
- Undergraduate
- Graduate Program
- Knight Science Journalism
- Related Programs
- Undergraduate Theses
These students either “joint-majored”, “double/second-majored” or did a second degree in STS, along with a science/engineering field.
AKERA, ATSUSHI “A Social Technology: Ethnography of a Computer Terminal Room” June 1986 (Charlie Weiner, thesis advisor)
ARDHASSERIL, ROSHAN “Nuclear State: Pakistan, Domestic and International” June 2013 (Theodore Postol, thesis advisor)
BARRETT, BERTRAND H. “Theory and Design of an Educational Computing Environment” June 1985 (J.C.R. Licklider, thesis advisor)
BECERRA, JUANA C. “Herman Feshbach: What it Meant to be a Physicist in the Twentieth Century” June 2015 (David Kaiser, thesis advisor)
BELAND, CHRISTOPHER D. “Digital Technology and Copyright Law” February 2002 (David I. Kaiser, thesis advisor)
BESPOLKA, CARL G. “Green Energy Policy in the Federal Republic of Germany” May 1983 (Michael Geisler, thesis advisor)
BEST, WALDO T. “Subjective Confidence in Technology” May 1988 (Thomas Sheridan, thesis advisor) [double S.B. degrees in Humanities and Engineering]
BROWN, DAVID J. “A Framework for Analyzing Residential Electricity Consumption” May 1983 (Ted Greenwood, thesis advisor)
BRYAN, ERIC FAIN “Financing Invention” May 1988 (Robert Rines, thesis advisor)
BYFIELD, LAINI “Modern Medicine vs. Traditional Medicine” June 1999 (Joe Dumit and Hugh Gusterson, thesis advisors)
COWAN, THOMAS “Network Control in a Globalized World: How Visa and Swift’s Founding Structures Serve Their Stakeholders on the International Stage” June 2017 (William Deringer, thesis advisor)
CUNNINGHAM, KEVIN “Contemporary Computer Software and the Writing Process” February 1984 (James Paradis, thesis tutor)
DUBRANSKY, JULIAN “The politicization of science during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States” June 2021 (John Durant, thesis advisor)
FRANCO, KATHERINE A. “The Idealists and the Pragmatists. A Comparative History of Free Software and Open Source Software” May 2005 (Rosalind Williams, thesis advisor)
GARFINKEL, SIMSON L. “The Context of Funding in the Sociological Research of Paul F. Lazarsfeld” June 1987 (Peter Buck, thesis tutor) [Simson graduated in 1987 with 3 separate S.B. degrees in Chemistry, Political Science, and Humanities]
GILLESPIE, JAMES JUDSON “Going Nowhere: Pittsburg’s Attempt to Build a Subway, 1910-1935” 1990 (Robert Fogelson, thesis advisor)
GLAVIN, MITCHELL “School Attendance for Children with Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome: An Example of AIDS Policy” June 1987 (Harvey Sapolsky, thesis advisor)
GLENHABER, MEHITABEL “‘Space Became Their Highway’: The L-5 Society and the closing of the Final Frontier” June 2019 (William Deringer, thesis advisor)
GORDON, EDWARD A. “The Impact of Internet Content Regulation on the Freedom of Expression Around the World” June 1999 (David Mindell, thesis advisor)
HANSON, ELIZABETH A. “Scientific Motherhood: American Childrearing, 1890-1915” June 1984 (Merritt Roe Smith, thesis advisor)
HE, YIRAN “Breakout: How Materials Start-Ups Separate from and Stay Connected to Academic Spaces” May 2020 (William Deringer, thesis advisor)
HEIM, STEVEN F. “Sustaining Vermont: Cooperatives in Vermont’s Economic Development” February 1997 (Deborah Fitzgerald and Alice Amsden, thesis advisors)
HONG, HYEONSIL June 1990 [S.B. in Humanities and Engineering]
HUANG, TERESA “Between the Real and the Virtual: Development of Complex Relationships and Communities in the Age of the Internet” June 1997 (Sherry Turkle, thesis advisor)
JONES, BRIANNA “Defining ‘Good Science’ in Today’s World: A Video Compilation of Perspectives and Advice for Incoming Graduate Students” June 2015 (Rosalind Williams, thesis advisor)
KEEGAN, BRIAN “Defending New Jerusalem: The Foundation and Transformation of MIT’s Program in Science, Technology, and Society” June 2006 (Rosalind Williams, thesis advisor)
LEE, JENNIFER JUNG-WUK “Engineering a Sanitary Environment: William Thompson Sedgwick and Public Health Work, 1884-1921” May 1994 (Evelynn Hammonds, thesis advisor)
LYNCH, ALISON June 1990 [S.B. in Humanities and Science]
MANOLIU, MIHAI “Synthesis and Transformation: Moving Beyond Doomsday” June 1984 (John R. Ross, thesis advisor)
MARTIN, MARISSA L. “Defining a New Science: Lessons from a Brief History of the Brain Sciences at MIT” May 2000 (Joe Dumit, thesis advisor)
McBATH, BRUCE COURTNEY 1981 [S.B. in Humanities and Science]
NICHOLLS, GINA-MONIQUE R. “The Offensive and Defensive Politics of Deploying Theater Ballistic Missile Defenses in East Asia” June 2000 (Theodore Postol, thesis advisor)
PRATHER, DARCY 1991 [double B.S. degrees in Humanities and Engineering]
RAHL, GARY M. “The Auditorium and the Space Station: The Death of the American Myth” June 1989 (Leon Trilling, thesis advisor)
REUSS, RONALD “Computer-Aided Reading” June 1986 (David Clark, thesis supervisor) [double B.S. degrees in Humanities and Engineering]
REZA, FAISAL “Human Cloning: Science, Ethics, Policy, Society” February 2003 (Hugh Gusterson, thesis advisor) [double S.B. degrees in Humanities and Science]
SAWICKI, ANDRES “The Paradox Theory in Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: From Research to Marketing” January 2003 (Joseph Dumit, thesis advisor) [double S.B. degrees in Humanities and Science]
SAYLOR, MICHAEL “A Machiavellian Interpretation of Political Dynamics” June 1987 (John Sterman, thesis advisor) [double S.B. degrees in Humanities and Engineering]
SHAH, SAMEER “Perception of Risk: Disaster Scenarios at Brookhaven” June 2003 (Hugh Gusterson, thesis advisor) [double S.B. degrees in Humanities and Science]
SHAH, VAIBHAVI “The Politics and Perceptibility of Breath During The COVID-19 Pandemic” February 2021 (Robin Scheffler, thesis advisor)
SHARIFI, JAMSHIED 40-minute original music composition in lieu of thesis May 1983 [S.B. in Humanities and Engineering]
SHAWCROSS, PAUL J. “The American Civil Space Program: Preparing for the Next Twenty-Five Years” February 1988 (Kosta Tsipis, thesis advisor)[double major in STS and Aero/Astro]
SKLAR, BRANDON “The Philosophical Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics” June 1982
SOLORZANO, RAMON “An Appropriate Technology: Movement Towards a Value-Laden Approach to Technology” September 1984 (Larry Bucciarelli, thesis advisor)
STICKGOLD-SARAH, JESSIE “Form and Usage: The Evolving Identity of the Computerized Medical Record” February 1997 (Deborah Fitzgerald, thesis advisor)
THOMPSON, ELIZABETH “Artificial Skin: Its Path to Adoption” February 1986 (John Sterman, thesis advisor)
WEIGEL, ANNALISA May 1995 [double major in STS and Aero/Astro]
WIENER, MATTHEW CHARLES “Attitudes Towards Computers in the Soviet Union, 1970-1986: An examination of popular-science writing” May 1987 (Paul Josephson, thesis advisor) [double S.B. in Humanities and Science]
XU, SHEILA ZHI “The Emergence of a Deaf Economy” June 2014 (Rosalind Williams, thesis advisor)
- Joint Major (21E/21S)
- Second Major (STS)
- Concentration
- Other Minors and Concentrations
- HASS & CI-H Subjects
- Tier I Subjects
- Tier II Subjects
- Transfer Credits
- Meet with us!
Undergraduate Officer
Professor Chakanetsa Mavhunga
E51-194C 617-324-2792 mavhunga@mit.edu
Academic Administrator
Karen Gardner
E51-163f 617-253-9759 kgardner@mit.edu
- Future Students
- Parents/Families
- Alumni/Friends
- Current Students
- Faculty/Staff
- MyOHIO Student Center
- Visit Athens Campus
- Regional Campuses
- OHIO Online
- Faculty/Staff Directory
- University Community
- Research & Impact
- Alumni & Friends
- Colleges & Campuses
- For the Media
Helpful Links
Navigate ohio, connect with us, eight graduate students win cash awards in three minute thesis competition.
- Share this story on Facebook
- Share this story on Twitter
- Email this story to a friend
- Share this story with your LinkedIn network
Eight graduate students won cash awards at the Ohio University Three Minute Thesis Competition finals hosted by the Graduate College on Feb. 23.
This year 29 master's and doctoral students participated, and four semi-final heats were held. Two people from each heat advanced to the finals.
Participants hailed from College of Arts and Sciences, Patton College of Education, Scripps College of Communication, Russ College of Engineering and Technology, and the Center for International Studies.
This year's prizes were sponsored by alumna Rene Paulson, founder of Elite Research LLC, a global provider of research and statistical consulting that supports corporate, nonprofit, academic, and medical researchers in research design, statistical analysis, and the reporting of efficient and accurate research. Paulson earned a B.A. in Psychology in 1999 from the College of Arts and Sciences and went on to earn a Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology from Texas Christian University.
The Three Minute Thesis Competition (3MT) was founded by the University of Queensland in 2008, with competitions now held at more than 900 institutions in 80 countries. This is the eighth year that OHIO has participated in 3MT.
Students have three minutes to present a compelling oration on their thesis and its significance. 3MT challenges students to consolidate their ideas and research discoveries so they can be presented concisely to a non-specialist audience. Participants are allowed a single PowerPoint slide and no additional props. Judging includes whether the participants clearly describe their research results, including conclusions and outcomes, while avoiding scientific jargon.
Prizes awarded were:
- $2,000 for first place, $1,000 for second place, $500 for third place, and $250 for each remaining finalist.
- Two People's Choice Awards of $100 were given, one each to a master's and doctoral student.
The winners
Ryan Steere , won $2,100 for first place and People’s Choice master's for his presentation on "Investigating the Global Impact of DNA Supercoiling on Staphylococcus aureus Gene Expression." Steere is a master's student in the College of Arts and Sciences, pursuing an M.S. in Biological Science with a concentration in cell, developmental and microbiology with Associate Professor Ronan Carrol .
Chinonso Ugwumadu won $1,000 for second place for his presentation on "Alchemy of Graphite: The many faces of coal." Ugwumadu is a doctoral student in the College of Arts and Sciences, pursing a Ph.D. in Physics and studying with Distinguished Professor David Drabold .
Ibiagbani Max-Harry won $500 for third place for her presentation on "Parathyroid Hormone related Protein and Pancreatic Islets: New Discoveries." Max-Harry is doctoral student in the College of Arts and Sciences, pursuing a Ph.D. in Molecular and Cellular Biology and Biological Sciences and studying with Associate Professor Craig Nunemaker .
Akshayaa Venkataraghavan won $350 as a finalist and People’s Choice Ph.D. for her presentation on "Unraveling the genes behind Xylan's branches in grasses." Venkataraghavan is a doctoral student in College of Arts and Sciences, pursuing a Ph.D. in Plant Biology and studying with Associate Professor Ahmed Faik .
Katelyn Balli won $250 as a finalist for her presentation on "How do parents support K-3 student writing development in the home and what collaborating practices between parents and teachers best aid in this support?" Balli is a student in the Patton College of Education, pursuing a master's in reading and studying with Associate Professor of Instruction Chris Kennedy .
Sam Smith won $250 as a finalist for his presentation on "The Dialectic of TikTok: Fakeness and Authenticity in the Digital Age." Smith is a student in the College of Arts and Sciences, pursuing an M.A. in Sociology and studying with Professor Thomas Vander Ven .
Jennifer Ojiambo-Isiko won $250 as a finalist for her presentation on "Social Justice Training Environment, Self-efficacy, and Social Justice Outcome Expectations as Predictors of Social Justice Interest and Commitment in Counselor Education Master's Students." Ojiambo-Isiko is a master's student in the Patton College of Education, pursing an M.Ed. in Counselor Education and studying with Professor Christine Bhat .
Roshni Ashiq won $250 as a finalist for her presentation on "I am not 'White' to Talk about Sexual Health, Exploring Mother Daughter Dyad Communication on Sexual Health and its Implication in the Prevention of Sexual Abuse in Pakistan-Unfolding Dark Realities." Ashiq is a doctoral student in the Scripps College of Communication, pursuing a Ph.D. in Communication Studies with a concentration in health communications and studying with Associate Professor Angela Hosek .
IMAGES
VIDEO
COMMENTS
If you are a recent MIT graduate, your thesis will be added to DSpace within 3-6 months after your graduation date. Please email [email protected] with any questions. Permissions MIT Theses may be protected by copyright. Please refer to the MIT Libraries Permissions Policy for permission information.
The largest single repository of graduate dissertations and theses 3.8 million graduate works, with 1.7 million in full text Includes work by authors from more than 3,000 graduate schools and universities the world over, and covers every conceivable subject.
MIT Specifications for Thesis Preparation Approved November 2022 for use in the 2022-2023 academic year Table of Contents Thesis Preparation Checklist General information Timeline for submission and publication Submitting your thesis document to your department Bachelor's degree thesis Graduate degree thesis Dual degree theses Joint theses
Graduate Theses Theses by Department Comparative Media Studies Computation for Design and Optimization Computational and Systems Biology Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics Department of Architecture Department of Biological Engineering Department of Biology Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences Department of Chemical Engineering
Thesis Research Thesis Defense Thesis Formatting Required Signatures and Documentation Finalizing and Submitting your Thesis to MIT General Thesis Policies Thesis Due Dates Thesis FAQs The information on this page is applicable for both PhD and Masters (with the exception of an Oral defense) degree candidates. How do I submit a Thesis Proposal?
Labels. Thesis labels should include your name, the title, course 17, PhD or SM, the year and month (September, February, or June) of the degree, and the copy number (1, 2, 3). Labels should be affixed to each cover of the thesis. Obtain a cardboard cover for the front and back of each copy from Susan Twarog or the Institute Archives (14N-118).
Thesis credit cannot be granted for work done prior to registration as a graduate student at the Institute, nor for work initiated without prior approval by the department of registration. The thesis must be completed while in residence, except as noted below.
Writing the dissertation usually takes a substantially longer time. The thesis process includes a first and second colloquium and an oral defense. Be sure to consult the MIT Specifications for Thesis Preparation as well as the MIT Political Science Thesis Guidelines. Consult the MIT academic calendar to learn the due date for final submission ...
Some key points to remember: Tuition for thesis students is based on registration and residency status. View our Graduate Thesis Rules tables by year by choosing from the drop-down menu. There are a number of additional miscellaneous fees associated with registering at MIT.
Graduate programs in the MIT Sloan School of Management have their own tuition rates. Certain other graduate programs, such as the Real Estate Development master's program and the master's programs in Supply Chain Management, also employ "non-standard" tuition .
Mechanical Engineering. Graduate Office. Room 1-112 77 Massachusetts Avenue Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA 02139-4307. Graduate Officer. Contact: Professor Nicolas Hadjiconstantinou Email: [email protected] Graduate Administrator. Contact: Ms. Saana McDaniel Email: [email protected] Senior Administrative Assistant.
MIT has migrated to an electronic thesis submission process. Signatures are no longer required on the cover page, but the cover page must conform precisely to Institute standards. Janet and Alicia in the EECS Graduate Office can advise degree candidates on the thesis submission process.
Alumni and their Dissertations - MIT Linguistics
The MIT Department of Physics has a graduate population of between 260 and 290 students, with approximately 45 students starting and graduating each year. Almost all students are pursuing a PhD degree in Physics, typically studying for 5 to 7 years and with the following degree structure: ... Pre-Thesis Research, subject 8.391 and 8.392 ...
Information about the MIT Health Plan and graduation will be available online here. February 2023 Degree List Degree Application Deadline: September 9, 2022 ($50 late fee if submitted after this date, $85 late fee if submitted after December 16, 2022) Thesis Title Deadline: December 16, 2022 ($85 late fee if submitted after this date.
Graduate Consortium in Women's Studies MIT International Science and Technology Initiatives Exchange Scholar Program Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology Other interdisciplinary study and research Academic performance Graduate academic standards Grades Excused absences Cumulative rating Subject credits and designations
Thesis Committees are composed of three MIT faculty members: the student's research advisor, a thesis committee chair, and a thesis committee member. This committee is appointed at the beginning of each graduate students' second year in the program.
Thesis submission. Before printing the thesis on archival paper, students should submit the full document for a thesis formatting pre-check. See ArchThesis for guidelines on formatting, specs, and submission. Digital Copy. Students can upload high-resolution color PDFs of their theses to MIT's DSpace repository. If they do not elect to do so ...
Graduate Degrees & Requirements. Graduate study in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics includes graduate-level subjects in Course 16 and others at MIT, and research work culminating in a thesis. Degrees are awarded at the master's and doctoral levels. The range of subject matter is described under Graduate Fields of Study.
An MArch thesis at MIT operates as an independent thesis project, interrogating the discipline of architecture. The thesis is developed by the student and is supported by a committee of readers and an advisor. In the next-to-last term of registration (the semester prior to thesis), students enroll in Preparation for MArch Thesis (4.189).
The Office of Graduate Education oversees the policies and procedures for requesting a temporary publication hold of your thesis. They offer this form for publication hold requests. Note: Request for temporary holds must be submitted prior to graduation. To contact OGE and the Vice Chancellor's office, email [email protected]
Timeline. The information below applies to students joining to the DMSE graduate programs in Fall 2021. MIT DMSE graduate students are in residence year-round; they generally attend classes in the fall and spring, and pursue thesis research throughout the year, including the summer months. Doctoral students will join a research group by the end ...
Discovery and Engineering of Plant Chemistry . Date/Time: Mar 23, 2023 - 4:00 PM EDT
Donald Sadoway reflects on teaching, batteries, and world peace. March 13, 2023. Don Sadoway is retiring after more than four decades at MIT. Photo: Todd Wilson. Over his long career as an electrochemist and professor, Donald Sadoway has earned an impressive variety of honors, from being named one of Time magazine 's 100 most influential ...
JONES, BRIANNA "Defining 'Good Science' in Today's World: A Video Compilation of Perspectives and Advice for Incoming Graduate Students" June 2015 (Rosalind Williams, thesis advisor) KEEGAN, BRIAN "Defending New Jerusalem: The Foundation and Transformation of MIT's Program in Science, Technology, and Society" June 2006 (Rosalind ...
The EECS Department permits any faculty member at MIT to supervise research that will be used for a Master's thesis or for the PhD thesis. For the Master's thesis, only the research supervisor approves the thesis and assigns a grade. However, for the PhD degree, the thesis committee must include two faculty members from the EECS Department.
subsidiary part of the thesis. Using reprints as part of the thesis must be approved by the student's thesis director and committee. Some discussion of the reprint(s) must occur within the body of the thesis. If the reprinted material is copyrighted, the student has the responsibility to secure permission to use this material in the thesis.
Eight graduate students won cash awards at the Ohio University Three Minute Thesis Competition finals hosted by the Graduate College on Feb. 23. This year 29 master's and doctoral students participated, and four semi-final heats were held. Two people from each heat advanced to the finals ...