Defense & Graduation

  Apply for graduation

Students must apply for graduation through the Office of the Registrar by the posted deadline: https://www.colorado.edu/registrar/students/graduation

  Form your defense committee

Students are responsible for forming a committee that meets Graduate School and departmental requirements.

Committee Composition

The doctoral defense committee must consist of five members:

1. Research Advisor (PI) – Chair of the committee
2. CU Faculty Member – may be in Chemistry or another department
3. CU Faculty Member – may be in Chemistry or another department
4. CU Faculty Member – may be in Chemistry or another department
5. Outside Member – must be external to the Department of Chemistry; may be external to the University

If the outside member is not a CU faculty member, the department must arrange an affiliate appointment before they are eligible to serve. Students should provide the member's current CV to chemgrad@colorado.edu well in advance of the defense date.

Second Reader

One committee member (in addition to the Research Advisor) must agree to serve as your dissertation/thesis Second Reader.
This person will:

• Provide substantive feedback on the dissertation draft
• Approve the final version of the dissertation

  Schedule the defense

After polling your committee on possible days/times and confirming a final date, students must notify the Graduate Program Manager of:

• The defense date and time
• The full committee roster

Students should then contact the Graduate Program Manager or Chemistry administrative staff to identify and reserve an appropriate room for the defense.

  Submit your committee to the Graduate School

Students must submit their committee for approval using this form: https://www.colorado.edu/graduateschool/academics/forms/doctoral-final-examination-form

  Send your committee the final draft of your dissertation

Students need to email their committee the finished draft, so members can prepare for the defense.

  Advertise your defense (optional)

If students want their defense advertised to the Chemistry Department, please send the title and abstract for your defense to the Graduate Program Manager.

  Fill out the Thesis Approval Form (TAF)

Students must send the final copy of their dissertation to the Graduate School using the Thesis Approval Form: https://www.colorado.edu/graduateschool/academics/forms-current-students/thesis-approval-form

  Submit your thesis to ProQuest

After submitting the TAF, students must submit the final copy of their thesis and approved TAF to ProQuest: https://www.etdadmin.com/?siteId=70

  Answer the Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED)

In order to graduate, students must complete the Survey of Earned Doctorates: https://sed-ncses.org/

  Return department keys and cards

After the semester has concluded, students need to return all departmental keys and any issued procurement or travel cards to the Graduate Program Manager.