Students must submit a research proposal and present it to their advisory committee. The student advisory committee consists of at least three faculty members, including the advisor; at least two hold primary appointments in DEEE (with one tenured Full Professor).
A 10-page report (single space) will be submitted to the committee seven days before the exam and used as part of the evaluation.
Students are generally expected to submit their thesis proposal after three semesters of doctoral studies.
The student advisory committee considers the scope of the proposed research, its suitability for doctoral research, and the appropriateness of the research plan.
The outcome of the evaluation of the thesis proposal: Pass; Fail; Conditional Pass (Conditional Pass: students will have to revise the proposal following comments by the members of the advisory committee and present the revised proposal within 6 months).
The thesis defense committee consists of at least five faculty members (at least three must be from the DEEE, one from another department within SEAS/Columbia and one must be an outsider (outside of Columbia). At least one of the department members has to hold tenure, preferably of full professor position.
The thesis has to be delivered to the thesis defense committee 4 weeks before the defense takes place.