mit thesis abstract

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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

May 2024 degree list.

• Degree Application Deadline: February 9, 2024 ($50 late fee if submitted after this date, $85 late fee if submitted after April 12, 2024)
• Thesis Title Deadline: April 12, 2024 ($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 10, 2024
• Last day of work in the lab: on or before May 29, 2024. If you plan to end your RA appointment earlier than May 29, 2024, please contact Jennifer to review your timeline.
• Your degree will officially be conferred by MIT on May 30, 2024
• Information about the MIT Health Plan and graduation will be available online here.

September 2024 Degree List

• Degree Application Deadline: June 14, 2024 ($50 late fee if submitted after this date, $85 late fee if submitted after July 19, 2024)
• Thesis Title Deadline:July 19, 2024 ($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 16, 2024
• Last day of work in the lab: on or before August 31, 2024. If you plan to end your RA appointment earlier than August 31st, please contact Jennifer to review your timeline.
• Your degree will officially be conferred by MIT on September 18, 2024

February 2025 Degree List

• Degree Application Deadline: September 6, 2024 ($50 late fee if submitted after this date, $85 late fee if submitted after December 13, 2024)
• Thesis Title Deadline: December 13, 2024 ($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 17, 2025
• Last day of work in the lab: on or before January 15, 2025. If you plan to end your RA appointment earlier than January 15th, please contact Jennifer to review your timeline.
• Your degree will officially be conferred by MIT on February 19, 2025

May 2025 Degree List

• Degree Application Deadline:February 7, 2025 ($50 late fee if submitted after this date, $85 late fee if submitted after April 11, 2025)
• Thesis Title Deadline: April 11, 2025 ($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 9, 2025
• Last day of work in the lab: on or before May 28, 2025. If you plan to end your RA appointment earlier than May 28th, please contact Jennifer to review your timeline.
• Your degree will officially be conferred by MIT on May 29, 2025

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: 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; the words “All rights reserved” or your chosen Creative Commons license. All theses should have the following legend statement exactly: The author hereby grants to MIT a nonexclusive, worldwide, irrevocable, royalty-free license to exercise any and all rights under copyright, including to reproduce, preserve, distribute and publicly display copies of the thesis, or release the thesis under an open-access license. 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.”

**Note: if your thesis document is too large to send via email, your email can include a link to access the document via Dropbox, Google Drive, etc.**

2. Submit your thesis 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. Note: this does not involve submitting your actual thesis.

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.
• 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 DSpace@MIT 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 .

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 pages to assist you with formatting:

• PhD thesis with a CC license
• Multiple authors thesis
• Dual degree with extra committee members

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

You may, optionally, choose to 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.

• 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 DSpace@MIT 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 a nonexclusive, worldwide, irrevocable, royalty-free license to exercise any and all rights under copyright, including to reproduce, preserve, distribute and publicly display copies of the thesis, or release the thesis under an open-access license. "

What Copyright information to submit to the Libraries

• 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 .

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 Publishing@MIT
• About DSpace@MIT
• Dissertation/Theses

Have questions?

Contact us at [email protected] .

• Next: Thesis Checklist >>
• Last Updated: Aug 30, 2023 4:55 PM
• URL: https://libguides.mit.edu/mit-thesis-faq

An abstract functions as a hook. Its goal is to attract readers to look at the rest of your paper or come to your talk. Your abstract will vary depending on the audience and your message , so customize it to maximize its effectiveness. Despite differences in content and length, there are general structures for writing a successful abstract. Check out the annotated examples to see what an effective abstract could look like.

1. Before you start

Begin by clarifying your purpose (“Why”) and your audience (“Who”), knowing that one will inform the other. Your answers will help define your core message (“What”).

1.1. Determine your purpose

What should your abstract achieve? The purpose of an abstract is to help the reader decide if your presentation is worth attending, document worth reading, or poster worth accepting for a conference. Your abstract should quickly communicate to a reader what they will find in your work.

1.2. Identify your audience

Who should be able to understand your work? How broad or narrow are your readers’ research areas? Identifying your target audience will help you think about what they already know, what they care about, and what they need to know in order for you to achieve your objective. (You may also choose your audience to match your objective, like when you decide where to submit a paper.)

If you’re submitting an abstract for a talk at a Materials Research Society meeting, your target audience will be those in your section rather than the thousands of members who will be attending. If you’re advertising your departmental seminar talk, you would aim for graduate students who have passed their doctoral qualifying exams; someone with a solid nuclear background but who is unfamiliar with your post-quals research work.

On the right are two abstracts describing the same work: one contains field-specific language and assumptions about what the audience cares about, whereas the other highlights broader impacts.

1.3. Decide on your takeaway message

What is the single most important thing you want your audience to remember? Based on your objective and target audience, try to answer this question in plain words and in one sentence. Your takeaway message isn’t necessarily your title. For instance, “A Functionally Graded Composite for Service in Advanced LBE-Cooled Systems” ( Michael Short ‘s PhD thesis) boils down to “Sometimes one alloy just can’t fix everything; composite alloys are the way to go.” It will be easier to write your abstract once you are clear on what really want to say.

At this stage, you now have the basis for determining what to include in the background, results, and impact sections of your abstract.

Return to Contents

2. Write your abstract using the right structure

There will be variations in length depending on the audience and the purpose of the document, but your abstract should include five functional sections: motivating background (context), problem statement (why this work is needed), “here we show” (your takeaway), results (what you found), and implications (why this work matters). Each section is described in greater detail below.

An effective abstract often follows the shape of an hourglass: broad in scope at the top and bottom, and narrow in the middle (Structure #1). Another approach is to lead with the takeaway (Structure #2), which is common when the intended audience is already familiar with the topic. These readers will likely understand the motivation, though a smooth transition to the background will allow an uninitiated reader to keep up.

2.1. Motivating background: Avoid the “fluff”

Start with something general that everyone in your audience cares about, then narrow down to a more specific background. Provide the proper context for your specific audience to appreciate the importance of your work. For example, a reader of a fusion journal likely only needs to know why you chose a specific confinement mode, whereas a non-fusion specialist would need an explanation of what a confinement mode is (and why they should care) first.

Regardless of context, avoid “fluff.” Avoid broad statements like, “With the growing threat of climate change, it is important to pursue clean energy options, including…” While those can be sometimes appropriate, it’s best to set up why your project is unique concisely and clearly, without overly general commentary that doesn’t add substance.

2.2. Problem statement: Show the knowledge gap

What question are you trying to answer? Focus in on the specific problem or gap in knowledge that your research addresses, this is the primary motivation for your work. It is helpful to have a clearly defined problem statement in your mind, although it often flows naturally out of a well-written background. With the proper buildup, the problem statement should become obvious.

2.3. Results: Make them quantitative (if possible)

The results are arguably the most important section of an abstract. All the other sections in your abstract support the results by providing context, explaining the impact, or offering background. Granted, some abstracts must be submitted far in advance (e.g. conference abstracts) but it is best to provide concrete, explicit results (“… resolves both the geometric and isotropic makeup of an object.”) and, when possible, quantitative results (“a temporal resolution of between 1 and 10 s…”). By asserting specific results in the abstract, you’re offering a clearer picture of what your paper/presentation/etc. will contain (and what it will not).

2.4. Impact: Tie it back to the beginning

Explicitly state the implications of your findings by linking back to the motivating background mentioned at the beginning of your abstract. Again, consider your key message and use this opportunity to leave a lasting impression on your reader.

The Annotated Examples section illustrates how these sections work for abstracts with different structures, used in different contexts (including slide presentations, journal articles, and doctoral theses).

3. Maximize its effectiveness

Now you can evaluate your draft and increase its effectiveness. Here are three ways to accomplish this.

3.1. Be careful using jargon

“Jargon” (specialized language used by content experts) is a relative term, and there are instances where jargon is expected in order to describe technical content precisely and concisely (see Identify Your Audience ). However, that choice must be deliberate.

If you’re writing for a specialized journal like Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A , assume you can skip a lot of background while introducing technical detail that may be considered jargon by non-experts. If you’re writing for a journal with a broader reach such as Nature Materials , you will need to remove jargon, and provide more background and an explicit significance statement.

To reach an audience that includes those outside your specific research area, you can avoid jargon by defining acronyms and possibly-obscure terminology. For example, replace “18/8 SS” with “corrosion resistant steel (18/8).” Other strategies include breaking down your message into simpler sentences.

3.2. Compose a strong title

A strong title summarizes the main idea you want to get across. To make a weak title into a strong title, pick out the key nouns and verbs, and link them together with as few words as possible. Consider the following example (credit: Brandon Sorbom ):

3.4. Consider a graphical abstract

Increasingly, journals are requesting an accompanying graphical abstract for your paper. Potential readers will see this figure while browsing, so clearly summarize the key takeaway message from your article, and check out our Figure Design article for tips on creating effective visuals. Here’s an example:

Curd et al. ‘The heterogenous distribution of white etching matter (WEM) around subsurface cracks in bearing steels’ Acta Materialia, 174 (2019) 300-309 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actamat.2019.05.052

4. Quick tips

• Make sure to follow the specifications from your event organizer or publisher. Some journals ask that you not include any references, abstracts for doctoral theses at MIT should be under 350 words , etc. Journals will have a “guide for authors” or “author instructions” you can look up online.
• Gauging the appropriate balance between technical content and background can be difficult and often comes with experience. Some advisors expect the technical content to take up 50% of the abstract. Be sure to seek feedback from your advisor, a co-author, or a peer like a Communication Fellow , depending on your target audience.
• Jean-luc Doumont’s presentation Shortcomings in Scientific Writing , specifically pages 16-42;
• this guide from the Writing Center at George Mason University. (Click on “Download this guide as a PDF” in the right-hand column.)

5. Annotated examples

Below are abstract examples meant for different communication tasks.

​ Return to Contents

To get started or receive feedback on your draft, make an appointment with us. We’d love to help!

Thesis Specifications

The Process

You must select a thesis advisor. You should begin this process early in the second semester (for both 11-month + 16-month students)

You should arrange to meet with your thesis advisor on a regular basis. You should take the iniative to arrange this. Plan to meet at a minimum of 3-4 times during the semester (more is better!)

Your thesis advisor will sign off on your thesis and provide your grade to the academic administrator who will then enter it into Websis

The Details

There is a lot of administrative work you need to do related to thesis

You need to apply to graduate and enter your thesis title in Websis: http://student.mit.edu/cgi-docs/student.html (Select ONLINE DEGREE APPLICATION)  More details at the bottom of this page

You need to enter your thesis title and abstract ONLY to the MIT Library: https://thesis-submit.mit.edu NOTE-What  you submit to the Registrar and the Library must match exactly!

Once your advisor has signed off on your thesis, you will submit the thesis with cover page to the academic administrator for formatting review.

Approved theses that are ready for formatting review need to be uploaded to a specificed Dropbox.

Once the thesis meets the required formatting standards, the academic administrator enter your grade and  will submit it to the library on your behalf. (NOte-your grade WILL NOT BE ENTERED until the final paper is delivered)

NOTE: It can take several months before your thesis is publically available on DSPACE

ALL STUDENTS

Once your thesis advisor has approved your thesis, have them send your grade to the academic administrator . 

You will submit your approved thesis via link provided to you and academic administrator will reviewing the formatting. 

You may be required to make formatting edits. Once all adjustments have been made, the academic administrator will send the final copy to the library.

DUAL DEGREE STUDENTS

 Dual Degree Students MUST submit an Online Degree Application for both the degrees being pursued

Dual Degree students will follow the submission process and guidelines outlined by their home department

All Dual Degree students need to submit a signed cover sheet to the CRE, even if their home deparment does not require it

STUDENTS SUBMITTING A JOINT THESIS

Follow all above instructions for Thesis Submissions, AND:

Y ou must complete a petition form, which you can find here: https://oge.mit.edu/gpp/advanced-degrees/thesis/joint-theses/

One form for both students is fine, complete Sections 1 & 2, and sign the form digitally.

Send it to your thesis advisor to complete Section 3 and sign at the bottom digitally.

Send the form along to academic administrator , for her signature and submission to the OGE.  

NOTE: No more then two students can work together on a joint thesis

Students who are submitting a joint thesis must be graduating in the same cohort

THESIS SPECIFICATIONS

Naming Convention-Must be exactly as written below

YourLastName-YourKerberousID-msred-cre-2023- Thesis .pdf (Your Kerberous ID is the first part of your email, not your MIT ID number)

TITLE + ABSTRACT PAGE TEMPLATE

THESIS FORMATTING

Refer to this link to see how to structure and format your thesis

PDF/A Formatting

The library now requires all submitted thesis papers to be in the PDF/A format. This ensures longevity of the file.

Refer to these instructions on creating your PDF/A file

ONLINE DEGREE APPLICATION In order to graduate, you must complete an Online Degree Application.   Completion of the application after the deadline will incure a late fee

Step 1 - Personal Info

Be sure to indicate your MIT ID, MIT Email address, First Name, Last Name, and Previous College Degree

Step 2 - Degree Information

Be sure to select “RED M” as your degree under Step 2 . 

Indicate your Thesis Title – exactly as it will appear on your Thesis Title Page, including any capitalization, dashes, colons, etc.   

The space to enter your degree title is to the right of drop-down “Description” menu for your degree. Clicking the "Enter Thesis Title” button and you will be able to add your thesis title.  

Step 3 - Commencement Plans

If you select “I will Participate in Commencement” - your physical diploma will be held until Commencement. (Note students submitting theses in July and February are eligible to participate in Spring  Commencement.

If you select “I will not attend Commencement. Mail my diploma” - your diploma will be mailed to the address you indicate as your Post-MIT physical address; again, do not list your current MIT address. 

If you select “Graduation plans are unknown” - your physical diploma will be held until you indicate how you would like to receive it, of the three previous options. You may contact the Registrar’s Office at any time with your name, MIT email address, and MIT ID Number to update your choice after the Online Degree Application closes by emailing Marti Ward, who manages Diplomas for the Registrar’s Office at: [email protected] .  

For ALL institute requirements see the LibGuide

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Your MEng thesis describes the original research that you contributed to your MEng project. Though the document itself is not due until the end of your MEng, you should be working towards your thesis each semester that you are a registered MEng student. You can read more about what comprises a thesis at the Office of Graduate Education’s website .

Getting Help with Your Thesis

Throughout your MEng, you should be in continual conversation with your thesis research advisor about your progress as well as the thesis itself. For additional support, consider some of the following resources:

• Writing and Communication Center
• EECS Communication Lab
• Phoebe Ayers , the EECS Librarian, for help with research
• Additional workshops hosted by OGE

If you are struggling to make progress on your thesis, you are also welcome to meet with someone in the EECS Undergraduate Office .

All graduate theses are required to be submitted to Institute Library where they are available to the public. Theses classified by the government as ‘Confidential’ or ‘Secret’ for reasons of national security, or ‘Company Confidential” by a company for proprietary reasons will not be accepted. Theses completed in classified sections of 6-A companies, Lincoln Laboratory or Draper Lab must be deemed unclassified by the government. If you are working with one of these companies, be sure to discuss thesis copyright with your research advisor early in your MEng.

Formatting and Submission

MIT Libraries maintains formatting guidelines for all MIT theses. It’s especially important to make sure your title page and abstract look exactly like the examples shown there. Many students start by using the Unofficial Thesis template , but remember to double-check against the official formatting guidelines. Check out the Thesis Checklist from the Libraries to help keep on track.   Submit your title page information . This is important for ProQuest selections and for speeding up thesis processing for the MIT Libraries.

For EECS MEng theses

• Make sure to include your SB degree information (see the title page example ), even if you’re getting SB and MEng concurrently. Include double major, if applicable.
• The department is “the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science”
• The degree is “Master of Engineering in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science” unless you are part of the 6-7 MEng program, in which case it’s “Master of Engineering in Computer Science and Molecular Biology” or the 6-14 program which is “Master of Engineering in Computer Science, Economics, and Data Science”. (Note, in all cases, “Master” not “Masters”)
• The degree date for this term is May 2024 no matter what month you submit your thesis. The only possible degree date months are May, September, and February.
• The author hereby grants to MIT a nonexclusive, worldwide, irrevocable, royalty-free license to exercise any and all rights under copyright, including to reproduce, preserve, distribute and publicly display copies of the thesis, or release the thesis under an open-access license.
• The name/title for the “Accepted by” line on the title page is “Katrina LaCurts, Chair, Master of Engineering Thesis Committee”

For the electronic submission, your title page should include no signatures ; not even your own, and no lines for signatures . When you are ready to submit your thesis, you can do so here ; the deadline for submission is set by the registrar each semester (see here ). 6-A students must also submit a thesis release letter that matches this template . These letters should be sent to [email protected] .

Thesis Holds

Under certain circumstances – most commonly for issues related to patents or security clearances – you can arrange for a brief delay of the official publication of your thesis in the MIT Libraries. Please see The Office of Graduate Education’s page for more information.

Guidelines for the use of ChatGPT when writing your EECS thesis (MEng, SM, PhD)

ChatGPT is a natural language processing tool driven by AI technology that assists with the composition of text, such as text found in emails, essays, and code. Text is also found in the thesis that is required as one deliverable of an advanced degree in EECS. The EECS Department views a “thesis” as a compilation of the contributions made to the field by the author, or a discussion of the knowledge acquired in answering the research questions. The student is the authority of the material contained or described in the thesis and is the sole author. The EECS Department expects the author of the thesis to compose original drafts of the text to convey accurately and completely the work accomplished for the advanced degree in EECS. Once a final draft of the thesis is obtained, ChatGPT may be used to improve the grammar or to provide a manner of proofreading of the draft. The EECS Department does not allow the use of ChatGPT to compose text starting from bulleted text or from an arrangement of phrases. If ChatGPT is implemented in the creation of a final thesis, that is submitted to DSpace for archival storage, the EECS Department requests that the use of ChatGPT to be acknowledged, or referenced, in the submitted thesis manuscript. (Effective April 20, 2023)

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Formatting, specifications, copyright and submission, thesis checklist.

• Department Checklist for Thesis Submittal

Required Signature Form

     Fill in your name & signature, then send to your advisor(s) to fill in their name & signature, which acts as their approval of your thesis. Signature form must be submitted along with your completed thesis document to the department by the department due date. 

• Signature Form

Thesis Committee

• Thesis Committee Guidelines
• Title page, abstract and committee page templates

Writing and Communications Center

The WCC at MIT ( Writing and Communication Center ) offers free one-on-one professional advice from communication experts. The WCC is staffed completely by MIT lecturers. All have advanced degrees. All are experienced college classroom teachers of communication. All are published scholars and writers. Not counting the WCC’s director’s years (he started the WCC in 1982), the WCC lecturers have a combined 133 years’ worth of teaching here at MIT (ranging from 4 to 24 years).

The WCC works with students (undergraduate and graduate), post-docs, faculty, and staff — the WCC no longer meets with alumni or spouses/partners.). The WCC helps you strategize about all types of academic and professional writing as well as about all aspects of oral presentations (including practicing classroom presentations & conference talks as well as designing slides).

No matter what department or discipline you are in , the WCC helps you think your way more deeply into your topic, helps you see new implications in your data, research, and ideas. The WCC also helps with all English as Second Language issues, from writing and grammar to pronunciation and conversation practice.

Writing and Communication Center offers a number of programs to the wide community of MIT undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, faculty, and staff, which include:

• Individual Consultations on oral, visual, and written projects
• Workshops on various aspects of academic writing
• Writing Together Online program

Departmental Writing Support

We also have in house writing support for you, to help you with thesis writing support.  Marilyn Levine , our  Writing Consultant is available by appointment. She is an incredible department resource for everyone, and is available for workshops, advice, one on one student meetings, and more. Her contact info is [email protected] .

Formatting and Specifications

• Implementing the formatting and specifications saves a lot of time while your final thesis submission is being reviewed. The majority of students go through an average of 3-4 formatting revisions before their thesis book is approved as archive ready, and received by the department for final submission to the library.
• A thesis is a research paper , and must reflect the formatting specifications as such. Creative and stylistic formatting have their limits; all published theses must ultimately hold to the formatting requirements in order to ensure the document is accessible to all readers (observing ADA compliance regulations.)

Notes: While submissions must be a single, continuous page, you may switch between portrait and landscape orientation.

There is no institute-wide style guideline, as different disciplines adhere to their own. MIT Architecture does not prescribe a specific documentation style but recommends you confer with your thesis advisor in addition to adhering to the institute-wide specifications for each style: https://libraries.mit.edu/distinctive-collections/thesis-specs/

1. Thesis Checklist

Download the Department's Thesis Checklist to review your final document for archival acceptability. Take note that there is one addition to the checklist required by the Department ; page 2 (placed between the title and the abstract pages) must list your thesis/dissertation committee . It should have the academic titles of your advisors and readers as they are listed in the MIT Bulletin — see TEMPLATE .

2. Committee Chair Information for Title Page

• Leslie K. Norford Professor of Building Technology Chair of Undergraduate Curriculum Committee
• Leslie K. Norford Professor of Building Technology Chair of the Department Committee on Graduate Students

3. MIT Libraries Specifications for Thesis Preparation

• Specifications
• Review for information on obtaining correct research permissions, copyright, supplemental material and research data, accessibility features, holds, and more.
• MIT Thesis FAQ

4. Pay special attention to:

• General Policies
• Copyrighting your thesis
• Statement required on all title pages: 
• “ The author hereby grants to MIT a nonexclusive, worldwide, irrevocable, royalty-free license to exercise any and all rights under copyright, including to reproduce, preserve, distribute and publicly display copies of the thesis, or release the thesis under an open-access license.”
• Using previously published materials
• Thesis title — Make sure your final thesis title matches the Institute record by checking in WebSIS under "Online Degree Application".
• Proper wording on title, abstract and committee pages — see TEMPLATES (includes templates by degree, template for joint theses and template for dual degree theses).
• Pagination — 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. Make sure the page numbers in your Table of Contents are accurate (see tip in "Check Table of Contents Links" below)..
• Typeface & Size — Main body of text , including appendices and front matter should be no smaller than 11-point and not be script or italic (although italics may be used for short quotations or to highlight variables in equations).
• Image captions, endnotes, footnotes, sidenotes, table text, page numbers can be no smaller than 10-point — this includes text inside images. This is important for accessibility reasons   (an option for text that is too small inside an image is to  supply an alt tag  (this assumes program of thesis creation to be Microsoft Word; other programs likely provide this option).
• It is easy to overlook the font size of text within images. This text can be no smaller than 10-point (per bullet above, see  supply an alt tag )..
• Check Table of Contents Links — Make sure you have links in your table of contents that go to the correct location in your document. It is easy to make structural changes to your document and forget to revisit your Table of Contents links for accuracy. Microsoft Word has a Table of Contents tool that allows you to link TOC entries directly to the appropriate content in the document; it is a great tool to use as if your content moves during the editing of your document, Word automatically updates your links in your TOC). 
• Special note about full-page spreads — The Department of Architecture theses are allowed to employ full-page image spreads. Please remember that there is the potential for content to "disappear" into the fold between the page spread once the thesis is bound due to the 1" margin specification. Thus make sure no important content/text falls outside of the 1" margin. Please review MIT's information on oversized pages.

Copyright and Thesis

Scholarly publishing's theses and copyright page.

This page covers the following:

• Fair use and your thesis
• Copyright term and the public domain
• MIT license agreements
• Copyright for images and figures

MIT libraries' Using Copyrighted Content page.

• Fair use for your thesis: Two questions to determine fair use
• MIT license agreements that may allow reuse
• Copyright Clearance Center
• Obtaining permission for use

FINAL Thesis Submission

→ Signatures are not required on the title page. They ARE required on the SEPARATE SIGNATURE FORM .

On or before department thesis deadlines:

• Upload the final document to the Department's Thesis Submission Tool for a final formatting review ( choose "Single Sign On" and login with your MIT email address ).
• If final formatting revisions are not complete by the Institute Deadline for Thesis submission, you will be removed from the degree list.

This is for the purpose of making certain the document is in compliance with MIT archive requirements. You will be contacted quickly if adjustments are needed and when the document has been approved. Before submitting your document ensure that:

• you make a final pass through your thesis document based on the formatting/specifications information;
• your advisor has seen and approved your final version that you are uploading to the Department's  Thesis Submission website . No further changes can be accommodated;
• you don't forget the additional committee page required by the Department of Architecture which is placed between your title and abstract pages (this page is not necessary if you only have a thesis advisor and no readers). Consult the Department's Faculty page in the MIT catalog for proper academic titles for MIT instructors.

After submitting your document, ensure that you have submitted your Thesis Information to the Library . There you must complete the the online form (Ensure that your thesis title is an exact match with what is listed on your (approved!) title page (click on "Online Degree Application").

• Please complete the full form, including copyright info, thesis supervisor, and more.
• Dual degree students: list your PRIMARY department in the main fields of the form, and include the information for the secondary department and thesis supervisor in the NOTES section of this form.
• All grad students may also choose to OPT-IN to send your thesis to Pro-Quest.
• The Library WILL NOT publish theses that are formatted incorrectly, have incorrect copyright statements, or missing or incorrect table of content information. We don't go through this process because we want to, it's in order to ensure your thesis is publishable per Library standards. 

A note from an alum: While there are multiple reasons to write your thesis in a word document (including making citations easier, table of contents easier, and more), many of you will choose to format it in InDesign instead. If you do, please ensure you package your InDesign file before you graduate. If you are using a student Adobe license, when you graduate your student license will be revoked. An unpackaged InDesign file will mean your entire thesis document will become a jumble of words and images. Should you want to access your thesis again in the future (maybe to print? maybe because the Library has noticed an error and requires you to correct it before publishing your thesis to D-Space), you will have to reformat the entire document again.  

Graduate Program

Thesis preparation guidelines.

All graduate students in MIT Political Science must follow these guidelines for thesis completion and submission.

Consult the MIT Specifications for Thesis Preparation for the rules governing the format of your thesis. Remember that formatting rules are strictly enforced. Be sure to have Susan Twarog or Diana Gallagher check the pagination and format of the title and abstract pages of your thesis before you print the document on archival bond and obtain the necessary signatures.

Two copies of your thesis must be printed on archival bond and contain original signatures. If you are completing a joint degree, you must submit three copies on archival bond with original signatures.

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).

The thesis title page should indicate the name and official title of your thesis supervisor and the chair of the Graduate Program Committee (GPC) who will be accepting the thesis on behalf of the department. Students must obtain the signatures of the thesis supervisor and the chair of the GPC, unless they have made other arrangements with Susan Twarog or Diana Gallagher.

You must submit two copies of your thesis. If you are completing joint degrees, you are required to submit three copies. Submit all copies unbound to Diana Gallagher in E53-465A. If you are a PhD candidate, you must also complete the UMI form (see the MIT Specifications for Thesis Preparation ) with photocopies of both title and abstract pages attached.

Electronic copy

In addition to submitting paper copies of your thesis, you must email a PDF copy to [email protected], and you may also submit an electronic copy to MIT's digital library DSpace. This makes it possible for those interested in reading your thesis to do so without charge. The cost of ordering a paper copy of a thesis from MIT can approach $100 for a 400-page thesis. Read the instructions for electronic submission.

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Thesis Information

Upcoming thesis defenses.

If you are defending this term and do not see your information listed, please contact Sydney Miller in the APO.

Forming a Thesis Committee

When : Doctoral Students – After completing the written and oral exams and generally by the beginning of their third Year of study. Forming their committees at this stage will allow students to consult with all members of the committee during their studies and can provide additional advice and mentorship for them.

How : Register for thesis research under subject number 8.ThG, form a thesis committee, meet with full committee, and submit a formal thesis proposal to the department.

Thesis Committee Formation

Student should consult with their Research Supervisor to discuss the Doctoral Thesis Committee Proposal Form which will name the 3 required members of the Physics Doctoral Committee and a descriptive preliminary thesis title. 

Doctoral Committee must include 3 members with MIT Physics faculty appointments:

• Committee Chair: Research Supervisor from MIT Physics Faculty or Research Supervisor from outside MIT Physics + Co-Supervisor/Chair from MIT Physics Faculty
• Selected Reader: from MIT Physics Faculty (in the same/similar research area, selected by student and supervisor)
• Assigned Reader: from MIT Physics Faculty (in different research area, selected by the Department’s faculty Graduate Coordinator.)

The Form should include the names of the Student, Chair, and Selected Reader and a Thesis Title, when it is forwarded to the Academic Programs Office via email to [email protected] and Sydney will work with Faculty Graduate Coordinator Will Detmold , who will identify the Assigned Reader.

Following the consultation with their supervisor, the student should reach out to the proposed Selected Reader to secure an electronic signature or email confirmation in lieu of signature to serve on this committee. (Form should include either signature or date of email agreement.) It will take approximately 2-3 weeks before an Assigned Reader will be added and Sydney will provide an introduction to this final member of your Doctoral Committee. Please note: you may not form your committee and defend your thesis in the same semester.

Thesis Committee Meeting and Proposal

Once the Thesis Committee is established, the student should send all members a draft description of the proposed thesis topic and set up the first committee meeting with all members attending together in real time. A formal 2-page written Thesis Proposal should result from this important meeting and be sent to Sydney for the student’s academic record.  

Thesis Proposal

You should discuss your thesis research with your committee members all together in real time at your first committee meeting. Following this full discussion about your thesis topic, please write up your formal Thesis Proposal to reflect the mutually-agreed thesis plans and forward the Proposal to the graduate program at the APO using [email protected] for Sydney to document in the department’s academic records.

Thesis Research

Following the formation of the doctoral committee and submission of the thesis proposal, the student will continue to work on their thesis research in consultation with their Research Supervisor and other members of their Committee. This important communication paves the way for the thesis defense and degree completion.

When students are ready to defend, they should complete an ‘ Application for Advanced Degree ’ with the Registrar and schedule a thesis defense with all committee members attending in real time, whether in person or by video. Announcements for the defense will be coordinated by the Academic Programs Office and students should be in close contact with Sydney Miller during their final term or study.

Further details about this last stage of your studies will be available separately.

Thesis Defense

If there is even a slight possibility that you may finish this term, please complete an Application for Advanced Degree at the Registrar’s website at the beginning of the term. It is easy to remove your name if your plans change, but this timely step will avoid late fees!

Once you have scheduled your defense, please send this information to Sydney at [email protected] :

• Thesis Title:
• Committee Members:
• Meeting Details: (can be sent in the final week before the defense)

She will create the email notifications for our physics community and the MIT Events and Physics Calendar listings. This information you provide her is also used to generate the defense grade sheet for your defense.

Please send your committee members a thesis draft to help them prepare for your defense and plan to spend around two weeks making thesis revisions after your successful defense. The date you submit your thesis document to the department will determine whether it is for a Fall, Spring, or Summer degree.

Thesis Formatting

Archival copies of all theses must adhere carefully to principles specified by the MIT Libraries for formatting and submission. For complete information about how to format your thesis, refer to the  Specifications for Thesis Preparation .

Graduate Program Coordinator Sydney Miller can review your title page and abstract for accuracy before you submit the thesis. You may send these to her at  [email protected].

Required Signatures and Documentation

• Signatures:  The MIT Archives require an electronic PDF document and the Department needs a separate additional stand-alone title page with electronic/scanned signatures of   the student, research supervisor, and co-supervisor (if applicable). Theses are accepted by Associate Department Head, Professor  Lindley Winslow . Please send your documents to  [email protected]  and the APO staff will forward your thesis submitted to the MIT Library Archives.
• Thesis defense grade sheets:  Before accepting a PhD thesis, the Academic Programs Office must have a signed thesis defense grade sheet from the research supervisor indicating a “Pass” on the thesis defense.
• Thesis letter grade:  Before accepting an SM thesis, Academic Programs must have received a letter or email from the research supervisor, assigning a final thesis grade of A, B, or C.

Finalizing and Submitting your Thesis to MIT

Departments collect the thesis documents on behalf of the MIT Thesis Library Archives and Physics graduate students will submit their thesis to Sydney Miller.  Review overall information from MIT about  thesis specifications and format .

Please see the attached doctoral title page format for Physics and send your draft of the title/cover page and abstract to Sydney for review and any necessary edits. Once these are approved, please prepare the full document, with pagination appropriate for double-sided printing.

Theses may be completed and signed on any date of the year and the degree requirements are completed when the thesis is submitted. This is the final day of student status and payroll. (International students are eligible for Optional Practical Training starting on the following day.)

MIT awards degrees at the end of each term:

• Fall Term degree is in February. (Theses due second Friday in January.)
• Spring Term degree is in May. (Theses due second Friday in May.)
• Summer Term degree is in September. (Theses due second Friday in August.)

Thesis submissions are electronic files and you will submit the following to Sydney:

• A complete thesis document, without signatures
• A title page with electronic signatures from yourself, your supervisor (and co-supervisor, if required). Sydney will work with the Associate Head, Lindley Winslow , whose signature is required for the department and this will be added after you submit your document to the department/Sydney.
• A separate abstract page

Doctoral students also complete and submit the  Proquest/UMI form  (PDF), with attached title page and abstract (no signatures).

In addition to submitting your thesis to the department for the library archives, you may also  add your thesis to DSpace .

Digital Submission Guidelines

All theses are being accepted by the MIT Libraries in  digital form only . Digital theses are submitted electronically to the Physics Department, along with a separate signed title page. Students on the degree list will receive specific guidance about submission from the Academic Programs Office.

General Thesis Policies

All theses are archived in the MIT Libraries. An archival fee must be paid before a student’s final candidacy for a degree can be officially approved.

After all required materials have been submitted to the Academic Programs Office, a thesis receipt will be sent by email.

Thesis Due Dates

Check the MIT Academic Calendar for deadlines to submit your online degree application.

Thesis submission deadlines Graduating in May: Second Friday in May Graduating in September: Second Friday in August Graduating in February: Second Friday in January We strongly recommend that your defense be scheduled at least three weeks prior to the submission date. Consult with Academic Administrator Shannon Larkin to determine your thesis submission timeline.

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? When is it due?

Students register for thesis research units and assemble a thesis committee in the term following passing the Oral Exam.

The first step is for the student and research supervisor to agree on a thesis topic. An initial Graduate Thesis Proposal Cover Sheet (PDF) (Master’s Degree candidates should see process in section below) must be submitted to Academic Programs by the second week of the term.

The form requires

• an initial thesis title
• the name and signature of the research supervisor
• the name of one additional reader for the thesis committee agreed upon by the student and advisor

A third reader from the MIT Physics faculty, who is not in the same research area but whose background makes him or her an appropriate departmental representative on the committee, will be assigned by the Graduate Program Faculty Coordinator. If a student has a co-supervisor (because the main supervisor is from outside the MIT Physics faculty), the thesis committee will consist of four people: research supervisor, co-supervisor, selected reader, and assigned reader.

After the student is notified of the assigned reader, he or she should convene an initial thesis committee meeting within the same term. The student should also register for 8.THG beginning in this term, and in each term thereafter. 8.THG registration should be for up to 36 units, depending on whether the student is also still taking classes and/or receiving academic credit because of a teaching assistantship. All post-qual students should routinely register for a standard total 36 units.

Master’s degree candidates should complete an SM Thesis Proposal Cover Sheet (PDF). A second reader for the Master’s degree thesis committee is assigned by the Graduate Program Faculty Coordinator. Note that there is no public defense required for an SM degree.

See the Doctoral Guidelines for additional information.

I am going to graduate soon–what do I have to do in terms of paperwork etc.?

Please reference the Registrar’s complete graduation checklist . Students should reference this list at the START of the semester prior to graduation. Your research area’s administrative office and the Physics APO will also help you manage the final stage of your degree.

How do I get on/off the Degree List?

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.

The WebSIS degree list is used to communicate information about thesis defense announcements and grade sheets, thesis formats, and completion dates, so it is important to file a degree application to be on the list in a timely way. The standard deadline for filing a degree application without being assessed a late fee is the Friday of the first week of the term in which a student anticipates graduating. Removing oneself from the degree list requires an email to Academic Programs .

When is my thesis due? Can I get an extension?

Students can defend and submit their thesis on any dates that work for their committees, but MIT confers degrees only 3 times each year: in May, September and February. Thesis submission deadlines Graduating in May: Second Friday in May Graduating in September: Second Friday in August Graduating in February: Second Friday in January We strongly recommend that your defense be scheduled at least three weeks prior to the submission date. Consult with Academic Administrator Shannon Larkin to determine your thesis submission timeline.

Note that these deadlines are already more generous that the Institute thesis deadline. Students desiring extensions should contact the Academic Administrator, Shannon Larkin .

How do I find a room for my Thesis Defense?

Many Divisions have conference and/or seminar rooms which can be used for oral exams and defenses. These locations are recommended to keep your Thesis Defense comfortable and in familiar territory. Students who cannot book a room in their research area should contact Sydney Miller in the Physics APO to check availability of a Physics departmental conference room (often difficult to schedule due to heavy demand) or to help schedule a classroom through the Registrar’s Office.

When I submit my thesis to Physics Academic Programs, what do I need to bring?

Please refer to the Graduate Thesis Submission Guidelines .

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Wednesday, April 24, 2024

NW17-218 Hybrid

Abstract : Structure formation in magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence can be described as an modulational instability (MI) of the fluctuations comprising the turbulent background. In the first part of this talk, I will discuss a framework in which the turbulent fluctuations are modeled as an effective plasma of quasi-particles, and coherent structures self-consistently emerge as mean-fields with and through which these quasi-particles interact. By treating this fluctuation/mean-field system with a quantum-like kinetic theory (Wigner-Moyal formalism), scale separation between the fluctuations and mean-fields need not be invoked. Although this approach provides a powerful analytical framework in regimes where the underlying quasilinear approximation (QLA) holds, this popular and often reliable closure must be carefully examined for MHD. In the second part of this talk I will discuss an extended quasilinear theory (XQLT) that considers modulations of a simple background such that the full chain of modulational harmonics can be retained. This allows for a systematic examination of the validity of simple closures, while revealing the rich modulational dynamics beyond the QLA. In particular, we find propagating spectral waves (PSWs) which carry energy ballistically to higher harmonics, thereby driving deviations from the QLA. Finally, I will show that corrections to ideal incompressible MHD suppress PSWs and reinstate the validity of the QLA.

Bio: Suying Jin is a PhD candidate in the Program in Plasma Physics at Princeton University. She is broadly interested in the physics of waves; in particular, the question of how conserved quantities are exchanged between different subsystems of a plasma, including and (or) mediated by waves. Her dissertation research applies methods of modern wave theory to study coherent structure formation in magnetohydrodynamic turbulence. Her previous graduate work includes the study of nonlinear absorption effects in the RF stabilization of fusion plasmas. Suying was awarded a Charlotte Elizabeth Procter Fellowship in 2023.

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Alleviating the Danger Of A Single Story Through Liberatory Computing Education

April 23, 2024

• Raechel Walker Research Assistant
• Cynthia Breazeal Professor of Media Arts and Sciences; MIT Dean for Digital Learning

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Raechel Walker, Olivia Dias, Matt Taylor, and Cynthia Breazeal, “Alleviating the Danger Of A Single Story Through Liberatory Computing Education,” in Proceedings of the 2024 RESPECT Annual Conference (RESPECT 2024), Atlanta, GA, USA. ACM, New York, NY, USA

Computing curricula tend to inadvertently perpetuate a damaging singular narrative about African American communities. Two data activism programs were implemented, with a qualitative analysis tracking desire-based research integration into final student projects. In the second program, projects shifted to collaboration with community organizers, increasing the inclusion of desire-based research. Integrating community researchers into the technical curriculum empowers students to infuse data science projects with personal narratives, breaking away from the conventional singular narrative. Liberatory computing enables students to express a nuanced understanding of their experiences. These projects equip students with advanced data activism skills for active contributions to policymaking processes. 

Unveiling Voices: Boston Students' Data Activism Journey with Community Catalysts

R. Walker, S. Brady, O. Dias, A. Castillo, K. Asfaw, E. Johnson, M. Taylor, and C. Breazeal , "Unveiling Voices: Boston Students' Data Activism Journey with Community Catalysts," in Black Issues in Computing Education Symposium 2024, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, 2024

Understanding and Embedding Design Justice in Design Processes

How do we meaningfully engage with topics such as ethics, equity, and justice in our design processes?

Liberatory Computing for African American Students (Awarded Best Position Paper)

Walker, R., Sherif, E., & Breazeal, C. (2022). Liberatory computing education for African American students. 2022 Conference on Research in Equitable and Sustained Participation in Engineering, Computing, and Technology (RESPECT), 85–89.

Liberatory Computing Framework: Empowering High School Students to Mitigate Systemic Oppression through Data Activism

The auditory P2 is influenced by pitch changes but not pitch strength and consists of two separate subcomponents

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Kurt Steinmetzger , André Rupp; The auditory P2 is influenced by pitch changes but not pitch strength and consists of two separate subcomponents. Imaging Neuroscience 2024; doi: https://doi.org/10.1162/imag_a_00160

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The P2 component of the auditory evoked potential has previously been shown to depend on the acoustic stimulus properties and prior exposure to the materials. Here, we show that it is also affected by acoustic changes, as P2 amplitudes were strongly enhanced in response to voice pitch changes with a stepwise pattern compared to dynamic pitch changes typical for natural speech, and also reflected the magnitude of these pitch changes. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that neither the P2 nor any other component are affected by the harmonicity of the materials. Despite no prior exposure and a weaker pitch, artificially created inharmonic versions of the materials elicited similar activity throughout auditory cortex. This suggests that so-called harmonic template neurons observed in animal studies are either absent or do not exist in sufficient number in human auditory cortex to detect their activity extracranially. Crucially, morphology as well as scalp maps and source reconstructions of the EEG data showed that the P2 appears to consist of two separate subcomponents. While the “P2a” was localised to auditory cortex, the subsequent “P2b” included generators spread across auditory cortex and association areas. The two subcomponents thus likely reflect processing at different stages of the auditory pathway.

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