A written dissertation based on original research in Mathematics, completed under the direction of a member of the graduate faculty
Ph.D. Dissertation and Defense
The doctoral dissertation (or thesis) is completed under the direction of a thesis advisor, and must be approved by a faculty committee of (at least) four members, one of which is an ''outside member". Additional information about the rules for forming the thesis committee can be found here.
Students should read the Rutgers - New Brunswck Graduate School Thesis and Dissertation Style Guide. Here is a guide to producing a Mathematics thesis in LATeX in accordance with the style guide.
Degree Policy (adopted May 2006)
The dissertation itself must be a single entity and a clearly written account of the student's original research. In addition to a description of the details and results of the research, it should contain an appropriate general and contextual introduction, written at a level accessible to most other workers in the wider field. If the thesis consists of more than one piece of research, the elements of the dissertation must be related parts of a common research program and should be tied together in the introduction and the conclusion.
The student and his advisor should propose an outside committee member to the graduate program director at least two months before the defense date. The formal doctoral defense should normally be scheduled at least one month in advance of the defense date. There is an application form available from the graduate secretary. The student is strongly urged to disseminate a near-final draft of the thesis among the committee members at least three weeks before the formal doctoral defense.
The committee members should all be present at the defense. Sometimes it is infeasible for the outside committee member to attend the defense. In this case, the Graduate Administrative Assistant will email the outside committee member requesting him/her to send an email approving your dissertation to the Graduate Director at graddir@math.rutgers.edu. The email should be sent before the thesis defense. Assuming that the outside committee member approves the thesis, the letter should include something like the following language:
I, [NAME OF OUTSIDE MEMBER], as the outside committee member, have read and approved [NAME OF STUDENT]’s dissertation and grant permission to the Graduate Director, [NAME OF GRADUATE DIRECTOR], to sign on my behalf on the thesis and official forms.
