Graduation procedure
The full procedure of the graduation process can be found on the TPM’s graduation portal for EPA and CoSEM and on CETG’s graduation portal for TIL. But as details in this procedure may vary across committee chairs, I’m sharing mine below. Please note that this is not an official document, and the official procedure should be followed in case of discrepancies:
Before the kick-off meeting
- To have a succesful kick-off meeting, the student should have a clear research proposal. But, of course, not everything can be known at this stage. The moment to have a kick-off meeting is when the main ideas are clear. This means that the student should have a clear idea of the research questions, the methods and data to be used, and the expected results. The student should also have a clear idea of the timeline and the resources needed for the research (feasibility) as well as have a clear idea of the expected contribution to the field and how it fits into the MSc programme’s objectives.
- It is highly recommended to discuss a first draft of the research proposal with each member of the committee before the kick-off meeting. This will help to get everyone on the same page and to avoid misunderstandings.
Kick-off meeting
- The student sends the research proposal 1 week in advance to the committee.
- The student prepares a 10/15-minute presentation.
- Q & A with the committee.
- The committee assess the research proposal & presentation in terms of feasibility, scientific contribution and fit to your MSc programme’s objectives.
- If the committee approves the proposal, the committee chair approves kick-off in MyCase; SPA checks if all requirements are met. If so, then the student can formally start the thesis.
Mid-term meeting
- The student prepares a 10/15-minute presentation, usually containing the progress, first/preliminary results, and the planning ahead.
- The student prepares the agenda. What are the important topics you want to discuss and have the opinions of your committee on?
- It is recommended (but not obligatory) to send the committee members already the “finished” chapters of your thesis (typically, these are the intro and literature review). Do not send everything you have written (i.e. unfinished chapters). If you send a document, please let the committee know what sort of feedback you would like to receive.
- No forms need to be filled in or submitted.
Greenlight meeting
- The student sends the full thesis (docx or pdf) at least 1 week in advance by uploading it to MyCase and sending it to the committee by email (<20Mb, reduce file size if larger).
- The submitted thesis must be complete, including an executive summary, references, etc. Only the preface can be missing. TIL students do not yet need to include the scientific paper.
- The student does not prepare a presentation.
- Each committee member provides his/her assessment of the thesis (i.e. he or she assesses whether the thesis is good enough to defend or not). Each committee member provides input to improve the thesis further. The committee chair makes the final call on whether to go ahead with the defence or whether revisions are needed (and a new GL meeting must be scheduled).
- If the committee gives a Go, then the chair needs to approve the GL in MyCase. Note that the minimum time between GL and defence is 3.5 weeks.
- Ideally, the full committee is present at the greenlight meeting. However, if for whatever reason, the full committee cannot be present, then the greenlight meeting can still take place if all grading committee memnbers are present. In other words, advisors and external supervisors can be absent. If an advisor or external supervisor cannot be present, they need to provide their feedback in writing (email) to the committee chair. The committee chair will then share this feedback with the student.
Defence COSEM/EPA
- The graduation committee meets - without you - in a separate room (my room) 15 minutes before the start of the public part. We coordinate questions and determine the range of grades to be awarded.
- We will enter the hall a few minutes before the start of the public part.
- You have exactly 20 minutes to present your work. The challenge is to keep everything reasonably understandable, but certainly not to make it too easy. The family likes to see ‘complicated things’ happening at TU Delft (and that is true), so don’t oversimplify.
- Then, the audience will have 15 minutes for a Q&A.
- Then, the committee will have 10 minutes for a Q&A.
- Around 45 minutes after the start, the committee leaves the room to determine your grade (5 minutes).
- When the committee gets back, you will receive a grade (if you want this to be made public), plus a word from the daily supervisor, plus a diploma, photo, etc. (10 minutes).
- If everything goes according to plan, we will finish one hour after the start of the public part.
Defence TIL
- Closed-door defence.
- Q&A committee and student (30 minutes).
- Committee discussion about the closed-door defence (the student has left the room and is getting ready for the public defence) (15 minutes).
- Public defence (30 minutes in total):
- The student presents his thesis (15 minutes).
- The committee adjourns outside the hall to determine the final grade (5 minutes).
- When the committee gets back, you will receive a grade (if you want this), plus a word from the daily supervisor, plus a diploma, photo, etc. (10 minutes).
- The committee chair fills in the final assessment form and sends it to SPA.
Meeting locations
The student is responsible for reserving the meeting locations, with TU Delft as the default location. In-person meetings are preferred, although online attendance can be arranged when needed. For external supervisors, joining online is often the most practical option. The final defence, however, takes place in person at TU Delft (audience may join online).
Plagiarism check
Before submitting the thesis, the student conducts a plagiarism check on the thesis. To do so, go to Brightspace > Course (EPA2942, CoSEM2331, TIL5060) > Assignments > and submit the thesis. DO NOT USE TURNITIN, as this will pollute the plagiarism system.
Thesis submission
To submit your final thesis1, take the following three steps:
- Send a PDF to the committee by email (<20Mb, reduce file size if larger).
- Upload it to MyCase.
- Upload it to TU Delft repository.
[1] For TIL students, a scientific paper must be appended to the report as Appendix A.
Archiving datasets and code
If you have used datasets or code in your thesis, please make sure to handle it as stated in your data management data management plan.
In addition, please make sure to upload your code and data to the CityAI lab’s GitHub repository before the defence. Archiving your repository allows reproducibility of your work and enables future students to build upon your research. Make sure to include a README file with instructions on how to run your code and any necessary dependencies. By default, your code and data will be made private so only the committee members and future students can access them. To create your personal folder inside the repository, please contact Francisco Garrido-Valenzuela.
If you have further questions about the procedures, feel free to drop me an email. Good luck!