PhD Oral Exam Information

GENERAL
Doctoral students must pass an Oral Examination of the subject of their thesis and matters relating thereto before they may obtain the Ph.D. degree. The examination will be conducted by the Dean of Graduate Studies or the Dean's designate chosen from among senior scholars of the University. The examining committee will include at least three members of the University of Manitoba academic staff, normally the same members as that of the candidate's advisory committee, and an examiner external to the University of Manitoba. All internal members of the examining committee must be present. The presence of the external examiner is not mandatory but is strongly encouraged.

PRIOR TO SCHEDULING THE ORAL EXAMINATION
The following must be assured prior to scheduling the oral examination:

Attendance of internal examiners
The attendance of all of the internal examiners is mandatory. If for any reason an internal examiner is unable to be present, notice must be given to the Faculty of Graduate Studies sufficiently in advance of the scheduling of the examination so that an acceptable substitute may be sought. The substitute should have sufficient time to read the thesis in advance of the examination, be a member of the Faculty of Graduate Studies, and be familiar with the area of the candidate's work.

Note: Oral examinations will be cancelled and deferred if members of the examining committee or their agreed upon substitutes are not present at the time and place scheduled.

Program information
At least two weeks prior to the proposed date the following information must be received in the Faculty of Graduate Studies Office:

  • Thesis examining committee reports (both internal and external)
  • The "Approval for Advancement to the Ph.D. Oral Examination" form (when required).
  • Examination Program information (in electronic form either emailed or provided on a CD in either Word Perfect or Microsoft Word): Biographical data-- place and data of birth of candidates, awards, etc.
  • List of degrees obtained--institution and date
  • The exact title of the thesis.
  • List of the candidate's publications and joint publications
  • An abstract of the thesis (not more than 350 words)

Notes:
1. It is the responsibility of the Department Head to reserve the room for the oral examination and notify the Graduate Studies Office of the location.
2. The examination will normally be held at either the University of Manitoba Fort Garry or Bannatyne campus. Exceptions must have the unanimous agreement of all committee members.

SCHEDULING AND ADVERTISING OF THE ORAL EXAMINATION
Once the oral examination has been scheduled, the Faculty of Graduate Studies must be notified. A minimum of two weeks notice is required. The Graduate Studies Office will then ensure that memoranda announcing the examination are sent to members of the department in which the examination will be held, heads of related departments, and the University events webpage.

Notes:
1. The oral examination is open to all members of the University community. Graduate students should especially be encouraged to attend.
2. Notices of the examination, including the invitation to graduate students, should be posted within the department.

DOCUMENTATION FOR THE CONDUCT OF THE EXAMINATION:
The following documents will be forwarded from the Graduate Studies Office at least three days prior to the examination.

To the Chair of the examination:

  • copies of all of the examiner's reports, both internal and external,
  • the questions and expected answers from the external examiner,
  • the Examination Programs,
  • release and copyright forms,
  • "Guidelines for the Scheduling and Conduct of the Oral Examination".

To the Advisor and Candidate:

  • "Guidelines for the Scheduling and Conduct of the Oral Examination", and copies of the reports of all examiners. Note: Questions submitted by the external examiner will not be forward to the advisor or to the candidate prior to the examination.

To the other internal members of the examining committee:

  • "Guidelines for the Scheduling and Conduct of the Oral Examination", and copies of the reports of all examiners.

CONDUCT OF THE EXAMINATION
The individual chairing the Oral Examination bears a very important responsibility. A thorough examination and defence of the thesis serves as the University's guarantee that the standards of the Ph.D. are not only maintained, but strengthened. To this end, the procedures for the conduct of the examination must be consistent and adhered to strictly.

Prior to the start of the formal examination:

The Chair ensures that:

  • seating, audio-visual aids etc. are appropriate and that copies of the Examination Program are distributed to the candidate, the Examining Committee, and members of the audience,
  • the means of presenting the data are appropriate, that is, that where essential experimental or other data have been collected, that they must be presented in an appropriate form and they must be visible and legible to all in attendance, and
  • the examining committee is aware of and understands the examination procedures. Note: Mere discussion of results without data presentation is not acceptable and the Chair must therefore confirm, prior to commencing the meeting of the Examining Committee, that appropriate presentation of data is planned. If it is not, the Chair is required to defer the Oral Examination pending preparation of such a presentation.

General introduction and welcome.

  • The Chair welcomes all of those in attendance and impresses upon the candidate, the examiners, and the audience:
  • that this occasion is the senior academic event in the Faculty of Graduate Studies and is a formal examination process prior to awarding the highest academic degree of the University of Manitoba; and
  • that a part of the examination process is the ability of the candidate to present, in about 25 to 30 minutes, the essence of his/her thesis clearly and concisely.

Introduction of candidate and examiners.

Referring to the Examination Program, the Chair:

  • introduces the candidate, noting previous degrees obtained, awards, special achievements, and publications, and
  • introduces the Examining Committee, beginning with a special welcome to the external examiner (if present) and proceeding with introductions of the non-departmental examiner, departmental examiners, and finally the advisor. Note: The Chair should note that all members of the examining committee have read the thesis and submitted written reports.

Outline of procedures for the Oral Examination.

  • The Chair outlines the procedures for the conduct of the examination for the candidate, examining committee, and audience as follows:
  • The candidate will be asked to give a 25 to 30 minute presentation of the thesis to include the major objectives, content, results, and conclusions. The Chair also notes that the Candidate's ability to present the thesis clearly and concisely in a 25 to 30 minute period is an essential part of the examination process.

At the conclusion of the candidate's presentation, the examiners will be invited to pose questions. The Chair reminds the examiners that they will each be initially allowed approximately 20 minutes to pose their questions and that, because this is an examination on which candidates may, and do, pass or fail, their comments and discussions on the subject matter of the thesis, apart from those essential to the questions, should be made only at the post-examination meeting of the examiners.

The order of questioning from the examiners is: external examiner, non-departmental examiner, departmental examiners, and the advisor. The Chair notes that ample time will be given to ensure that the examiners are able to complete their question s and that they may raise additional matters after hearing the initial round of questions. The Chair also notes that, if the external examiner is not present, the Chair will pose the questions from the external examiner to the candidate. Note: Depending on the level of technical detail and at the discretion of the Chair, another member of the Examining Committee (normally the advisor) may be asked to pose the questions from the external examiner.

One and one-half hours should normally be sufficient for the conduct of the oral examination by the committee. but in no case should the questioning exceed two hours.

If time permits, and after the questioning by members of the Examining Committee is completed, other members of the Faculty of Graduate Studies and other members of the audience may be given an opportunity to ask questions.

Following completion of the presentation and questioning period:

Note: At the conclusion of the candidate's presentation and before the questioning period, the Chair should allow sufficient time for those members of the audience who wish to leave the session to do so.

The Chair conducts the remainder of the Oral Examination as follows:

The audience is thanked for their attendance and support of the candidate and, along with the candidate, is asked to leave so that a confidential meeting of the Examining Committee may be held.

Each examiner is asked, in sequence, to comment on the candidate's performance with respect to the answers to the questions and on whether the candidate should pass or fail the oral examination;

Notes:

  • Decisions to pass the candidate must be unanimous, that is, a decision that is less than unanimous must be reported as a failure.
  • The decision of the Examination Committee is reported on the appropriate form(s) to the Dean of Graduate Studies.
  • A second attempt at the oral defence of the thesis may be scheduled in accordance with the regulations of the Faculty of Graduate Studies.
  • The nature of required revisions, prior to submission of the final copy of the thesis to the Graduate Studies Office, as well as the procedures for their completion is determined. This is done by the Chair in discussion with the committee.
  • The members of the Examining Committee are asked to sign, in both places, the approval form, provided of course that they agree that the candidate has passed the examination. Examiners must sign the Approval Form twice to signify their approval of the written thesis and the oral defence.
  • The candidate is invited back into the room and informed of the results of the examination, the nature of revisions, and the method of approval of the revisions.
  • The candidate is reminded of the procedures for submission of the thesis to the Graduate Studies Office and of the meaning and use of the copyright and partial release of copyright forms.

Note: The candidate should be reminded that only one unbound copy of the thesis need be single-sided.

The candidate is congratulated and members of the Examining Committee thanked.

Following completion of the examination.

The Chair shall:

  • communicate to the Dean of Graduate Studies the nature of the revisions and the procedures to ensure that the revisions are satisfactorily made
  • complete the Oral Examination report form for submission to the Dean of Graduate Studies.

The Dean of Graduate Studies shall:

  • ensure that the External Examiner is thanked and receives an honorarium for his/her services.

The Advisor shall:

  • approve the revisions to the thesis according to the agreed upon directions from the Examining Committee and signify approval by completioon of the form, "Final Oral Examination of Ph.D. Thesis".
  • submit the "Final Oral Examination of the Ph.D. Thesis" form to the Graduate Studies Office.

The Candidate shall:

  • submit one copy of the final draft of the thesis, with all completed revisions, in unbound form enclosed in an envelope or folder to the Faculty of Graduate Studies, room 500 University Centre, ensuring that all additional pages are inserted (copyright, approval form, abstract, etc.).
  • submit a digital version of the final thesis as an e-thesis at the MSpace website (https://mspace.lib.umanitoba.ca/index.jsp).