The Grainger College of Engineering
Nuclear, Plasma & Radiological Engineering

Dissertation and Exam Requirements

Preparing for Doctoral Exams

  1. Have a conversation with your advisor about your proposed timeline for doctoral exams and composition of your committee.
  2. Review the Graduate College resources for preparation.
  3. Review Graduate College Academic Time Limits to get a better understanding of important milestones in your doctoral program.
  4. Students are responsible for starting the process to appoint a preliminary or final exam committee through submitting a request through the Graduate College Student Portal.

Semester of final exam

  1. Register for 599 Thesis Research – PhD students MUST be registered in the semester in which they defend.
  2. Please revisit PhD Degree requirements here.  No more than 48 hours of NPRE 599 Thesis Research Credit may count toward your degree.  Students may register for 0 hours of NPRE 599 if they have met this maximum and need to be registered.
  3. If you are a PHD student and your intent is to complete your MS and transition on to complete the PHD, please ensure that you have petitioned to add the MS as a secondary curriculum.  This is required to add yourself to the MS degree list as well as request your MS TDA (Thesis/Dissertation Approval) form. 
  4. Schedule your final exam date with your committee, reserve a room through Sarah Drum (sdrum@illinois.edu) if you wish to reserve a room in Talbot.
  5. Submit final exam announcement information to Jenna Russell (jennar@illinois.edu).

Please include:

  • Date/time/location
  • ZOOM meeting information (if applicable)
  • Title, abstract and bio
  • Headshot (png or jpeg)
  1. Submit your dissertation to your committee prior to your defense.  Give them at least 7-10 business days to review.

Submit request for final exam committee

  1. You previously submitted a request for your preliminary exam committee.  A separate request for your final exam committee is REQUIRED.
  2. Review Doctoral Committee information which outlines departmental requirements for your doctoral committee.  Please consult with your advisor regarding your committee.  Graduate College definitions of committee roles can be found here.  
  3. Submit your request for your PhD exam committee through the Graduate College Student Portal.  Separate requests are required for your Prelim and Final exam committees.
  4. The Department and the Graduate College will review and approve, and BOTH your Final Exam form and your TDA/Thesis/Dissertation Approval form will be generated and sent to your committee chair.

Semester of dissertation deposit

  1.  Doctoral students do NOT need to be registered in the semester in which they deposit their dissertation. For example, a student may defend in November ahead of the fall deadline but not deposit until January. 
  2. Graduation only occurs if you meet BOTH defense and deposit deadlines in a given semester.  If you meet one and not the other, your official date of graduation moves to the following semester.
  3. Add yourself to the degree list – In the term you plan to deposit your thesis, add yourself via UI Integrate Self-Service prior to the deadline.  Should you miss the deadline, you will need to fill out a request to be moved from one degree list to another.
  4. Review Commencement information, register for ceremonies and access your To-Do checklist.

Dissertation Review

  1. Thoroughly review Grad College Thesis Requirements for formatting your dissertation.
  2. Submit your title page for a precheck.
  3. Please pay attention to how your committee is listed on your cover page.  Consult Faculty Names and Titles for more information.
  4. Submit your dissertation to your committee well in advance of the Graduate College deadline for the semester in which you plan to submit.  The review and revision process takes time!
  5. Students may receive feedback from their committee following their defense. Once you have obtained feedback and made any recommended changes/revisions, resubmit to your committee and allow time for re-review.
  6. After your committee is satisfied with the final version of your dissertation, the TDA should be signed and be sent to the department (jennar@illinois.edu) or submitted in person.    
  7. Please submit to the department for final review at least 10 business days before the deadline.  Submit to npre-grad-advising@illinois.edu and copy jennar@illinois.edu  The department head will provide any feedback to you via email or let you know it is approved and you will be notified that the TDA (Thesis/Dissertation Approval form has been signed and submitted to the Graduate College.  You can proceed with submitting your thesis to the Graduate College at that time.
  8. Submit your dissertation to the Graduate College.  The Graduate College Thesis Office will perform the final formatting review and will notify you of required changes via email. 
  9. The Graduate College Thesis Office will notify you via email that your deposit has been approved.  The deposit fee will be charged to your student account.
  10. All final corrections and required materials are due no later than 4:45 p.m. on the final day of the deposit period for your intended graduation (see Graduate College Academic deadlines).
  11. Your FINAL version must be submitted no later than 5 pm on the deadline date.

Keep in mind...

If you are defending and depositing your dissertation earlier than the posted deadline for that semester, in order to retain your tuition and partial fee waiver for your final semester, you must resign from your position no later than 7 days after deposit.  Please reach out to HR with questions.