SIPA: School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University

Curriculum

Overview | MA Degree | MPhil Degree | PhD Degree

Requirements for the PhD Degree

PhD Dissertation
The PhD dissertation will be on a social science topic in sustainable development. The social science research will be informed by an understanding of physical and natural science constraints and opportunities influencing economic development.

Students with a regional area of interest to their dissertation may wish to do research abroad, so as to conduct field studies, use archives, improve language skills, or confer with local experts. In order that students may complete the PhD program without delay, it is preferred that they make use of summers to conduct such research. Students who feel they require a longer period of field research or language training need the approval of their advisor, and of the DGS. Students may not receive extended residence credit for study or research away from Columbia before the completion of all course work requirements and comprehensive examinations.

PhD Defense
1. Candidates must consult with their advisor and the Director of Graduate Studies about scheduling the defense. Every Ph.D. student must submit the Intent to Distribute and Defend form directly to GSAS.

2. The final examination will not be scheduled until the Director of Graduate Studies has recommended the dissertation for defense.  A five-person examining committee will be appointed by the department and must be approved by GSAS. The DGS will then officially invite the examiners.

3. The Application for Defense must be completed by the Candidate and the Director of Graduate Studies and submitted by the program’s office to the GSAS Dissertation office.

4. Members of the PhD examining committee must be given a minimum of three weeks to read the thesis, so the defense may comfortably be scheduled after submission of the thesis to the Advisory Committee. Before being recommended for defense, the candidate must submit to his/her Advisory Committee draft copies of the thesis, including figures, plates and tables and obtain the Advisory Committee’s written approval of the draft.  (Written approval by the Advisory Committee indicates only that the thesis as it stands or with revisions suggested by them is in good enough form to justify scheduling the defense.) 

5. After the Advisory Committee has given its preliminary approval in writing, and the candidate has made any revisions suggested by them, he/she must distribute copies of the dissertation to the external readers. Instructions for the correct form for preparing the manuscript and information on publication options may be obtained via the Graduate School’s website (http://www.columbia.edu/cu/gsas/)

6. The candidate must see that outstanding fees or loans to the University are paid and make sure that he/she has fulfilled all other Departmental requirements.  When these requirements have been fulfilled and the examining committee has been appointed by the DGS, the candidate is notified of the examination date, usually about two weeks in advance.

7. After passing the final examination, the candidate must see to any minor revisions and their approval by the examining committee before final deposit.  If major revisions were called for (a defense-vote of “incomplete”), these must be made and submitted within a stated period (usually no fewer than three months and no longer than one year from the date of the defense) to the supervising committee, whose approval will have to be certified in writing before the candidate can be recorded as having passed the final examination.  From the time of the “pass” vote, the student has a maximum of six months to deposit the thesis. There are four steps to completing your deposit -- the steps can be done in any order, but your deposit is only considered complete when all four steps are done.

A.  Complete the GSAS deposit application and pay the $85 processing fee;

B.  Submit the required Survey of Earned Doctorates online;

C.  Upload and submit a PDF copy of your dissertation;

D.  Obtain a signed Approval Card that certifies you have made all required revisions and that the dissertation has been approved for deposit by your sponsor and by your doctoral program.

8. Doctorate degrees are awarded in October, February, and May.  Check the academic calendar for specific deadlines for the final deposit of the dissertation.  (You may, however, call yourself “Dr.” as of the day of your deposit, since that date will appear on your official transcript.)

Open defenses (optional)
If both the candidate for a defense and the Advisory Committee choose to have an “open” defense, the following will apply:

a. The candidate will have a maximum of 40 minutes to present major conclusions of the thesis research, with at least half of the time devoted to a description of new findings or insights in the field discussed that directly resulted from research by the student.

b. Any member of the University community or other interested parties can attend the first part of the thesis defense. 

c. Questions following the initial presentation are permitted for a maximum of 10 minutes.

d. Following the oral presentation by the candidate and the brief period for general questions, the defense committee will question the candidate in closed session for a period of up to 90 minutes.

If either the candidate or the Advisory Committee prefer, the procedures for “closed defense” (i.e., 20-minute oral presentation followed by questions from the defense committee in closed session for a period of up to 90 minutes) will be followed.