computer science

Submission and examination of PhD theses

Well before you submit, your supervisors will choose three examiners: an internal (within the Univeristy of Otago), a NZ external, and an overseas external. Note: you won't know who the examiners are.

A convenor will also be nominated for your examination. This will be someone within the University of Otago.

When you and your supervisors have determined that your thesis is ready to submit you must produce four copies of the thesis and give these to the CS department office, where it will be soft-bound. The student must also sign a declaration form. This has to be an original, no scanned or copied signatures! You then ceremonially bring all four copies of the thesis plus the declaration form to the Doctoral and Scholarships Office in the Clocktower Building, where you receive a chocolate fish as reward.

Marking can take quite a long time: we try to ensure the thesis is marked within 6 weeks, but it can take longer.

When your examiners' reports are all received, the convenor will contact you and your supervisors with the results.

External examiners can recommend an oral examination in their report. At Otago this is an optional part of the examination process, but in some departments it is customary that all candidates have an oral exam. There is no general rule about when an oral is necessary - certainly, examiners do not only recommend an oral in borderline cases. The Otago PhD handbook has more information about the oral examination.

You should also consult the university's official page about the PhD examination process.

When a thesis is accepted and all corrections have been approved, you will receive further instructions by mail about printing and submitting hard-bound copies of the thesis. You are also encouraged to submit an electronic copy of your thesis to Otago's digital research archive.