To make satisfactory progress towards a PhD the student should complete the Preliminary Oral Examination after 24-36 months in residence. One of the big mistakes students make is to wait too long to complete the Preliminary Oral Exam. The right time to do it is as soon as you have sufficient results that you can see light at the end of the tunnel (e.g. you know what you need to do to finish your dissertation). Note that it is common in many other graduate programs at UT Austin to do this much later; don’t follow the advice of students in other graduate programs.
The purpose of this examination is to determine the student's grasp of the research problem and to assess future plans and goals. The proposal should be approximately 10 double spaced pages exclusive of appendices. Copies of this proposal should be submitted to members of the committee at least two weeks before the oral presentation is to be made. This proposal should contain:
- A description of the problem
- The objectives of the research
- The proposed methods of conducting the research
- Preliminary results
- The methods of analyzing the data resulting from the research
- Proposed research required to complete the dissertation
- A proposed timeline for completing the dissertation
Along with the proposal, the student must submit to the committee 1) a Preliminary Oral Exam form, 2) a Doctoral Program of Work 3) and Learning Outcomes form. The Preliminary Oral Exam Form and Learning Outcomes is to be completed through DocuSign. To use the DocuSign version of these proposal forms, please email the Graduate Coordinator and include a list of your committee members and their email addresses. We recommend completing the DocuSign version on the day of your exam, shortly before the exam begins. The Program of Work is a document (MS Word or other format) of the courses you have taken, additional courses that you plan to take, and your prospective dissertation title. There is a minimum requirement of 30 coursework hours for the PhD degree, which includes Dissertation hours. The student should consult with the supervising professor about the details of the written proposal, the oral presentation, and any proposed coursework (other than dissertation).
The Preliminary Oral Exam will consist of three parts plus the Program of Work. First the student will submit a short written summary of proposed research and then present a 30-minute presentation on the proposed research. This will be followed by a question and answer session on the research program meant to test the student on his/her fundamental understanding of the fields pertinent to the research.
Following the Preliminary Oral Exam, the Dissertation Committee will deliberate and determine whether the student has an adequate plan for proceeding with his/her proposed research. If the Dissertation Committee feels that a major revision of the plan is needed, a re-examination will be scheduled. The Dissertation Committee will also carefully review the Program of Work and determine if any additional courses should be required.
The Dissertation Committee determines whether the research topic is appropriate and if the plan of action is adequate. In effect, they are agreeing that if the student executes this program successfully, it should lead to an acceptable dissertation. In addition, the committee is there to advise the student about any difficulties they can foresee with the research plan and to recommend any suggestions that would help the student achieve maximum success in the research. For this reason, it is essential that the student is completely honest and forthcoming about his/her proposed research. At the Preliminary Oral, the Dissertation Committee will reach an agreement with the student regarding the coursework that will be suitable for their PhD At the end of the exam, the committee signs the Preliminary Oral Exam form, which is then returned to the graduate coordinator with all of the committee members’ printed names and signatures. The student will also submit the Program of Work and the Learning Outcomes Form to the graduate coordinator.
