The Second Examination

There are four examination hurdles that one has to pass to complete the Ph.D. degree in our Program. The first-level is an examination at the end of the first year and is written about elsewhere. The other three examinations require an examination committee to follow your progress. Your first step is to find an area of research and a mentor to guide your research. Either component can be first.

Finding an Area of Research and a Mentor

Because our program is large and the faculty is distributed across many campuses, it may be difficult to choose an area of research and/or a mentor. Both choices are particularly important to you. You should learn as much as you can about the program's faculty and research areas the first year and be ready by the second, or at the worst the third, to choose a mentor.
If you desire, the E.O. can provide some guidance; make an appointment to see him/her.

Download the appropriate form to declare an advisor.

Examination Committee Composition

Once you have chosen your mentor and research area, you should make an appointment with the Executive Officer. The Executive Officer in consultation with your mentor will create an Examination Committee. Each student's Examination Committee, and any and all subsequent changes thereto, must be approved by the Executive Officer of the Program.

The role of members of the Examination Committee is to help guide your research. Your Examination Committee must minimally include three members of the CUNY doctoral Faculty and can include one "outside member: defined as a subject matter expert, having earned the degree of Ph.D., who has no current affiliation with the City University of New York. (You will need an outside member at your thesis defense.)

Second-Level Examination

The second-level examination exam serves as a survey of the research literature of your area of focus; it comprises an overview of work that is being conducted, the direction of the investigation and, to a lesser extent, a brief historical overview of the area (provided to give context to the modern research). The examination has a written and oral component.

Written Component

The written component should be a survey paper of about 20 to 30 double spaced pages of the current state of the art of research in your chosen area of research. The paper should be written as an article on the current art and the state of the particular (sub) area of interest within the larger field of study. The level of the writing should address an audience familiar with the basic tracts in the field; that is, one should not summarize elementary textbook information--it should be assumed.

Typically, the paper should demonstrate knowledge of the literature by reviewing between 20 and 30 research papers, most of which have been published within the last ten years. A student should have read every work cited and referenced. A student's aim is to demonstrate by means of this survey paper, and the accompanying oral presentation, a thorough understanding of the current literature in this research area. This does not mean that the student should be expert necessarily, in the research itself but, rather, demonstrate a solid understanding of the major issues, what is being studied, how these investigations are being carried out, and what has been achieved, especially over the past five or so.

The survey paper should not be an overview of each paper referenced, but of the amalgam of the research accomplished. The paper should be organized to show knowledge of the field by classifying the research papers referenced into reasonable groupings and discuss the general themes/ideas in each group (at a technical and fluent level). Important papers merit a more detailed review and the student is responsible for a solid understanding of these papers. Generally, five or more of the papers are exceptionally important in this area and they should be starred in the reference section and described in more detail. (In the oral component, examiners may ask specific details about these more important papers.) For one of these groups, the student should go into greater (technical) detail -- and demonstrate the ability to pose a general research-level problem in a precise mathematical and/or algorithmic manner and to cogently discuss the papers in the related group relative to the abstract problem statement.

The written part of the examination must be distributed to your committee and the Executive Officer at least three weeks prior to the oral presentation.

Oral Component

The oral presentation itself (within the larger scope of the examination) should take approximately 45 minutes, excluding time for questions. Most of the presentation should focus on recent advances in the field and not be a general overview. You should assume your committee has read your survey paper.

The candidate should be prepared for the committee to ask probing questions.

BECOMING A THIRD-LEVEL STUDENT

Successful passing of this examination is one of the requirements to become a third-level student. Other requirements as stated in the Bulleting also must be demonstrated as satisfied.

Download the appropriate form.

DISSERTATION PROPOSAL EXAMINATION GUIDLINES

Typically, this exam should take place about one year after becoming a third-level student.  This examination serves to identify more closely the reserach that the student proposes to do in order to obtain a Ph.D.

the Dissertation Proposal Examination has a written and oral component.  The written part must be distributed to your committee and the Executive Officer at lease three weeks prior to the oral presentation.

For the Examination you should create a document that will convince your Committee that you have identified a topic that is worthy of doctoral research, both for its originality and for its significance, and that you have an approach to handling this topic that shows you are conversant with the state of the art directly relevant to your proposed research.  This document should show that you have insight into the problem and what open problems still exist.

The oral examination should be designed to last 45 minutes, without an allowance for questions.  Part of the presentation should be an approximate timeline of the time you estimate for the components of your final dissertation.  The candidate should be prepared for the committee to ask probing questions.

Download the appropriate form for setting up this exam.

 All members of the committee are required to participate in this examination.  A student should submit a final draft of his or her Proposal to the Program Office at least three weeks prior to scheduling it.  It is a student's responsibility toascertain the availability of all Examinig Committee members to attend the proposal.  

Before research is stated a "Human Subjects Research Approval Form" must be approved by The Graduate Center's Office of Research and Sponsored Progroms (Room 8309, 365 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10016)

Download the appropriate form for setting up your dissertation proposal.

WHILE A THIRD-LEVEL STUDENT

You should be in weekly contact with your mentor and consult with the members of your committee at least once a semester.  You will be required to fill out a progress report for the Executive Officer each semester.  You, with your mentor, should find an outside member with expertise in your subject if one is not yet involved in your ommittee as you will need one for your Thesis Defense.

You should be actively seeking opportunities to present your results in conferences.  You should be writing papers based on your thesis work for presentation at conferences and writing papers for journal publication.  Typically you should have at least two papers accepted for publication based on your research before your defense.

An Exemplar of a Dissertation Proposal (written component)  is attached below.