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Mechatronic Systems Engineering Graduates

Mechatronic Systems Engineering students integrates cyber and physical realms, turning theory into practice with hands-on experiences to create technology for social good.

Thesis Defense Overview

Thesis Defence Step-by-Step Guide

1

Enroll in your thesis course

Make sure you are enrolled in your thesis course. Students need to be enrolled in their thesis course every term, including the term in which they are defending their thesis.

MASC THESIS - MSE 898

  • Upon admission to the MASc program, students must enroll in this course each term until they defend their thesis.
  • Graded on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis.
  • Prerequisite: N/a

PHD Thesis - MSE 899

  • Upon completing their Qualifying Examination, all PhD students must enroll in this course each term until they defend their thesis. 
  • Graded on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis.
  • Prerequisite: MSE 890 - PhD Qualifying Examination (PhD students must pass their Qualifying Exam before defending their thesis.)

2

Finish Writing Your Thesis

The Library's Theses Office assists students with formatting their theses for submission to the Library and for publication. Students must follow the formatting rules outlined on the Library's Thesis Resources page prior to submitting their thesis to MSE.

You can find information on copyright, ethics approval, and thesis intake appointments on the Library's website.

Another good resource is Graduate Studies' website:

3

Send Your Thesis To Your Supervisory Committee

Once you have completed your thesis, please share it with your supervisory committee as soon as possible. Your committee members will need time to review your thesis and confirm with you that it is ready to be defended.

Examiners (internal or external to SFU) are not a part of your supervisory committee. Supervisory committee members cannot serve as examiners on examining committees as per GGR 1.9.1c.

  • Students are not allowed to contact their external examiners.
  • If you are a PhD student, your thesis will be shared with your external examiner by the Graduate Studies office.

THESIS DEFENCE EXAMINING COMMITTEE

  • Supervisory committee: supervisor (or co-supervisors) + committee members
  • Internal examiner: an SFU faculty member
  • External examiner: a faculty member from another institution who is an expert in the field (for PhD defences only)
  • Defence chair: an SFU faculty member who is a non-voting member of your examining committee responsible for recording the examination result

4

Schedule Your Defence Consulting Your Committee

Finding a date when all your examining committee members are available could be a difficult task. Please make sure to discuss possible dates with your committee as soon as possible. It is common for external examiners (applicable to PhD students only) to join from another time zone.

Date:

The defence should be scheduled at least 5 business days before the library thesis submision deadline. This will allow you to have enough time to work on potential revisions.

Time:

Please schedule your defence during MSE admin staff's office hours, Monday to Friday 9am-4pm (excluding Canadian statutory holidays, when the University is closed). Should you wish to defend outside of this window, your Supervisor or defence chair will be responsible for facilitating the meeting.

Postponing Thesis Publication

Do you need the publication of your thesis to be postponed due to IP concerns or a pending patent?

If you wish to postpone your thesis publication, you must submit a request form at least 30 days before your defence. Please follow the instructions on the Thesis Regulations + Forms page.

"A postponement will delay the inclusion of a thesis in the institutional repository and from copying for a period of 12 months from the date of examination of the thesis. Postponement requests are normally approved if made for the following reasons: if there is real and immediate risk to researchers or collaborators; patent pending or protection of intellectual property; publication pending in restrictive venue. A postponement request must be made in writing prior to the submission to the Library." GGR 1.11.3

Submitting a postponement request does NOT change your library thesis submission deadline. Students who wish to postpone their thesis publication date are still required to submit their theses by the same library deadlines as students who do not wish to postpone their publication.

5

Submit Your Thesis Defence Request

Please submit your thesis defence request (including the required documents) via CourSys using the link below.  Requests and/or documents submitted via email are not accepted. CourSys: Submit Thesis Defence Request

MASC THESIS DEFENSE Required DOCUMENTS

  1. Examining Committee Form (will be submitted by your supervisor)
  2. Academic Progress Report
  3. Abstract
  4. Thesis (final version)
  5. Ethics Approval Letter (if applicable)
    If you need to change the thesis title after the ethics approval letter has been granted, an updated letter must be requested and submitted along with the original ethics approval letter.
  6. Thesis publication postponement form (if applicable)

PHD THESIS DEFENSE REQUIRED DOCUMENTS

  1. Examining Committee Form (will be submitted by your supervisor)
  2. Academic Progress Report
  3. Abstract
  4. Thesis (final version)
  5. External Examiner's CV (submitted by your senior supervisor)
  6. Ethics Approval Letter (if applicable)
    If you need to change the thesis title after the ethics approval letter has been granted, an updated letter must be requested and submitted along with the original ethics approval letter.
  7. Thesis publication postponement form (if applicable)
  8. Thesis presentation slides (will be shared with your external examiner)

After you submit your thesis defence request:

  1. Your Graduate Program Assistant (GPA) will make sure that the forms are filled out correctly. Signatures typed with a handwriting style font or missing information can delay processing.
  2. The GPA will forward complete thesis defence requests to MSE Graduate Program Chair for approval and signature.
  3. The GPA will then forward the GPC-approved defence request to Graduate Studies office. Students will receive email confirmation from MSE when the thesis defence request has been forwarded to GS.

6

Apply For Graduation

You can apply for graduation before defending your thesis. Please refer to the Dates + Deadlines page for the current term's deadline.

CHECKING THE STATUS OF YOUR APPLICATION

Please refer to the Completing + Graduation page for instructions on checking the status of a previously submitted application.

Apply for Graduation

7

Attend Your Thesis Defense

REMOTE DEFENCES

The candidate will be added to the Zoom meeting as an alternative host, so you will be able to start your own meeting. Once the defence chair joins the call, they will be made "host" of the call.

IN-PERSON/HYBRID  DEFENCES

The room will be available to you 1 hour prior to your defence time. Please arrive early to claim your lapel mic and do a tech check. If you experience technical difficulties, you can call the IT department using the landline phone located near the classroom door. 

Doors will be closed during your defence, so late comers may not be allowed in. Late guests may be allowed to enter the Zoom room on the defence chair's discretion.

Video and audio recordings of defence proceedings are strictly prohibited according to the Graduate General Regulations. The public portion of the examination can be recorded if permission is sought ahead of time. All members of the examining committee and the student must agree. All the participants including the audience must be aware of the recording. Please email defence@sfu.ca for approval.

8

Revise your Thesis (if necessary)

It is common for an examining committee to ask students to revise their thesis after the defence. Please account for the time you might need to spend on revisions prior to submitting your thesis to the Library.

Your Results, Approval, and Degree Recommendation (RAD) form (filled + signed) will be emailed to you by your GPA once it has been signed by your examining committee members, your supervisor and the GPC. Note that your thesis revisions need to be complete in order to receive supervisory signature.

9

Submit Your Thesis to the Library

Students are required to submit a digital copy of their thesis and their RAD form to the SFU Library in order to fulfill part of their graduation requirements. Thesis submission deadlines and more information can be found on the Library's website.

  • Make sure to account for any time that you may need to spend on revising your thesis after your defence.
  • Students who do not submit their thesis to the SFU Library by the regular end-of-term deadlines will receive an "IP" (in progress) grade for their MSE898/899 MASc/PhD Thesis course, and will have to enroll in their thesis course again the following term (which implies being responsible for tuition and fees for this term).
  • In this following term, you may be eligible for an early completion refund if you submit your thesis to the library by the early deadline (usually at the end of the first month of term)

Upon a successful completion, the thesis must be submitted to the library no later than the end of the subsequent term. (GGR 1.10.2)

Make sure to defend as early as possible in the term to meet your library thesis submission deadline and avoid postponing graduation.

10

Get Your Credential Completion Letter

A credential completion letter is an official document confirming that a student has completed all of their degree requirements, and they are ready to graduate. It is often requested by international students for immigration* purposes. CCLs will be available via your goSFU account once the following steps have been completed:

  1. Thesis + RAD form have been submitted to the library by the student
  2. Final grade for the thesis course (MSE 898 MASc Thesis or MSE 899 PhD Thesis) has been posted by Graduate Studies
  3. Graduation application has been approved by Graduate Studies

The credential completion letter is only available after your graduation application has been approved by GS and before your degree is awarded by the Senate. Once your degree is awarded, the credential completion letter will no longer be available as your Senate letter and/or degree parchment will act as proof of degree completion.

*If you have immigration related inquiries, including but not limited to the Post Graduate Work Permit, please get in touch with SFU's International Student Advisors.

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