---
type: form
category: academic
person: Yanxin Lu
date: 2018
source: defense_evaluation_guidelines.pdf
---

# Department of Computer Science
# Rice University
## Guidelines for Evaluating Ph.D. Thesis and Defense

### Problem statement

- **Excellent:** Compelling problem statement that demonstrates the challenge and utility of the work, as well as theoretical or practical applications
- **Satisfactory:** Problem is clearly stated; a case is made for utility, application
- **Unsatisfactory:** Problem is not clearly stated; little context or justification

### Impact of work

- **Excellent:** Groundbreaking work or a novel problem; a thesis that will change the literature
- **Satisfactory:** Solves an important or novel problem; quality of work merits publication in important venues
- **Unsatisfactory:** Obvious extension to the existing literature

### Technique

- **Excellent:** Develops new approach to solution or applies techniques that are novel to the area
- **Satisfactory:** Uses established techniques to solve novel problems
- **Unsatisfactory:** Uses techniques incorrectly or inappropriately

### Content of results

- **Excellent:** Computer Science content is substantial and correct
- **Satisfactory:** Content has acceptable depth and breadth & requires only minor corrections
- **Unsatisfactory:** Content is shallow and/or contains significant errors

### Thesis text

- **Excellent:** Well organized text, fluent prose, and few grammatical errors
- **Satisfactory:** Acceptable organization & text, limited grammatical errors
- **Unsatisfactory:** Poor organization, difficult prose, or numerous grammatical errors

### Oral Presentation

- **Excellent:** Engaging, polished presentation with well crafted visual aides that illustrate key results; includes a substantial conclusion
- **Satisfactory:** Professional presentation on a par with a solid conference talk; includes a coherent project narrative and conclusion
- **Unsatisfactory:** Too much or too little detail; unclear about project goals and direction; incoherent slides; candidate reads from slides

### Replies to questions

- **Excellent:** Complete answers that demonstrate a deep understanding of the discipline that extends beyond the thesis
- **Satisfactory:** Competent answers that illustrate a facility with the issues and techniques immediately relevant to the thesis
- **Unsatisfactory:** Answers reveal a limited comprehension of the work and its context