2.4 KiB
2.4 KiB
type, category, person, date, source
| type | category | person | date | source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| form | academic | Yanxin Lu | 2018 | 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