Dissertation Proposal and Defence
*It can take 6-8 weeks to schedule a Proposal Defence once the student's supervisor has notified the Program Assistant that the proposal is complete and ready to defend.
1. A dissertation proposal of approximately 25 pages (excluding bibliography) will include a clear statement of research problem, including its theoretical significance, a review of relevant literature, a statement of the research plan and methods, an outline of chapter headings and sub-headings for the proposed dissertation, and a bibliography of materials most relevant to the proposal.
2. Students whose work involves research with human subjects as defined by the Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans (questionnaires, interviews, for example) must gain the approval of Trent’s Research Ethics Board(s) after they have defended their proposal. Process and application documents are posted on the Research and Innovation website.
3. All students must complete their comprehensive exams before defending their dissertation proposal.
4. A dissertation proposal must be approved by the members of the student’s Supervisory Committee. The Supervisory Committee will be composed of a Dissertation Supervisor (or two co-supervisors) and two other committee members. The primary supervisor must be a tenured Trent graduate faculty member. Other committee members can be chosen from the Regular or Associate Graduate Faculty. Elders and Knowledge Holders are often appointed to committees as Special Graduate Faculty.
5. Once the Supervisory Committee has approved the dissertation proposal. The Supervisor will notify the Program Director and the Program Assistant and provide a list of internal/external examiners from Trent faculty members. They will also suggest some possible dates for the defence.
6. The Program administrator will contact and arrange for an external examiner (a faculty member external to the committee) and a chair for the defence.
7. A “Proposal Defence” will be held to examine the dissertation proposal with the student, the Supervisory Committee, the chair and the external examiner. After the successful defence of the proposal, the Dissertation Supervisor will submit a form to the Director of the PhD Program and the Program Assistant. The dissertation proposal should be defended within 6 months of a student completing their comprehensive exams.