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Atmospheric science
George Mason University

Starting Doctoral Dissertation

Starting Doctoral Dissertation

Dissertation Committee

The dissertation committee oversees the doctoral student’s progress on the dissertation and provides advice and assistance as appropriate.  The committee evaluates the student's dissertation proposal and dissertation.  The committee can be most helpful if the student meets with it at least once a year to give an update on progress and receive feedback.

Committee Composition:

Committees typically consist of 4 members (“Chair, Member #1, #2 and #3”), two of which can be external to Mason. That said, “Member #3” is not required by the program and therefore committees can consist of a total of 3 members. Approval by the Dissertation Committee Chair and the Graduate Program Director is required for additional members (Member #4 and up). See Academic Policies section on Dissertation Committee.

Any committee members external to Mason will need to: 

1) Become AOES Affiliate Faculty, this is done via faculty vote, please email AOES HR and Fiscal Specialist Maria D'Souza to initiate this process. 

2) Once Affiliate they need to become Graduate Faculty  

The committee must be approved by the Climate Dynamics graduate coordinator and College of Science Dean.

Dissertation Proposal

Preparing a dissertation proposal is an important step in becoming an independent scientist. The proposal should be a concise document that raises a scientific question, explains why it is interesting and important and outlines how the proposed research will answer this question. The student conducts a seminar to describe and defend the proposal before the dissertation committee.

The dissertation committee will assess the proposal and assist the student in ensuring that the topic and methodology are clear. The committee will also assess whether the student has the appropriate preparation and resources to have a good chance of completing a successful dissertation in a timely manner. It is understood that in the course of the student’s research, early results may suggest departures from the proposed plan, so that the student, in consultation with the advisor and the rest of the committee, can alter the research plan as it is executed. After successfully passing the proposal defense (as well as the program course requirements), the student is formally advanced to candidacy for the Ph.D. degree.

Registering for Dissertation Credit

Students working on a dissertation proposal should register for CLIM 998.  In order to do so, follow these steps:

  1. Obtain the Course Registration Number (CRN) from your advisor (they can access this information in CourseLeaf or PatriotWeb). 
  2. Inform the Climate Graduate Coordinator that you will be taking CLIM 998 for the upcoming semester. 
  3. Once the Coordinator is notified, you can proceed to register for the assigned section using the CRN. 

After Advancing to Candidacy, the student enrolls in CLIM 999 to complete the dissertation.  Students should contact the College of Science Graduate Office to request a CLIM 999 section. CLIM 999 enrollment deadlines are as follows for the semester in which CLIM 999 enrollment will begin: March 15th to start 999 in the summer, June 1st for the fall and November 15th for the spring. Be sure to submit Advancement and related forms by the deadline in order to avoid trouble registering for CLIM 999.

Students who have completed 21 credits of CLIM 998/999, including at least 3 credits of CLIM 999, should apply for Full-Time Equivalent status before each (and every) semester that the student continues in the program.  When this is granted, the student can maintain Full-Time status by registering for only 1 credit of CLIM 999 for that semester.