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Atmospheric science
George Mason University

MS Thesis Path

Outline of Thesis Path

Outline of Thesis Path

  1. At the beginning of the semester prior to student’s graduation semester, student forms a master’s thesis committee to guide and evaluate thesis progress.
  2. Student prepares and defends a master’s thesis proposal by the end of the semester prior to graduation.
    1. Submits Masters Thesis Committee and Proposal Defense  form
  3. Student researches and writes the thesis while enrolled in CLIM 799 Master’s Thesis
  4. Student defends and submits thesis to GMU after submitting a completed draft of the master’s thesis for the thesis committee to review.

Thesis Committee Composition

In accordance with Graduate Academic Policy 6.9.3 "Master Thesis"

  • Chair (usually student’s Advisor) + other member, both full-time AOES Climate faculty members.
  • A 3rd member, who is a member of the GMU Graduate Faculty.
  • At the option of the committee Chair, a 4th member who brings additional relevant expertise.

Thesis Proposal

Components of a thesis proposal:

  1. clear statement of the research objectives
  2. initial literature review
  3. proposed methodology
  4. description (usually including graphics) of data to be employed
  5. discussion of expected outcomes of the research

Thesis proposal process

  1. Student discusses research program withAdvisor and Thesis Committee
  2. Student submits proposal to Committee members, who suggest revisions.
  3. Committee Chair schedules a defense of the proposal.
  4. Format of the proposal defense is at the discretion of the committee but consists of an oral presentation or some other format for discussion by the Committee and student.
  5. After successful proposal defense, the proposal is submitted to the AOES Graduate Coordinator.

Alternate process for students transferring from Climate Dynamics PhD:

  • Committee may choose to accept written document and oral presentation from CLIM 997 as the master’s thesis proposal.

Master’s Thesis Committee and Proposal Defense Form 

  • Must be approved before student can enroll in CLIM 799
  • Signed by all Thesis Committee members, the Climate Graduate Coordinator, and the College of Science Dean (cosgrad@gmu.edu).

Master’s Thesis

CLIM 799 Master’s Thesis

  • Instructor: Committee Chair
  • Credits: normally 3 credits/semester, may be up to 6 at discretion of the Committee Chair.
  • Student must maintain continuous enrollment while writing and submitting a thesis
  • Student is responsible for thesis content and for informing all Committee members of progress and of any significant changes in research plan

Registering for CLIM 799

  • Committee Chair notifies Course Schedule Coordinator that student will enroll in CLIM 799 (cc Graduate Coordinator).
  • Schedule Coordinator creates CRN for CLIM 799 section.
  • Student registers or section.

Thesis Defense

  1. Committee chair administers the defense, including approving, announcing, conducting, and reporting the results of the defense. 
  2. Student gives a public presentation of the research and results and answers questions from the Committee and the public, after which the committee may, at their discretion, conduct a private examination with further questions. 
  3. The Committee discusses and votes in private and informs the student the result of the defense. 
  4. Defense Date must be early enough to ensure that Student can implement any requested changes in content or format prior to the university submission deadline (see #4 below).
  5. Thesis Defense advertisement

At least 14 days prior to the defense date the student and advisor need to announce the defense and venue for the defense on the AOES
seminar page, the AOES department’s outlook calendar and the AOES/College of Science web calendar. To do this, the student should 1) fill out the COS defense announcement form and 2) email the appropriate Graduate Coordinator. In addition, it is recommended that email announcements and posters be distributed one week prior to the defense to ensure the defense is truly public. Announcements regarding the defense should all include: your name, department, dissertation title, committee chairperson, date, time, and place of defense. Submit an electronic copy of your abstract to the Graduate Coordinator.

Thesis submission

  1. Thesis must conform to University Dissertation and Thesis Services guidelines.  Student should consult guidelines throughout the process, starting with the proposal, in order to avoid delays in graduation due to Mason Libraries not accepting final thesis submission due to formatting errors.  Student should check thesis with Library Thesis Coordinator prior to defense. 
  2. Student must confirm deadline , generally, no later than 5pm Friday prior to the last day of class.
  3. Student delivers one original and one copy of thesis, with two original cover sheets including Committee/AOES signatures, to COS Dean’s Office for signature.
  4. For degree conferral, two copies with signed cover sheets must be submitted to the library by the deadline.  Student also emails electronic copy to the Graduate Coordinator.