Dissertation Committee:
Students are encouraged to interact with faculty members of the department to select a dissertation advisor and research area/topic for their dissertation. After a student has passed both parts of the qualifying examination, a dissertation committee shall be formed to supervise the student's research work. The committee will consist of at least four faculty members who are familiar with the research area, at least three of whom are regular faculty members of the department. At least one member of the committee must be from outside the department (could also be from another institution or industry) and this member should have an academic or professional level compatible with the rest of the committee. The committee is chaired by the student's dissertation advisor. The chair or co-chair of the committee must be from the Department of Computer Science and Engineering. Students are expected to work in close cooperation with their dissertation committee and to keep the committee members informed about their progress on a regular basis. The dissertation committee should meet with the student at least once a semester to review the progress of the research work.

Residency Requirements:
After passing the qualifying examination, a doctoral student must spend two consecutive semesters at FAU, i.e., must register for a minimum of nine credit-hours for each of those semesters and at least one of those semesters must occur while the student holds candidacy status.

Time Limitation:
A Ph.D. student who enters the program with a Master's degree has no more than seven years to complete all requirements for the Ph.D. degree.

Dissertation and Oral Defense:
The dissertation must be written in the format specified by the Graduate College. A copy of the dissertation must be submitted to the Graduate College for approval of the dissertation format. Dissertations must be defended orally. A dissertation should be submitted to the members of the dissertation committee for their review at least two weeks before the oral defense. After an oral defense, the members of the dissertation committee vote on acceptance or rejection of the dissertation. The committee may also suggest that the student do some additional work so as to make the dissertation acceptable. The decision of the dissertation committee will be reported in the form of satisfactory/ unsatisfactory grade for dissertation credits.

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