Once you pass all the courses in your curriculum, complete your research and write the thesis, you will have to defend your thesis in an oral exam before an examining committee, consisting of your graduate committee and a representative of the Office of Graduate Studies. The defense, which will last between two and four hours, consists of two parts. The first part consists of a thirty-minute presentation, open to the academic community, where you will present your thesis or project in a clear and precise way. In the second part, only the members of the examining committee will be present to ask you questions about the subject of your thesis or project and related areas. Once the exam is completed, the examining committee will deliberate privately on its outcome and will decide by majority the approval or non-approval of your thesis or project. Finally, the representative of the Office of Graduate Studies will deliver the result of the oral exam to the office.
You must request the oral exam at least one month in advance of the date to be carried out; the deadlines for each semester and for the summer session are set in the academic calendar. Oral exams are only held during the teaching periods of each academic session; that is, between the first day of school and the last day of school of each semester or summer. The application must be accompanied by a digital version (pdf format) of the thesis, project or dissertation report and evidence that you have requested graduation.
Beginning in the second semester of the 2023-2024 academic year, each student is responsible for using the online form to submit his or her application for oral examination and other documents that complement the application. To do so, the degree candidate must be connected to his/her institutional account to fill out the information. Additionally, the iThenticate report is required to be included with your thesis, dissertation or project documents. This additional step is intended to prevent plagiarism and encourage originality in your academic contributions. During this semester that is being implemented we will have the support of RCIG staff to guide students, you can contact us by email at gric@uprm.edu.