thesis adviser

• Code of Ethics
• Dissertation Editing
• Dissertation Coaching
• Free Consultation

Choosing a Thesis Advisor: A Complete Guide

One of the most important choices that you will make about your dissertation or thesis happens before you write a single word. Choosing a thesis advisor or dissertation advisor (often referred to as a dissertation chair) will have a significant impact on your entire dissertation writing experience, and for many years to come. For many doctoral students, their thesis advisor is their single greatest influence in graduate school. 

Selecting a thesis advisor is a big decision with far-reaching implications. The stakes are very high, and it is imperative to choose your thesis advisor wisely. There are many factors to consider when choosing a thesis advisor, from expertise to personality, and it pays to think carefully and weigh your options before approaching a faculty member to chair your dissertation committee . While there are subtle differences between a dissertation chair and a thesis advisor, we’ll focus on the commonalities in this article.

These are commonly asked questions about selecting a thesis advisor: 

• What does a thesis advisor do? 
• How should I choose my thesis advisor?
• What makes a faculty member a good thesis advisor? 
• What if it doesn’t work out with my thesis advisor? 

Thesis Advisor Responsibilities

While writing a dissertation is a largely solitary pursuit, a good thesis advisor will be with you every step of the way. While you are very much in the driver’s seat, it is your thesis advisor’s job to keep you off the guardrails. And deploy the airbag, if necessary. There are a few purposes that your thesis advisor will serve during your time together. 

Guidance . While the dissertation process is new to you, your thesis advisor will know it very well. She will help you navigate the obstacles and pitfalls that have derailed many projects–department politics, university regulations, funding, research opportunities, etc. Your thesis advisor will also serve as a sounding board as you distill the nebulous concept of your research project into a fully-formed idea that you can move forward with. 

Organization . A good thesis advisor will run a tight ship and keep your dissertation project moving like clockwork. As a researcher, it’s very easy to get lost in the minutiae of the literature, and it’s not difficult to find yourself trapped down a rabbit hole of scholarship. Regular milestones set by your thesis advisor are a great way to stay on track and maintain forward momentum. 

Mentorship. While an effective thesis advisor will ensure that you see your project to fruition, a great one will be with you for decades. Though I graduated with my Ph.D. in 2012 and I’m now an associate professor myself, my thesis advisor remains a guiding light in my career. Your thesis advisor can be a cornerstone of your professional network. 

Choosing a Thesis Advisor

So, how do you select a faculty member to chair your dissertation committee? With extreme care. Once you have set your sights on a dissertation chair or thesis advisor, the next step is the Big Ask. I remember being very nervous to approach the faculty member who became my chair– it seemed like such an imposition, but, as a grad student in her department, I was already on her radar. Keep in mind, your faculty members are expecting to be asked to chair dissertation committees, and they may even be a little flattered that you chose them. 

While chairing and serving on dissertation committees is a requirement for the tenured and senior faculty members in your department, it’s a lot of work. Make no mistake: accepting the role of your dissertation chair makes them nervous, too. As a faculty member, I can say with absolute certainty that a good dissertation chair will be almost as invested in your dissertation as you are. 

What Makes a Strong Thesis Advisor?

There exists a gulf between what many students desire in a dissertation chair or thesis advisor and what they actually need. While there may be a temptation to approach one of your department’s superstar faculty members to chair your committee, this may not serve you in the long term. Faculty members who have made a name for themselves through an abundance of publications, grants, awards, and conference appearances typically have jam-packed schedules, and it may be difficult for them to make you and your dissertation a priority. 

A safer bet that is likely to have a more rewarding outcome is to work with a faculty member who has already shown enthusiasm for your work. Select a thesis advisor who makes time for you, and one who always responds to your emails. This is the person you want in your corner during the sometimes stressful journey of researching and writing a dissertation. Also, it never hurts to spend some time talking to potential dissertation chairs or dissertation advisors. Get all of your questions answered, and then make a decision. 

What If It Doesn’t Work Out?

The possibility that your thesis advisor is a bad fit for your project or is incompatible for some other reason is a worst-case scenario that lurks in the furthest reaches of every graduate student’s mind. There’s no way to sugarcoat it: this is not a good situation to be in, and it can derail dissertations. The soundest strategy for dealing with an internecine conflict with your thesis advisor is prevention. 

This is why it is vital to do your homework and put a lot of thought into choosing your thesis advisor. Find someone you are compatible with and make sure you’re on the same page. Check in with them regularly, and keep them updated. Clear communication is a great way to ensure a solid partnership with your dissertation chair. Don’t forget, your dissertation chair should also be making your success a priority. You should be comfortable enough to ask questions and let them know what’s on your mind. 

The good news is that a bad fit isn’t likely to happen. Most grad students have a completely workable relationship with their dissertation chairs, and for many it turns into a long friendship built on mutual respect and admiration. Personally, every time I serve on a doctoral student’s dissertation committee, I feel a tremendous amount of pride and satisfaction when they take their place in the academic world. It’s truly an honor to help them achieve such a major milestone in their academic career, and I’m delighted to be part of it. 

Related posts:

Courtney Watson, Ph.D.

Courtney Watson, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor of English at Radford University Carilion, in Roanoke, Virginia. Her areas of expertise include undergraduate and graduate curriculum development for writing courses in the health sciences and American literature with a focus on literary travel, tourism, and heritage economies. Her writing and academic scholarship has been widely published in places that include  Studies in American Culture ,  Dialogue , and  The Virginia Quarterly Review . Her research on the integration of humanities into STEM education will be published by Routledge in an upcoming collection. Dr. Watson has also been nominated by the State Council for Higher Education of Virginia’s Outstanding Faculty Rising Star Award, and she is a past winner of the National Society of Arts & Letters Regional Short Story Prize, as well as institutional awards for scholarly research and excellence in teaching. Throughout her career in higher education, Dr. Watson has served in faculty governance and administration as a frequent committee chair and program chair. As a higher education consultant, she has served as a subject matter expert, an evaluator, and a contributor to white papers exploring program development, enrollment research, and educational mergers and acquisitions.

Comments are closed.

How to Finish Your Dissertation in Half the Time

Learn how to avoid the pitfalls preventing you from finishing your dissertation faster.

Subscribe to get the free eBook!

Dr. Courtney Watson In the News

“ See It for Yourself ” in With Good Reason: Beyond the Book July 22, 2022

“ I Thought You’d Never Ask: Consent in Contemporary Romance ” in New Frontiers in Popular Romance (McFarland) June 13, 2022

• Common Errors
• Dissertation Success
• Presentation
• Quantitative Analysis
• Surviving Grad School

“How to Finish Your Dissertation in Half the Time”

Dissertation Advisor 101

How to get the most from the student-supervisor relationship

By: Derek Jansen (MBA) | Expert Reviewer: Dr Eunice Rautenbach | January 2024

Many students feel a little intimidated by the idea of having to work with a research advisor (or supervisor) to complete their dissertation or thesis. Similarly, many students struggle to “connect” with their advisor and feel that the relationship is somewhat strained or awkward. But this doesn’t need to be the case!

In this post, we’ll share five tried and tested tips to help you get the most from this relationship and pave the way for a smoother dissertation writing process.

Overview: Working With Your Advisor

• Clarify everyone’s roles on day one
• Establish (and stick to) a regular communication cycle
• Develop a clear project plan upfront
• Be proactive in engaging with problems
• Navigate conflict like a diplomat

1. Clarify roles on day one

Each university will have slightly different expectations, rules and norms in terms of the research advisor’s role. Similarly, each advisor will have their own unique way of doing things. So, it’s always a good idea to begin the engagement process by clearly defining the roles and expectations in your relationship.

In practical terms, we suggest that you initiate a conversation at the very start of the engagement to discuss your goals, their expectations, and how they would like to work with you. Of course, you might not like what you hear in this conversation. However, this sort of candid conversation will help you get on the same page as early as possible and set the stage for a successful partnership.

To help you get started, here are some questions that you might consider asking in your initial conversation:

• How often would you like to meet and for how long?
• What should I do to prepare for each meeting?
• What aspects of my work will you comment on (and what won’t you cover)?
• Which key decisions should I seek your approval for beforehand?
• What common mistakes should I try to avoid from the outset?
• How can I help make this partnership as effective as possible?
• My academic goals are… Do you have any suggestions at this stage to help me achieve this?

As you can see, these types of questions help you get a clear idea of how you’ll work together and how to get the most from the relatively limited face time you’ll have.

Need a helping hand?

2. Establish a regular communication cycle

Just like in any relationship, effective communication is crucial to making the student-supervisor relationship work. So, you should aim to establish a regular meeting schedule and stick to it. Don’t cancel or reschedule appointments with your advisor at short notice, or do anything that suggests you don’t value their time. Fragile egos are not uncommon in the academic world, so it’s important to clearly demonstrate that you value and respect your supervisor’s time and effort .

Practically speaking, be sure to prepare for each meeting with a clear agenda , including your progress, challenges, and any questions you have. Be open and honest in your communication, but most importantly, be receptive to your supervisor’s feedback . Ultimately, part of their role is to tell you when you’re missing the mark. So, don’t become upset or defensive when they criticise a specific aspect of your work.

Always remember that your research advisor is criticising your work, not you personally . It’s never easy to take negative feedback, but this is all part of the learning journey that takes place alongside the research journey.

3. Have a clear project plan

Few things will impress your supervisor more than a well-articulated, realistic plan of action (aka, a project plan). Investing the time to develop this shows that you take your project (and by extension, the relationship) seriously. It also helps your supervisor understand your intended timeline, which allows the two of you to better align your schedules .

In practical terms, you need to develop a project plan with achievable goals . A detailed Gantt chart can be a great way to do this. Importantly, you’ll need to break down your thesis or dissertation into a collection of practical, manageable steps , and set clear timelines and milestones for each. Once you’ve done that, you should regularly review and adjust this plan with your supervisor to ensure that you remain on track.

Of course, it’s unlikely that you’ll stick to your plan 100% of the time (there are always unexpected twists and turns in a research project. However, this plan will lay a foundation for effective collaboration between yourself and your supervisor. An imperfect plan beats no plan at all.

4. Engage with problems proactively

One surefire way to quickly annoy your advisor is to pester them every time you run into a problem in your dissertation or thesis. Unexpected challenges are par for the course when it comes to research – how you deal with them is what makes the difference.

When you encounter a problem, resist the urge to immediately send a panicked email to your supervisor – no matter how massive the issue may seem (at the time). Instead, take a step back and assess the situation as holistically as possible. Force yourself to sit with the issue for at least a few hours to ensure that you have a clear, accurate assessment of the issue at hand. In most cases, a little time, distance and deep breathing will reveal that the problem is not the existential threat it initially seemed to be.

When contacting your supervisor, you should ideally present both the problem and one or two potential solutions . The latter is the most important part here. In other words, you need to show that you’ve engaged with the issue and applied your mind to finding potential solutions. Granted, your solutions may miss the mark. However, providing some sort of solution beats impulsively throwing the problem at your supervisor and hoping that they’ll save the day.

Simply put, mishaps and mini-crises in your research journey present an opportunity to demonstrate your initiative and problem-solving skills – not a reason to lose your cool and outsource the problem to your supervisor.

5. Navigate conflict like a diplomat 

As with any partnership, there’s always the possibility of some level of disagreement or conflict arising within the student-supervisor relationship. Of course, you can drastically reduce the likelihood of this happening by implementing some of the points we mentioned earlier. Neverthless, if a serious disagreement does arise between you and your supervisor, it’s absolutely essential that you approach it with professionalism and respect . Never let it escalate into a shouting contest.

In practical terms, it’s important to communicate your concerns as they arise (don’t let things simmer for too long). Simultaneously, it’s essential that you remain open to understanding your supervisor’s perspective – don’t become entrenched in your position. After all, you are the less experienced researcher within this duo.

Keep in mind that a lot of context is lost in text-based communication , so it can often be a good idea to schedule a short call to discuss your concerns or points of contention, rather than sending a 3000-word email essay. When going this route, be sure to take the time to prepare a clear, cohesive argument beforehand – don’t just “thought vomit” on your supervisor.

In the event that you do have a significant disagreement with your advisor, remember that the goal is to find a solution that serves your project (not your ego). This often requires compromise and flexibility. A “win at all costs” mindset is definitely not suitable here. Ultimately, you need to solve the problem, while still maintaining the relationship .

If you feel that you have already exhausted all possible avenues and still can’t find an acceptable middle ground, you can of course reach out to your university to ask for their assistance. However, this should be the very last resort . Running to your university every time there’s a small disagreement will not serve you well.

Recap: Key Takeaways

To sum up, a fruitful student-supervisor relationship hinges on clear role definition , effective and regular communication , strategic planning , proactive engagement , and professional conflict resolution .

Remember, your dissertation supervisor is there to help you, but you still need to put in the work . In many cases, they’ll also be the first marker of your work, so it really pays to put in the effort and build a strong, functional relationship with them.

Psst... there’s more!

This post was based on one of our popular Research Bootcamps . If you're working on a research project, you'll definitely want to check this out ...

You Might Also Like:

Submit a Comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

• Print Friendly

/images/cornell/logo35pt_cornell_white.svg" alt="thesis adviser"> Cornell University --> Graduate School

Advising guide for research students.

Success as a graduate student is a shared responsibility between students and faculty. For research students, the relationship with your research advisor, also known as your special committee chair, is extremely important. 

Your responsibility to identify and choose an advisor is one of the most critical tasks you have early in your graduate school career. It’s an opportunity to meet and get to know faculty in your field, to assess your needs for support and supervision, and to collaboratively define your goals, values, and strategic plan for your academic and professional career.

Graduate School Requirement

At Cornell, the faculty advisor in research degree programs is referred to as the special committee chair.

Doctoral students have a special committee of at least three Cornell faculty, which includes the special committee chair and two minor committee members.

Master’s students have a special committee of at least two Cornell faculty, which includes the special committee chair and one minor member.

For both doctoral and master’s degree students, the special committee chair must be a graduate faculty member in the student’s own field.

Definition of an Advisor

Advising  and  mentoring  are often used interchangeably, but understanding the distinctions is important as you choose an advisor.

Advisor Responsibilities

• Guides you in meeting the requirements and expectations for your degree
• Required coursework
• Exams required by the graduate field or the Graduate School
• Research proposal/prospectus
• Research project
• Thesis or dissertation
• Writes informed letters of recommendation for your job applications
• May be a valued colleague or collaborator after you graduate

Mentor Responsibilities

• Provides support and guidance that extends beyond scope of advising
• Demystifies the structure, culture, and unstated expectations of graduate education
• Expands your professional network by introducing you to others
• Provides nominations for awards or other recognitions
• Brings job opportunities to your attention and writes letters of recommendation as you apply for jobs
• Advocates for you within the graduate program and discipline
• May serve as a role model and source of inspiration
• May become a colleague and peer in your discipline and may continue serving a mentoring role

Finding an Advisor

When do i select my first advisor.

At Cornell, the process for obtaining your first advisor varies by field.

Your faculty advisor may be assigned prior to your arrival or you may begin your program with a faculty member you met during the application process.

In some graduate fields, the faculty director of graduate studies (DGS) advises all incoming students. This provides you with time to get to know faculty in your field. By the end of the first semester or year (varying by field), it’s expected that you will have identified your own, long-term advisor. 

In fields where students apply to study with a specific faculty member (rather than do rotations and choose a lab or research group and advisor), you will have chosen an advisor prior to arriving on campus.

You can begin initial conversations about expectations and the advising relationship with your new advisor prior to the start of your program via email.

Start your graduate study and research with clear expectations and thoughtful communication about your plans for an effective advising relationship and success in graduate school.

How do I find an advisor? 

Meet and get to know faculty in your courses and in graduate field seminars and other events.

Talk to advanced students about their experiences and perceptions of the faculty in your programs and ask questions about possible advisors:

• How would you describe their approach to advising?
• What can you tell me about their work style?
• What can you tell me about their research interests?
• How good are their communication skills?
• How clear are their expectations for their graduate students?
• Do they use timeliness in reviewing their students’ writing and their approach to giving feedback?
• How available are they to meet with their graduate students?

After you have gathered information, make an appointment to meet with a potential advisor.

Possible Questions

• Is there a typical timeline you encourage your students to follow in completing their degree programs?
• How often do you meet with your students at different stages of their graduate program? (For example, during coursework, research, and writing stages)
• What are your expectations for students to make conference presentations and submit publications?
• What are your authorship policies? (This is especially relevant in fields where there is collaborative research and publishing involving the student and advisor or a group of students, postdocs, and faculty.)
• How soon should I identify my research project?
• How do you describe the degree of guidance and supervision you provide with regards to your students becoming more independent in their research and scholarship?
• If you are joining a lab or research group: What are the sources of funding for this research? Are there any new or pending research grants?
• How many of your students seek, and secure, external funding? What are your expectations for students to apply for external fellowships?
• Do you have a statement of advising you can share that lists our respective responsibilities and clarifies mutual expectations?
• What’s your advice on how students can manage what they find to be the biggest challenges in their graduate program?

Add other questions to your list based on your own needs and specifics of your program, such as questions about specialized equipment, lab safety, travel to field sites, support and accommodations for special health needs, communication during a faculty member’s sabbatical, funding in fields where there are fewer fellowships and research grants, etc.

Getting Other Mentoring Needs Met

How do i find other mentor(s) .

You may find one faculty member who can serve as both advisor and mentor, but that’s not always the case.

Consider identifying and cultivating additional mentors if that is the case. 

Suggestions on where to look for a mentor:

• The minor members of your special committee
• A faculty member who is not on your committee, and perhaps not even in your graduate field
• Peers and postdoctoral fellows who have knowledge and experience in pertinent issues

No one mentor can meet all your needs.

Good mentors have many protégés and many other demands on their time, such as teaching, research, and university or professional service. They also may not have all the expertise you need, for example, if you decide to search for jobs in multiple employment sectors.

Develop a broad network of mentors whose expertise varies and who provide different functions based on your changing needs as you progress from new student to independent scholar and researcher.

NCFDD offers a webinar, “ Cultivating Your Network of Mentors, Sponsors, and Collaborators “, which students can view after activating a free NCFDD membership through Cornell.

Maximizing the Advising Relationship

A successful relationship with your advisor depends on several different factors and varies with needs and working styles of the individuals. Some of these factors are under your control. But some are not. 

Suggestions for Building a Successful Advising Relationship

• Identify what you need from an advisor.
• Communicate clearly and frequently with your advisor to convey your questions, expectations, goals, challenges, and degree progress. Follow up verbal communication and meetings with an email detailing your understanding of what you both agreed to and next steps.
• Update your written academic plan each semester or whenever major changes or adjustments are needed.
• Consider including your plans to write competitive fellowship applications and co-authored grant proposals.
• Consider including  plans for professional development  that support your skill-building objectives and career goals.
• Recognize that you and your advisor have distinct perspectives, backgrounds, and interests. Share yours. Listen to your advisor’s. There is mutual benefit to sharing and learning from this diversity.
• Work with your advisor to define a regular meeting schedule. Prepare and send written materials in advance of each meeting. These could include: your questions, academic and research plan and timeline, and drafts of current writing projects, such as fellowship applications, manuscripts, or thesis/dissertation chapters.
• Be prepared to negotiate, show flexibility, and compromise, as is important for any successful relationship.
• Be as candid as you are comfortable with about your challenges and concerns. Seek guidance about campus and other resources that can help you manage and address any obstacles.
• Reach out to others for advice. Anticipate challenges and obstacles in your graduate degree program and their impact on the advising relationship.

Be proactive in finding resources and gathering information that can help you and your advisor arrive at solutions to any problems and optimize your time together.

Making Use of Meetings

First meetings.

Your first meeting sets the tone for a productive, satisfying, and enduring relationship with your advisor. Your first meeting is an opportunity to discuss expectations and to review a working draft of your academic plan.

Questions to ask about expectations

• What do your most successful students do to complete their degree on time?
• How often do you want us to meet?
• May I send you questions via email, or do you prefer I just come to your office?
• Would you like weekly (biweekly? monthly?) updates on my research progress?
• Do you prefer reviewing the complete draft of a manuscript or may I send you sections for feedback?
• After each meeting, I’ll make a list of what we each agreed to do before our next meeting, to help me keep moving forward with my research. Would you like a copy of that list, too, via email?

Draft Academic Plan

Prepare and bring a draft plan that outlines your “big picture” plans for your coursework, research, and writing, as well as an anticipated graduation date. (Or, email in advance with a message, such as, “I’m looking forward to meeting with you on [date] at [time], [location]. In advance, I’m sending a copy of my academic plan and proposed schedule for our discussion.”)

Contents of the plan

• Include the requirements and deadlines of your degree program. (This is information you should be able to find online or in your program’s graduate student handbook.)
• Include a general timeline indicating when you plan to meet requirements for courses or seminars, any required papers (such as a second-year paper), exams required by the graduate field (such as the Q exam) or by the Graduate School (the A exam and the B exam for research degree students).
• If your graduate field has a specific set of required courses, indicate the semester you may complete each of them, and be open to suggestions from your advisor.
• If your field does not have required courses, have some idea about the courses you are interested in taking and solicit input and suggestions from your faculty advisor.

Subsequent Meetings

Use each subsequent meeting as an opportunity to update your written academic plan and stay on track to complete your required papers and exams, your research proposal or prospectus, and the chapters or articles that comprise your thesis or dissertation.

In later meetings, you can elaborate on your general initial plan:

• Adding specific coursework or seminars
• Add professional development opportunities that interest you (workshops, dissertation writing boot camp, Summer Success Symposium, Colman Leadership Program, etc.)
• Include intentions to participate in external conferences and travel to research sites
• Identify a semester or summer when you would like to complete an internship.

Your written plan is also important to document what your advisor has agreed to, especially when the deadline to submit a manuscript or your thesis is looming and you are awaiting feedback or approval from your advisor. Use a combination of oral and written communications to stay in touch with your advisor, establish common expectations, and mark your progress toward degree completion.

Meeting Frequency

The frequency of meetings between advisors and advisees varies by field and individual. Assess your own needs and understand your advisor’s expectations for frequency of communication (in person and via email).

• Does your advisor like to provide guidance each step of the way so that he or she is aware of the details of everything you are doing?
• Does your advisor want you to launch your work more independently and report back at pre-determined or regular intervals?
• What do you need to be productive? Are you ready to work more independently?

Be proactive in seeking information. Explicitly ask how often your advisor usually meets with new students and how the advisor prefers to be updated on your progress in between meetings. Ask your peers how frequently they meet with their advisor and whether this has changed over time.

There will be disciplinary differences in meeting frequency.

• In humanities and in some social sciences, where library, archive, and field research take students away from campus, maintaining regular communication is essential, including through scheduled meetings, whether in-person or virtual.
• In life sciences and physical sciences and engineering, students often see their advisors daily in the lab or meet as a research group about externally funded projects; these regular check-ins and conversations may replace formal meetings. Make sure that you are also scheduling one-on-one times to talk about your broader goals and academic and career planning progress, however.

Some of your decisions about meeting frequency will be informed by talking to others, but much of it you learn through experience working together with your advisor. Even this will  change over time  as you become a more independent researcher and scholar. Communicate with your advisor regularly about your changing needs and expectations at each stage of your graduate career.

Resolving Conflict

In any relationship, there can be conflict. And, in the advisor-advisee relationship, the power dynamic created by the supervision, evaluation and, in some cases, funding role of your advisor can make conflicts with your advisor seem especially high.

You have options, however, including:

• Code of Legislation of the Graduate Faculty
• Campus Code of Conduct
• Policy on Academic Misconduct
• Research Misconduct
• Graduate School Grievance Policy
• Intellectual Property policies
• Graduate Student Assistantships (Policy 1.3)
• Talking with your advisor to clarify any miscommunication. Cornell University’s Office of the Ombudsman , one of the offices on campus that offers confidentiality, can also assist you by talking through the issue and helping you gather information you need before you speak directly with your advisor.
• Speaking with someone in the Graduate School, either the Associate Dean for Academics ( [email protected] ) for academic issues, or the Senior Assistant Dean for Graduate Student Life ( [email protected] ) for other issues. These deans will listen, offer advice and support, and coach you through any conversation you might want to have with your advisor. Together, you can brainstorm possible solutions and evaluate alternative plans for resolution.
• Touching base with your director of graduate studies (DGS) – if this person is not also your advisor – to talk to about policies and possible solutions to the conflict.
• Soliciting peer advice. Discuss strategies for managing and resolving conflict with your advisor. “Do you have any suggestions for me?” “Have you ever had an issue like this…?” can be effective questions.
• Identifying a new advisor if the conflict can not be resolved. Your DGS can help with this, and the Graduate School (as above) can help as well.

The National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity offers a webinar, “ How to Engage in Healthy Conflict “, which students can view after activating a free NCFDD membership through Cornell.

Changing Advisors

On occasion, students find that they need or want to change their advisor. An advisor can resign as the student’s special committee chair/faculty advisor. The  Code  of Legislation of the Graduate Faculty describes the rights and responsibilities of students and faculty in each of these situations.

Typical reasons to seek a new advisor include:

• Research interests that veer from the faculty’s expertise or ability to fund a certain project
• Your advisor retires or resigns from the university or takes an extended leave of absence for personal or professional reasons
• Differences in goals, values, or an approach to work or communication style that can’t be resolved
• Serious issues, involving suspected inappropriate behavior, questionable research conduct, or alleged bias, discrimination, or harassment

If you are considering changing advisors:

• Talk to a member of your committee, your director of graduate studies (DGS), or someone in the Graduate School about the proposed change. Some issues, such as funding, require timely attention.
• Identify other faculty members who could serve as your advisor, then meet with one or more of them. The goal is to decide together if you are a good fit with their program. Tips: Discuss or rehearse this conversation with a trusted person, especially if there were issues with your last advisor. Be transparent about these issues and address them going forward with a new advisor. Often prospective advisors are more willing to take on a new graduate student who conveys genuine enthusiasm for their area of study rather than a student who seems to be looking for a way out of a current advising relationship that has gone sour.
• Consider how and when to inform your advisor if you plan to change advisors. Be professional and respectful. Thank your advisor for past support and guidance. Don’t damage, or further damage, the relationship.
• Your DGS, if appropriate
• Office of the University Ombudsman
• Graduate School’s Senior Assistant Dean for Graduate Student Life ( [email protected] )
• Graduate School’s Associate Dean for Academics ( [email protected] )

Forms: 

• Use Student Center if you are changing your advisor before your A exam (for Ph.D. students).
• Use the Post A Committee Change Petition form for changes after the A exam. More information is available on the Graduate School’s Policy pages .

Challenges and Potential Solutions

All good relationships take work. To navigate an advising relationship successfully over time, you should familiarize yourself with some common challenges and possible actions to take.

Challenge: Mismatch in communication needs or style

One example of a communication challenge in an advising relationship is when you want input along the way during a writing project, but you have an advisor who prefers to wait to comment on a complete written draft.

Some possible steps to address this might be to talk to peers about they have handled this in their relationship with their advisor or to explain to your advisor how his or her input at this earlier stage will help speed you along toward having a complete draft for review. It’s important in communicating with your advisor to show that you understand what alternative they are proposing and why (e.g., “I understand that …”).

Challenge: Advisor unavailable or away

Your advisor might be away from campus for a semester or more to conduct research or take a sabbatical leave. Or when a grant proposal deadline or report is looming, your advisor might be less available. Maybe you’ve emailed your advisor several times with no response.

Planning and stating in advance what you need, such as feedback on a manuscript draft or signatures on a fellowship application, can help your advisor anticipate when you will have time-sensitive requests. Making plans in advance to communicate by email or video conference when either of you will be away from campus for a longer period of time is another useful strategy. Your director of graduate studies (DGS) and other faculty who serve as special committee members can also provide advice when your advisor is unavailable.

Challenge: Misaligned expectations

You are ready to submit a manuscript for publication. Your advisor says it needs much more work. Or you begin your job search, applying to liberal arts colleges with very high reputations, or schools in your preferred geographic location, but your advisor insists that you should apply for positions at top research universities.

Discussing your needs and expectations early, and often, in the advising relationship is essential. Get comfortable, and skilled, advocating for yourself with your advisor. Use the annual  Student Progress Review  as an opportunity to communicate your professional interests and goals with your advisor. Use multiple mentors beyond your advisor to get advice and expertise on topics where you need a different perspective or support.

Sometimes challenges can become opportunities for you to develop and refine new skills in communication, negotiation, self-advocacy, and management of conflict, time, and resources. For example, although you might feel abandoned if your advisor is unavailable for a time, even this potentially negative experience could become an opportunity to learn how to advocate for yourself and communicate about your needs and perceived difficulties in the relationship.

Advising Resources

Graduate School deans and directors  are available to answer academic and non-academic questions and provide referrals to useful resources.

Counseling and Psychological Services  (CAPS) staff offer confidential, professional support for students seeking help with stress, anxiety, depression, grief, adjustment challenges, relationship difficulties, questions about identity, and managing existing mental health conditions.

Let’s Talk Drop-in Consultations  are informal, confidential walk-in consultations at various locations around campus.

External Resources

University of Michigan Rackham, How to Get the Mentoring You Want  

Laura Gail Lunsford & Vicki L. Baker, 2016, Great Mentoring in Graduate School: A Quick Start Guide for Protégés

Michigan State University, Guidelines for Graduate Student Advising and Mentoring Relationships  

Michigan State University, Graduate Student Career and Professional Development  

Template for Meeting Notes

Adapted and expanded from Maria Gardiner, Flinders University © Flinders University 2007; used with permission and published in  The Productive Graduate Student Writer  (Allen, 2019). Used here with permission of the author and publisher.  

Use this template for making notes to help you plan for a productive meeting with your advisor, keep track of plans made, and clearly identify next steps that you’ll need to take to follow up on what you discussed.

Mentoring Resources

Graduate school programs focused on mentoring, building mentoring skills for an academic career.

Develop and enhance effective communication and mentorship skills that are broadly transferrable to all careers. Offered by Future Faculty and Academic Careers.

Graduate and Professional Students International (GPSI) Peer Mentoring Program

Share lessons learned as a new international student at Cornell as a peer mentor with new international student peer mentees. Offered by the GPSI in collaboration with the Graduate School Office of Inclusion and Student Engagement.

Graduate Students Mentoring Undergraduates (GSMU)

Share knowledge with and provide support to undergraduate students interested in pursuing further education. Offered in collaboration with the Office of Academic Diversity Initiatives (OADI).

Multicultural Academic Council (MAC) Peer Mentoring Program

Develop strategies to excel academically and personally at Cornell and beyond as a peer mentee or share strategies as a peer mentor. Offered by MAC in collaboration with the Graduate School Office of Inclusion and Student Engagement.

NextGen Professors Program

Learn from faculty in Power Mentoring Sessions and prepare for careers across institutional types. Offered by the Graduate School Office of Inclusion and Student Engagement and Future Faculty and Academic Careers.

Graduate School Programs with a Mentoring Component

Graduate school primer: navigating academia workshop series.

Program for new students on navigating graduate school with sessions on mentoring.

Perspectives: The Complete Graduate Student

Program for continuing students on common issues with some sessions on mentoring.

GPWomeN-PCCW Speaker Series

Series for all students featuring talks by Cornell alumnae with an occasional mentoring focus.

Future Professors Institute

One-day event featuring workshops and guest speakers with occasional mentoring focus.

Intergroup Dialogue Project (IDP)

Peer-led courses blending theory and experiential learning to facilitate meaningful communication with occasional mentoring focus.

Building Allyship Series

Series for the campus community featuring panels designed for productive dialogue with occasional mentoring focus.

Institutional Memberships

Center for the integration of research, teaching, and learning (cirtl) network.

Access to resources on teaching and research mentoring.

Access to career development and mentoring resources.

New York Academy of Sciences (NYAS)

Access to resources, including webinars and articles on mentoring.

Mentoring Programs Across Campus

Give and receive advice as part of a peer mentoring program for all College of Engineering students. Offered by Diversity Programs in Engineering.

Mi Comunidad/My Community

Peer mentoring program run by graduate and professional students affiliated with the Latin@ Graduate Student Coalition (LGSC) and supported by the Latina/o Studies Program (LSP) and Latina/o/x Student Success Office (LSSO) at Cornell University.

Additional Resources:

• Mentoring and Leadership Tips from Graduate School Programs
• Cornell University Office of Faculty Development and Diversity – Resources for Mentors and Mentees
• Careers Beyond Academia LibGuide
• National Research Mentoring Network

Graduate School Articles on Mentoring:

• Alumna Addresses Importance of Mentoring
• Becoming Better Mentors Through Workshop Series
• August Offers Mentoring Advice
• ‘A Better Chance of Providing Access’: Future Professors Institute Fosters Inclusivity

Virtual Training and External Resources

• How to Get the Mentoring You Want: A Guide for Graduate Students – University of Michigan, Rackham Graduate School
• The Science of Effective Mentorship in STEMM – National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, Medicine
• Mentor Training: Online Learning Modules – University of Minnesota Clinical and Translational Science Institute
• Mentor Curricula and Training: Entering Mentoring – Center for the Improvement of Mentored Experiences in Research

For other resources, view the Advising Guide for Research Students.

If there is anything not included on this list that we should consider, please send the information and a link to [email protected] .

Tips on Finding a Primary Thesis Advisor

Here are some tips for finding and approaching a potential project advisor.

• Do online research to scout potential advisors and projects: Read a prospective advisor's website, paying particular attention to recent or ongoing work done with students. Familiarize yourself with the work they do before you meet with them.  
• Attending research seminar talks:  Seminars such as the Symbolic Systems Research Seminar (SYMSYS 280, 1 unit S/NC only, repeatable, offered Autumn, Winter, and Spring Quarters) and other department-based seminar series are good places to learn about faculty research, and you may want to speak with them afterward about current opportunities for students to work with them.
• Talk to other students: Ask in-project students about their project advisors, research groups, and how they found their thesis advisor.
• Take a course and go to office hours: Your primary advisor will ideally be someone with whom you have taken a course. Generally, enrolling in smaller seminars is recommended as seminars provide more opportunity for interaction and discussion. Take advantage of office hours to get to know the faculty member better and potentially start a conversation about their area of study and your own research interests. The best courses for leading into a research relationship are graduate courses with a research project component.
• Talk to faculty on an informational basis before you ask to work with them: Most faculty are willing to talk about their research during their office hours, but you should approach this with as much information before the meeting as you can get (e.g. by reading their website and published research ahead of time). It is okay to talk about your own interests, but you should relate them to what you know about the professor with whom you are meeting, and ask questions before deciding that this is someone you want to work with.  
• Do Independent Research/Independent Study courses and/or limited commitment research projects with faculty before asking them to commit to being your thesis advisor : Once you have established a common research interest with a faculty member, through informational meetings and prior reading, you can ask a faculty member if they are willing to supervise you to do a one-quarter project with a well-defined goal, which might serve as a lead-in to a thesis project. Ideally, this should be something that will be useful to the faculty member regardless of whether it continues past this stage. Good research and communication style/personality fit is important, and both you and a prospective advisor will be in a better position to judge this after working together for a while. It is best to do this early in your M.S. career, before the PAS is due.
• Ask for recommendations: Some faculty may be unavailable because they have too many advisees already, have other commitments, or may have planned leaves of absence. If a faculty member is unavailable to serve as your advisor, you may ask them if they can recommend another potential advisor, and then you can repeat the process.    
• Get to know others who are working with a prospective advisor: Through further discussions, you can ask a faculty member about joining lab meetings, and/or see about working together with others (graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, or other collaborators) who are working with the person you are interested in advising you. Your M.S. project may wind up being a collaboration with one of these people, with the professor supervising both/all of you and your collaborators.
• Follow up: you may need to follow up a few times if you do not get a response to your first email. Find out their office hours or make an appointment to discuss whether they are willing to serve as your advisor.  

• Skip to Content
• Catalog Home
• Institution Home
• Graduate Catalog /
• Academic Resources /
• Advising & Mentoring PhD Students /

Choosing a Dissertation Advisor

Introduction.

While some graduate groups may assign an advisor to a student upon admission to the program, in many graduate groups the responsibility for finding a dissertation advisor rests with the student. The choice of a faculty member who will supervise the dissertation work required to fulfill degree requirements is one of the most critical decisions a graduate student will make. A student will spend several years working with the faculty member of choice, and that choice will significantly affect the direction of the student’s career. Choosing a dissertation advisor, therefore, is an extremely important decision for doctoral students, although it is not immutable, as will be discussed later.

A student undertaking dissertation work needs an advisor who will be not only academically competent in a particular area but also willing to act as the student’s advocate when necessary. It is important that the student be able to work and communicate effectively with the advisor and not feel overwhelmed or intimidated in the relationship. Dissertation work can be lonely and isolating, and support from an advisor can be a crucial connection.  Each student requires the guidance of someone who will stimulate thought, who has sufficient interest in the student’s topic to produce new insights jointly, and who will challenge the student to think in a novel manner about the research.

Obtaining Information on Potential Advisors

Advisors generally serve as the dissertation supervisor. Students should be familiar with the University rules about who can supervise dissertation research and serve on a dissertation committee.  Several resources and strategies can help students identify an appropriate faculty advisor, as follows.

The graduate group website or handbook is a valuable source of information on potential advisors. Many graduate groups have developed websites that profile affiliated faculty members, including their areas of research, recent publications, and other academic activities. Literature searches can provide further information on the publications and preferred journals of particular faculty members. The graduate group chair can also provide valuable advice on potential advisors and can help students to become familiar with any specific graduate group policies on supervision.

Students can get to know potential advisors by taking a course, doing a lab rotation, acting as a teaching assistant, and/or attending seminars and other presentations by the faculty member.

Graduate students currently working with the potential advisor are an invaluable source of information. Students who are working or have worked with a particular advisor can be asked about their experience with that advisor and about the advisor’s expectations and working methods. Getting to know these students is also useful because anyone choosing to work with a faculty advisor would likely have close, future interactions with their students. Talking to multiple students is always encouraged given the possibly strong and differing opinions one might hear.

Students should make an appointment to meet potential advisors. Meeting a potential advisor is an essential step in determining whether a faculty member would be a good fit in terms of mentoring and interpersonal style and research interested. The following is a list of issues that might be covered in such a meeting: 

• How many graduate students do you advise? (Students may not want to pick a faculty member who has too many students already.)
• Typically, how often do you meet with your students?
• Typically, how much time do you expect students to take to complete their dissertation?
• How will we agree upon my research topic?
• Are there sufficient funds available for the research project?
• What will be the sources of my stipend/funding? What are ways you can provide assistance for finding additional funding if/when my stipend expires?
• What level of independence is expected of your graduate students?
• Is there any specific knowledge I need to have before starting to work with you?
• Will I have the opportunity to attend conferences? Publish papers? Present work at colloquia? Are there funds available for me to do so?
• Are you planning a sabbatical leave soon? If so, what arrangements for continued supervision will be made during your absence?
• What opportunities would I have in this area of research when I graduate?
• How do you typically assist students on the job market?
• Will guidelines be drawn up for working together?
• How will I receive feedback on my progress?

These questions are designed to help the student and the potential advisor determine whether a good match exists. Where appropriate, the student may also want to ask about the order of authorship on publications and intellectual property issues.

For students who are able to pick an advisor, the choice of a dissertation advisor is a decision to be made with a great deal of care and consideration. Discussion of the topics listed above will also give faculty members a sense of what students expect in terms of meetings, feedback, turn-around time on submitted work, etc. Taking time to explore these issues should result in a productive relationship for both student and advisor that culminates in a dissertation of original research, completed within a reasonable period of time.

Changing Advisors

There may be situations in which a student must change advisors. Some situations are beyond the student’s control; for example, when an advisor leaves the University or otherwise becomes unavailable. In other situations, the student may want to choose a different advisor; for example, if the focus of the research project changes to something outside of the current advisor’s expertise, or if work styles do not mesh well.

In these latter situations, students should understand that while there can be risks in changing advisors, it usually can be negotiated in a positive manner. Students deciding to change advisors should be sure to consult the graduate group for any specific policies and procedures that apply and be sure to ascertain if funding may change under a new advisor. Students should always be professional and respectful in interactions with the current advisor and potential new advisor and be certain that the proposed new advisor is willing and able to add them as a new advisee before discussing such a change with the current advisor. Students should focus discussions on interests and goals and not on negative incidents or difficulties. The potential new advisor, as well as leaders or other members of the graduate group, may have advice regarding how to broach this change with the current advisor.

Print Options

Print this page.

The PDF will include all information unique to this page.

A PDF of the entire 2023-24 catalog.

A PDF of the 2023-24 Undergraduate catalog.

A PDF of the 2023-24 Graduate catalog.

• Mission, Values, and Goals
• Diversity Plan
• Scholarship
• How to apply
• American & Ethnic Studies
• Community Psychology
• Conservation & Restoration Science
• Culture, Literature & the Arts
• Data Visualization
• Earth System Science
• Environmental Science
• Environmental Studies
• Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies
• Global Studies
• Interactive Media Design
• Interdisciplinary Arts
• Interdisciplinary Studies
• Law, Economics & Public Policy
• Mathematical Thinking & Visualization
• Media & Communication Studies
• Science, Technology & Society
• Society, Ethics & Human Behavior
• Degree Maps
• Minor in Creative Writing
• Minor in Diversity
• Minor in Ecological Restoration
• Minor in Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies
• Minor in Geographic Information System
• Minor in Human Rights
• Minor in Performance
• Minor in Policy Studies
• Minor in Science, Technology & Society
• Minor in Visual & Media Arts
• Learning Objectives
• Student Feedback
• Petitions and Forms
• Grade Appeal
• Grievances and Complaints
• IAS Degree Portfolio
• Credit Based Learning
• Community Engagement
• D.C. Human Rights Seminar
• Study Abroad
• Global Scholars
• How to Apply

Thesis Work

• Fall Convergence
• Spring Festival
• MFA Publications
• About Cultural Studies
• Cultural Studies: Starting Points
• Graduate Research Conference
• Why Policy Studies?
• Prospective Students
• Graduate Admissions
• Finding an Internship Site
• For Internship Sites
• For Faculty
• Registration
• On leave and withdrawal
• Satisfactory Performance and Progress
• Petitions and forms
• Campus Resources
• Incoming Students
• Technology Resources and Support
• Educational Access & Opportunity Fund
• Global Scholars Fund
• Experiential & Community Based Learning Fund
• Academic Excellence & Emerging Initiatives Fund
• Diane and Mike Gillespie Community Action Fund
• Nony Clark Milmoe Scholarship
• Sandra Martin Roberts Memorial Scholarship
• Washington D.C. Travel Assistance Fund
• Graduate Studies Excellence Fund
• Master of Fine Arts (MFA) Program Fund
• American Muslim Research Institute Fund
• All IAS Funds

Quick Links

• Information Technology
• Commuter Services
• Human Resources
• Campus Safety

Selecting a Thesis Advisor

At the end of your first year, you will have an opportunity to select a thesis advisor, choosing from the MFA Core Faculty and Visiting Thesis Advisors . You will have an opportunity to prioritize three different choices, and no more. Choosing a thesis advisor is a very important decision and you need to prioritize your choices very carefully. Please read in advance of answering these questions, the stipulations for thesis work at UW Bothell on the website, under program curriculum.

You will be asked questions concerning:

Please describe the creative work and poetics paper / artist statement you wish to undertake and give a sense of the percentage you wish to devote to each. The minimum for an artist statement / poetics paper is 10 per cent of your total thesis, which would amount to a 10-20 page paper. If you are undecided about just what work you wish to undertake, please write out as specifically as possible what this indecision consists of.

Please describe your future goals. Are you concerned about finding work in a specific area or pursuing a Ph.D. program? How would you describe your writerly and pragmatic ambitions? How can this MFA program best help you to achieve these goals in the second year program? Try to prioritize your goals some—and think these through. Keep in mind that trying to do too much of everything is not going to help you achieve what you are setting out to do.

Thesis Advisor Nominations

Please list three MFA core and thesis advisor faculty members with whom you would wish to do your thesis work. Please prioritize this list, indicating which is your first, second and third preference. Please do not list more than three priorities, keeping in mind that any one thesis advisor is limited to three or four students. If in fact you do not have strong preferences, please indicate this as well. Do give some thought to this list, as it is very important. We try to give people either their first or second priority, although sometimes we need to go to your third choice. In order to do our job well, most faculty members will be conducting two to three theses only so that we can give your work more attention.

Changing Your Thesis Advisor

Changing thesis advisors is generally discouraged except in the event that you have irresolvable differences. It is a thesis advisor’s prerogative to ask you to revise your work and to limit your page length: these are not generally considered adequate reasons for changing an advisor. In the event that you feel you can no longer work with your thesis advisor, you need to undertake the following steps in the order listed below:

• Students may submit a Petition to Change of Advisor . The petition is routed through the IAS Graduate Office to the Director of the MFA in Creative Writing & Poetics first, and the current and proposed advisors next. Students may wish to consult their current and prospect thesis advisors before beginning this process, or may meet with the Graduate Programs Advisor first to discuss.
• Approval of the petition will be needed from the Director, the current advisors (thesis advisor and second reader) and the proposed advisor in order to make the change. Students will be asked to talk to both their current and proposed advisors to obtain their approval of the change.
• The IAS Graduate Office/Graduate Programs Advisor must document in writing the approval of all concerned parties: new advisor, old advisor, and second reader. Once final approval is given from all parties, the Graduate Office will notify the student that the change is official.

Things to look for in a thesis adviser

On the scale of human interactions, the relationship between a graduate student and his or her thesis adviser ( a.k.a. major professor) lies somewhere between that of roommates locked into a long-term lease and a marriage. Finding a good match among the faculty typically is the single most important determinant of the quality of a graduate-school experience. It is therefore critical that entering students get to work early and diligently to learn all they can not only about potential mentors and their research programs but about themselves. Ask the following questions:

•  Is this potential adviser someone you respect, someone you would like to model yourself after?  
•  Where are the potential adviser’s former students? Do they tend to transition to the types of postgraduate and professional opportunities that appeal to you?  
• What kinds of skills are you likely to develop in this lab?  
•  Do students from this lab get their work published in quality journals?  
• What is the lab group like? Are they hard-working and enthusiastic? Do they get along with one another?  
•  What do you need from a mentor? What are your strengths and weaknesses?  
•  Are you likely to respond well to this person’s particular training and managerial style?  

Notice that the list does not ask questions about the potential adviser’s area of research. The biggest mistake a student can make in selecting a major professor is ignoring the signs of a potentially poor match because he or she is enamored of the faculty member’s area of research. A research project is a tool, a vehicle for transforming curious and committed students into capable, independent research scientists whose skills are translatable and evolving. As long as a student finds a project interesting and challenging, labels matter little in the long run. A student–mentor relationship based on mutual respect, good communication and shared expectations offers a richness and depth that will animate your entire career.

Enjoy reading ASBMB Today?

Become a member to receive the print edition monthly and the digital edition weekly.

Peter Kennelly is a professor of biochemistry at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

Related articles

Featured jobs.

from the ASBMB career center

Get the latest from ASBMB Today

Enter your email address, and we’ll send you a weekly email with recent articles, interviews and more.

Latest in Careers

Careers highlights or most popular articles.

Upcoming opportunities

Molecule of the year nominations are due Friday! Plus: A new Finding the Funds webinar and LRD seminar are coming up later this month.

Consider an undergraduate summer research internship in government

Our careers columnist offers a rundown of agencies that can provide you with a couple of months of lab experience.

Putting ASBMB conferences on your radar! Plus: Award nominations are due Friday.

Retiring a research lab

Careers columnist Courtney Chandler talks to Art Spector, a former principal investigator, about making a graceful exit from the bench.

Calendar of events, awards and opportunities

Nominate colleagues for the ASBMB annual awards and your favorite molecule for our inaugural contest!

Industry partnership opportunities

The deadline for these is May 31.

Faculty: Guide for Thesis Advisors

The following guidelines are provided for faculty who have been asked to serve as thesis advisors for candidates for the Bachelor of Philosophy (BPhil) degree.

This degree is conferred jointly by the David C. Frederick Honors College and the candidate's primary school of admission (e.g., Arts and Sciences, Engineering, Nursing, etc.). In most cases the degree title of "Bachelor of Philosophy" replaces the standard bachelor's degree a student would receive, but some schools (e.g., Engineering and Nursing) retain the standard degree title jointly conferred by that school and the Frederick Honors College. Specific questions about the degree title should be referred to David Hornyak in the Frederick Honors College.

All candidates for the BPhil degree must satisfy the general degree requirements (curricular requirements) and the special degree requirements (independent scholarship).

General degree requirements

Students must complete the degree requirements of their primary school of admission and complete a program of study demonstrating that the student has not only met but also exceeded the requirements for a standard undergraduate departmental degree. This includes having a 3.50 cumulative GPA to apply for admission to BPhil degree candidacy (successful BPhil degree recipients in recent semesters have had an average GPA of 3.88).

In general, it is expected that the student’s curriculum will reflect significant breadth, depth, or focus around a coherent intellectual theme.

Special degree requirements

These requirements are to be met by the completion of a thesis. A student presents and defends their thesis before a faculty examining committee selected in conjunction with the thesis advisor. It is the expectation that the thesis advisor provides the student with the same research/scholarship experience as graduate students in the thesis advisor's academic discipline and that the final thesis document be at least of the same caliber as a graduate thesis in the discipline.

The Frederick Honors College divides the progress of a thesis into the following three rough stages:

• Development of the project;
• Research and writing of the thesis; and
• Presentation and examination of the completed thesis.

Development of the project

During this stage, the thesis advisor should work closely with the student in developing a research topic and a plan for investigating it. Since the thesis will in many cases be the first substantial piece of independent scholarship the student has produced, the thesis advisor may need to provide the student with general assistance in research methods and strategies; in particular, the advisor should help the student to frame a question of reasonable scope. Moreover, the advisor will be invaluable in assuring that the work the student seeks to undertake is truly independent and of similar caliber to that of a graduate student within the thesis advisor's academic discipline.

The advisor and student should develop a reasonable chronology, setting a number of short- and long-term deadlines for the completion of various stages of the project. This is an especially important role for the advisor since novice researchers may lack reliable intuitions as to the length of time that any particular part of the project is likely to require.

The advisor should take time to review the courses the student has yet to complete and to recommend other courses (within or outside the advisor’s department) that could be of benefit to the student. The advisor should also recommend other faculty with whom the student might consult as the details of the project become clearer. Once the project plan is in place, the student applies to be admitted into BPhil degree candidacy in the Frederick Honors College.

Research and writing of the thesis

The advisor should be available to meet regularly with the student to evaluate the progress of the student's research, to discuss the problems that inevitably arise, and to provide whatever encouragement or direction proves necessary. These meetings should naturally evolve into regular meetings to review the student’s progress in writing the thesis. At this stage, too, the advisor may suggest that the student pursue additional formal course work in areas where further thought or expertise would be helpful.

It is the advisor’s responsibility to approve the student’s final draft of the thesis as complete prior to review by the examining committee. As previously noted, the thesis should be of similar caliber to that of a graduate thesis within the faculty member's academic discipline. If the thesis advisor believes the student will not be able to defend the thesis successfully, the thesis advisor should stop the process at this point and not send a final draft of the thesis document to the examination committee.

Presentation and examination of the completed thesis

Before the student completes the thesis document, the student and advisor should begin to choose an examining committee. The thesis advisor has final authority over the composition of the examining committee. The committee will consist of four faculty members with relevant expertise: the thesis advisor, two University of Pittsburgh examiners, and an additional examiner from another institution. The thesis advisor assumes the role of the committee chair and is responsible for arranging the logistics of the examination.

The external examiner may participate in the defense remotely or they may travel to Pittsburgh to participate in person. The Frederick Honors College will reimburse the cost of travel and lodging for an external examiner who is traveling to Pittsburgh for the defense.

The format for the presentation and examination is similar to that of a master’s or doctoral defense. The student presents an overview of their work in a speech open to the public in addition to the examining committee. Following a brief period during which the public may ask questions, the committee examines the candidate privately. The chair of the committee is responsible for dismissing the public and for convening and ending the examination. The chair also has charge of the ETD Approval Form and must secure the signatures of the committee.

Additional information

Thesis advisors may also find useful information on the  Thesis Defense and Graduation Procedures  page.

Graduate School

• Make a Gift

Student and Advisor Responsibilities

Responsibility

A thesis is required for all programs leading to a Plan A master’s degree, and a dissertation is required for the doctor of philosophy degree. This manual was written by the Graduate School to help you and your committee members to prepare theses and dissertations. Its purpose is to define uniform format standards. The word “thesis” refers to both the thesis and the dissertation unless otherwise noted.

Advisor’s Responsibility

Your advisor serves as a mentor both while you are doing the thesis work and while the results of that work are prepared for the thesis. Although you have primary responsibility for the content, quality, and format of the thesis, the advisor and the Graduate Advisory Committee must be consulted frequently. They approve the final document before it is submitted to the Graduate School. Advisors are particularly asked to insure that the abstract summarizes clearly and concisely the major points of the thesis.

Student’s Responsibility

Your are responsible for making all arrangements for the preparation and submission of the thesis as well as any additional copies required by the department. you should also consider the following:

1. Consult a style manual approved by your department for correct format for quotations, footnotes, and bibliographical items. 2. Refer to the Graduate School Thesis and Dissertation Formatting Guide for guidelines regarding correct format for thesis presentation (including illustrative materials). 3. Edit draft for correct sentence structure, grammar, paragraphing, punctuation, and spelling. 4. Prepare tables in the form in which they are to be printed. 5. Furnish numbering and legends for all tables and illustrative materials. 6. Proofread final copy and check to see that corrections are made accurately. 7. Present a copy to the Graduate Advisory Committee for their review. 8. Submit the final committee approved version electronically.

• Skip to Content
• Catalog Home
• Institution Home

School of Public Health 2023–2024

• Yale University Publications /
• School of Public Health /
• Appendix II: Thesis Guidelines /

Thesis Advisers

The type of thesis, choice of topic, and details of methodology are the joint responsibility of the student and the primary thesis adviser. The primary thesis adviser is determined by mutual consent between the adviser and the student and may or may not be the student’s faculty adviser.

The primary thesis adviser must have a primary or secondary faculty appointment at YSPH. Acceptable appointments are: (1) ladder faculty at the rank of assistant professor and above, and (2) non-ladder faculty at the rank of associate research scientist and above. Students must request approval for primary thesis advisers who have other types of non-ladder faculty appointments at YSPH (e.g., lecturer, instructor, etc.). To request approval, students need to provide the registrar with a copy of the primary thesis adviser’s CV along with the thesis adviser form for approval by the Committee on Academic Progress. Students unsure of whether someone has an appointment at YSPH should consult the comprehensive list of all faculty members , by department, at the front of the YSPH Bulletin.

The secondary thesis adviser should have a faculty appointment at YSPH, Yale University, or another outside academic institution. Students must request approval for secondary thesis advisers whose faculty appointment is outside of Yale or who do not have a faculty appointment at an academic institution. To request approval, students need to provide the registrar with a copy of the secondary thesis adviser’s CV along with the thesis adviser form for approval by the Committee on Academic Progress.

Print Options

Send Page to Printer

Print this page.

Download Page (PDF)

The PDF will include all information unique to this page.

Download 2022-23 YSPH PDF

All pages in YSPH Catalog.

How to Choose a Thesis Advisor

Choosing a thesis advisor is the most important decision of your life--perhaps more important than choosing a spouse--because your choice affects everything you will do in your career. Indeed, choosing an advisor is similar to getting married: it is making a long-term commitment. Unlike marriage, however, a good advising relationship should end successfully within a few years. Also, unlike husband and wife, the advisor and student do not start as equals. At first, the relationship is essentially an apprenticeship. But although you start as an apprentice, ideally, you should end as a colleague.

As you consider which professor might serve as an advisor, you should first formulate your goals in undertaking thesis research. A thesis demonstrates your ability to make an original, significant contribution to the corpus of human knowledge. Through your thesis project, you develop skills useful in any career: critical reading of the scholarly or scientific literature, formulation and solution of a problem, clear written and oral communication of the results. Furthermore, you learn the practices of a particular scholarly community: theoretical frameworks and experimental paradigms, publication processes, and standards of professional behavior. You learn how to present a paper at a seminar or a conference, and how to give and receive criticism.

You should seek a thesis advisor who can help you meet your goals, and whose working style is compatible with yours. Here are some specific steps that you can take to find an advisor.

Take a course with a potential advisor, possibly individual study. In an individual study course, you can learn about the professor's working style, with a limited, one semester commitment between you and the professor. The individual study course might involve directed reading, with the goal of producing a survey article that could serve as the basis for a thesis. Or the individual study course might involve a small project in the professor's laboratory.

Ask for copies of grant proposals that describe research projects of possible interest to you. A grant proposal states research problems, explains the importance of the problems in the context of other research, and describes recent progress, including the professor's contributions. Usually, a proposal includes references to journal articles and books that you can look up. You do not need the budget part of the proposal, which contains confidential information about salaries.

Consider working with two advisors. If you are interested in an interdisciplinary project, then you could engage two official advisors, one in each discipline. Even if you choose only one official advisor, you may occasionally seek advice from a second professor, who can provide an alternate perspective. Some departments institutionalize this practice by requiring that the chair of a doctoral committee be different from the thesis advisor. Discuss these arrangements with both professors openly, to minimize possible misunderstandings about each professor's role.

Interview a potential advisor. Before the interview, read some articles written by the professor so that you can ask intelligent questions about the professor's research interests. Prepare several questions such as the following.

What are the professor's standards and expectations for the quality of the thesis, such as the overall length? Will the professor help formulate the research topic?

How quickly will the professor review drafts of manuscripts? Will the professor help you improve writing and speaking skills? Will the professor encourage publication of your work?

Will the professor provide equipment and materials? Will the professor obtain financial support such as funds to travel to conferences or research assistantships? Will the professor help you find appropriate employment? Where have former students gone?

What will your responsibilities be? Will you write proposals or make presentations to research sponsors?

How frequently will you meet with the professor? The most common problem in the humanities and social sciences is insufficiently frequent contact with the advisor. I meet with each of my own thesis students individually for one hour each week, in addition to a weekly group meeting.

What are the obligations to the project funding source? How frequently are reports required? Are deliverables promised? Could publications be delayed by a patent filing? Are there potential conflicts of interest?

How will decisions on co-authorship of papers be made? In engineering and natural sciences, co-authorship is common, but practices vary by discipline. Sometimes, the advisor's name always goes last. Sometimes, the order of names is alphabetical. Sometimes, the first author is the person whose contribution was greatest.

Interview former students. Students who have graduated are more likely to answer your questions candidly than current students. Ask a potential advisor for names and e-mail addresses of former students, whom you can contact.

Was a former student's project unnecessarily prolonged? Did anyone not finish? Why not? Many projects suffer unanticipated delays. Occasionally, for various reasons--not always the advisor's fault--students do not finish theses and dissertations.

How were conflicts resolved? When you work closely with someone else, disagreements are inevitable. The key question is whether conflicts were handled respectfully, with satisfactory resolutions.

If you have a major conflict with your advisor, first attempt to find solutions within you department, consulting another trusted professor, other members of your committee, or the department head. Should you be unable to find a solution by working with people in your department, be assured that we in the Graduate College are available to help mediate conflicts. Fortunately, major conflicts are rare. It is most likely that you will enjoy a successful, intellectually satisfying thesis project.

5 tips for working with a thesis advisor

Are you ready to find your fit?

Advice for working with a thesis advisor.

• Develop a Positive Working Relationship
• Communicate Well
• Have Clearly Defined Goals
• Be Proactive
• Be a Good Listener

A graduate school thesis advisor guides a student throughout the different stages of a final research project. Picking a research advisor who has the background and interests that coincide with a chosen topic is one of the first steps in this process. Once the chosen professor has agreed to work with a student, however, it's now time to understand the best ways of working well together to achieve the pursued goals of the graduate degree.

Ranking:  50 Best Value Alternative Graduate Schools in the West

1. Develop a Positive Working Relationship

According to the  American Psychological Association , there is a developmental connection between student and advisor, and that connection should evolve over time. Be considerate of a thesis advisor's time by coming to meetings fully prepared so as not to waste time. Arrive with an agenda of what needs to be discussed. Have a list of topics ready to review and know what you want to get out of each meeting or conversation. Agree upon the milestones to be reached. In these ways, mutual respect can be achieved and a good working relationship can flourish.

2. Communicate Well

Clear, open communication is key to a good working relationship between a graduate school student and her thesis advisor. Honesty and openness can enable a more successful, pleasant thesis research experience. If some points of disagreement crop up, discuss them fully so unpleasant feelings do not have a chance to fester. Negative things can occur if communication breaks down. Be sure to openly facilitate discussions when a problem presents itself or to review progress and concerns.

3. Have Clearly Defined Goals

Be able to answer the following questions:

"What is this thesis project trying to accomplish?"

"How does the work fit in with the thesis advisor's overall goals?"

Work with the thesis advisor to emphasize the key points of the project so time is effectively spent. Students can follow up face-to-face meetings with concise emails that reiterate the main takeaways from the meeting and the coming weeks' priorities. Each email can then be referred to in the next meeting to keep advisor and student clearly on track and gauge progress.

4. Be Proactive

If struggles with the research project become apparent, use those good communication skills and talk with a thesis advisor sooner rather than later. In this way, students can receive necessary feedback to enable them to attempt a different approach completely or perhaps just fine-tune what's already been accomplished. Being proactive also includes knowing about and working to an advisor's strengths and weaknesses. If, for example, an advisor is known to be a little disorganized, send regular work updates to let him or her know things are on track.

5. Be a Good Listener

Active listening is possibly one of the hardest communication skills. This is especially true if a student has a specific viewpoint about the thesis project and is not open to new ideas. It's important to have an open mind during discussions with a thesis advisor. Take criticism constructively by listening carefully to it. Ask questions and try not to take advice about changes to a project too personally. Really listening to the advice of a seasoned mentor will go a long way toward establishing and keeping a beneficial relationship between student and advisor.

Working on a graduate school thesis is a learning experience in more ways than one. Ensure that the working experience with a thesis advisor remains a pleasant and fruitful one by keeping the lines of communication and understanding open at all times.

Get prepared for your next steps

Use articles and resources to uncover answers to common questions, get guidance on your goals, and learn about applying to schools.

Discover a program that is right for you.

Explore different options for you based on your degree interests.

• Dissertation Advisory Committee
• Introduction

Harvard Griffin GSAS strives to provide students with timely, accurate, and clear information. If you need help understanding a specific policy, please contact the office that administers that policy.

• Application for Degree
• Credit for Completed Graduate Work
• Ad Hoc Degree Programs
• Acknowledging the Work of Others
• Advanced Planning
• Dissertation Submission Checklist
• Formatting Your Dissertation
• Publishing Options
• Submitting Your Dissertation
• English Language Proficiency
• PhD Program Requirements
• Secondary Fields
• Year of Graduate Study (G-Year)
• Master's Degrees
• Grade and Examination Requirements
• Conduct and Safety
• Financial Aid
• Non-Resident Students
• Registration

Dissertation Advisory Committee; Thesis Acceptance Certificate

The Dissertation Advisory Committee formally approves the dissertation by signing the Thesis Acceptance Certificate . In PhD programs that are not lab-based, this committee also guides the student in writing the dissertation. The committee should work cohesively in supporting the student to produce their best work. The signatures of these faculty members on the Thesis Acceptance Certificate indicate formal acceptance of the student’s scholarly contribution to the field.  

In some fields, especially in the sciences, the Dissertation Advisory Committee described below is known locally as the “Dissertation Defense Committee.” In these programs, a separate additional committee (also called the Dissertation Advisory Committee) that includes the student’s primary advisor, will guide the student’s progress until submission for formal review by the DAC/defense committee. The members of the DAC/defense committee give formal approval to the finished work, but the student’s work will be understood to have occurred under the guidance of the primary advisor. The changes to the DAC/defense committee as described below do not in any way affect the essential structure of dissertation advising that already exists in lab-based PhD programs. 

The following policy applies to every Harvard Griffin GSAS Dissertation Advisory Committee formed on or after July 1, 2024. Any Dissertation Advisory Committee approved before July 1, 2024 is subject to the rules outlined below, see “Grandfathering.”  

Effective July 1, 2024:  

•  The graduate thesis for the PhD shall be accepted, and the Thesis Acceptance Certificate signed, by at least three advisors, who will form the Dissertation Advisory Committee (DAC). At least two members of the committee shall be on-ladder faculty members. 
• In FAS-based programs, the Director of Graduate Studies or Department Chair or Area Chair shall sign off on the proposed committee.  
• For programs based outside the FAS, the Program Head shall sign off. 
• A program may petition the Dean of Harvard Griffin GSAS to consider a variation to the above requirement. 
• A Professor in Residence or Professor of the Practice may serve as a non-chairing member of the DAC, as long as the committee composition is consistent with “1.”  
•  Senior Lecturers and other non-ladder faculty may serve on the DAC as the third member when appropriate, as approved by the Director of Graduate Studies, Department Chair, Area Chair, or Program Head, as long as the committee composition is consistent with “1.” 
• Tenured emeriti faculty members (including research professors) may serve on the DAC. They may co-chair the DAC with a current on-ladder faculty member from the student’s department or program but may not serve as the sole chair. 
• Non-Harvard faculty of equivalent appointment rank to on-ladder faculty at Harvard may serve as one of the non-chairing members of the DAC.  
• A committee with co-chairs shall require a third member, consistent with ”1.” 
• Additional members may be appointed to the DAC, as long as the core three-member committee is consistent with ”1.” 
• They may continue to serve as a committee member if they have moved to another institution with an appointment rank equivalent to on-ladder at Harvard.  
• Or, if they are no longer serving on the DAC (by choice of the student, the student’s program, and/or the departing faculty member), the advisor must be replaced in accordance with ”1.” 
• If the departing faculty member will remain as chair on the DAC, a co-chair must be designated in accordance with “1.” The co-chair may, in this instance, be the Director of Graduate Studies in the student’s program if a faculty member with field expertise is not available to serve in this capacity. 

Please note:

• “On ladder” refers to faculty members with tenure or who are tenure-track. The phrase “on ladder” is generally not used at HMS, but all HMS and HCSPH assistant, associate, and full professors are considered to be “on ladder” according to HMS Faculty Affairs, and, for the purposes of this legislation, may serve on the DAC/defense committee. 
• With regard to paragraph 3.b.ii, and in keeping with the spirit of this legislation, ordinarily a scholar appointed as a College Fellow would not be ready to serve as one of the three core members of the committee. 
• With regard to paragraph 3.b.iv, individuals who do not fit this category (e.g., a scholar holding a non-ladder faculty position at another institution) may sit on the committee as a fourth member, in accordance with paragraph 3.d.  
• On the rare occasion that a situation requires special consideration, programs are advised to consult with the Dean of Harvard Griffin GSAS.  

Grandfathering

Grandfathering, and rules applying to all dissertation advisory committees, regardless of status prior to July 1, 2024:  

For dissertation advisory committees approved before July 1, 2024 under the former policy ( Two signatories must be members of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS); FAS emeriti (including research professors) and faculty members from other Schools at Harvard who hold appointments on Harvard Griffin GSAS degree committees are authorized to sign DACs as FAS members. Harvard Griffin GSAS strongly recommends that the chair of the dissertation committee be a member of the FAS. If approved by the department, it is possible to have co-chairs of the dissertation committee as long as one is a member of FAS) , the following rules apply:   

Dissertation Advisory Committees approved prior to July 1, 2024 will be grandfathered, except in two situations:  

• An existing DAC chaired by an individual whose faculty appointment does not meet the requirements of the new rules will need to be adjusted. A co-chair should be designated, with the option of appointing the DGS to serve as co-chair, as allowed in paragraph 3.e.iii;  
• An existing DAC with fewer than three members should be updated, and the new member(s) should be consistent with the new policy.   

Thesis Acceptance Certificate

Contact info, noël bisson, shelby johnson, explore events.

• Staff Login

12.1 PROGRAM ADVISING

12.2.1 guidelines followed for thesis advising in the undergraduate degree programs, 12.2.2 guidelines followed for advising in the graduate degree programs, 12.3 fostering a positive learning environment, 12.4.1 student participation in faculty members’ external engagements, 12.4.2 student assistantship, 12.5 student privacy, 12.6 student conduct and discipline, 12.0 student relations.

In the University, faculty members interact with students not only in the classroom for purposes of   instruction. Often, students consult with their teachers for a variety of other academic   purposes, the most common of which include program advising and thesis/dissertation advising. However, students consult their teachers not only for academic matters, but also for other concerns (eg, personal situations, career guidance, etc.), which the faculty may wish to deal with themselves, or which they may wish to recommend to more competent personnel within the University. Whatever the case, however, faculty are expected to maintain professionalism and mutual respect in their dealings with their students and are expected to communicate with them in an appropriate manner.

Each student admitted into a program shall be assigned a Program Adviser who shall advise, monitor, and evaluate the student’s progress. [ UP Diliman General Catalogue 2014]

Apart from registration advising, faculty members are also expected to give general advice on matters such   as dropping of course/s, Leave of Absence, pursuing exchange programs, change of matriculation, shifting, scholastic standing, scholarships, extra-curricular activities, etc.

12.2 THESIS AND DISSERTATION ADVISING AND CO-ADVISING

The undergraduate/graduate thesis or doctoral dissertation is a capstone   in the student’s career in the University. As such, faculty advisers are expected to act as mentors of their advisees and guide them towards completion of their theses/dissertations.

Mentoring is supporting and encouraging people to manage their own learning in order that they may maximize their potential, develop their skills, improve their performance and become the person they want to be. [Eric Parsloe, The Oxford School of Coaching and Mentoring, qtd. in Almoro and Concepcion, “Scientific Mentoring and Research Groups in UP Diliman, OVCRD Research Colloquium, 21 January 2013] Mentoring for theses and dissertations may involve giving advice and guidance in different stages of the student’s work, from choice of topics, to recommending panelists, and reminding mentees about considerations regarding field activities.

There are general guidelines followed in advising students in the undergraduate and graduate degree programs.          

The University sees itself as a non-discriminatory institution which takes affirmative action to allow democratic access to disadvantaged sectors. [ Sec. 9, UP Charter ] As an equal opportunity institution, it is envisioned as a “safe, nurturing, shared, connected and sustainable” space where its constituents can “grow, learn and thrive.” [Tan, M. L., “Revisiting Pride of Place and Boldness of Vision” Bridges: An UPdate Magazine Special Edition 3.2, Jl-Ag 2016: 6-7, 32-33]  The University thus recognizes the diverse character of its student population.     

Apart from scholastic excellence in the different disciplines, the University encourages excellence in other endeavors—in the visual and performing arts and in sports.

At the same time, in keeping with its role as an equal opportunity institution, it adheres to a policy of inclusion, making it imperative to address financially-challenged students and the needs of those with disabilities and other special needs, among others.

In the spirit of mutual respect, it espouses an environment sensitive to gender differences.    

Supporting the implementation of policies related to these concerns are the various offices--Varsity Sports Program (for athletes), the Office for Initiatives in Culture and the Arts (for performing groups), the Gender Office (for the promotion of gender rights), and the Office of Anti-Sexual Harassment (to promote a University environment free from sexual harassment and all forms of sexual intimidation and exploitation). The Office of Counseling and Guidance, and the University Health Service also provide services to students to ensure physical, psycho-social, and mental wellbeing.

12.4 FACULTY-STUDENT ENGAGEMENT

In other engagements with students, faculty members are reminded to maintain propriety, honesty, and fairness in their dealings with them. Working students should also be given some due consideration in their efforts to balance their work and studies.

Faculty members are barred from requesting and/or employing student participation in projects that they acquired through independent means as a professional in their field, as this may beccome a potential source of conflict of interest. [ Article 255 of the Revised University Code ]

No member of the faculty shall have dealings with any student involving money, property, or other valuable consideration, which might have an influence on the scholastic standing of such student in the University System. [ Article 255 of the Revised University Code ]

UPD makes provisions for student assistantships for those who need supplemental income to support their studies. Inquiries for undergraduate and graduate student assistantships may be made at the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs. However, academic units may also have their own provisions for such.

Student assistantships (e.g. clerical and messengerial work) are open to all students. Research projects and similar academic activities may also hire student assistants. However, priority is given to those with the required academic background and qualifications (e.g., BA Communication students for research projects in communication).

Graduate student assistantships are also available to graduate students who show satisfactory academic work.

The UP System also has the Student Assistant and Graduate Assistant (SAGA) Program, which provides undergraduate and postgraduate students the opportunity to work and earn on-campus while pursuing their studies in the University. Students from UPD may avail of this program.

Most student records are confidential. Personnel dealing with such records are bound to protect the privacy of paper and electronic records containing confidential student information. Faculty members, in particular, are advised to maintain the confidentiality of the record of grades of students, as well as marked examination papers and other student work. 

Generally, student records cannot be disclosed without the student’s consent; however, there may be exceptions to this prior consent. These include matters of legitimate educational interest, health and safety emergencies, and other reasons, such as compliance with legal/judicial procedures, evaluation of eligibility for financial assistance, etc.

As a rule, student records (as in all private records) are governed by the rules set in the Data Privacy Act of 2012. These are the Rights of the Data Subject (Students) concerning their records [Section 16, RA 10173, Data Privacy Act]:

The data subject (student) is entitled to:

The faculty is directed to the Code of Student Conduct for procedures in dealing with cases related to student conduct and discipline.

[Code of Student Conduct, 1298 th BOR meeting, 30 June 2014]

© 2017-2022 University of the Philippines Diliman

Harvard University COVID-19 updates

Department News

Jessica leff (neuro ‘24) wins dowling thesis prize for undergraduate neuroscience research.

• May 13, 2024

Neuroscience concentrator Jessica Leff received the John E. Dowling Thesis Prize. Named for MCB professor John Dowling , the prize honors excellence in neuroscience research and undergraduate thesis writing.

“I’m so honored to receive the Dowling Prize – I honestly was not expecting it at all!” Leff says. “I think my jaw actually dropped when I heard my name called at the Neuro Thesis Awards night. I would love to thank my PI Dr. Takao Hensch , my postdoctoral mentor Dr. Saad Hannan , and all the members of the Hensch and Fagiolini labs for helping me build my confidence in research. Finally, thank you so much to my friends and family for being there for me during the highs and lows of this thesis process. I couldn’t have done it without you all!” 

Leff’s thesis, titled “VIP: A Very Important Peptide in Regulating Adult Neuroplasticity,” identified a new role for a compound called vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) in the brain. She found that VIP regulates neuroplasticity by altering structures called “perineuronal nets” or PNNs. During critical periods, when neuroplasticity is wide open, there are few PNNs in the brain. But after the critical period ends, PNNs form around certain types of inhibitory neurons, closing down the brain’s plasticity. Leff found that stimulating VIP-producing neurons led to breakdown of the PNNs and increased neuroplasticity. The results connect VIP-producing neurons to the gamma (γ) oscillations in the brain associated with critical periods. 

Identifying the new role for VIP could shed light on neurological disorders. “Throughout my experience at Harvard, my interests in neuroscience have grown alongside my passion for mental health,” Leff says. “The subject of neuroplasticity is extremely relevant within this intersection, and my thesis allowed me to focus on the neurobiological aspects that might hopefully inform our understanding of psychiatric disorders down the line.”

“I was very happy for Jess as the project involved a substantial amount of work and she thoroughly deserves the prize,” says Leff’s postdoc mentor Saad Hannan of the Hensch Lab, whose research also focuses on inhibitory neurons. “Jess was able to show bidirectional modulation of perineuronal nets by VIP activity. She extended these studies by probing mechanisms involved in the process implicating key immune cells in the brain. This is new and has important implications for opening neuroplasticity in adulthood as well as in pathological states. The thesis is also rich in terms of the breadth of experimental approaches that were employed.” 

“For a newcomer to wet biology to make a major discovery that changes the way we think about how the brain works is remarkable,” says MCB faculty and Leff’s thesis adviser Takao Hensch . “Jess found a novel role for a circuit signaling mechanism that controls adult neuroplasticity, which has immediate implications for clinical application and understanding.”

Conducting these extensive experiments proved to be an enormous time commitment for Leff. “One of the biggest challenges was honestly the sheer amount of time I spent in the lab,” she says. “Most of my results were based on microscope images, which take time to acquire and to process. I often spent days in the lab in front of the microscope…But, in hindsight, I’m grateful for the time I invested into my research and am glad I was able to incorporate all those hours into a finished product I’m proud of!”

Faculty praised the thesis’s ambition and scope. “What impressed me about this thesis is its depth, breadth, and significance,” Dowling says. “It breaks new ground with regard to neuroplasticity, something critically important for understanding brain function and mechanisms. The thesis is beautifully written and very clear.”

Hensch is enthusiastic about Leff receiving the Dowling Prize. “Rewarding a job well done during this ‘critical period’ can have a lasting impact on a student’s career trajectory,” he says. “It did for me (as one of John’s students in Bio 25 years ago)!”

Congratulations to Jessica Leff! 

(l to r) Takao Hensch, Jess Leff, and John Dowling

Featured Topics

Featured series.

A series of random questions answered by Harvard experts.

Explore the Gazette

Read the latest.

Roger Ware Brockett, 84

Providing community support

A change of mind, heart, and soul

Julia Tellides.

Kris Snibbe/Harvard Staff Photographer

Tracing largely forgotten history of major community 

Julia Tellides explored shifts, upheavals of Thessaloniki between two wars 

Christy DeSmith 

Harvard Staff Writer

Part of the Commencement 2024 series

A collection of stories covering Harvard University’s 373rd Commencement.

Julia Tellides discovered the rich Jewish heritage of Thessaloniki two years ago on a  Harvard Summer School Study Abroad  program.

“It was the first time I heard about there being a large Jewish community anywhere in Greece,” said the graduating senior, a joint history and classics concentrator. “I thought, why have I never heard about this before? If anyone should know about this history, it’s me.” 

Tellides, who grew up in New Haven, Connecticut, with a Greek father and Jewish mother, went on to devote her senior thesis to the city’s politically active Jewish residents during a period of upheaval in the early 20th century. Once home to the largest Sephardic Jewish population in Europe, Thessaloniki (traditionally known as Salonica or Salonika) proved a gold mine of Jewish culture and resistance, with Tellides surfacing new insights on the community’s struggle for survival. 

“For an undergraduate to have gone into such depth, and with such originality, is remarkable,” said Tellides’ thesis adviser  Derek Penslar , the William Lee Frost Professor of Jewish History and director of Harvard’s  Center for Jewish Studies .

Greece’s second-largest city, situated 300 miles north of Athens on the Aegean Sea, once served as an economic and cultural crossroads. “It was one of the most important ports in the Ottoman Empire,” Tellides explained. It was also a melting pot where Jews, Muslims, and Christians coexisted in relative peace. 

That changed when the Greek government took control in the early 20th century, with Thessaloniki changing from “a multicultural, multireligious empire to a Christian nation-state,” said Tellides, whose second thesis adviser was  Paul J. Kosmin , the Philip J. King Professor of Ancient History.

According to a 1913 census, the Jewish population in Thessaloniki numbered  around 90,000 . Tellides’ scholarship focused on the community’s activism in the years between World Wars I and II, with Jewish residents organizing in opposition to rising antisemitism and discriminatory public policy. One example is a 1924 mandate for all businesses to remain closed on Sundays.

“Other historians have acknowledged the significance of the Sunday closing law — if Jews observed the Sabbath they effectively lost a day of work, which made it very hard to make a living,” Penslar noted. “Julia’s original contribution was depicting how the Jewish community reacted to the crisis, how they interceded with the Greek government, and even more interestingly how they interceded with international organizations in the spirit of the Minority Rights Treaties created after World War I.”

Tellides, a history lover from childhood, also examined a moment in the 1930s when the Greek government sought to take over the city’s vast Jewish cemetery, with more than 350,000 graves dating as far back as the Roman era. “They wanted to build a university campus on top of it,” she said.

With support from Harvard’s  Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies ,  Center for Jewish Studies , and  Department of the Classics , the Leverett House resident traveled to Thessaloniki last summer to conduct archival research and explore the city. But Tellides, who bolstered her Greek skills with coursework at Harvard, quickly found herself unable to decipher materials written in Ladino, a Romance language developed by Sephardic Jews expelled from Spain in the late 15th century. 

“Many of these spaces commemorate the community’s death rather than its life.”

“What I read instead was their correspondence with international Jewish organizations,” shared Tellides, who plans to teach English to kindergarteners in Athens following graduation. “They were desperately trying to overturn these laws through diplomatic channels, political pressure — anything they could possibly do.”

As Tellides walked the streets of Thessaloniki, she found little that celebrated the city’s Jewish heritage. All that exists are a couple of Holocaust memorials, two surviving synagogues, and a  small but impressive Jewish museum . 

“Many of these spaces commemorate the community’s death rather than its life,” she writes in her thesis before calling for more memorials to the lasting influence of Jewish residents. 

One thing the city has in abundance are vestiges of the ancient Jewish cemetery, which was in fact dismantled during the Holocaust. “They used the tombstones to rebuild after World War II,” Tellides said. “They’re built into landscaping walls and parks. One of the biggest churches has Hebrew inscriptions in its floor.”

That harrowing chapter wasn’t a focus for Tellides, but it was impossible to set aside entirely. Thousands of Jews had already left Thessaloniki by the 1940s. During Nazi occupation, about  96 percent  of the remaining population was deported and killed in concentration camps. 

“So much is gone. Not only in terms of the amount of people killed, but all their synagogues, communal centers, and neighborhoods — everything was confiscated or actively destroyed during World War II.”

“So much is gone,” Tellides said. “Not only in terms of the amount of people killed, but all their synagogues, communal centers, and neighborhoods — everything was confiscated or actively destroyed during World War II.”

For Tellides, the scale of loss made it all the more important to focus on the interwar period. “It’s really inspiring, but also difficult to understand how hard they were working to save their community,” she said.

“The thesis is a case study of the failure of the Minority Rights system of the interwar era,” Penslar observed. “Julia catalogs and analyzes Jewish activism and agency in Thessaloniki in ways that go well beyond existing scholarly literature on the subject.”

Share this article

You might like.

Memorial Minute — Faculty of Arts and Sciences

Harvard Allston Partnership Fund awards grants to 26 Allston-Brighton nonprofits

Choosing Harvard took LyLena Estabine down an uncertain path. The former student co-president has no regrets.

Epic science inside a cubic millimeter of brain

Researchers publish largest-ever dataset of neural connections

How far has COVID set back students?

An economist, a policy expert, and a teacher explain why learning losses are worse than many parents realize

Excited about new diet drug? This procedure seems better choice.

Study finds minimally invasive treatment more cost-effective over time, brings greater weight loss

Share Options

• Share to Facebook
• Share to Linkedin

The Road to Inclusive Crash Safety

Engineering Ph.D. Student Wins 2024 Grad Thesis SLAM

Neck injuries are a serious concern for all people involved in car crashes. Understanding how the human neck responds to impact may help us explain why some people are at increased risk.

Cori Espelien, a mechanical and aerospace engineering Ph.D. student, won the 2024 Grad Thesis SLAM on April 16 with her presentation on neck response during car crashes. Her research reveals the importance of considering muscle and sex differences in collisions, potentially leading to safer rides for females.

Espelien is spearheading a $1.2 million  Department of Transportation project under adviser and principal investigator Jason Forman, a research associate professor at the University of Virginia’s  Center for Applied Biomechanics . The project, currently in its third year, examines human neck responses in car accidents.

The Grad Thesis SLAM provides UVA doctoral students an opportunity to communicate their research in an engaging and understandable way for the general public. 

But the real challenge was cramming her research on the topic into just 180 seconds.

“My hands were shaking, and my heartrate was high at the start,” Espelien said. “But once I got the first sentence out, muscle memory from rehearsal carried the presentation through, regardless of how nervous I was!”

Mastering the Art

Communicating complex research topics in a matter of minutes is no easy task. In fact, Espelien said condensing her research was the most challenging step in the process.

“Distilling the scope of a dissertation to three minutes means entire sections of our work are not included at all,” she said. “So you have to pick the slivers that are most engaging.”

She also said that translating the jargon of niche fields into accessible language for the public was a “non-trivial” task.

“But it was a necessary exercise to communicate the core theme,” she said.

Espelien used a PowerPoint slide as a visual aid to accompany her presentation. 

The nine final contestants who competed in front of the audience in Alumni Hall were winnowed down from an original group of 18 competitors.

Initial Findings

Experimental data, which researchers use to model crash outcomes and improve safety standards, is lacking for females. Espelien’s work is geared towards closing this gap. 

The neck is full of muscles, so how stiff the neck is or how someone’s head moves in a crash can change based on muscle flexing.

Espelien used experimental testing databases that include volunteer responses and multibody computational models to explore flexed and relaxed muscle scenarios. She found that while female and male neck responses are similar when muscle flexing isn’t taken into consideration, adding this variable suggests there may be differences between male and female responses. 

Factoring in lower crash speeds also shows potential disparities in the data. By running experimental tests and computational simulations at multiple vehicle speeds, Espelien could determine how sensitive neck responses are. 

Though she has the data she needs for her thesis, Espelien still has further analysis and simulation work to complete. The results in her SLAM presentation represented a subset of her data — assessing the full picture of head and neck responses will take time. 

“With our current momentum, I believe there is a genuine and sustainable shift to increased safety for everyone,” Espelien said.

Celebrating Success

Biomedical engineering Ph.D. student Juliana Trujillo also advanced to the final stage of the Grad Thesis SLAM. 

Aleksandra Cwiek (cell biology) won second place and took the Audience Choice Award. Caroline Riedstra (microbiology, immunology and cancer biology) won third. 

The annual event is sponsored by  PhD Plus , a UVA-wide program that prepares doctoral students and postdoctoral scholars for future success, and the Office of Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs.

Prior to studying at UVA, Espelien received her B.S. in biomedical engineering from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.

She said she’s glad she competed. Being able to relate quick, clear information can make the difference in whether or not a research project finds support and gets funded. 

"Being able to share my research with general audiences is important to me because the public will always interface with engineering, and engineering will always interface with the public,” she said. “So it's important that there is a functional understanding between the two.”

Questions? Comments?

Office of communications.

The Office of Communications is charged with keeping all stakeholders well informed about the School's mission, vision, activities, progress and achievements.  Web Issue? SUBMIT A REQUEST

DOJ requests judge order Steve Bannon to begin prison sentence

An appeals court upheld Bannon's contempt of Congress conviction last week.

Federal prosecutors on Tuesday requested the judge overseeing ex-Donald Trump adviser Steve Bannon's criminal contempt of Congress case to order that he begin his four-month prison sentence, after an appeals court last week upheld his conviction .

Prosecutors said there is no legal basis for Judge Carl Nichols to continue the stay on Bannon serving his sentence after the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals' conclusive ruling that rejected the basis for Bannon's appeal on all grounds.

"Consequently, there is no longer a 'substantial question of law that is likely to result in a reversal or an order for a new trial,'" prosecutors wrote in their filing Tuesday.

MORE: Steve Bannon's contempt of Congress conviction upheld by appeals court

It's not immediately clear when Nichols will rule on the request.

"I'm shocked they want to silence the voice of MAGA," Bannon told ABC News in regards to Tuesday's news.

Bannon was sentenced to four months in prison for contempt in October 2022, but Nichols agreed to postpone the jail term while Bannon appealed the decision.

The three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals said in its opinion Friday, "We conclude that none of the information sought in the trial subpoenas was relevant to the elements of the contempt offense, nor to any affirmative defense Bannon was entitled to present at trial."

"The judgment of conviction and sentence [is] affirmed," the judges concluded.

Trending Reader Picks

Why electric vehicles can cause motion sickness

• May 14, 5:00 AM

Man who rammed truck into WH barrier pleads guilty

• May 13, 4:24 PM

ISIS groups could target pride month events: FBI

• May 13, 2:07 PM

Whistleblower who exposed war crimes jailed

• May 14, 2:15 AM

US skier Johnson banned over anti-doping rules

• May 14, 7:44 AM

ABC News Live

24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events