Thesis Planning¶
Plan your thesis from the beginning of your degree and review your progress regularly with your supervisor. This guide is intended for MItHRIL students in Queen's Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) MASc and PhD programs; other programs may have different requirements.
Use the MItHRIL Thesis Timeline Planner to turn these milestones into a schedule. The planner is a planning aid, not a substitute for official requirements: check the ECE current graduate student documentation and forms and confirm deadlines, requirements, and procedures with your supervisor and the department.
Using the planner¶
- Select your degree and whether you are before or after your proposal. Before your proposal, enter your program start term to see the full roadmap; after your proposal, enter your planned defence date to see the thesis countdown.
- Add proposal or defence dates, course choices, and an internship if applicable. Discuss the resulting milestones and any warnings with your supervisor.
- Share the plan, print it or save it as a PDF, or export the deadlines to your calendar. Revisit it as your research and dates change.
An internship can shift dates in the planner, but it does not automatically grant an extension to university deadlines. Confirm any leave or extension with your supervisor and the department.
Program roadmap¶
The planner uses a typical two-year MASc or four-year PhD roadmap. These are planning horizons, not guarantees of completion; requirements and individual circumstances can change the schedule.
| Stage | MASc | PhD |
|---|---|---|
| Start and first year | Agree on a research direction, begin the literature review and research, and plan coursework and seminars. Coursework is typically concentrated in the first year. | Do the same, and plan the comprehensive examinations with your supervisor. |
| Proposal and research | After the first two semesters, meet informally with your supervisor to check that you have a solid research plan. This is not a committee submission. Continue research throughout the program. | Plan Part I and Part II of the comprehensive examination. Part II is the thesis proposal; the lab plans this for the final term of year two. Continue research throughout the program. |
| Writing and completion | Develop and document your research, write the thesis, arrange the defence, and allow time for review and revisions. | Develop and document your research, write the dissertation, arrange the defence, and allow time for review and revisions. |
For PhD planning, the planner shows the Part I report within 10 months of starting and the Part II report within 22 months; each examination follows within two months of its report submission. The planner allows two months to write and revise the proposal and schedules its submission to the committee two months before the proposal meeting. Confirm the current examination policy, submission requirements, and dates with the department and your supervisor, especially if a report is submitted early.
Throughout your degree, keep a research log and organize your references, code, data, and results. Plan experiments and any required ethics approvals before collecting data, and discuss publication goals and progress with your supervisor. See Academic Responsibilities and Requirements, Meetings and Reports, and Academic Publishing.
Planning backward from the defence¶
The planner uses the following minimum lead times for thesis preparation. Allow extra time for supervisor feedback, committee scheduling, revisions, and any program-specific requirements.
| Milestone | MASc | PhD |
|---|---|---|
| First complete draft to supervisor | At least 2 months before the thesis goes to the committee | At least 3 months before the thesis goes to the committee |
| Thesis to examining committee | At least 1 month before the defence | At least 8 weeks before the defence |
| Defence and after | Prepare for the oral defence, complete required revisions and approvals, and submit the final thesis according to current university instructions. | Prepare for the oral defence, complete required revisions and approvals, and submit the final thesis according to current university instructions. |
Check the current ECE documentation for forms and procedures, and confirm thesis submission, examination, and convocation deadlines with your supervisor and the relevant university offices. Plan your exit documentation and handoff before leaving the lab.
