Ph.D. Program Guidebook - The University of Chicago Booth School ...

Ph.D. Program Guidebook 2007-2008
supplement the formal course work and provide depth to the student’s understanding of his
or her dissertation area. Moreover, they provide an opportunity for the student to gain
experience in critiquing and presenting material before an interested and critical group.
CURRICULUM PAPER
Each student must write an original research paper and present it at a workshop during his or
her third year in the Program. The paper must be completed by the end of the autumn quarter
of the student’s third year in the Program. The paper must be approved by two GSB faculty
members, generally from the student’s dissertation area. (A student may request permission
from the area advisor to have one faculty member from outside the student’s dissertation
area; the other faculty member must be from the student’s dissertation area). If the paper is
approved, the student must present it in a faculty workshop by the end of the spring quarter
of the student’s third year in the program. Ideally, the curriculum paper is a preliminary work
which will eventually become a student’s dissertation. The specific procedures of the
Curriculum Paper are as follows. Some dissertation areas have additional requirements;
consult the relevant dissertation area requirements and the section of this guidebook on
co-authorship (Chapter 5).
(1) Prior to the end of the last day of the spring quarter of the student’s second year in
the Program, a student must submit a copy of the “Curriculum Paper Topic Approval
Form” to the Ph.D. Office, signed by two GSB faculty members who approve the
topic and agree to serve as readers of the curriculum paper. If, at any point, the
student changes the topic, he/she must get faculty approval for the new topic and
submit a new form to the Ph.D. Office.
(2) Prior to the beginning of the autumn quarter, the student must submit an outline of
the curriculum paper and a signed copy of the “Curriculum Paper Outline Approval
Form” to the Ph.D. Office. Autumn quarter stipend checks will be withheld until
the signed copy of the “Curriculum Paper Outline Approval Form” has been
submitted to the Ph.D. Office.
(3) Prior to the end of the last day of the autumn quarter of the third year, the student
must submit a copy of the completed curriculum paper to the Ph.D. Office and to the
two faculty readers.
(4) Prior to the end of the first week of the winter quarter of the third year, the two
faculty readers must read the curriculum paper and affirm that it is satisfactory. The
student must submit a signed copy of the “Curriculum Paper Evaluation Form.”
Winter quarter stipend checks will be withheld until the signed copy of the
“Curriculum Paper Evaluation Form” has been submitted to the Ph.D. Office.
(5) Students are required to present the curriculum paper in a Curriculum Paper
Workshop, preferably the workshop of the student’s dissertation area, held during
the winter or spring quarter. Both faculty readers must be present and sign the
“Curriculum Paper Presentation Form” stating that the presentation was acceptable.
Failure to complete the Curriculum Paper requirement, as outlined above, will mean that the
student is not making satisfactory academic progress in the Ph.D. Program.
CANDIDACY REQUIREMENTS
Certification of candidacy indicates that a student has reached the advanced stage of the
Ph.D. Program, permitting him/her to devote full-time to writing a dissertation. It is a
University of Chicago requirement that eight months must elapse between admission to
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