The oral component of your thesis proposal is your opportunity to present your research plan to your committee, receive their feedback on your ideas, and consult their expertise to improve your overall vision. You should seek to present your plan in a clear, concise way such that your committee understands your proposal thoroughly and you can make the most of their knowledge. While they should have read your written proposal, you cannot assume that they understood everything.
Be mindful that the presentation is not just a reformulation of your written document and it will take you a significant amount of time to convey your plan in a different medium. Indeed, it is a common misconception that preparing the presentation will be quick and easy. For example, content that may have been explained extensively in the written proposal may be better condensed to a figure. Logistically, you have an extra 3 weeks to prepare your oral presentation after you submit the written document. While the overall concept will be the same, with so much extra time to think, it is typical for the specific content in your proposal to change – maybe you learn about a new technique to apply to your research or recognize a flaw in your original plan.
In this article, we hope to provide some tools and tips for best preparing the oral presentation and what to expect on the day of your thesis proposal.
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Understand your audience
Know your committee’s behaviors. Similar to your written document, you have the advantage of tailoring your presentation to a group of people whose expertise and style you either know already or can learn well in advance. Specific to your thesis proposal, your committee members will each have different ways of receiving information. For example, some people will better understand processes and science through detailed graphics while others better understand by seeing the math. In addition, consider whether or not they have seen this information before; if an older student in your group has this person on their committee, chances are they are already familiar with the research area and you can be more concise in your introduction. You will also want to get a sense of what questions your committee members are notorious for asking.
Out-of-department committee members may have different expectations. The thesis proposal process varies from department to department. For some, the thesis proposal is treated as an exam while for others, it is meant to serve only as a committee meeting. Research their home department’s thesis proposal and consider reaching out to students in their lab or in that department to getter a better idea for what their thesis proposal process is like.
Structuring your presentation
Planning and execution. The entire thesis committee meeting will be an hour and a half. You should plan for approximately 45 minutes of discussion, questions, and deliberation of your thesis committee, leaving about 45 minutes for your presentation. Ensure that you allow time for questions so that you are not forced to rush through important parts of the proposal.
- Background: Only provide the background information that is absolutely necessary to motivate your project – you want to reserve as much time as possible for your research plan. After all, that is what the committee is there for – to provide feedback on this plan.
- Research plan: Your research plan should be consistent with your written proposal, pending any potential new developments. We recommend starting with your specific aims and using these as a roadmap to cover the details of your research plan. Design a graphic around your project’s overall goals to serve as an outline that you can continue to reference throughout your presentation.
- Safety: This is important to discuss and is a requirement for the thesis proposal, regardless of your research area. Safety both in the lab and in the office are paramount for our overall success. Your committee will care about this section and you should give it ample thought.
Timing. Your presentation should be ~35-45 minutes long without questions, however questions can easily derail time. Keep track of time and make sure you have a plan if you are running over.
Slide design. Keep your slides uncluttered, ensuring information is clear and easy to interpret. Check out other CommKit articles on designing effective slides.
References. These should be included throughout your presentation in the footer of relevant slides. Use these where you are including figures or information from literature. Always include slide numbers so the audience can reference them when they have questions or comments. In addition, you may also consider using a graphic to illustrate the current section of the presentation (see examples).
Addressing committee questions
How to prepare. Your committee will ask you questions throughout your presentation, and you should expect to be interrupted. This will go beyond asking for clarification – they will challenge you on your ideas and be sure you have thought about the problem from multiple angles. Have backup slides ready and anticipate what questions you may get from your committee and have slides ready to answer these questions. Maybe it does not help your story to include certain data sets, but you should have them ready in case your committee is not convinced. Practicing will help you get an idea of what questions a representative audience will have and therefore what questions your committee members might ask.
How to respond. Remember, it is ok to:
- Repeat questions to ensure understanding,
- Say “I’ll address that question in a couple slides,”
- Take time to reason out an answer (out loud),
- Say “I don’t know the answer to that, but I will follow up” (they may still push you to suggest an answer).
However, try to avoid making something up, reading too deeply into the question, or saying “I’m doing it this way because that’s what my advisor said.”
Sample committee questions – technical
- Referring to the microbial conversion of glucose to acetate: “What is the exact stoichiometry of that conversion?”
- “How does your problem scale: How much does your model accuracy increase for each computational hour you spend on the overall problem?”
- Pertaining to safety: “How do you know the GC’s in your lab are configured properly?”
- A classic among committee members: “Is there an alternative hypothesis that fits those data?”
Sample committee questions – high level
- “How feasible is this project from an engineering perspective?”
- “What do you anticipate being the hardest/least likely to succeed part of this proposal?”
- “What if the proposed experiments do not lead to expected results? Is there still anything to be learned?”
Practice, practice, practice
Most people practice their presentation at least once in front of their group. This is great as your group is likely the most intimately engaged with your research and can offer critical scientific feedback. However, your group may not represent the more general audience that makes up your thesis committee. Whereas your group may easily understand jargon and specific concepts, these may be confusing to your committee. Therefore, you should also practice at least once in front of a more general audience such close friends (inside or outside the department) and Comm Lab Coaches. If possible, it helps to practice your presentation in the same room you will be using for your meeting.
Day of the presentation
Preparing for the meeting. Send reminder emails to your committee about the meeting, both in advance and the morning of the presentation. While not required, it is common and courteous to provide coffee and/or snacks for the meeting – we all enjoy a meeting with snacks and this is one way to show your appreciation for your committee members’ advice and feedback. If you need projectors and laser pointers, they can be borrowed from ChemE headquarters.
Day of the meeting. Remember to dress professionally – you want to look your best and show you are serious about your work. Try to arrive to the room and set up ~30 minutes early to make sure everything is working and you are comfortable in the space. Have some way of writing down question/comments so you can refer back to them later. Finally, you will be talking a lot, so bring water for yourself.
Meeting structure. The meeting will typically be an hour and a half. At the beginning, the committee will ask you to leave the room for ~15 minutes while they discuss your written proposal. After this, you will return to the room and give your presentation. Finally, after you have given your presentation and answered any questions, you will leave the room again while the committee discusses your presentation and decides your grade.
After your thesis proposal
After your proposal, follow up with your committee members individually. Thank them for their time and for any insight they provided to your project. Also take the time to follow up on any unanswered questions or resources discussed during your presentation. Second, do not forget to fill out your thesis proposal form on the ChemE website (http://cheme-forms.mit.edu). The information on this form will be approved by your committee and sent to the student office for confirmation that you completed your thesis proposal.