The thesis is a major, original work that makes a significant contribution in its field. It is the principal component of the doctoral program, and the part that serves as the major indicator of a candidate’s abilities.

The thesis is supervised by a faculty advisor and monitored by a doctoral thesis committee, which must include at least three MIT faculty members (including their advisor) with no conflicts of interest (e.g. members of the same family), and at least two of the three MIT faculty members must be MechE faculty.¹ The doctoral committee is usually chaired by the thesis advisor, unless the advisor is not a member of the MechE faculty, in which case a MechE faculty member must chair the committee. At least one of the committee members must be from outside the extended research group with which the candidate is associated. The candidate may also invite qualified people from outside the MIT faculty to serve as additional members of the committee. WHOI students must have at least one committee member from MechE and one from the WHOI AOPE department; the committee chair can be either from MechE or AOPE.

Work already accomplished elsewhere, not under the supervision of a member of the MIT faculty, cannot be accepted in full or partial fulfillment of the thesis requirement.

¹Senior or Principal Research Scientists and Engineers who hold an appointment in the Mechanical Engineering Department may supervise PhD students.