Off-Campus Research
Students Conducting Their Research at a Site Off-Campus
If a significant part of the student’s research is done off campus (e.g. at a hospital, Draper Lab, Lincoln Labs, etc.,), then both of the following conditions must be fulfilled:
- The student must have a MechE faculty co-advisor from day-1 with whom the student meets, at least once a term, to describe to him/her the research progress. A MechE faculty co-advisor is required even when a student (doing off-site research) has a MIT faculty co- advisor who is not a MechE faculty member. This involvement need not lead to the MechE faculty co-advisor being a co-author on any publication.
- The off-campus supervisor must submit to the MechE faculty co-advisor and the Graduate Office, a short description of the project and expectations of the student. The MechE faculty co-advisor needs to be comfortable with that plan before the student starts any off-campus research. Each year thereafter, the off-campus supervisor must submit a report to the on-campus advisor describing the progress to-date and the path ahead.
Additional MIT requirements are described at the website of the Office for Graduate Education (OGE).
Rules for Students Who Do Nonresidential Doctoral Thesis Work Off-Campus
All such students are required to have a MechE faculty member as either thesis supervisor or co-supervisor, and must have completed all requirements other than the thesis. (This includes having passed the doctoral qualifying examination, having submitted a thesis-committee-approved thesis proposal, and having the student’s major and minor programs of study approved by the student’s doctoral committee and the Graduate Officer.) Prior to embarking on work away from campus, a student must submit to the Graduate Officer a plan for finishing the degree, including thesis topic, timetable of academic courses at MIT, timetable of planned non-residential periods, and names and coordinates of off- campus supervisors. Both the thesis advisor and the Graduate Officer must approve the plan by signature. Students with off-campus co-supervisors (SM as well as PhD candidates) must arrange joint meetings with both their on- and off-campus supervisors at least once every regular term during this period of non-residency.
Additional MIT requirements are described at the website of the Office for Graduate Education (OGE).
