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PhD Program
Master's Programs
Subjects
Professional Education
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| ACADEMIC
INFORMATION
DOCTORAL
COMMITTEE
DISSERTATION
AND DEFENSE
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ACADEMIC
INFORMATION
What
is the residency requirement?
The ESD doctoral program is residential. It is based on the concept
that the student in large part learns by being a member of the
community of scholars and researchers. Beyond the minimum MIT
requirements of 4 academic semesters, the ESD faculty expect that
students will normally be at MIT during the entire doctoral program.
Students seeking exceptions, for field work or other reasons,
need to prepare a nonresident
petition for the Education
Committee Chair to review.
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What are the requirements for Doctoral Students
entering Summer 2008 or later?
The new doctoral program requirements,
for students entering the ESD doctoral program in Summer 2008 or
later, place formalized emphasis on depth in domain / context and
methodology, as well as mastery of fundamental and applied Engineering
Systems concepts. Students and their committees must construct a
doctoral program, using the Doctoral
Program Form (and, as appropriate, Addendum)
as their guide, which includes the following:
- Fundamental
Engineering Systems Thinking
- ESD.83 the ESD Doctoral Seminar
- ESD.86 Models, Data & Inference for Socio-Technical
Systems
- ESD.87 Social Science Concepts & Methods Subject
- Depth
in Domain / Context
- Three
advanced, doctoral-level subjects or equivalent in a domain
/ context
- Depth
in Methodology
- Three
advanced, doctoral-level subjects in an established methodology
- Applied
Engineering Systems Thinking
- One or
two subjects on applied ES thinking
- Electives
- Relevant
subjects that round out a substantial program of at least
150 graduate level units
Students should review the program form with
their ESD Faculty Mentor / Committee Chair prior to registering
for each semester. The approved Doctoral Program Form must be submitted
to ESD’s Academic Office, E40-367, a few weeks before the end of
your second regular term (normally about May 10). Subsequent changes
must be approved first by the student’s Committee Chair and then
by the Education
Committee Chair.
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What
are the requirements for Doctoral Students entering between Spring
2006 and Spring 2008?
In preparation for their General Exams all entering ESD doctoral
students need to:
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Take
the ESD Doctoral Seminar (ESD 83) in Fall. (Note:
this subject is open only to students who have a Master’s
degree or a year of graduate study at MIT. Students with only
an undergraduate background should take the subject in the
Fall of their second year.) |
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Take
the ESD Quantitative Methods Subject (ESD 86: Models,
Data, & Inference for Socio-Technical Systems) offered
in the Spring. |
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Take
a subject in Social Science Research Methods. Subjects
that fulfill this requirement will be discussed at a mandatory
introductory session during Orientation at the start of the
academic year. |
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Take
at least 1 of the specified subjects in 3 areas: “Systems
Theory”, “Systems Policy”, and “Systems
Evaluation” This is a distributional requirement
that ensures that all ESD doctoral students have a broad understanding
of the range of elements needed to design, direct and evaluate
Engineering Systems. It is also a way of showing students
how ESD faculty make connections between specific disciplinary
knowledge and skills, and the broader context in which systems
exist. To carry out the latter objective, the subjects specified
to meet this requirement are all given by ESD faculty, and
thus convey both substantive skills and an ESD approach. It
follows that these subjects cannot be substituted by subjects
taken elsewhere. In detail, the available subjects are: |
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Systems
Theory – to design or refine a system |
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Theory
of Systems Architecture (ESD 340 – Weigel) |
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Enterprise
Architecting (ESD 38 – Nightingale, Rhodes) |
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Advanced
System Architecture (ESD 342 – Magee, Moses, Whitney |
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Quantitative
Foundations of Engineering Systems (ESD 772 – Mitter,
Shah) |
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System
Dynamics for Business Policy (15 874 – Sterman, Repenning) |
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Systems
Policy – to influence or direct a system |
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Science,
Technology and Public Policy (ESD 103 – Oye) |
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Engineering
Apollo (ESD 30 – Mindell) |
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Integrating
Information Systems (ESD 565 – Madnick) |
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Integrating
the Lean Enterprise (ESD 61 – Nightingale) |
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System
Safety (ESD 863 – Leveson) |
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Systems
Evaluation – to evaluate / analyze / characterize a
system |
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Engineering
Systems Analysis for Design (ESD 71 – de Neufville) |
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Engineering
Risk-Benefit Analysis (ESD 72 – Apostolakis) |
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Engineering
Probability and Statistics (ESD 751 – Welsch, Barnett) |
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Multidisciplinary
System Design Optimization (ESD 77 – de Weck) |
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Have
testable competence in Basic Subjects relevant to ESD.
Most students will already have these skills but, if they
do not, they should acquire them: |
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Analytic
Economics, at the level of 15 011 |
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Optimization
(LP, MIP, DP) |
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Computer
Skills (Excel, Matlab, Simulation) |
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Probability
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Each
student will take a program of in-depth subjects suitable to their
area of research, in addition to the distributional requirements.
They will arrange their program with the advice and consent of
their research supervisor or mentor, as well as the approval of
their committee and the Education
Committee Chair. The remainder of their program, about 10
subjects, develops in-depth expertise in both a substantive area
and suitable research methodology.
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How
do I develop my doctoral curriculum?
Doctoral students are expected to work with their faculty mentors
to develop their program of in-depth course of study, and to assemble
their doctoral committee. By the end of their first year in the
doctoral program, each student should have submitted a solid draft
of their program as well as a list of their initial committee
members. For students entering during Summer 2008 or later, this
is accomplished by completing the program
form. The ESD Faculty will review each student's progress
and program at the end of the Fall and Spring Semesters to make
sure that each student is indeed progressing satisfactorily.
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Once
I have passed the Doctoral Exams, what is the next step?
The student needs to prepare and defend a doctoral research proposal
to his committee, typically around 6 months after passing the
Doctoral Exams. A signed copy of the research proposal should
be on-file in the Academic Office, E40-367.
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How
often should I meet with my committee?
At least once a semester. In practice most committees will meet
more frequently at the request of either the student or any committee
member.
Bear in mind
that at the end of each Fall and Spring semester the ESD faculty
will review each student's progress. Frequency and quality of
committee meetings, as reported by the student's committee chair,
often prove to be the most informative measure of student progress.
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Am
I allowed to take courses outside of ESD?
Yes. ESD students may take subjects anywhere within MIT and may
also cross-register, in their area of research, at Harvard University.
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DOCTORAL
COMMITTEE
Who
can Chair my Doctoral Committee?
The Committee Chair must be an ESD
faculty member.
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Who
should be on my Doctoral Committee?
Your committee should be composed of the experts who can best
guide and support the original research you are undertaking. The
division specifies that a minimum of 2 MIT faculty members serve
on your committee, including the committee chair who must be an
ESD faculty member. At least 3 of your committee members must
hold research-based doctoral degrees. You may have up to 5 members
depending on the academic support you need. Most committees are
made up of 3 members, including the chair.
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DISSERTATION
AND DEFENSE
Where
do I find the Application for Advanced Degree?
To graduate you must fill out the degree application found on
line at WebSIS. To avoid late fees, apply during the first week of any term
in which you may graduate. Removing yourself from the degree list can happen relatively late in the term
without fees. You also have
the flexibility to make changes to your dissertation title, without
a late fee, until about 6 weeks before the grades are due.
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When
should I defend?
You will want to give yourself 2 to 4 weeks after you defend to
make the recommended changes to your dissertation. With that in
mind, please schedule defenses with time to spare.
Defenses
should be scheduled as follows:
June
graduation – April to early May
September graduation – July to early August
February graduation – early December to mid-January
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Who
judges my Ph.D. dissertation defense?
You defend to the ESD Faculty. Normally about 8 to 10 faculty members attend. A defense chair will be present to act as the moderator of the
defense proceedings, and as the representative of the ESD Faculty. The defense chair is a tenured ESD faculty member
who is not serving on your committee and who does not have a conflict of interest. Contact the
academic office to find out who will be representing ESD at your defense.
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What
needs to be done to organize the defense?
Use the Doctoral Defense Worksheet to help organize your defense and graduation.
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Who
else attends the defense?
The ESD Community is invited to your dissertation defense. Normally
you may expect around 15 other doctoral candidates and guests
will attend.
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Should
anyone, other than my committee, see my dissertation in advance?
Yes. Two weeks prior to your defense post a copy of your dissertation to the ESD Faculty Wiki.
Other ESD Community memembers may contact the Academic Office
to request a copy of your draft for preview. Once your draft is posted, email the Academic Office to inform them and include a text-based version of your abstract.
This will prompt the Academic Office to announce your defense to the ESD Community.
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Should
my dissertation use a standard format?
Yes. Go to the MIT
Libraries web site for information.
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Should
I make extra copies of my dissertation?
Yes. Submit the following to ESD's Academic Office: two archival copies for the Institute/School libraries (plus the UMI form), one bound copy
for the ESD library (ordinary paper is OK), and an electronic version for the ESD web site.
If you started in TPP, please create a copy for their library
as well.
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September 2009
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