mit theses and dissertation

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Geology of the Snake Mountain Region 

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View all past theses and dissertations on DSpace@MIT .

Theses and Dissertations in HTC

Thesis and Dissertations in HTC

https://architecture.mit.edu/history-theory-criticism

Curriculum and Thesis

In their first and second years, PhD students are required to complete a series of core classes, coursework in their major and minor fields of study, and an advanced research methods course before proceeding to the thesis-writing stage.

Core courses

Students must satisfy the requirements in at least 10 of 12 half-semester first-year core courses (14.384 and 14.385 are considered second-year courses). The requirements can be met by earning a grade of B or better in the class or by passing a waiver exam.

Waiver exams are offered at the start of the semester in which the course is offered and graded on a pass-fail basis. Students who receive a grade of B- or below in a class can consult the course faculty to determine whether to take the waiver exam or re-take the course the following year. These requirements must all be satisfied before the end of the second year.

Course list

• 14.121: Microeconomic Theory I
• 14.122: Microeconomic Theory II
• 14.123: Microeconomic Theory III
• 14.124: Microeconomic Theory IV
• 14.380: Statistical Methods in Economics
• 14.381: Estimation and Inference for Linear Causal and Structural Models
• 14.382*: Econometrics
• 14.384*: Time Series Analysis (2nd year course)
• 14.385*: Nonlinear Econometric Analysis (2nd year course)
• 14.451: Dynamic Optimization Methods with Applications
• 14.452: Economic Growth
• 14.453: Economic Fluctuations
• 14.454: Economic Crises

*Courses 14.382, 14.384, and 14.385 are each counted as two half-semester courses.

Most students will also take one or more field courses (depending on whether they are waiving core courses) during their first year. Feel free to ask your graduate research officer, field faculty, and advanced students for advice on how you structure your first-year coursework.

Second year students must also successfully complete the two-semester course 14.192: Advanced Research Methods and Communication. The course, which is graded on a pass-fail basis, guides students through the process of writing and presenting the required second-year research paper.

Major field requirement

By the end of year two, PhD students must complete the requirements for two major fields in economics. This entails earning a B or better in two designated courses for each field. Some fields recommend additional coursework or papers for students intending to pursue research in the field.

Major fields must be declared by the Monday following the spring break of your second year. Your graduate registration officer must approve your field selections.

Minor field requirement

PhD students are also required to complete two minor fields, taking two courses in each field and earning a grade of B or better. Your graduate registration officer must approve your field selections.

Minor coursework is normally completed by the end of year two, but in some cases students can defer the completion of one field until after general exams. Students must consult with their graduate registration officer before making a deferment.

Options for minor fields include the eleven economics major fields, plus computation and statistics (from the interdisciplinary PhD in Economics and Statistics).

Students who wish to satisfy one of the minor field requirements by combining two courses from different fields–for example, environmental economics and industrial organization II–can petition the second-year graduate registration officer for permission.

At least one minor field should be from the department’s standard field list.

The fields in which the Department offers specialization and the subjects that will satisfy their designation as a minor field are given in the chart below. Some fields overlap so substantially that both cannot be taken by a student. In any event, the same subject cannot be counted towards more than a single minor field. Students must receive the approval of their Graduate Registration Officer for their designated major and minor fields.

List of fields

Behavioral economics.

• Development
• Econometrics
• Industrial organization
• International
• Macroeconomics
• Organizational
• Political economy
• Public finance
• Computation and statistics (minor only)

Subjects satisfying major and minor requirements

Advanced economic theory.

Major: At least two of 14.125, 14.126, 14.281, and Harvard Ec 2059. Recommended for major: 14.126, 14.281, and at least one of 14.125, 14.127, 14.130, 14.147, and Harvard Ec 2059.

Minor: Any subset adding up to two full semesters from 14.125, 14.126, 14.127, 14.130, 14.137, 14.147, 14.160, 14.281 and Harvard Ec 2059. 

*Effective academic year 2025-26, students may also complete a minor in economic theory by completing all four micro core courses 121-124 plus one of 125, 126, 281

Major and minor: 14.160 and 14.163

Econometrics and Statistics

Major: Any one of 14.386, 14.387, 14.388 in addition to one of 14.384 or 14.385. Recommended for major: 14.384 and 14.385. 

Minor: 14.382 in addition to one of 14.384 or 14.385. 

*Dual PhD in Economics and Statistics has an additional requirement of 14.386.

Economic Development

Major and minor: 14.771 and 14.772 or 14.773

Major: 14.416J and 14.441J

Minor: Any two of 14.416J, 14.440J, 14.441J, 14.442J, 14.448. 

Industrial Organization

Major: 14.271 and 14.272 or 14.273. Recommended for major: 14.271, 14.272, and 14.273.

Minor: 14.271 and 14.272 or 14.273. 

International Economics

Major and minor: 14.581 and 14.582

Labor Economics

Major: 14.661 and 14.662A. 

Minor: Two subjects chosen from 14.193, 14.661, and 14.662

Monetary Economics

Major and minor: Two subjects chosen from 14.461, 14.462, and 14.463

* Effective academic year 2025-26, students may also complete a minor in macroeconomics by completing all four macro core courses 451-454 plus either 461 or 462

Organizational Economics

Major and minor: 14.282 and one of 14.283-284, 14.441J, or an approved substitute

Political Economy

Major and minor: 14.770 and 14.773

Public Economics

Major and minor: 14.471 and 14.472

Minimum class requirement

Effective for students entering the program in 2025 or later, students must complete a total of 13 semester long classes plus 14.192 during their time in the PhD program. Subjects that are waived will not count towards this requirement.  Classes counting towards this requirement include classes in Course 14, classes that count for any major or minor field or interdisciplinary program requirement, and classes approved by the 2nd-year GRO.

General exams

MIT requires doctoral candidates to complete an advanced course of study that includes general exams at its completion. Beginning in 2019-20, the Economics Department will operationalize this requirement to include successful completion of: the core and other required courses; course exams and other requirements of courses in each of a student’s two major and two minor fields; the written research paper and oral presentation components of 14.192. Students may present for the general exams while having one remaining minor field to complete. The faculty will review these components together with the candidate’s overall course record to determine whether students have passed the general exam requirement and can proceed to the thesis writing stage.

Typical course schedule

Math Camp begins on the second Monday in August.

Fall Semester

14.121/14.122 (Micro Theory I/II) 14.451/14.452 (Macro Theory I/II) 14.380/14.381 (Statistical Method in Economics & Applied Econometrics) Field Course (major or minor)

Spring Semester

14.123/14.124 (Micro Theory III/IV) 14.453/14.454 (Macro Theory III/IV) 14.382 (Econometrics) Field Course (major or minor)

2-3 Field Courses 14.192 (Advanced Research and Communication) 14.384  or  14.385 (Advanced Econometrics)

3 Field Courses 14.192 (Advanced Research and Communication)

Years 3 and up

Field workshop Field lunch Thesis writing

Upon satisfying the core and field requirements, PhD candidates embark on original research culminating in a completed dissertation. A PhD thesis normally consists of three research papers of publishable quality. The thesis must be approved by a student’s primary and secondary thesis advisors, and by an anonymous third reader. These three faculty members will be the candidate's thesis committee and are responsible for its acceptance. Collaborative work is acceptable and encouraged, but there must be at least one paper in the dissertation without a co-author who was a faculty member when the research started.

Criteria for satisfactory progress

Third-year students.

• Meet regularly with their advisor
• Participate consistently in their primary field advising lunch, their primary field workshop, and the third-year student research lunch
• Participate in third-year meetings organized by the thesis graduate research officer

Students should present on their research in progress at least once in both the third-year student research lunches and their field advising lunch. Presentations provide opportunities for early and broad feedback on research ideas and the chance to develop oral presentation skills. Research ideas or early stage work in progress is encouraged and expected.

Fourth-year and later students

• Participate consistently in their primary field advising lunch and their primary field workshop
• Present at least once per year in their field advising lunch or field workshop. A presentation each semester in the field advising lunch is strongly recommended by most fields; consult your advisors for more information

Satisfactory progress toward a dissertation will be evaluated based on progress assessments by the student’s primary advisor, regular participation in the lunches and workshops, and field lunch or workshop presentations that show continued progress.

MIT Thesis FAQ: Thesis Checklist

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If these apply to you and your research, plan to do these early in your research and writing process!

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Thesis content and article publishing

Journal publishers usually acquire the copyright to scholarly articles through a publication agreement with the author. Their policies then determine what authors can do with their work.

Below are publisher policies regarding graduate students’ reuse of their previously published articles in their theses, and policies on accepting journal submissions that first appeared in an author’s previously released thesis.

If an article is co-authored with a member of the MIT faculty, or if you have opted-in to an OA license , the MIT open access policy  is likely to apply to the article, which allows for the extension of additional rights to graduate student authors through MIT for reuse.  Short excerpts of published works may also be available for reuse under the MIT Libraries license agreements .

See this page for information about who owns the copyright to your thesis (generally, it’s either MIT or you).

Please contact Ask Scholarly Communications with questions or if you need information that does not yet appear below.

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Reuse of author’s previously published article in author’s thesis

Check the terms of your publication agreement .

Submission of new article by author that first appeared as part of author’s thesis

Allows :  “ We do not regard dissertations/theses as prior publications.”

American Chemical Society

Allows : “Authors may reuse all or part of the Submitted, Accepted or Published Work in a thesis or dissertation that the author writes and is required to submit to satisfy the criteria of degree-granting institutions…. Appropriate citation of the Published Work must be made as follows “Reprinted with permission from [COMPLETE REFERENCE CITATION]. Copyright [YEAR] American Chemical Society.”

“If the thesis or dissertation to be published is in electronic format, a direct link to the Published Work must be included using the  ACS Articles on Request link.”

See also this FAQ for thesis info.

Each ACS journal has a specific policy on prior publication that is determined by the respective ACS Editor-in-Chief. Authors should consult these policies and/or contact the appropriate journal editorial office to ensure they understand the policy before submitting material for consideration.

American Geophysical Union

Allows : “If you wish to reuse your own article (or an amended version of it) in a new publication of which you are the author, editor or co-editor, prior permission is not required (with the usual acknowledgements). However, a formal grant of license can be downloaded free of charge from RightsLink by selecting “Author of this Wiley article” as your requestor type.”

Allows : “Previously published explicitly does not include oral or poster presentations, meeting abstracts or student theses/dissertations.”

American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics

Allows : “ Upon publication of an article or paper in an AIAA journal or conference proceeding, authors can use in their own theses/dissertations (with permission of AIAA if required by copyright).”

From here : “In most cases when AIAA is the copyright holder of a work, authors will be automatically granted permission by AIAA to reprint their own material in subsequent works, to include figures, tables, and verbatim portions of text, upon request. Explicit permission should be sought from AIAA through Copyright Clearance Center (CCC) ; all reprinted material must be acknowledged and the original source cited in full.” 

American Institute of Physics

Allows : “A uthors do not need permission from AIP Publishing to reuse your own AIP Publishing article in your thesis or dissertation (please format your credit line: “Reproduced from [FULL CITATION], with the permission of AIP Publishing”)” Author agreement says the version of record can be used . 

Allows : Publishing the work in a thesis is not considered prior publication according to author warranties in the publication agreement.

American Meteorological Society

AMS seems to require permission. Email [email protected] . It can take 10 days to hear back. They will then ask that you include the complete bibliographic citation of the original source, as well as the following statement with that citation for each: © American Meteorological Society. Used with permission.

American Physical Society

Allows , “ provided the bibliographic citation and the APS copyright credit line are given on the appropriate pages.”

Allows Language from Physical Review journals page: “Publication of material in a master’s or doctoral thesis does not preclude publication of that material in the Physical Review journals.”

American Society for Clinical Investigation

After Jan 4, 2022 : “Effective with the January 4, 2022 issue of JCI, authors retain copyright on all articles, which are published with a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0).”

Prior to Jan 4, 2022 : “ Permission can be obtained via Copyright Clearance Center . Copyright or license information is noted on each article.”

Likely allows : D oesn’t explicitly call out theses but says posting on preprints isn’t prior publication. 

Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)

Allows : “Authors can include partial or complete papers of their own (and no fee is expected) in a dissertation as long as citations and DOI pointers to the Versions of Record in the ACM Digital Library are included. Authors can use any portion of their own work in presentations and in the classroom (and no fee is expected).”

Likely allows . Prior publication rules apply to “peer reviewed” publications.  

Cambridge University Press

Allows : “Permissions requests are waived if t he author of the work wishes to reproduce a single chapter (not exceeding 20 per cent of their work), journal article or shorter extract in a subsequent work (i.e. with a later publication date) of which he or she is to be the author, co-author or editor.”

Policies set by individual journals.

Allows : “ ​​ Use and share their works for scholarly purposes (with full acknowledgement of the original article): Include in a thesis or dissertation (provided this is not published commercially).”

Allows : “ Elsevier does not count publication of an academic thesis as prior publication.”

Emerald Publishing

Allows . Authors should use the submitted version or accepted manuscript version.  Use of the final published version is permitted in print, but not electronic versions of theses.

Allows : “We are happy for submissions to Emerald to include work that has previously formed part of your PhD or other academic thesis. Please submit your paper in the usual way but declare the existence of the uploaded thesis to the Editor of the journal. If the Editor wished to consider the paper further, the paper would go through our standard anonymised peer-review process.”

Allows , with some requirements

Theses not specifically addressed , but permitted subject to editorial discretion. Individual journals may have their own policies.

Institute of Physics

Allows. A uthor may use the final published version or figures/text, and should include citation and a link to the version of record. “When you transfer the copyright in your article to IOP, we grant back to you certain rights, including the right to include all or part of the Final Published Version of the article within any thesis or dissertation.”

Inter-Research Science Center

Reuse of published content is “generally free of charge,” but you must get permission. Email: [email protected]

Not addressed , except to say, “ Permission to re-use any previously published material must have been obtained by the authors from the copyright holders.”

International Speech Communication Association (ISCA) INTERSPEECH conference

Allows , with citation. “ISCA grants each author permission to use the article in that author’s dissertation….”

Mathematical Sciences Publishers

Allows , with citation. “The Author may use part or all of this Work or its image in any future works of his/her/their own.”

Unclear, but the author agreement says , “The Author warrants that the Work has not been published before, in any form except as a preprint.” We suggest asking your editor.

National Academy of Sciences

Allows , with citation. “ PNAS authors do not need to obtain permission in the following cases: …to include their articles as part of their dissertations.”

Not addressed . “ What constitutes prior publication…will be determined on a case-by-case basis.

Allows , with citation. “ Authors have the right to reuse their article’s Version of Record, in whole or in part, in their own thesis.”

Allows . “ Nature Portfolio will consider submissions containing material that has previously formed part of a PhD or other academic thesis which has been published according to the requirements of the institution awarding the qualification.”

Oxford University Press

Journals have their own policies . OUP uses the Copyright Clearance Center for permissions . Contact your editor.

Royal Society of Chemistry

Allows , but says, “ Excerpts or material from your dissertation that have not been through peer review will generally be eligible for publication. However, if the excerpt from the dissertation included in your manuscript is the same or substantially the same as any previously published work, the editor may determine that it is not suitable for publication in the journal.”

Allows — in addition, a special agreement with Springer for MIT authors allows for reuse for scholarly and educational purposes.

Policy varies by journal but according to Springer: “There are no overriding ethical issues as long as the dual publication is transparent and cross referenced. Transparency is key, though a few journals might reject such an article for the reason of non-originality.”

Taylor & Francis

Allows — authors retain the right to “Include your article Author’s Original Manuscript (AOM) or Accepted Manuscript(AM), depending on the embargo period, in your thesis or dissertation. The Version of Record cannot be used.”

Allows : “ Y ou may share any version of your article with individual colleagues and students… as submission of thesis, or doctorate.”

Allows : “ The following types of “prior publication” do not present cause for concerns about duplicate or redundant publication: Dissertations and theses in university archives.”

Page last updated: April 10, 2024

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Theses and Dissertations

DISSERTATIONS  

• ​Leah Stokes - 2015
• Abstract | PDF
• ​Todd Schenk - Forthcoming
• ​Danya Lee Rumore  - Forthcoming
• ​Bruno Verdini Trejo  - 2015
• Kelly Heber Dunning - Forthcoming
• Kathleen Araujo - 2013
• Madhu Chhanda Dutta-Koehler - 2013
• Tijs van Maasakkers - 2013
• Catherine Ashcraft - 2011
• Isabelle Anguelovski - 2011
• Nancy Odeh - 2008
• Christina Rosan - 2007
• Gregg Macey - 2007
• Dong-Young Kim - 2006
• Masahiro Matsuura - 2006
• Katherine Blizzard - 2015
• Julie Curti - 2015
• Allegra Fonda-Bonardi - 2015
• Lisa Young - 2015
• Abstract | PDF 
• Ryan Cook - 2014
• Toral Patel - 2014
• Casey Stein - 2014
• Nicholas Marantz - 2014
• ​Sara Lynn Hess - 2014
• Carri Hulet - 2013
• Erica Simmons - 2013
• Tushar Kansal - 2013
• Abstract  |  PDF
• Jessica Agatstein - 2013
• Melissa Higbee - 2013
• Aditya Nochur - 2013
• Wesley Look - 2013
• Michael Tuori - 2012
• Jenna Kay - 2012
• Amanda Martin - 2011
• Deborah Lightman - 2011
• Linda Ciesielski - 2011
• Stephanie Stern - 2011
• Stephen Lloyd - 2011
• Tyler Corson-Rikert - 2011
• Vanessa Ng - 2011
• Leanne Farrell - 2010
• Kim Foltz - 2010
• Sarah Hammitt - 2010
• Christopher Horne - 2010
• Bjorn Jensen - 2010
• Evan Paul - 2010
• Allison Lassiter - 2009
• Anna Bromberg - 2009
• Jennifer Edwards - 2009
• Mattijs van Maasakkers - 2009
• Nathan Lemphers - 2009
• Nishanthi Amerasinghe - 2009
• Haley Peckett - 2009
• Rachel Henschel - 2009
• Todd Schenk - 2009
• Marisa Arpels - 2008
• Michael Hogan - 2008
• Kara Reeve - 2008
• Ronilda Co - 2008
• Siobhan Watson - 2008
• Katherine Wallace - 2007
• Sharlene Leurig - 2007
• Alexis Schulman - August 2007
• Abstract - PDF
• Anna Brown - 2006
• Boyd Fuller - February 2006
• Lindsay Campbell - 2006
• Marina Psaros - 2006
• Basilia Wang Yao - 2006
• Lori Riberio - 2006

• DSpace@MIT Home
• MIT Libraries

This collection of MIT Theses in DSpace contains selected theses and dissertations from all MIT departments. Please note that this is NOT a complete collection of MIT theses. To search all MIT theses, use MIT Libraries' catalog .

MIT's DSpace contains more than 58,000 theses completed at MIT dating as far back as the mid 1800's. Theses in this collection have been scanned by the MIT Libraries or submitted in electronic format by thesis authors. Since 2004 all new Masters and Ph.D. theses are scanned and added to this collection after degrees are awarded.

MIT Theses are openly available to all readers. Please share how this access affects or benefits you. Your story matters.

If you have questions about MIT theses in DSpace, [email protected] . See also Access & Availability Questions or About MIT Theses in DSpace .

If you are a recent MIT graduate, your thesis will be added to DSpace within 3-6 months after your graduation date. Please email [email protected] with any questions.

Permissions

MIT Theses may be protected by copyright. Please refer to the MIT Libraries Permissions Policy for permission information. Note that the copyright holder for most MIT theses is identified on the title page of the thesis.

Theses by Department

• Comparative Media Studies
• Computation for Design and Optimization
• Computational and Systems Biology
• Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics
• Department of Architecture
• Department of Biological Engineering
• Department of Biology
• Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences
• Department of Chemical Engineering
• Department of Chemistry
• Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
• Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
• Department of Economics
• Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences
• Department of Humanities
• Department of Linguistics and Philosophy
• Department of Materials Science and Engineering
• Department of Mathematics
• Department of Mechanical Engineering
• Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering
• Department of Ocean Engineering
• Department of Physics
• Department of Political Science
• Department of Urban Studies and Planning
• Engineering Systems Division
• Harvard-MIT Program of Health Sciences and Technology
• Institute for Data, Systems, and Society
• Media Arts & Sciences
• Operations Research Center
• Program in Real Estate Development
• Program in Writing and Humanistic Studies
• Science, Technology & Society
• Science Writing
• Sloan School of Management
• Supply Chain Management
• System Design & Management
• Technology and Policy Program

Collections in this community

Doctoral theses, graduate theses, undergraduate theses, recent submissions, alkyl guanidines and nitroguanidines , classroom model of an information and computing system. , geology of the snake mountain region .

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Holds and restrictions on thesis publication

Thesis research should be undertaken in light of MIT’s policy of open research and the free interchange of information. Openness requires that, as a general policy, thesis research should not be undertaken on campus when the results may not be published. From time to time, there may be good reason for delaying the distribution of a thesis to obtain patent protection, or for reasons of privacy or security. To assure that only those theses that meet certain criteria are withheld from distribution, and that they are withheld for the minimum period, the Institute has established specific review procedures.

Written notification of patent holds and other restrictions must reach the Institute Archives before the thesis in question is received, as under normal circumstances, all theses are open and available for public inspection once they have been received by the Institute Archives.

For initial thesis hold requests, students should follow these processes:

• Thesis hold requests should be directed to the Technology Licensing Office (TLO) when related to MIT-initiated patent applications (MIT holds intellectual property rights; patent application process via TLO)
• Student-initiated patents [up to 90-day hold]
• Pursuit of business opportunities [up to 90-day hold]
• Government restrictions [up to 90-day hold]
• Privacy and security [up to 90-day hold]
• Scholarly journal articles pending publication [up to 90-day hold]
• Book publication [up to 24-month hold]

In some circumstances a student may want to request a hold beyond the initial period. Requests for extended thesis holds longer than the initial hold period require the approval of the Vice President for Research . Such requests will be granted given reasonable justifications. Requests should include the appropriate hold time and made for well-justified reasons, including but not limited to the student’s patent applications or other pertinent business opportunities; government restrictions; privacy and security concerns; peer-reviewed publication, and book manuscripts. Students should include a letter of support from their advisor(s) or department head to provide additional context for the request. The Vice President for Research may consult with other entities to determine the advisability and appropriate length of the follow-on hold. The number of such requests and approvals will be provided annually to the Faculty Policy Committee.

Thesis holds related to MIT-initiated patent application

In many circumstances, thesis work may result in  intellectual property  that a student and faculty advisor wish to patent. Thesis research that was supported by Institute funds and/or the use of Institute facilities is, by default, the property of MIT. In this case, technology should be disclosed to MIT’s TLO who will then review the patentability of the work, and file for a US patent if appropriate.  A brief thesis hold allows the student to delay public access to research findings and to prevent premature public disclosures of the work.  Request for a thesis hold must be made jointly by the student and advisor directly to the  MIT Technology Licensing Office  as part of the technology disclosure process.

Specifically, a student who would like to withhold their  thesis from immediate publication while disclosure is being reviewed should refer to the thesis while answering question 6 on the Disclosure Form: “Dates of conception and public disclosure.” The Technology Licensing Office may, if necessary, request a delay in publishing by notifying the Institute Archives, and the thesis will be withheld from distribution for up to one year. If an extension to this original period is required, a request must be made to the  Vice President for Research . If approved, the Vice President for Research will inform the Institute Archives in writing of the extension. The Technology Licensing Office will inform the Institute Archives as soon as the thesis can be released. Additional relevant technology licensing information for students may be found  here .

Thesis holds related to student-initiated patent applications

If it has been determined by MIT’s Technology Licensing Office that a student holds the rights to the  intellectual property  contained in their own thesis, and if the student wishes to pursue other business opportunities related to this work, such as a startup company, a request must be submitted to the Vice Chancellor for permission to withhold the thesis from publication.  If granted, the Vice Chancellor’s office will inform the Institute Archives, and the thesis will be withheld from circulation for a period of up to 90 days. If an extension to this original period is required, a request must be made to the  Vice President for Research .

Thesis holds related to other business opportunities

Occasionally a student who holds the rights to the  intellectual property  contained in their own thesis may wish to pursue a business opportunity after graduation, unrelated to any intellectual property that is patentable by MIT. In this case the student may submit a thesis hold request to the Vice Chancellor.

Thesis holds related to government restrictions

The Committee on Graduate Programs recognizes that certain government agencies that sponsor research may require that theses be submitted for security review before they can be placed in the MIT Libraries or published. In the event that the agency does not permit immediate public disclosure of a thesis, this does not preclude its acceptance, but the Vice Chancellor will consider a thesis hold request of up to 90 days. If a longer agency review period is required, the student may ask the  Vice President for Research  for an extension of the hold. A student should not embark on such a thesis without prior approval from the funding agency that the work may be published upon thesis completion.

Thesis holds related to privacy and security

Occasionally, on completing a thesis, a student may feel that its distribution will jeopardize the privacy or safety of the author or other individuals. If the thesis cannot be rewritten to remove the problematic material, the author and advisor should submit the thesis to the director of their graduate program who will prepare a recommendation to the Vice Chancellor in consultation with the Vice President for Research. The Vice Chancellor will advise the Institute Archives in writing of the restricted period. In all cases the restricted period will be kept to a minimum.

Restricted access related to book publication

Any MIT doctoral degree recipient who is attempting to publish a book based wholly or in part on his/her dissertation may request a temporary removal of the thesis from public access on DSpace@MIT for a period of no longer than two years (24 months).

Such a request must be accompanied by documentation that demonstrates that the author’s manuscript cannot be published due to the availability of the related thesis online. The request will be reviewed by the Vice Chancellor. If approved, online access to view and download the thesis will be limited to those with MIT certificate permission.

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Doctoral Dissertation

Mcp/sm thesis, thesis and dissertation.

Public housing, Private priorities: The invisible dynamics in low-income housing allocation in urban Peru, the case of CSP-Techo Propio: Fiorella Belli Ferro & Mora Orensanz

Disordering Capital: The Politics of Business in the Business of Water Provision. Isadora Araujo Cruxên

Bridging the Divide Between Qualitative and Quantitative Methods of Gentrification Research Through the Introduction of a Novel Mixed-method in Four U.S. Gayborhoods. Amelia Seabold

Walking to Transit: Using Big Data to Analyze Bus and Train Ridership in Los Angeles. kloe ng

In addition to the traditional monograph (i.e. a book-length manuscript), doctoral students may opt for a three-paper dissertation. 

The three-paper option is based on three related publishable papers and is designed to be used in situations where the thesis material is better suited to three papers on the same general topic rather than turning the dissertation into a book. A dissertation cannot be comprised of essays on three totally separate topics.

The embedded table below shows recent DUSP doctoral dissertation research. For access to PDF copies, please visit MIT Library's Dspace .

The fourth semester as an MCP student is devoted to completing a thesis and rounding out course work leading to graduation. A thesis in the MCP program may take one of several forms: an independent scholarly research project guided by an advisor and readers; a directed thesis contributing to a larger research effort directed by a faculty member; or a professionally oriented thesis developed in the context of a studio or practicum course. In all cases the thesis must be a piece of original, creative work conceived and developed by the student.

The SM is a non-professional degree intended for professionals with a number of years of distinguished practice in city planning or related fields who: have a clear idea of the courses they want to take at MIT, the thesis they want to write and the DUSP faculty member with whom they wish to work.

The embedded table below shows recent DUSP MCP and SM thesis research. For access to PDF copies, please visit MIT Library's Dspace .

Undergraduate students in course 11 and course 11-6 are required to write a senior thesis or complete a senior project. The thesis/project writing process is accompanied by a required undergraduate thesis preparation seminar. 

The embedded table below shows recent DUSP SB thesis research. For access to PDF copies, please visit MIT Library's Dspace .

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What is a thesis?

What is a dissertation, getting started, staying on track.

A thesis is a long-term project that you work on over the course of a semester or a year. Theses have a very wide variety of styles and content, so we encourage you to look at prior examples and work closely with faculty to develop yours. 

Before you begin, make sure that you are familiar with the dissertation genre—what it is for and what it looks like.

Generally speaking, a dissertation’s purpose is to prove that you have the expertise necessary to fulfill your doctoral-degree requirements by showing depth of knowledge and independent thinking.

The form of a dissertation may vary by discipline. Be sure to follow the specific guidelines of your department.

• PhD This site directs candidates to the GSAS website about dissertations , with links to checklists,  planning, formatting, acknowledgments, submission, and publishing options. There is also a link to guidelines for the prospectus . Consult with your committee chair about specific requirements and standards for your dissertation.
• DDES This document covers planning, patent filing, submission guidelines, publishing options, formatting guidelines, sample pages, citation guidelines, and a list of common errors to avoid. There is also a link to guidelines for the prospectus .
• Scholarly Pursuits (GSAS) This searchable booklet from Harvard GSAS is a comprehensive guide to writing dissertations, dissertation-fellowship applications, academic journal articles, and academic job documents.

Finding an original topic can be a daunting and overwhelming task. These key concepts can help you focus and save time.

Finding a topic for your thesis or dissertation should start with a research question that excites or at least interests you. A rigorous, engaging, and original project will require continuous curiosity about your topic, about your own thoughts on the topic, and about what other scholars have said on your topic. Avoid getting boxed in by thinking you know what you want to say from the beginning; let your research and your writing evolve as you explore and fine-tune your focus through constant questioning and exploration.

Get a sense of the broader picture before you narrow your focus and attempt to frame an argument. Read, skim, and otherwise familiarize yourself with what other scholars have done in areas related to your proposed topic. Briefly explore topics tangentially related to yours to broaden your perspective and increase your chance of finding a unique angle to pursue.

Critical Reading

Critical reading is the opposite of passive reading. Instead of merely reading for information to absorb, critical reading also involves careful, sustained thinking about what you are reading. This process may include analyzing the author’s motives and assumptions, asking what might be left out of the discussion, considering what you agree with or disagree with in the author’s statements and why you agree or disagree, and exploring connections or contradictions between scholarly arguments. Here is a resource to help hone your critical-reading skills:

http://writing.umn.edu/sws/assets/pdf/quicktips/criticalread.pdf

Conversation

Your thesis or dissertation will incorporate some ideas from other scholars whose work you researched. By reading critically and following your curiosity, you will develop your own ideas and claims, and these contributions are the core of your project. You will also acknowledge the work of scholars who came before you, and you must accurately and fairly attribute this work and define your place within the larger discussion. Make sure that you know how to quote, summarize, paraphrase ,  integrate , and cite secondary sources to avoid plagiarism and to show the depth and breadth of your knowledge.

A thesis is a long-term, large project that involves both research and writing; it is easy to lose focus, motivation, and momentum. Here are suggestions for achieving the result you want in the time you have.

The dissertation is probably the largest project you have undertaken, and a lot of the work is self-directed. The project can feel daunting or even overwhelming unless you break it down into manageable pieces and create a timeline for completing each smaller task. Be realistic but also challenge yourself, and be forgiving of yourself if you miss a self-imposed deadline here and there.

Your program will also have specific deadlines for different requirements, including establishing a committee, submitting a prospectus, completing the dissertation, defending the dissertation, and submitting your work. Consult your department’s website for these dates and incorporate them into the timeline for your work.

Accountability

Sometimes self-imposed deadlines do not feel urgent unless there is accountability to someone beyond yourself. To increase your motivation to complete tasks on schedule, set dates with your committee chair to submit pre-determined pieces of a chapter. You can also arrange with a fellow doctoral student to check on each other’s progress. Research and writing can be lonely, so it is also nice to share that journey with someone and support each other through the process.

Common Pitfalls

The most common challenges for students writing a dissertation are writer’s block, information-overload, and the compulsion to keep researching forever.

There are many strategies for avoiding writer’s block, such as freewriting, outlining, taking a walk, starting in the middle, and creating an ideal work environment for your particular learning style. Pay attention to what helps you and try different things until you find what works.

Efficient researching techniques are essential to avoiding information-overload. Here are a couple of resources about strategies for finding sources and quickly obtaining essential information from them.

https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/subject_specific_writing/writing_in_literature/writing_in_literature_detailed_discussion/reading_criticism.html

https://students.dartmouth.edu/academic-skills/learning-resources/learning-strategies/reading-techniques

Finally, remember that there is always more to learn and your dissertation cannot incorporate everything. Follow your curiosity but also set limits on the scope of your work. It helps to create a folder entitled “future projects” for topics and sources that interest you but that do not fit neatly into the dissertation. Also remember that future scholars will build off of your work, so leave something for them to do.

Browsing through theses and dissertations of the past can help to get a sense of your options and gain inspiration but be careful to use current guidelines and refer to your committee instead of relying on these examples for form or formatting.

DASH Digital Access to Scholarship at Harvard.

HOLLIS Harvard Library’s catalog provides access to ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global .

MIT Architecture has a list of their graduates’ dissertations and theses.

Rhode Island School of Design has a list of their graduates’ dissertations and theses.

University of South Florida has a list of their graduates’ dissertations and theses.

Harvard GSD has a list of projects, including theses and professors’ research.

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Doctoral Thesis: From Data, to Models, and Back: Making ML “Predictably Reliable”

Kiva (32-G449)

By: Andrew Ilyas

Thesis Supervisors: Costis Daskalakis, Aleksander Madry

• Date: Friday, August 23
• Time: 2:30 pm - 4:00 pm
• Category: Thesis Defense
• Location: Kiva (32-G449)

Additional Location Details:

Abstract: Despite their impressive performance, training and deploying ML models is currently a somewhat messy affair. But does it have to be? In this defense, I’ll discuss some of my research on making ML “predictably reliable”—enabling developers to know when their models will work, when they will fail, and why. To begin, we use a case study of adversarial examples to show that human intuition can be a poor predictor of how ML models operate. Motivated by this, we present a few lines of work that aim to develop a precise understanding of the entire ML pipeline: from how we source data, to the datasets we train on, to the learning algorithms to use.

• Email: [email protected]

Thesis/Dissertation

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Meeting Graduate College Requirements

• Check your  Academic Progress  tab in Workday Student to ensure you've met Graduate College requirements for degree completion.
• Ensure that your  Program of Study Committee and Academic Plan  are accurate at the time you apply for program completion in Workday Student. 
• Check your Approved Academic Plan  in Workday Student; make sure the list of courses is accurate and make modifications as needed.
• Submit an  Application for Program Completion  by the deadlines of the semester you plan to graduate. If you have a change of mind, withdraw by the cancellation date. Summer graduates attending Spring/Fall ceremony need to follow special deadlines.

Planning Your Thesis/Dissertation Journey

• Attend a  Thesis/Dissertation Seminar  presented by the Graduate College soon after you have formed your Committee and Academic Plan.
• Download the  Thesis/Dissertation Deadlines  and the  Thesis Planning Tool  or the  Dissertation Planning Tool  to map the Graduate College deadlines.
• Plan meetings with your Major Professor and Committee about your thesis/dissertation content and timeline for completion.
• Chart your personal deadlines using the tools.
• Add any additional program deadlines that are not included in the Graduate College deadlines.
• Review resources for Authorship Expectations .

Writing Your Thesis/Dissertation

• Work closely with your Major Professor and Committee as you develop ideas and content for your thesis/dissertation. They are there to guide you.
• Contact the  Center for Communication Excellence  to receive  Thesis/Dissertation Consultations . Trained consultants can meet one-on-one to give helpful suggestions in the planning, composing, or revising stages of writing or assist with thesis/dissertation formatting.  Make an appointment !
• Attend  Boot Camps and Writing Retreats .
• Use the  Templates  to maintain formatting requirements.
• Review  Thesis/Dissertation Format Requirements  and watch the  Video Tutorials for Formatting .

Planning Your Pre- and Post-Final Oral Exam Steps

Pre-final oral exam.

• Plan final oral exam date with your Major Professor and Committee.
• Submit a  Request for Final Oral Exam   at least three weeks prior  to the final oral exam.
• Reserve a room and inform your Major Professor and Committee.
• Make an appointment with the  Center for Communication Excellence  for a  Thesis/Dissertation Format Check .
• Submit copies of the manuscript to your Major Professor and Committee.

Post-Final Oral Exam

• Complete required edits to your thesis/dissertation as requested by your Major Professor and Committee.
• Review your thesis/dissertation formatting again since formatting may change after any edits are made.
• Submit the edited manuscript to your Major Professor and Committee for approval.
• Open your thesis/dissertation account with  ProQuest  and input the title of your thesis/dissertation; this information will appear in the Commencement Program. Use the same format as your title page.
• Thesis/Dissertation students - Review the online  Thesis/Dissertation Format Requirements  and upload your thesis/dissertation to  ProQuest/UMI
• Creative component students – Review the instructions  Creative Component submission instructions .
• Get your Major Professor and DOGE signatures for Graduate Student Approval Form and submit the completed form to the Graduate College. (NOTE: The Graduate College cannot review your uploaded thesis/dissertation without this completed form.)

Finishing Up for Graduation

• Monitor email from Graduate College staff about required edits or acceptance of thesis/dissertation.
• Complete required edits as requested by the Graduate College staff if applicable and resubmit; this process can be repeated if required edits are not completed.
• Once accepted, the Graduate College staff will lock the ProQuest submission. No further changes can be made after this.
• Get ready to graduate! Receiving an acceptance e-mail is typically the last communication before you graduate!

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$145 (Workday U-Bill): The Thesis/Dissertation Fee (a one-time fee on your Workday U-Bill) pays for the ISU thesis/dissertationreview, processing, and thesis/dissertationsupport.

Optional U.S. Copyright Fee

$75: O ptionally, ProQuest will register a U.S. Copyright for you for the additional $75

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Thesis and Culminating Project Information

Culminating Activities

A main degree requirement on all students in graduate programs in the College of Liberal Arts is the completion of a culminating project, such as a thesis and oral defense thereof, a final comprehensive examination, a portfolio, or a non-thesis project.

Master's theses are original academic disquisitions on a problem or issue of disciplinary interest. Compositionally, they explain the significance of the undertaking, normally by stating the major assumptions and reviewing the relevant literature, and then elaborate on the methods of data collection and analysis of evidence, develop and critique the appropriate logical inferences and argumentation, and offer conclusions or recommendations for future work. The average length of the body of a Master's thesis is around 70 double-spaced pages. 

A non-thesis project is an artistic or technical endeavor that is appropriate for the fine and applied arts or to more professional or vocational fields. Examples could include an ethnographic film, a novel or body of creative writing, or a significantly original software program. Non-thesis projects should include a project report. The average length of the body of a project report is around 30 double-spaced pages. Non-thesis projects need not be submitted for college review.

Students may not enroll in thesis or exam coursework until advanced to candidacy . For further information about theses, course units, and committee membership, including chairpersons or directors, please review the university thesis requirements . For further information about comprehensive examinations, portfolios, or non-thesis projects, please review the university exam requirements. For information about enrollment in GS700B, please review AS policy 18–03 and contact the Director of Graduate Studies with any additional questions.

Oral Defense

By Title V §40510 , an oral defense of the thesis is required of those students who pursue the thesis option for their culminating activity. For students who pursue the non-thesis project option, an oral defense is recommended but not required.

Thesis Deadlines

All theses from the College of Liberal Arts must ultimately be approved by all thesis committee members and Professor Sarah Schrank, Director of Graduate Studies, before being submitted to the University's Thesis Office. Theses submitted to the college for review must be in their finalized form, with all copyediting and formatting completed. The theses and signature pages are to be sent to Professor Sarah Schrank, Director of Graduate Studies ( [email protected] ). The college deadlines for theses submissions can be found here:

CSULB Thesis & Dissertation Office

The University's Thesis & Dissertation Office is housed on the 5 th floor of the CSULB Library in Room 501. There are numerous resources to help graduate students with the composition of their theses. Most importantly, please consult the University's formatting guidelines , as it details all formatting rules and requirements, and includes protocols for electronic submission . Various templates have also been provided, including the template for the thesis signature page , as well as Department-specific style guides . The Thesis Office also offers consultations for students prior to submission.

Asian and Asian Diaspora Studies

Explore asian and asian diaspora studies.

These studies are designed for students interested in serious intensive research on the languages, history, politics, and cultures of Asia and/or the Asian diasporas. The geographic region of Asia includes countries such as Bangladesh, China, India, Japan, Korea, Mongolia, Pakistan, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam.

In this interdisciplinary field, you can earn a major, minor, or concentration.

Detail, from the “Nine Dragons” handscroll, painted by Chen Rong, during the Song Dynasty. Scroll located in the Museum of Fine Arts Boston. In this detail, the dragon (an auspicious symbol of strength and good luck in Chinese iconography) has grasped the pearl of wisdom. (Public domain image via Wikimedia Commons.)

Earning a major or minor

The goal of the program is to provide balanced coverage of language, humanistic and social science offerings on the region and to expose students to some comparative perspectives within the region. Global Languages, History, and Political Science offer a substantial number of subjects related to Asia and the Asian diasporas.

In consultation with an advisor, students may focus their coursework on a sub-region of Asia, on one of the Asian diasporas, or design their program to offer a comparative study across different regions and/or cultural groups.

All interdisciplinary major students must write a senior thesis on a topic of their choice to be determined in consultation with an MIT faculty member whose specialty falls within Asian studies. The thesis research may include knowledge of an Asian language.

Visit the Registrar’s page on Asian and Asian Diaspora Studies to learn about major requirements and current subject offerings.

To declare or change your major, visit How to Apply .

Visit the Registrar’s page on Asian and Asian Diaspora Studies to learn about minor requirements and current subject offerings.

To declare or change your minor, visit How to Apply .

Earning a concentration

The Asian and Asian Diaspora Studies concentration is designed for students interested in the languages, history, politics, and cultures of Asia and the Asian diasporas. In consultation with the concentration advisor, students may focus their coursework on a sub-region of Asia or the Asian diasporas, or design their program to offer a comparative study across different regions and/or cultural groups.

Additional resources

For more information, contact the SHASS academic administrator .

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Risk, culture, and control

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Some people think the world is wildly unpredictable, and are glad insurance can handle the risk and uncertainty they face. Other people believe their destiny is written in the stars, and consult a daily horoscope to reveal what is in store for them.

Either way, Caley Horan has the history of these things covered.

Horan, an associate professor in MIT’s history program, studies multiple topics related to how we handle uncertainty in modern American life. Her award-winning first book, “Insurance Era,” published in 2021 by the University of Chicago Press, examined a deep tension: Insurance is a collective endeavor in certain respects but is defined in individual terms, at least by the private sector.

“I realized there was a story about insurance in the second half of the 20th century that people hadn’t really written,” Horan says. “It became important to me to tell that story, and to think about both the welfare state and private insurance.”

Currently Horan is in the midst of book project tackling another unwritten story: how astrology became a thoroughly modern, commercialized, and American pastime.

That might seem like quite a departure, but actually, Horan says, her history of astrology grew out of studying insurance history. The connecting tissue is how people themselves view uncertainty, risk, and the future.

“The forms of astrology that evolved in the U.S. over the course of the 20th century turned away from chance, which insurance seeks to cover, and instead offered a theory of causation rooted in external natural phenomena,” Horan says. “The celestial bodies and movements of stars and planets are seen as determining forces, rather than the chance-based world of risk. This creates a clear sense of causation, and of time as cyclical rather than progressing. There’s a real appetite for that.”

In both cases, Horan is uncovering how some familiar aspects of contemporary life have taken their current forms.

“The fact that everything has a history is what drew me to history as a field,” Horan says. “It’s tremendously important to have a sense of the past, and I find it endlessly interesting and exciting.”

For her research and teaching, Horan was granted tenure at MIT last year.

An open field

Horan, who grew up in Colorado, attended Stanford University, where she was a defender on the soccer team while completing a double major in history and feminist studies.

“I settled on history because it seemed like a really open field,” Horan says. “You can study anything historically. If you want to study film, art, or if you want to study insurance or astrology, you can do so as a historian.”

Horan received her BA from Stanford in 2003, then attended graduate school at the University of Minnesota, where she settled on the history of insurance as her dissertation topic and earned her PhD in 2011. She joined the MIT faculty in 2015, while working to turn her thesis into her first book.

In “Insurance Era,” Horan scrutinized high-level political dynamics as the private insurance industry sought to limit the New Deal-era expansion of the public safety net, which it regarded as a threat to its business. Horan also studied this with the lens of a cultural historian, looking at how industry advertising, for instance, portrays the decision to acquire insurance as a highly individualistic endeavor, a matter of personal prudence and savvy.

Ultimately “Insurance Era” received critical acclaim, winning the 2022 Hagley Prize for the best book in business history, and it has just been published in a new paperback edition.

Astrology and the self

At the moment, Horan is researching and writing her history of astrology — or at least the modern American version of the practice. Earlier in America, what might be called “natural astrology” appeared in almanacs with forecasts about things like the best time to plant crops, as “part of an economy that had a very agrarian nature,” Horan says.

But that economy changed, and so did astrology: Going back a bit more than century, astrology became focused on the self, and became a viable business all by itself.

“The astrology that we know today in the United States is very recent,” Horan says. “A lot of what we might today call the therapeutic nature of astrology, which is focused on the self and self-knowledge and self-understanding, is a late 19th-century development. By the 20th century, astrology becomes commercialized and part of a capitalist economy.”

Newspaper horoscope columns, for instance, date to 1930, along with the invention of “sun-sign” astrology, divided by birth dates.

“I think modern astrology has offered people, and continues to offer people, an interpretive framework for understanding identity, self, and relationships to others,  at a time when matters of work and identity have been up for grabs,” Horan says.

For her part, Horan’s own sense of identity as a historian is well-established, even as her work evolves: She will continue to pursue topics combining modern business, self-identity, uncertainty, and even health, studying those things in commercial and cultural terms. After she finishes her work on astrology in America, Horan intends to start writing about caregiver work, a growing part of the U.S. economy. And, she says, she continues to follow developments in insurance closely, with a return to that topic possible as well.

“I do feel some of the big-picture issues I have raised about insurance are very relevant,” Horan says. “That includes issues about the power we accord to private industry, how we think about collective organization, how Americans think about data and who controls their data, and how society distributes its resources, including basic insurance coverage. I think we’re heading into uncharted territory with some of these matters, and I do hope some of the questions I’ve raised continue to inform the way scholars are thinking about them.”

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Thesis & Project Formatting Electronic Submission Library Workshop

If you are a graduate student working on your thesis or project, you are invited to attend the workshops offered by the University Library.

The workshop will take place through zoom, once you register you will get a thank you notification along with the zoom links please make sure you note it.

The workshop will cover how to submit electronic and formatting guidelines for preparing your paper and will give you an opportunity to ask any questions you may have about the process for submitting your paper to Graduate Studies.

For resources and where to obtain the PowerPoint presentations please follow the Library Guide.

The following days have been scheduled for the Library to host the Thesis/Project submission workshops in Fall 2023:

• Tuesday March 12th 4pm-5pm
• Wednesday March 13th 4pm-5pm
• Friday April 19th 4pm-5pm

If you should have any questions please contact Library Format Review Team at [email protected]

Take our workshop survey after you have attended the workshop.

**Please note this registration is for workshop only, if you want to schedule an appointment to have your paper review please contact us through email at [email protected]