Thesis Submission Policy

After a student's successful dissertation defense, the final version of a thesis must be submitted to both the student's home department at MIT and WHOI's Academic Programs Office within two weeks* of the defense date.  For those students receiving a stipend from WHOI (or from most MIT departments), your stipend will end on the day you turn in your final thesis, as that is when your student status ends.

*Per MIT-WHOI Joint Program policy, unless major revisions are required, the thesis must be submitted to the MIT and WHOI Education Offices no later than two (2) weeks after the defense. If major revisions are required, the student's Thesis Committee, through the Chair of the defense, will make a recommendation to the Chair of the discipline Joint Committee for the deadline by which the final revised thesis must be submitted. The Chair of the discipline Joint Committee has the responsibility to seek advice as rapidly as practicably possible from the discipline Joint Committee and then set a deadline, communicate that deadline to the student, the thesis committee and the Joint Program Director at MIT and Dean at WHOI. Failure to meet the deadline can result in denial of further stipend and tuition support by either the Director of the Joint Program at MIT in consultation with the Department Head at MIT or by the Dean at WHOI in consultation with the Department Chair at WHOI. All other MIT policies and Joint Program policies with respect to continued registration also

Starting in the Spring 2024 Term, the JP will move toward using DocuSign for thesis signatures. During the Spring, use of DocuSign will be optional/recommended (unless required by your MIT department). We anticipate requiring the use of DocuSign beginning in the Summer 2024 term. Instructions for using DocuSign can be found here.