| Milestone | May Degree | December Degree | September Degree |
|---|---|---|---|
| Notification of Intent to Submit | February 15 | September 1 | June 1 |
| Dissertation Submission Deadline | March 15, 5:00 PM | October 1, 5:00 PM | July 1, 5:00 PM |
| Reader Reports Due | April 15 | November 1 | August 1 |
| Dissertation Revisions Deadline | April 29, 5:00 PM | November 15, 5:00 PM | August 15, 5:00 PM |
| Dissertation Defense | Before April 15 | Before November 1 | Before August 1 |
No exceptions can be made to submission deadlines. Students who submit after these deadlines will automatically be considered in the next degree cycle.
IMPORTANT: Students who submit their dissertation before the end of the add/drop course enrollment period (see the academic calendar) are NOT eligible to register as students for the remainder of that term. Students who wish to remain registered until the end of a given semester must submit their dissertation AFTER add/drop closes in order to remain registered for that semester.
In addition, students who submit their dissertation AFTER add/drop closes will be registered for that term with a continuing registration fee unless a Change of Status form is processed by the appropriate refund date on the GSAS Academic Calendar. A full refund of the continuing registration fee will not be possible after that date.
More information can be found at Completing Your PhD: Information for Advanced PhD Candidates.
Formatting the Doctoral Dissertation - Carefully read and adhere to the formatting instructions in this formatting guide.
Submitting Degree Petition and Dissertation in DPRS
The Degree Petition page in DPRS consists of the degree petition, links to required surveys, and the option to upload a PDF of your dissertation. No paper submission is required.
The dissertation title is populated from your most recent Dissertation Progress Report (DPR). You can change the final title on the petition page by selecting the “No” radio button and modifying the title. Select the “Save” button at the bottom of the page to save the title before submitting the dissertation.
Dissertations for the Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Doctor of Philosophy degree must be submitted to the Graduate School by 5:00 pm on March 15 for consideration at the May meeting of the degree committee, by 5:00pm on July 1 for consideration at the September meeting of the degree committee, and by 5:00 pm on October 1 for consideration at the December meeting of the degree committee. These deadlines are established to allow sufficient time for readers to make careful evaluations and for departments to review those evaluations and make recommendations to the Graduate School. No extensions of the deadlines will be granted. Dissertations submitted after the deadlines will be considered for degree conferral during the following term.
In accord with the traditional scholarly ideal that the candidate for a doctorate must make a contribution to knowledge, all dissertations that have been accepted by the Graduate School are published electronically through ProQuest and are deposited in the collection of the Sterling Memorial Library.
Students do not need to be registered to be eligible to submit the dissertation.
Students who complete all PhD requirements within four continuous years of full-time study in the PhD program will be registered and charged full tuition only through the term in which the dissertation is submitted. Students who take a leave of absence must complete the four-year full tuition obligation, regardless of when they submit the dissertation.
The Graduate School does not compel departments to evaluate the dissertations of degree candidates who are no longer registered. In practice, however, departments normally agree to evaluate these dissertations.
September Degree Deadlines
December Degree Deadlines
Yes, it is recommended all the required surveys be completed as soon as possible. Failure to complete the surveys will result in the inability to upload the dissertation.
You will only have the option of completing the NOR if your department has opted to allow students to create the NOR. You will see the “Notification of Readers” tab if you have access to prepare form in DPRS. Contact your department registrar for questions and assistance.
Files greater than 250 MB must be compressed prior to uploading. Open the PDF in Adobe Acrobat Pro, go to “File” > “Save as other” > “Reduced Size PDF”. Select the compatibility level “Acrobat 10.0 and later”, click “OK” to save the reduced file.
Once all reader reports are submitted they are available to view in DPRS under the Reader Reports tab. The reader reports will be available in the DPRS system until the date you graduate. Check the academic calendar for the specific date.
Students have kindly shared “unofficial” templates for formatting the dissertation. Please double-check your dissertation before submitting.
The Poorvu Center’s Graduate Writing Lab can provide information and assistance as you write your dissertation.
Go to the “Petition for Degree” page in DPRS under the tab “Petition for Degree and Dissertation Submission” tab. The first question on the Petition page will ask if your dissertation title is correct. When you select “no” you can enter the correct title. Once updated it will automatically correct the Notification of Readers form.
Choose between “traditional” or “open access” publishing. “Traditional” is free and used by most students. “Open Access” has a fee, paid by the student, and the dissertation will show up in some search engines.
As long as you include the required copyright page in your dissertation, your dissertation is automatically copyrighted. Copyright guidelines can be found on Yale Library website. ProQuest offers an additional copyright option with the Library of Congress for a fee.”
If you are using copyrighted materials in your dissertation, contact the copyright owner to request permission to use their material. Publishers often have specific processes, so search their website for additional information. Upload a copy of the permission letter(s) or emails in DPRS.
Additional Questions?
If, after reading the FAQs you still have questions, please reach out to our staff.