There are several academic and degree requirements throughout your time here as a PhD student. Below are the Wharton Doctoral Programs requirements of all students. Please consult your department for any additional requirements that are specific to your program.
First Year
- Before you arrive: Incoming Wharton PhD Student Site
- Math Camps and Tech Camp
- Math Camps and Tech Camp
- Orientation (end of August)
- Communication Workshop: The first-year communication workshop will be held in Fall. This is a mandatory workshop for all first-years in Management, Ethics and Legal Studies, Operations, Information and Decisions, and Statistics An email with logistics information will be sent in the upcoming weeks.
- TA Training – If you are in Applied Economics, Ethics and Legal Studies, Finance, Management, OID, or Statistics, you will be required to complete the 3-day TA training at the beginning of the academic year (typically the end of August)Please consult your department administrator for when you will need to complete this as each department is different.
ITA English Fluency Certification Testing:
Under the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, all prospective teaching assistants who will teach undergraduates and whose native language is other than English must undergo an evaluation of their ability to communicate in spoken English before they can undertake teaching responsibilities. This includes U.S. citizens, prospective ITAs who have matriculated from other institutions of higher education in the United States and/or who may also have teaching experience in English (For details, see section VI.H. of the Handbook for Faculty and Academic Administrators ).
The University of Pennsylvania uses the Interactive Performance Test (IPT) for this purpose. The IPT is a 15-minute test where examinees present a short lesson from their field of study. The test is recorded and is rated pass/fail.
Annual Student Progress Report:
The goal of the Student Progress Report and Annual Review is to ensure that you are making good progress toward completion of the degree and to address any questions you may have for your Doctoral Coordinator. When your Doctoral Coordinator completes your Annual Review, you will receive a copy via email. Your Doctoral Coordinator, department administrator and the Doctoral Programs office will also receive a copy of the completed Student Progress Report & Annual Review.
Second Year
- Communication Workshop: The second-year communication workshop will be held in Fall. This is a mandatory workshop for all first-years in Accounting, Applied Economics, Finance, Health Care Management and Economics, and Marketing. An email with logistics information will be sent in the upcoming weeks.
TA Training
- If you are in Applied Economics, Ethics and Legal Studies, Finance, Management, OID, or Statistics,
- You will be required to complete the 3-day TA training at the beginning of the academic year (typically the end of August)Please consult your department administrator for when you will need to complete this as each department is different.
Annual Student Progress Report:
The goal of the Student Progress Report and Annual Review is to ensure that you are making good progress toward completion of the degree and to address any questions you may have for your Doctoral Coordinator. When your Doctoral Coordinator completes your Annual Review, you will receive a copy via email. Your Doctoral Coordinator, department administrator and the Doctoral Programs office will also receive a copy of the completed Student Progress Report & Annual Review.
Third Year
Third Year Re-Orientation: Mandatory for all third-year students.
This orientation serves as a way to help you progress through your research. We understand that the transition from coursework to full-time research can be an adjustment. We have created a quick one-hour workshop with the following topics to help you during this stage of your program:
- Faculty’s advice on:
- How to proceed in this phase (no longer taking courses, preparing to propose)
- Advice on how to find a topic
- How to be efficient and motivated during this phase
- Theoretical and empirical methods of research
- Student perspective on third-year transition
- Reminders of programs and resources available to students that are relevant to you at this stage.
Annual Student Progress Report:
The goal of the Student Progress Report and Annual Review is to ensure that you are making good progress toward completion of the degree and to address any questions you may have for your Doctoral Coordinator. When your Doctoral Coordinator completes your Annual Review, you will receive a copy via email. Your Doctoral Coordinator, department administrator and the Doctoral Programs office will also receive a copy of the completed Student Progress Report & Annual Review.
Other Pre-Candidacy Requirements
Students must successfully complete the following during the pre-candidacy phase:
- All required coursework*
- Department qualifications exams
- Any additional requirements imposed by the students’ specific department such as additional qualifying exams (oral or written) and/or research papers (such as first, second, or third-year papers)
The PhD Faculty Coordinator will review the student’s record to confirm that all pre-candidacy requirements have been met. Students may not register for dissertation status unless all requirements have been met. Upon satisfying these requirements, prior to the start of each semester, the Department must inform the WDP office of any new students entering dissertation status.
*A student may move onto dissertation status with one or two required courses to take while on dissertation upon the approval of their PhD Coordinator only.
*Students are eligible to enroll in 1 CU per semester while on dissertation status.
Dissertation Stage
Proposal Defense Stage:
All students must successful defend their proposal be the end of their fourth-year in order to remain in good standing.
Please complete the following forms no later than two weeks before your proposal defense date:
- Dissertation Committee Request through Penn Graduate Forms
- Click Available Forms at the top of the page
- Then, Penn Graduate Forms
- Then, Load Milestones
- Then Committee Formation
- Complete the form to include your committee members and roles
- For Committee Role definitions and Composition, please visit the Academic Rules for PhD Students
- Schedule Your Proposal Defense
- Once you have coordinated a time with your committee,
- Inform your department administrator so they may help with scheduling
- Submit the proposal defense notification form to the Doctoral Programs Office (at least 2 weeks before your proposal defense)
- Directly following your Proposal Defense
- Send the Proposal Defense Certification form to your committee for them to approve
- Send the signed form to Gidget in the Doctoral Office: gmurray@wharton.upenn.edu
- Once you have coordinated a time with your committee,
Dissertation Committee Composition and Meetings:
Upon advancement to candidacy, each student has a Dissertation Committee consisting of at least three faculty members (including at least two members in Wharton). At least half of the members of the dissertation committee must be members of the Wharton School at the time of appointment to the committee. Faculty who are not members of the Wharton School may serve only with the written approval of the graduate group.
The Chair of the Dissertation Committee must be a member of the Standing Faculty in Wharton. If the Chair of a dissertation committee leaves the Standing Faculty before the dissertation is completed, then a new chair from the Standing Faculty in Wharton must be appointed as chair. The dissertation committee chair is responsible for convening committee meetings, advising the student on graduate group and university expectations, and assuring the Vice Dean that the group’s requirements have been met. The Dissertation Supervisor may serve as Chair of the Dissertation Committee, but is not required to do so.
The Dissertation Supervisor is the person primarily responsible for overseeing the student’s dissertation research. A student may have both a Dissertation Supervisor and a Dissertation Co-Supervisor, or two Dissertation Co-Supervisors, if that responsibility is shared equally.
Dissertation Supervisors, and Dissertation Co-Supervisors, must be members of the Standing Faculty at Penn, with special approved exceptions. A member of the Associated Faculty (such as Research Faculty or Adjunct Faculty) may be permitted to serve as a Dissertation Supervisor with prior approval of the Vice Provost for Education on a case by case basis. The Vice Dean of Wharton Doctoral Programs may petition the Vice Provost for Education, in advance, for an exception. In such cases, a member of the Standing Faculty in the graduate group must be appointed as the Dissertation Committee Chair.
The Dissertation Committee meets at least once annually with the student to review the student’s progress. The student prepares an Annual Dissertation Progress Report and the committee gives timely feedback (within one month) and confirms whether progress is satisfactory. A copy of the signed progress report is submitted to the Supervisor/Advisor and Vice Dean and is documented by the school in the student’s PhD Worksheet.
Dissertations based on joint work with other researchers are allowed, provided that, in such cases, a unique and separate dissertation is presented by each degree candidate. The candidate must include a concise account of his or her contribution to the whole work. Authorship of a dissertation by more than one degree candidate is not allowed.
For changes in your committee, please submit the Request for Change of Committee Members form.
Final Defense Stage
- Apply for the degree: https://apps.sas.upenn.edu/sso/gas/degree/app-start.php and sign up for a deposit appointment: Appointments are available for scheduling in Calendly. The scheduling link is: https://calendly.com/penngraddegree/deposit.
- When scheduling your deposit appointment via Calendly, please be sure to enter Gidget Murray’s contact under “coordinator” NOT your PhD Faculty Coordinator. gmurray@wharton.upenn.edu
- Schedule Your Final Defense
- Continued Special Deposit and Defense Procedures
- Dissertation defenses may be in-person or presented via remote conferencing. All forms required for depositing will besubmitted electronically, and title page signatures are not required. A printed copy of the dissertation will not be required, and the dissertation must be submitted electronically via ETD Administrator.
- Once you have coordinated a time with your committee,
- Inform your department administrator so they may help with scheduling
- Email the final defense notification form to the Doctoral Programs Office at least 2 weeks before your final defense
- Continued Special Deposit and Defense Procedures
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- All dissertations must follow the formatting outlined in the Formatting Guide; see the PhD Dissertation Formatting Checklist and Sample Dissertation Title Pages for help.
- Nancy Zhang should be listed as “Graduate Group Chairperson”: Nancy Zhang, Ge Li and Ning Zhao Professor, Professor of Statistics
- After your Final Defense, submit the Final Oral Defense Form through Penn Graduate Forms: https://upenn.bplogix.net/workspace.aspx
- Click Available Forms
- Then, Penn Graduate Forms
- Then, Load Milestones
- Then, Final Oral Defense
- Select the date of your final defense
- Enter your dissertation title
- Confirm your dissertation Committee Members and make any edits as needed
- Click Submit Form
- All dissertations must follow the formatting outlined in the Formatting Guide; see the PhD Dissertation Formatting Checklist and Sample Dissertation Title Pages for help.
- Defense Announcement Sample
- Example Title Page_ OR Example Title Page – TWO Supervisors
Click here to view the deadlines for applying for the degree, defending, and depositing.
For information on Dissertation Resources: http://provost.upenn.edu/education/graduate/dissertation-resources
Below are the Word Document Versions of the documents above:
Proposal Notification
Proposal Defense Certification
Request for Change of Committee Members