For PhD students, the oral preliminary exam and the thesis defense 
presentation have two main purposes:<br><br>

(i) To allow faculty to give useful feedback to the student on 
improvements, extensions, and future directions for research.<br><br>

(ii) To verify that the student can give a clear, compelling, and eloquent 
45-minute presentation on his or her research.  Whether the student goes 
on to industry or academia, developing such a skill will be crucial not 
only in the interview process but also will be important for the student's 
future career success.<br><br>

Note that "educating the faculty about the student's research" is not one 
of these two main purposes, and it is not essential nor even advisable 
that the student attempt to inform the faculty about all of his or her 
research findings. <br><br>

Rather than lectures or exams, these events should 
really be thought of as opportunities for students to <b>discuss</b> their 
results with members of the UCLA faculty.  The student's presentation is 
really only a small component; typically the most fruitful part of the 
process is the interaction and discussion between the faculty and the student. 
<br><br>

To these ends, here is a timeline and advice for students preparing for 
these exams:<br><br>

1) CHOOSE THE COMMITTEE.<br>
	You will need to have 4 members on your committee: 3 should be from the 
Statistics department, and 1 must be from some outside department. Your 
primary thesis advisor counts as 1 of the 3 Statistics department 
faculty.  <br><br>

2) PLAN THE DATE & TIME.<br>
	About 3 weeks before the exam, ask the faculty who you would like to 
serve on the committee if they are willing to participate, and arrange a 
date and time for the exam.  This can simply be done by email. In your 
email, you should inform the faculty about the general subject of your 
research. Check with the department staff that the room is available at 
the time that you arrange. <br><br>

3) SEND OUT A DRAFT.<br>
	Whether you are doing an oral preliminary exam or a thesis 
defense, you will need to prepare a written document. If you are advancing 
to candidacy and getting ready for your oral preliminary exam, you will 
need to submit a written prospectus of your oral exam to the committee. If 
you are finishing your PhD research and preparing for your thesis defense, 
then you should be finishing your dissertation. Either way, give a draft of 
your written document (either 
via email or an actual paper copy) to each of your committee members 1-2 
weeks before the exam.  To ensure that the file is not too big to 
transmit via email, one possibility is to place an electronic copy of the 
thesis on your website, and then send a link to the committee members in 
an email. The dissertation is usually a large document, and in our 
department these usually range from 70 to 
130 pages. The written prospectus can be short. These should be 
a concise summary of your research plans, and while there are no page 
requirements, they are often roughly 20 pages in length. They 
can be organized like your talk, beginning with background information, 
showing your preliminary results, and outlining directions that 
your proposed research might go in.  
<br><br>

4) FILES/PAPERWORK.<br>
	1 week before the exam, meet with the student affairs officer to arrange 
that your files and paperwork are ready on the exam date. 
The student affairs office 
should arrange that a file consisting of paperwork documenting your 
progress as a student at UCLA be given directly to your advisor.<br><br>

5) REMINDER EMAIL.<br>
	1 day before the exam, send the committee members an email reminding them 
of the exam's date, time, and location. 
Ask them to confirm receipt of your email.
<br><br>

6) PREPARE THE ROOM.<br>
	1 hour before the exam, start to set up the projector, your laptop, etc.  
For your thesis defense, you 
should bring 2 or 3 copies of the signature page on the appropriate paper, 
for the committee to sign at the end. 
There is no need to bring food or drink for the committee members.<br><br>

7) DURING THE EXAM.<br>
	At the beginning of the exam, after greeting the committee members, you 
(the student) will be asked to leave the room briefly and close the door, 
in case any of the committee members have any questions or issues that 
they would prefer to discuss privately with your advisor.  This usually 
only lasts for a minute or two. If it lasts longer, do not worry -- 
sometimes this is merely because the advisor is raving about how wonderful 
the student has been.  Next, your advisor will open the door and let you 
back in, and you should begin your talk, which should last 45 minutes. 
During the talk there may be questions, and after your talk the committee 
members will also ask further questions and make comments and suggestions 
for about 5-10 minutes each. After this, you will 
be asked to leave the room again, so that the committee can privately 
discuss your case. This again typically takes just a couple minutes, after 
which time you can re-enter the room.<br><br>

8) FURTHER ADVICE ABOUT YOUR TALK.<br>
	As indicated at the top of this page, the main purpose of these exams is 
for your committee members to provide feedback to you on your research.  
If you talk for longer than 45 minutes, there will be two main negative 
consequences:  first, you will fail to verify that you are able to give a 
concise talk; second, 
your committee may not have ample time to engage in discussion and to 
provide you with useful suggestions which may help you in your future 
research. Thus, speaking for longer than 45 minutes detracts from both of the 
main purposes of the exam. 
In addition, it is also somewhat disrespectful to your exam 
committee.  <br>
	At the beginning of your 45-minute presentation, address each of the 
following three questions for about 30 seconds each:<br>
	(a) Why is your research of interest to the statistics community?<br>
	(b) If your research involves an application, why would your results be 
important for any expert in that field of application?<br>
	(c) Why is your research important to all human beings?<br><br>
	For the oral preliminary exam, the primary focus should be 
	on the research you plan to do, rather than on what you have 
	already done so far. Spend about 25 
	minutes discussing background and your preliminary results, and 
	then spend the remaining 20 minutes discussing your ideas for 
	future research. <br><br>
	
	For the thesis defense, 
	in order to ensure that your talk lasts 45 minutes without 
	going overtime, one possibility is to discuss an overview of the 
	main issues, ideas, and results at 
	the beginning of your talk, and then fill in details as time 
	permits, until 40 minutes has expired. Then spend the last 
	5 minutes concluding your talk, commenting on the significance 
	of your main results and how they fit into the existing state of 
	knowledge of the subject matter.<br><br>
	
	During your talk, it is important to face the committee as much as 
possible. However, it is not advisable to stare directly at any of your 
audience members in particular during the talk.  Instead, speak to the 
room as a whole. <br>
	It is not necessary, during your 45-minute presentation, to present all 
of your results nor to present all of the details in your research. It is 
far more important that you provide a clear demonstration of the most 
important lines of your research. Think of your talk as giving the 
committee members the best possible overview of your research that will 
enable them to have constructive suggestions and future ideas for you.<br>
	Speak clearly, loudly, and confidently during your presentation and when 
answering questions afterwards.  Remember that this really is not so much 
an exam as much as an opportunity for you to discuss your ideas with the 
faculty, so try to enjoy it and make the most of it.<br><br>