Thesis

A “Thesis Defense and Manuscript Approval” form, inclusive of all required signatures, must be received in the Graduate College by the published deadline.  According to the directions on the BGSU Graduate College Forms website, Master's students should use the “Defense and Manuscript Approval Form – Thesis” to document the results of their thesis defense.  The student should initiate the form just before the defense. 

Note: The MSFS program has written guidelines (i.e. a rubric) for the format of the thesis and for the evaluation of the oral presentation.  The scores students earn on these evaluations are meant to reflect the quality of work and ensure that a minimum standard for mastery of the topic is being maintained.  Evaluation scores do not signify completion of degree requirements, meaning that even if the student earns the required scores on the written thesis to achieve a “Satisfactory” ranking for the course, committee member(s) should withhold their signature(s) from the “Thesis Defense and Manuscript Approval” form until all requested revisions to the manuscript are completed by the student and approved by the committee member.   Students who do not meet deadlines for submission of the manuscript to OhioLink and Graduate College forms will not officially graduate at the end of the semester.  In accordance with the Graduate College Graduation Application and Minimum Registration Policy, as long as all submission requirements are met by 5:00 pm on the first day of classes for the following semester, the student does not have to register for another semester of FSCI 6990.  However, the student will not technically graduate from the MSFS program until the end of the following semester.   In order to meet the “5:00 pm first day of classes” deadline and allow sufficient time for upload to OhioLINK, review by the library, and approval by the Graduate College, students should have all revisions to their manuscript approved and their “Thesis Defense and Manuscript Approval” Form signed by all committee members at least seven days prior to that deadline.   

Once your manuscript has been defended, approved by your thesis or dissertation committee (signified by the completion of the “Thesis Defense and Manuscript Approval” Form), and converted to a PDF document, you are ready to upload it to OhioLINK ETD.  Please use caution when completing the abstract section on the OhioLINK ETD database. You may need to replace special characters or formatting before you copy and paste your abstract information.  Be sure to carefully read the instructions during the submission process.   

Once the file has been uploaded to OhioLINK ETD, and the ETD Approval/Submission Form has been received in the Office of Registration and Records, the ETD Coordinator will review the PDF document. If any problems are discovered with your ETD or PDF document, you will be contacted as soon as possible to resolve any issues before approval and final publication is granted. Upon final publication, your electronically submitted thesis or dissertation will become immediately available for download from the OhioLINK ETD web site. The review process may take a few weeks after you have submitted your document to the OhioLINK ETD database.  Once the document has been approved for publication to OhioLINK, changes and modifications to the manuscript cannot be made. 

In the student’s final semester prior to graduation, the research/capstone project shall culminate in submission of a thesis or written report of publishable quality and a presentation of the results of their work orally, in a public forum, before their committee.  Students must submit the final draft of their thesis to their advisor/committee chair by the date specified below.  Deadlines pertaining to the written thesis and presentation/defense, as specified below in this handbook, will be strictly adhered to.  Missing any deadline will result in the student’s progress toward graduation being delayed until at least the next semester.   

1. Selection of advisor, formation of thesis committee (advisor plus two additional members), and completion of the Research Proposal Writing course (FSCI 6790) should take place by the end of the second semester of enrollment. 

• Note: for Accelerated MSFS students, this should take place by the end of the first semester of enrollment in the graduate program.

2. Students will submit the “Thesis Topic Approval Form” upon completion of the Research Proposal Writing course (FSCI 6790).

• Note: This form is due to the Graduate College no later than the last day of classes the semester prior to when the student intends to graduate but should also be completed and before the student registers for FSCI 6990. 

3. Students must register for no fewer than three and no more than six credit hours total of thesis research (FSCI 6990) as part of their degree program. Once students begin their thesis research by registering for FSCI 6990, they must continue to register for FSCI 6990 every semester until graduation.  Students must pass FSCI 6790, submit their Thesis Topic Approval Form, and have approval from their research advisor before registering for FSCI 6990.   

• Note: Generally, all MSFS students will complete at least three semesters of FSCI 6990: two semesters when the bulk of their research is taking place and at least one semester for thesis preparation and defense.   

• Note: Attendance and participation in weekly Research Group Meetings (typically scheduled for Friday afternoons) is required for all MSFS graduate students during the time that they are enrolled in FSCI 6990.

4. Candidate applies for graduation.

• Note: The application for graduation is typically due ~3 months prior to graduation. 

• Note: Per the Graduate College Thesis/Dissertation Policy, a preliminary draft of the completed thesis (defined as a manuscript that answers the stated problem) should be submitted to the thesis committee by the time a student files the application for graduation. The final draft of the thesis (defined as the thesis manuscript with content embodying all corrections requested by the committee) should be submitted to the thesis committee sufficiently prior to the date set for the final examination to allow for a rigorous and careful reading of the manuscript by the committee.

5. Prepare thesis (or research document) for submission to committee and electronic submission to OhioLINK and MSFS program office according to the BGSU Graduate College Thesis/Dissertation Handbook and American Chemical Society (ACS) Style Guide.   

6. Students must submit a draft of their thesis introduction chapter to their Committee Chair for review by the first day of the semester, the semester prior to their defense, i.e. the semester in which they are completing their laboratory research.   

7. Students must submit a draft of their thesis methods chapter to their Committee Chair for review by midterms of the semester prior to their defense, i.e. the semester in which they are completing their laboratory research.   

8. Students must have all laboratory, physical, or other research and data analysis completed and submit a draft of their thesis results, discussion, and conclusion chapter(s) to their Committee Chair for review by the end of the semester, the semester prior to their defense, i.e. the semester in which they are completing their laboratory research.   

• Note: For graduation during Fall, this deadline is the Thursday of the final week of Summer classes.

• Note: For graduation during Spring, this deadline is the last day classes (not finals week) for Fall classes.

• Note: For graduation during Summer, this deadline is the end of the week prior to the last day of classes/two weeks prior to the last day of finals week for Spring classes.

9. Students submit a complete preliminary draft (defined as a manuscript that answers the stated problem) of the thesis manuscript to their Committee Chair for review by the end of the 1st week of the semester in which they plan to defend or approximately 2 months prior to their scheduled defense.

10. Students submit a revised preliminary draft of the completed thesis to the full thesis Committee by the time a student files the application for graduation or ~ 5-6 weeks prior to their scheduled defense.

11. The student, in consultation with the guidance Committee, will have approximately 1 month to revise the thesis manuscript and furnish each member of the thesis Committee with a copy of the revised final draft (defined as the full thesis manuscript with content embodying all corrections requested by the committee) of the thesis manuscript for review, grading, and defense scheduling.     

• Note: Submission of the revised final draft to the Committee triggers a timeline in which the Committee has ~1-2 weeks (depending on the semester) to review and grade the final manuscript.  During this time period, the Chair will convene the Committee without the student present; during this meeting, the Committee will determine defensibility and the grade for the thesis manuscript, decide on further revisions (as necessary), and set a defense date (as applicable).  The Chair will then be responsible for relaying the defense decision and date (as applicable) to the student as well as notifying the student of the need for further revisions to the manuscript (if necessary). 

• Note: If the advisor/committee determines that the “final draft” of the manuscript is not yet defensible, additional revisions will be requested and the student will not defend/graduate that semester.  The student may still receive a “Satisfactory” grade in FSCI 6990 for the semester.  Students who do not meet deadlines for submission of the manuscript to OhioLink and Graduate College forms cannot officially graduate at the end of the semester.  In accordance with the Graduate College Graduation Application and Minimum Registration Policy, as long as all submission requirements are met by 5:00 pm on the first day of classes for the following semester, the student does not have to register for another semester of FSCI 6990.  However, the student will not technically graduate from the MSFS program until the end of the following semester.  In order to meet the 5:00 pm First Day of Class deadline and allow sufficient time for upload to OhioLINK, review by the library, and approval by the Graduate College, students should successfully defend, have all revisions to their manuscript approved and their “Thesis Defense and Manuscript Approval” Form signed by all committee members at least seven days prior to that deadline.  If the 5:00 pm First Day of Class deadline is not met, the student will need to register for another semester of FSCI 6990 in order to complete the thesis manuscript and defense requirements.   

12. Schedule department seminar to present research.  Students should minimally allow 90-minutes for the presentation, audience questions, and defense to their committee.  Seminars are public and must be advertised so anyone who wishes may attend.  Once you have your date, you must send your information to Christina Guinsler, include your name, main advisor’s name, title of your thesis, date and time of your defense, and zoom meeting ID and passcode (if applicable). Christina will then compile this information into an announcement that will be shared with all FSCI grad students and Forensic Science faculty, as well as the Chemistry and Biology departments.  Notification of the seminar must be made to the Graduate College by the Wednesday (at 5:00 pm) before the Friday prior to the defense date.   

• Note: In accordance with the Graduate College Master’s Degree – General Requirements Policy, “Unless there are intellectual property issues involved, the program is required to publicize the date, time, and location of the final oral defense to the campus community two weeks before the final oral examination is to be held.”  

13. Complete the “Thesis/Dissertation Defense and Manuscript Approval Form”. Students should plan to defend a minimum of 1 week prior to this deadline to allow for revisions/approvals.  This form is typically due to the Graduate College ~2 weeks prior to the deadline for thesis submission to OhioLINK. 

• Note: A “Thesis Defense and Manuscript Approval” form, inclusive of all required signatures, must be received in the Graduate College by the published deadline.  According to the directions on the BGSU Graduate College Forms website, Master's students should use the “Defense and Manuscript Approval Form – Thesis” to document the results of their thesis defense.  The student should initiate the form just before the defense. 

14. Student uploads thesis to OhioLINK and submits the final version electronically to the MSFS program office.  The deadline for submission to OhioLINK is typically ~1 month prior to graduation.

Academic Year specific deadlines can be found on the Graduate College website.  However, these dates generally fall around the same time every year.  See the timelines below for MSFS program deadlines of when steps of the thesis/research process need to be completed for the 25-26 and 26-27 Academic year: 

The Graduate College reserves the right to change the dates listed above if nessecary.