AIM Thesis Defense When both advisers are satisfied that a student has done sufficient original research for the Ph.D., the student prepares the dissertation in accordance with the detailed regulations described in the Graduate School's Dissertation Handbook. The two faculty advisers will then read the dissertation and each submit a report (1 to 2 pages) to the AIM Doctoral Committee. In addition, the student must choose a Dissertation Committee. This has at least four members, two of whom are the advisers of the student's thesis. Since AIM is an interdisciplinary program no cognate member is required. There is some flexibility in the choice of the dissertation committee. For more details please see http://www.rackham.umich.edu/StudentInfo/Publications/GSH/html/contents.html (Section 2.1.2.2). Once the committee is selected, the student must complete a Dissertation Committee Form. This form can be obtained from Mathematics Graduate Office. This form should be submitted to Rackham six months before the dissertation defense. The student must provide each member of the committee a copy of the PhD thesis approximately 2 weeks from the date of the defense. Each member must provide the Rackham graduate school an evaluation of the thesis. On the date of the thesis defense, at least 4 members of the committee must be present. One of the co-advisers and the cognate member must be present. For the thesis defense the student should prepare an oral presentation that is approximately 45 minutes in length and plan for a wide range of questions. The entire examination usually takes about one hour.