Thesis Committee

A thesis committee is sometimes also called a dissertation committee and it’s basically that committee which supervises a student’s dissertation. The committee usually consists of an adviser or a primary supervisor and another two, three or even four committee members. The committee supervises the progress the student makes with his or her dissertation and can sometimes be the same as the examining committee, although in some universities there is a different one that will examine the thesis. The members of the committee all usually have a PhD in their fields, which are related or identical to the field in which the thesis itself falls. You will never get to choose the entire committee by yourself. You may choose your adviser and in conjunction with him or her you can choose the members of the committee, if the university rules are not different in which case the committee may be chosen by your supervisor or by the dean or it may be randomly formed of professors with a PhD in that field.