# Academics |Candidacy & Defense

**Source**: https://graduate.rice.edu/academics/candidacy-defense-thesis-submission/candidacy
**Parent**: https://graduate.rice.edu/

## **Candidacy**

Please use the [General Announcements](http://ga.rice.edu "General Announcements") as your guide for all things related to candidacy, defense and thesis submission. Information for [doctoral degrees](https://ga.rice.edu/graduate-students/academic-policies-procedures/regulations-procedures-doctoral-degrees/#text) can be found here, and [master's degrees](https://ga.rice.edu/graduate-students/academic-policies-procedures/regulations-procedures-thesis-masters-degrees/#text) can be found here. These links include university information on:

- Graduation Requirements
- Time boundaries\*
- Time to degree
- Approval of Candidacy
- Thesis Committee
- Defense Announcement
- Thesis Defense
- Thesis Submission
- Additional Requirements

*\*Individual time boundaries for candidacy and defense can be found in [Esther](https://esther.rice.edu)*

**Candidacy** marks a midpoint in the course of graduate education. Achieving candidacy for the Ph.D. implies that a graduate student has:

- completed required course work
- passed required exams to demonstrate his/her comprehensive grasp of the subject area
- demonstrated the ability for clear oral and written communication
- shown the ability to carry on scholarly work in his/her subject area.

Requirements for achieving candidacy for the thesis master's degree are determined at the departmental level. Each thesis student must petition for candidacy, and cannot take the final oral examination until the Dean of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies approves their candidacy. Forms related to candidacy and defense can be found [here](https://graduate.rice.edu/academics/forms). Thesis format guidelines and templates can be found [here](https://graduate.rice.edu/academics/candidacy-defense-thesis-submission/thesisformat).

When filling in the candidacy petition form, enter the full names (the name they publish under) for your director/committee chair and all committee members. Nicknames or initials are not to be used.

Students who are unable to meet the time boundary must submit [an extension of candidacy request](https://graduate.rice.edu/academics/forms) to the Office of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies or risk dismissal. A $125 reinstatement fee will be imposed on students who have exceeded their time boundaries. Information on time boundaries can be found in the [General Announcements](https://ga.rice.edu/graduate-students/academic-policies-procedures/).