PhD theses are supposed to push the boundary of knowledge. I'd posit that if it doesn't it shouldn't be accepted and the student be sent back to his or her res

PhD theses are supposed to push the boundary of knowledge. I'd posit that if it doesn't it shouldn't be accepted and the student be sent back to his or her research. That being said, sometimes pushing the boundary of knowledge is exploring new processes to do the same old thing. We shouldn't downplay that; those are genuine contributions.