2 ms·

It probably depends on the country, but I'm from France and the member of the committee were known when I was almost done with the writing of my dissertation. I

• analog31 12y ago
  I'm sure it does depend on the country, discipline and maybe even the specific university. I studied physics at a second tier research university in the US. After finishing my coursework, I had to pass a comprehensive exam, and present my thesis proposal to a committee. Generally speaking, your proposal committee became your defense committee, and they were supposed to keep an eye on your progress, but usually didn't. In addition, the process evolved to make it extremely difficult to flunk your thesis defense. First of all, your advisor had to sign a form saying that he believed the thesis to be defensible. Then the committee had to sign the same form before a defense could be scheduled. The defense was expected to be practically a formality. For these reasons, a student flunking their defense would actually reflect extremely poorly on the advisor. Now the committee members might make it hot for the student, for instance demanding some additional work or analysis before allowing the defense to proceed. In some disciplines, it may have served as a final check to make sure the student had actually done the work themselves. There were stories floating around of students who faked their thesis and were not caught until the defense stage.