In this section: Thesis criteria and deadlines. 聽For writing tips, visit聽Student Resources.
The thesis聽is original scholarship and makes a distinct contribution to knowledge. It聽shows familiarity with previous work in the field, and聽demonstrates the ability to plan and carry out research, organize findings, and defend the approach and conclusions in a scholarly manner.听It is succinct and reflects the standards of the discipline, recognizing the value of music and music research beyond the 鈥渁cademia鈥�.
Below you will find thesis information for music students. 聽For more comprehensive guidelines, visit 不良研究所's GPS website.听
Thesis Evaluation Criteria
The thesis document will be reviewed by an expert from outside the University (external examiner), and a Schulich School of Music faculty member in discipline expertise (internal examiner).
Each of the following criteria are ranked on the following scale, Excellent, Very Good, Good, Satisfactory, Fail.
- Evidence of originality and creativity;
- Resourcefulness, alertness to significance of findings;
- Diligence, care, technical skill in the research;
- Usefulness of the results to other workers in the field; value as a contribution to聽knowledge;
- Grasp of subject, powers of criticism and general adequacy in review of previous work;
- Quality of presentation (coherence, lucidity, grammar, style, freedom from typographical聽errors).
Dissertation Committee
The committee consists of a minimum of two professors - your supervisor and one other.
Format of the Dissertation Proposal
- The dissertation proposal should include the following sections (2 single-spaced pages, twelve-point font, 2 cm margins):
- Introduction / Motivation
- Previous Work
- Proposed Research / Methodology
- Contributions / Summary
- References (1 single-spaced page, twelve-point font, 2 cm margins)
- Table of Contents (1 page, twelve-point font, 2 cm margins)
- Submit your thesis proposal form (
PhD/D.Mus. Dissertation Proposal Form)
The proposal is approved by the supervisor and then submitted to the faculty members of the Music Technology Area by the deadlines indicated below.
Thesis Dissertation Proposal Deadline
Submit your thesis proposal form and proposal to the Area, after approval by the supervisor, at any time.
Evaluation of the Proposal
The proposal will be evaluated by all professors of the Area. Corrections and suggested revisions, if necessary, will be communicated to the candidate by each professor and this process may have several iterations, until the document is deemed acceptable. At that point, the Area Coordinator will sign the MA Thesis Proposal Form and the candidate will submit the form and proposal to the Music Graduate Studies Office (Graduatestudies.music [at] mcgill.ca).
For Ph.D. proposals only, it will be standard practice for Graduate Studies to circulate the approved proposals to the Graduate Music Research Sub-Committee members, so that further comments and suggestions may be offered to the candidate.
Thesis Submission Timeline
| Graduation date | Initial submission | Thesis evaluation semester | Final submission deadline |
| May/June | December 15 | Winter | April 15 |
| Fall (October, November) | April 15 | Summer | August 15 |
| Winter (no convocation) | August 15 | Fall | 聽December 15 |
Initial Submission Steps
Your supervisor may find some useful tips for selecting examiners on the Graduate Supervision website.
- At least two months before initial submission:
Students must submit their 鈥淚ntent to Submit Thesis鈥� through myThesis.
You will be asked to provide your thesis title, abstract, length of thesis and date of submission.
You will also be asked to nominate examiners (please discuss the examiners with your supervisor(s) prior to submitting the names). Once this is submitted, the request will be sent to your supervisor(s) and Associate Dean of Graduate Studies in Music for approval. Then an invitation to the examiner will be sent through myThesis for the examiner to accept or decline. This whole approval process must be completed prior to your submission date.
Doctoral students can access myThesis through the GPS website. Detailed guidelines and an instructional video are available on this page.
Verify MyProgress to ensure that all components of the program are complete or components of the program are marked as 鈥淐omplete鈥� or 鈥淚n Progress鈥�.
- Day of submission:
Submit your thesis through the submission page on myThesis on the date submitted in your 鈥淚ntent to Submit Thesis鈥� form. Your supervisor(s) and Associate Dean of Graduate Studies in Music will be advised of your submission and they will be asked to approve it.
Final Submission Steps
- Review the examiner's comments with your supervisor and make revisions if required. Consult the Associate Dean (Graduate Studies) and the GPS website if the thesis has not been passed.
- Submit online as per instructions by the date in the above table.
- Notify your supervisor(s) that this has been completed. 聽Your supervisor will review and issue the final confirmation.
- Check out the convocation website for further details, and prepare to celebrate!
Keys for a Successful Oral Defense
Many helpful hints about content, developing the right mindset, and practice can be found on the Graduate Supervision website. 聽ProDeans,聽who oversee the defenses, remind us that they come hoping to hear some music!
Colleagues' Tips for Surviving the Thesis Journey
- Begin using a bibliography such as endnotes or Zotero at the beginning of your research process.
- Decide if you are doing a chapter- or manuscript based thesis early. Know the elements comprising the final document and review periodically in light of the evaluation criteria.听
- Take time for fun, nourishment and living life鈥攅ach day, each week, each month!
- Assemble all software packages that your work will require at the outset (e.g., statistical or other analytical tools, notational, word processing, bibliography, illustration tools, etc.). Write a short 鈥渢est鈥� document and apply the 不良研究所 software package formatting to understand style implications and any potential challenges for your work (e.g., margins, fonts, headings, etc.).听
- Review the Schulich School of Music Style Guide pertaining to style manuals and music.
- Attend a concert, a movie, or some other live cultural event at least once a week.
- Keep a file tracking the style choices you make from the very beginning.
- Assemble musical examples, figures, and illustrations in a separate file, even in preliminary sketch form, keeping an overall tracking record that details what each requires for final thesis inclusion (e.g., formatting, copyright release and permissions, etc.). Check and update the tracking file periodically. Use the talents of others to format musical examples as a major time-saver and to facilitate proof-reading.
- Consider copyright practicalities at the outset. Collect written permission to use materials as soon as possible.
- Attend the thesis defenses and lecture-recitals of your colleagues 鈥� enjoy in particular the wine!
- Develop a schedule with your supervisors and other dissertation committee members. Think of each marker 鈥� not as a deadline, but as a checking in moment, a reporting that always involves some element of writing even if it involves only two lines of summary that will eventually become the basis for determining the 鈥渉eader鈥� of an outline, the first line under the header, or a working hypothesis. This way, the research and the writing can become inter-connected and benefit from the clarity of thought and direction that each provides the other. For other helpful hints on how to develop the schedule as you define your topic, see here. Recognize that any step involving human interactions will require more time than anticipated. Plan well ahead when organizing trips to archives, festivals, research labs, etc.
- Share the results of your work in a variety of formal and informal settings throughout its evolution, giving at least one presentation a year. The more people you share with, academic and non-academic, musical, non-musical, the clearer the expression becomes! /gradsupervision/timelines/emergence-independent-re...
- Draw on the resources of the whole Schulich School of Music Team and beyond: become long and lasting friends with the Library Faculty, attend grant writing sessions for funding tips, the labs of other supervisors, and call upon the expertise of Prof. Lena Weman, the Associate Dean of Graduate Studies in Music, and Helene Drouin, Graduate Studies for questions small or large, research or procedural, or if you are merely feeling the pressure and angst of this and that. Writing assistance may also be obtained through Graphos.
- For other helpful hints, see the Graduate Supervision website. Know that usually you are not the most effective proof-reader, that it takes much longer than you ever imagined, and that at least once, the computer, the electricity, the plumbing or some other critical disaster will occur at the most inopportune moment.
- And did we say, take time for fun, nourishment and living life鈥攅ach day, each week, each month!
Other Resources
Tools for writing and research (including the Schulich School of Music Style Sheet)
