What to Do After You Defend Your Thesis/Dissertation

Finishing and Submitting

After you have defended your thesis or dissertation and made any final revisions, it is time to complete your final paperwork and upload your final document to D-Scholarship!

Paperwork

Check with your school and department for any additional requirements. Click here to view school-specific requirements and contact information.

Required paperwork for all students (All paperwork should be in US Standard Letter format (8.5 x 11 inches): 

  • ETD Approval Form: Requires signatures from your committee approving the final document on the first page and your thesis/dissertation advisor's signature on the second page. 
  • ETD Patent Form (if applicable)
  • Receipt for ETD processing fee (pay at Student Payment Center, G7 Thackeray)
  • To pay the ETD processing fee: Email payments@pitt.edu with your name, student ID, , and the name of the fee (ETD Processing fee) you would like to add to your student account. The Student Payment Center will post the fee to PittPAY so you can pay it online. PittPAY will email you a receipt that you can forward to the ETD Coordinator for your school.

Paperwork specific for Dissertations:

  • Proof of completion of the Survey of Earned Doctorates, either as an e-mail confirmation or certificate of completion. You can obtain instructions on how to complete the online Survey of Earned Doctorates from the student services staff of your graduate school.
  • Proof of completion of the Association of American Universities Data Exchange (AAUDE) Doctoral Exit Survey. You can obtain instructions on how to complete the AAUDE Exit Survey from the student services staff of your graduate school.
  • If material copyrighted by others is included in your dissertation, attach two copies of the copyright permission letter(s) from the copyright owner(s). Such letter(s) should state that ProQuest may supply copies on demand. For more information, see the Copyright Primer and information on How to Get Copyright Permission. 
  • If your dissertation contains executable software owned by another party, attach two copies of a letter from the owner of the software license granting permission to use it. Such letter(s) should state that ProQuest may supply copies on demand. For more information, see How to Get Copyright Permission. 

Paperwork specific for theses (Masters and Undergraduate Honors College): 

  • If material copyrighted by others is included in your thesis, attach the copyright permission letter(s) from the copyright owner(s). For more information, see the Copyright Primer and information on How to Get Copyright Permission. 
  • If your thesis contains executable software owned by another party, attach a letter from the owner of the software license granting permission to use it. For more information, see How to Get Copyright Permission. 
  • One (1) copy of the title page. (Undergraduate Honors College only)
  • Two (2) copies of the abstract (350 words maximum) initialed by the committee chair in the upper right corner. (Undergraduate Honors College only)

Send your required paperwork to the student services office at your school. Remember to check on school-specific requirements and be aware of your due dates! 

How to submit the ETD to D-Scholarship

Once you have produced a PDF version of your thesis/dissertation, you need to submit it to the University’s institutional repository, D-Scholarship@Pitt.  Once it’s approved it will be archived there and ultimately, become freely available on the web.  

For full instructions on ETD Submisison, please see our guide on D-Scholarship@Pitt.