Why do I need to give 8 weeks of notice to Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies before I submit my dissertation?

This notice enables us to reach out to prospective External Examiners in advance, with the aim of having an examiner confirmed before your dissertation is submitted to Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies for review. External Examiners are busy people. If we can give them advanced notice, it is often easier for them to accept our invitation. We have found that if we give these busy experts too much or too little notice then they tend to decline the invitation.

If you are unable to provide the requested 8 weeks advanced notice you will likely experience delays in the later stages of the examination process. The external review cannot begin until we have an approved External Examiner confirmed to review your dissertation. External Examiners are always given at least 4 weeks to review your work and submit a written report. To ensure your dissertation receives a thorough and comprehensive review, we will never ask an External Examiner to submit their report within a shortened timeframe.