After completing the research proposal successfully, the PhD in Computer Science candidate must conduct the necessary research and publish the results in a PhD dissertation. The dissertation must be submitted to the thesis defense committee two weeks prior to the oral defense. The oral presentation involves a public 45-minute presentation by the candidate followed by an unspecified period during which the committee will ask questions. After the question and answer period, the candidate will be asked to leave the room and the committee will determine if the candidate has passed or failed the Thesis Defense. The candidate will be granted one more chance to pass the final defense if they fail it the first time.