After completing the Candidacy Examination successfully, the PhD in Computer Science candidate must prepare a thesis proposal that outlines, in detail, the specific problems that will be solved in the PhD dissertation. The quality of the proposal should be at the level of, for example, a National Science Foundation grant proposal. The candidate is responsible for sending the research proposal to the committee two weeks before the oral presentation. The PhD in Computer Science committee need not be the same as the Candidacy Examination committee, but it follows the same requirements. The oral presentation involves a 30-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 research proposal has been accepted. The Thesis Proposal examination must be passed no later than two years after advancement to candidacy.