Steps to Graduation
Students who have completed all degree requirements in both their program and their school and who have observed the rules and regulations of the University, including the Honor Code, may graduate after completing the following steps. A transcript of the applicant’s previous academic record, detailing the content of his or her baccalaureate degree, must be on file with the Central Admissions Office.
Candidates who do not receive a degree in the semester for which their application has been approved must renew their application at the beginning of the semester in which candidacy for the degree is desired. Candidates who find that they will not be able to receive their degree in the semester for which their application was approved must remove their name from the degree list by May 1 for spring graduation, August 1 for summer graduation and December 1 for fall graduation.
IMPORTANT: Students must be enrolled or on affiliated status during the semester in which they plan to graduate.
Doctoral Degree
Doctoral students must apply for their degrees in SIS by the deadline for the term in which they plan to graduate:
- Fall – October 1
- Spring- February 1
- Summer – July 1
Students must verify in SIS that the academic requirements for their program have been fulfilled. Students are also responsible for verifying the accuracy of their current University of Virginia transcripts before degree conferral. Errors identified after graduation will not be corrected.
Doctoral students should submit their dissertation titles to their BIMS Administrators before defending. For Spring graduation, dissertation titles should be submitted to the BIMS administrator by March 15 for the commencement program.
Doctoral students must obtain signatures on the Final Exam form at the conclusion of their defense, submit this form to their BIMS administrator by the due dates below, and then proceed with the following steps:
- Fall – December 1
- Spring- May 1
- Summer – August 1
Doctoral students must complete the Survey of Earned Doctorates online in advance of submitting the dissertation. The survey may be completed at any time during the term in which the student will graduate but the due dates are the same as for the Final Exam form.
Doctoral students must upload the final, approved version of the dissertation to the University Library’s digital repository, also known as LIBRA, by the same due dates as for the Final Exam form.
Information regarding the repository, the submission process and copyright law is available through the LIBRA web site. Please note the following:
- The title page of the dissertation should be formatted according to the approved template. Signatures of the dissertation committee members should appear only on the final examination form. These signatures should not appear on the title page of the document that is uploaded to LIBRA.
- Students are responsible for ensuring that they upload the final, approved version of their thesis. Documents submitted to LIBRA cannot be deleted or corrected.
- The thesis title submitted to the department in step three above will appear in the LIBRA upload interface. If the title listed in LIBRA does not match the final title of the thesis, the student must stop the upload process and inform his or her departmental graduate administrator of the correct title. The thesis title listed in SIS, LIBRA and the student’s transcript should be identical.
LIBRA will accept the thesis as a single PDF document up to 100MB. Students also have the option to upload supplemental files.
Formatting Requirements
There are no formatting requirements or restrictions; however, students should adhere to traditional physical standards if they wish to purchase bound copies from UVA Printing and Copying Services.
Master’s Degree for Doctoral Students
Doctoral Students applying for a master’s degree must apply for their degrees in SIS by the deadline below for the term in which they plan to graduate and they must also inform their BIMS Administrator that they plan to do so. The degree you are applying for is MS in “Biological and Physical Sciences”. When you apply online, it will not give you the masters’ degree option. Just apply for the PhD and then the SOM Office of Student Affairs will change it when they see your Master’s Degree Completion Form.
- Fall – October 1
- Spring- February 1
- Summer – July 1
Students must verify in SIS that the academic requirements for their program have been fulfilled. Students are also responsible for verifying the accuracy of their current University of Virginia transcripts before degree conferral. Errors identified after graduation will not be corrected.
After the Qualifying Exam or Final Exam form, students must obtain signatures on the Masters Degree Completion form and submit this form to their BIMS Administrator by the due dates below.
- Fall – December 1
- Spring- April 1
- Summer – July 15
Master’s students whose degree requires the submission of a thesis must upload the final, approved version of the dissertation to the University Library’s digital repository, also known as LIBRA, by the following dates:
- Fall – December 1
- Spring – May 1
- Summer – August 1
More information can be found above under step 6 for doctoral students.
Master’s students whose degree does not require the submission of a thesis may upload the final, approved version of the thesis to the University Library’s digital repository, also known as LIBRA, by the same deadlines. The student must inform their BIMS Administrator that they want to upload their thesis to LIBRA so that the optional upload may be activated.