ZJU grad students embrace 'dissertation-at-home' format

COVID-19 has brought up many unexpected challenges to our students. For graduate students nearing the end of programs, they have to remotely present an effective and engaging dissertation defense. 

Recently, Zhejiang University has successfully completed all virtual dissertation defense scheduled for spring 2020 semester. A total of 2,293 postgraduates presented their oral defenses in a remote way.

YANG Lei, a graduate student of the School of Mechanical Engineering studying micro electromechanical systems (MEMS) piezoelectric hydrophone, was the first one  experiencing this‘dissertation-at-home’format.  

“I heard about the possibility of virtual dissertation defense early February and was excited to embrace the idea of a remote video conference for the presentation,” YANG said. “I am happy to be able to graduate as scheduled. Meanwhile, I was a little bit worried about how to work with this novel way” .

“YANG’s presentation showed that even under these unprecedented conditions an excellent defense is possible,” said his adviser, XIE Jin, professor of mechanical engineering. “He delivered with a calm demeanor and presented his large body of work in a concise and pedagogical manner.”

SONG Huijie, 2017 graduate of the College of Chemical and Biological Engineering, also said this is an "unforgettable lifetime experience" and virtual defense let her to deal with the questions more confidently.

At early March the University has formulated virtual thesis and dissertation filing guidelines for students and advisors. Colleges and departments set up a specialized oral defense committee and implemented oral defense work in a meticulous manner in an effort to ensure the quality of degree conferring. Also the Information Technology Center provided solid technical support to ensure the stability of the remote oral defense platform.