ESS MS students should begin putting together a Master’s Committee as soon as possible after receiving a Preliminary Exam results letter, and aim to have the committee approved and submitted to the Graduate School by the end of Winter Quarter in their second year. The Graduate Program Coordinator, in consultation with the student and appropriate faculty members, appoints a committee of two to four members. The Chair and at least one-half of the total membership must be members of the graduate faculty. Detailed information can be found in the Graduate School Policy 4.2: Supervisory Committee for Graduate Students.

Students should fill out this form to provide the names of proposed committee members directly to the Graduate Program Coordinator.

The MS thesis should give evidence of the ability to do independent research and to present the results in a clear and systematic form. The student should provide the Supervisory Committee with an abstract of the thesis six weeks or more before the end of the quarter in which the Master’s Exam will be taken. The draft must be complete and acceptable to their supervisory committee. Theses must be written according to instructions provided by the Graduate School. A completed and signed Master’s Thesis approval form must be submitted electronically via ETD with the Master’s Thesis.

Students submit Thesis electronically to the graduate school directly.

Examples of theses written by graduate students in ESS can be found in the UW Library Archives.

A non-thesis option is identical in every respect to the thesis option except that instead of writing a thesis, the student will write a research paper. This paper may have coauthors, but the student must be first author. This paper must be in a form that it is suitable for submission to a peer-reviewed scientific journal. The Supervisory Committee will determine whether the research paper is sufficient for conferral of a Master’s Degree. Master’s project papers are often submitted to scholarly journals.

The student must submit a Masters Degree request through their MyGrad Program Student portal. The request may be submitted any time during the quarter, but should be submitted before finals week. The filing of the application is the responsibility solely of the student. The student must be registered either as a full-time or part-time student at the University for the quarter in which the degree is conferred.

The final examination for the MS degree consists of an oral presentation defense of the thesis/project paper and an examination by the Supervisory Committee. The exam is not necessarily restricted to the immediate thesis topic. The thesis/project paper must have been approved by the Supervisory Committee before the student can arrange for the final oral presentation. The exam must be taken no later than the last day of the quarter in which the degree is to be conferred. After satisfactory completion of the exam, the Supervisory Committee will sign a committee signature form attesting that the student has passed the exam. If the exam is not satisfactory, the Committee may recommend to the Graduate School that the candidate be allowed to take another exam after further study.

1. Complete the course requirements as specified by both ESS and the Graduate School. The most up to date requirements can always be found on the Graduate Schools webpage for Masters degree requirements.
2. Successful passage of a preliminary exam at the MS or PhD level
3. Consult with the Graduate Program Coordinator to select a Supervisory Committee.
4. Student and Supervisory Committee select a thesis problem or research focus.
5. Student submits application form for MS degree during the first two weeks of the quarter in which the degree is to be conferred.
6. Student writes thesis or non thesis manuscript in consultation with Faculty Advisor and Supervisory Committee and presents an abstract to them at least six weeks before the end of the quarter.
7. Student gives oral presentation and is examined by their MS Committee.
8. Student deposits one copy of the approved thesis/paper in Department Office in exchange for prior to the end of the quarter in which the degree is to be conferred. A recommendation to graduate will not be submitted until the thesis/paper is received. The Master’s Degree Request must be filed according to posted quarterly dates and deadlines.

We recommend students sign up for 18 credits a quarter, with excess credits being used for either research (ESS 600) or Master’s Thesis (ESS 700). This ensures that most students will more than meet these requirements.