The thesis defense is an oral examination on the contents of the thesis and its relation to other work in the same area. This is followed by a round of questions by the examiners. There may be questions about specific points in the thesis, and also about the importance of the research, and what further work it suggests. A thesis defense is public, in the sense that people other than the candidate and the members of the Board of Examiners may be present for the lecture. Such people leave the room prior to the vote.
Voting is as for the oral candidacy examination.
As for the oral candidacy examination, the candidate is informed of the outcome immediately. After a successful defense, the candidate may still need to make some minor changes in the thesis. Then the final version of the thesis, signed by the Thesis Director, is submitted to the Graduate School. Getting the thesis read and approved, scheduling the thesis defense, making corrections, and having the thesis accepted by the Graduate School, is a time-consuming process which requires strict adherence to the timetables set by the Department of Mathematics and the Graduate School. The thesis must be submitted to the readers well before the Graduate School deadline for submission of theses.