Indroduction

After successfully defending my Bachelor thesis, many people around me began asking how does the process of thesis defense look like. So, I decided to write this article to give you a clear overview of this procedure. I will also share my own experience defending a Bachelor thesis at Warsaw University of Technology.

Hopefully, this guide will help you understand what to expect and how to prepare for your own defense.

Prerequisites for thesis defense

Once a student finishes writing their thesis (document) and passes all the required subjects, there are a few steps to complete before actual defense. Here is a quick breakdown:

1. Accept data policy
   The university needs some personal information to prepare your diploma. This step is simple and you can do it through your online student university system.
2. Preparing diploma supplement
   This document includes your grades and other achievements such as scholarships, exchange programs, internships or involvement in student organizations.
3. Checking thesis for plagiarism
   You can either ask your thesis supervisor to run the check or upload the document yourself using the university’s anti-plagiarism system.
4. Supervisor’s review
   Your thesis supervisor must submit a formal review through the university platform.
5. Reviewer’s evaluation
   Another faculty memeber (your thesis supervisor chooses) will also review your thesis and upload their evaluation.
6. Preparing for post-presentation questions
   At my university – Warsaw University of Technology, the exam board asks 3 general questions after your presentation. Your supervisor may help you prepare by suggesting sample questions.

The actual thesis defense

My Bachelor thesis defense had 2 parts – a short presentation (5-8 minutes) and 3 general post-presentation questions. The presentation should be concise – no more than 8 slides, including the title and closing slide.

After presenting, the exam board may ask follow-up questions. Then, they will move on to the general questions based on topics covered during your studies.

Post presentation

During my Bachelor of Computer Science defence, the exam board asked me the following questions:

1. What is a hash data structure?
   Short answer: Data stucture that allow for a fast data lookup. It relies on hash function, which converts any data into a fixed -size string – essentially creating “ID” for that data. If two different inputs produce the same hash – its a collision. To solve that problem, techniques like linear probing or double hashing are used. Example of real hash functions: MD5, NTLM, SHA-3 etc.
2. What are some popular display screen technologies? Which one will give “true black” colour?
   Short answer: There are 2 main types of display technologies – LCD and OLED.
   * LCD uses external LED diodes as backlight. These lights pass through liquid crystals to produce images on screen.
   * OLED uses organic LEDs that emit their own light. When displaying black colour they simply turn off. As a result we have a deep black and higher contrast. So, OLED is the one that delivers “true black”.
3. Describe briefly differences between existing Wifi generations.
   Short answer: There are currently 7 generations of Wifi. All of them have different speeds (thoughput), frequency they operate at (2.4 GHz, 5GHz and now 6GHz) and ability to penetrate objects e.g. walls.
   Newer generations typically offer speeds, but may not pass well through walls (objects). Most of them are backward compatible with older frequencies.

Getting results

After answering the questions, you will leave the exam room. During that short time, the exam board dicusses your grade. This usually takes 1-3 minutes. Then, you are invited back in to receive your result.
If you pass – congratulations! You are officially a Bachelor graduate!

Your diploma should be ready within one month. Keep in mind that the day you defend your thesis is also the day you lose student status, which means you are no longer get student discounts 🙁
That is of course if you don’t plan on doing another degree.

Final thoughts

And that’s the overview of defending Bachelors at Warsaw University of Technology. I hope this guide gave you a clear picture of the process and helped you feel more prepared.