External examiner

How it is used

Roles vary across institutions and types of degree.

Example sentences

1. The external examiner asked how the thesis extended earlier studies.

   An outside academic assesses the claimed contribution.

2. We nominated an external examiner with expertise in the study's methods.

   Relevant expertise informs examiner selection.

Common collocations

• appoint an external examiner
• external examiner report

Related terms

• thesis defenseAn oral examination in which a candidate presents a thesis and answers questions from a committee of examiners, who then decide the result.
• thesis committeeA group of academics, including the supervisor, who guide and assess a graduate student's thesis and usually examine it at the final defense.

More terms: Graduate Study and Supervision

• supervisor
• PhD
• postgraduate
• research proposal
• grant
• research assistant
• faculty
• qualifying exam
• coursework
• doctoral candidate
• graduate student
• doctoral supervision