24 senior mathematicians at Harvard summit: PhDs should no longer hinge on dissertations
alejandroll10 · x · 2026-09-27
Via Terence Tao's blog: the Summit on PhD Math Education in the Age of AI, held Sept 17–18, 2026 and jointly hosted by Harvard's math department and CMSA, gathered 24 senior mathematicians plus PhD students and postdocs to rethink doctoral training as AI reshapes thinking-based work.
Core recommendation: since AI can now help write dissertations, the PhD should no longer be awarded mainly on the dissertation text. Instead, assessment should center on in-person, written, and oral exams. The retweeting author (a PhD holder) agrees the defense should have been the real test all along — anyone can polish a document.
This is a first draft of recommendations to be refined over coming months, with public feedback invited via blog comments or email, plus a direct message of support to students weighing their futures under this uncertainty.
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