The thing is, sometimes, research does not stop at the dissertation. In fact, this is what happens to more research topics. Just because one has written a dissertation doesn't mean that the research topic has ended at the final chapter. In fact, more often, it is the case when one realizes that there are more things to do as a follow-up after the dissertation.
The question then is how to delineate the dissertation. There are ticking clocks that are imposed by the Graduate School. There is also a limited amount of resources. Hence, one has to decide where the dissertation ends and where the life after the dissertation begins.
This question is now my next topic of discussion with the adviser. I can continue on working on this topic for quite a bit, in fact, doing the experiments I have done raised more questions than I originally anticipated, but I also need to graduate. We'll see what happens when we meet again.
In the meantime, there are experimental results that I have to explain.
