Procedure for proposing your specific PhD examination board
When your聽聽considers that your research work and doctoral training programme have been satisfactorily completed, it proposes the members who will sit on your specific PhD examination board for the final stages of your doctoral studies.
The proposal is submitted to the聽, the faculty dean and the rector for approval. The appointment of the PhD examination board is subject to verification, at the Admissions Office, that the PhD student is enrolled as such and has paid tuition fees in full.
The chosen thesis defence format must be determined by the time the examination board has been assembled. There are two options available: the聽聽and the聽. Both take place in either two separate sessions (with a minimum of one month between the two) or one session. Under the special provisions, a subject-specific doctoral committee may impose one of these formats for all thesis defences that fall within its remit.
PhD examination board members and role
The PhD examination board must be composed of at least five members (including the chair and the secretary) who hold PhDs or are acknowledged as having a high level of expertise in the relevant field of the arts or science.
It must include, at minimum, the research聽and external examiners from outside the university, selected for their specific expertise in the subject matter of the thesis.
The chair must be a member of the university鈥檚 academic staff. This role cannot be assumed by the thesis supervisor(s).
The specific PhD examination board is appointed for the final thesis stages (private defence and public defence). Except in unforeseeable circumstances, no changes may be made to the membership of the examination board or to its members鈥� roles.
All members of the examination board are required to be present at a private defence (either in person or via videoconference). A quorum may be set for a public defence. If a member is unable to attend due to unforeseeable circumstances, he/she must send the chair a written report before the session, giving his/her reasoned opinion on the value of the thesis and a list of the questions that he/she wishes to put to the candidate (videoconferencing may also be used).
The travel expenses of external examiners are often quite high. It is therefore advisable, at the earliest possible stage, to examine the various funding options available for the organisation of defences. This should be done by the PhD student in consultation with his/her supervisor(s). The聽聽will be able to provide PhD students with advice and guidance on the organisation of their defence(s).
Where a student is doing a聽, a joint examination board will be appointed for the two institutions concerned and must be approved by each. It will have a balanced composition, comprising members from both institutions and at least one external member. The positions of chair and secretary of the examination board will be divided between the two institutions.