The schedule of state examinations and dissertation defence

The path to graduation from the PhD programme is lined with a series of "finalising" study events - the State Doctoral Examination, the Internal Defence and the final Dissertation Defence.   

Doctoral State Examination

At the beginning of the the 5th semester of studies, students register for the Doctoral State Examination and undergo it. 

Please note that the prerequisite for the PhD examination is the completion of the course RLDrA09 Draft Article! We have introduced this prerequisite as a checkpoint to remind students that they need to submit their journal article for review well in advance so that they more easily meet the requirement of its actual publication before the defence.

Advanced version of the dissertation, mock defence and final version of the dissertation

In the 6th semester of studies, students register for RLDrA12 Doctoral Seminar IV: Advanced Dissertation Draft and submit an advanced version of their dissertation for mock defense during the exam period.

In the 7th semester of studies, students register for RLDrA14 Doctoral Seminar V: Internal Review and Dissertation Submission. In this course, the supervisor and a designated internal reviewer read the thesis and give feedback to students regarding the completion of the thesis at the mock defense.

The moc defence takes place physically, online or in a hybrid mode, and follows the form of the actual defense.

The student then completes the dissertation and submits the final version by January 31 (fall semester) or August 31 (spring semester). (These are mandatory dates for the study programme, it is not just a question of requirements of a specific course.)

Dissertation defence

In the last semester of study, at a date determined by the chair of the Study Programme, the dissertation defense is held.