Information on the Preliminary Defence of Doctoral Dissertations
Before submitting the final version of their dissertation, doctoral candidates are required to present their work for a preliminary defence. The purpose of the preliminary defence is to determine whether the dissertation is suitable for submission to a public defence. To this end, the Doctoral School appoints a committee of experts whose task is, on the one hand, to acknowledge the merits of the dissertation and, on the other, to identify any shortcomings and, through critical comments and recommendations, assist the doctoral candidate in producing a dissertation of the highest possible academic standard that meets the relevant scholarly requirements.
The doctoral candidate must consult the doctoral programme regarding the date and organisation of the preliminary defence to ensure that it is scheduled at an appropriate time in relation to the dissertation submission deadline.
The preliminary defence committee consists of at least five scholars holding academic degrees, including two who are independent of the Doctoral School. The committee comprises a chair, two reviewers, and two additional members. It is also advisable to appoint a substitute member in case an unexpected problem arises concerning the participation of any committee member. The chair of the committee must be a core member of the Doctoral School. Official minutes must be taken of the preliminary defence.
In its evaluation, the committee must consider three main criteria:
- The academic quality of the dissertation.
- Whether the dissertation complies with the standards of academic integrity.
- The doctoral candidate's scholarly achievements.
Preparation for the Preliminary Defence
1. Submission of the dissertation and plagiarism check
The doctoral candidate submits their completed dissertation (or a version that is at least 90% complete), approved by their supervisor, to the secretary of the Doctoral School, who forwards it to the University of Debrecen University and National Library (DEENK) for a text similarity check.
The text similarity check, also known as a plagiarism check, may only be initiated by the Doctoral School. DEENK sends the results of the check to the secretary of the Doctoral School of History and Ethnology (TNDI), who forwards them to the doctoral candidate and their supervisor for review.
The doctoral candidate and their supervisor must each submit a declaration concerning the results of the check. The doctoral candidate must examine all instances of text similarity identified in the dissertation (if any) and prepare an itemised list explaining them. The supervisor must declare that the dissertation was prepared in accordance with the previously established research plan and in compliance with the standards of academic integrity.
Both declarations must be submitted to the secretary of the Doctoral School in original hard-copy and electronic formats.
Doctoral Candidate's and Supervisor's Declarations (downloadable in DOC format)
2. Verification of publications
The doctoral candidate must upload their publications to the DEENK publication database (Tudóstér). On the basis of the publications uploaded to the database, the Library prepares and certifies the candidate's publication list. This document, known as the iDEA certificate, is issued to both the doctoral candidate and the Doctoral School.
https://tudoster.unideb.hu/en/igenyles
3. Submission of additional documents
The doctoral candidate must then submit the following documents to the secretary of the Doctoral School:
- Academic CV (What Should an Academic CV Include?)
- PDF copies of the four publications considered by the candidate to be their most significant scholarly contributions. These must be submitted in a format corresponding to an offprint, meaning that they must include not only the publication itself but also the title page, publication details (imprint), and table of contents of the journal or edited volume in which it appeared.
- Thesis booklet in English (Content and Formatting Requirements for the Thesis Booklet).
Thus, the following documents are required to initiate the preliminary defence procedure:
- The dissertation.
- The doctoral candidate's and supervisor's declarations.
- The iDEA certificate.
- An academic CV.
- Four scholarly publications.
- A thesis booklet in English.
4. Appointment of the committee and organisation of the preliminary defence
Once all the required documents have been submitted to the secretary of the Doctoral School, and subject to the approval of the Head of the Doctoral School, the secretary invites the members of the preliminary defence committee to review the dissertation and subsequently organises the defence.
Committee members must be allowed two months to prepare their reviews. This period must be taken into account when scheduling the preliminary defence.