Degree Review Examination

Ph.D. candidates in the 5th PhD year should take the “Degree Review Examination” in INS annual retreat. Students can apply for early or late exam. However, the early/late application requires the consent form thesis advisors. Please note that there will be NO EXCEPTIONS to students in the 6th PhD year.

1. Students are required to submit the application form, two recommendation letters from thesis advisors, thesis title, abstract, and CV including other scholarly achievements (publication/award/oral presentation etc) to TIGP-INS office by October 1st. The completed thesis draft should be submitted by December 1st.
   Results from other contributors should be fully credited during presentation and listed in the acknowledgement slide.
2. Candidates who failed the examination can apply for a re-examination during the next retreat. Only one re-examination is permitted. Students who failed the re-examination or not being able to pass in the 7th PhD year will withdraw from the program.
3. Thesis draft should be written in the PhD thesis format regulated by the university, which should include title page, table of contents, acknowledgements (optional), abstracts/summary, introduction, results, discussion, reference, material and methods, figures and tables.
4. Thesis should be written entirely by the students. However, the students can discuss the outline and contents with their advisors. Suggestions for writing and editing from advisors are accepted.
5. Any result derived from other than student himself/herself (i.e. other lab members) should be fully credited, including proper citations in the text, figures and tables. And student should clearly describe the contributions from others in the acknowledgement.
6. Student should submit the Turn-it-in report for the thesis draft.
   Student should present within the time limitation. The session of presentation (around 20 minutes) and Q&A should be conducted fully in English.
7. Grading of the exam will be determined by both oral presentation and thesis draft. Grading criteria will be based on research accomplishment, scientific logic and rationale, and English writing and presentation. Successful completion requires at least 70 out of 100 points, and from 80 percent or more of the committee members.