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Protocol from the topic application to the doctoral thesis defense

This protocol clarifies the rules and procedures from the topic application to the doctoral thesis defense within the study program Textile Science and Technology at the University of Zagreb, Faculty of Textile Technology.

Upon enrollment, the doctoral student encloses a written Statement on the study manner, i.e. the length of study (part-time or full-time).

By concluding a Contract with the University of Zagreb, Faculty of Textile Technology, the doctoral student undertakes to regularly settle his or her obligations.

According to the affinity and/or research direction, the doctoral student is assigned a study advisor/mentor who will help and guide him/her during the preparation of the doctoral thesis and all other obligations during the study.

The workload includes attending courses and taking exams, and collecting ECTS credits, where 12 ECTS is a condition for enrollment in the third semester, and 32 ECTS for enrollment in the fifth semester.

 

1. Doctoral thesis topic application

The doctoral student is obliged to prepare the DR.SC.-01 form - Doctoral thesis topic application, in cooperation with the selected mentor/study advisor no later than by the enrollment in the fifth semester.

The form is completed in the OBAD system, and is signed by the proposed mentor (see competencies and obligations of the mentor, Appendix 1) and the doctoral student (see obligations and rights of the doctoral student, Appendix 2). With form DR.SC.-01, the selected mentor and doctoral student propose the members of the Committee for the application and evaluation of the doctoral thesis topic on the faculty form OB-77/3.

Committee for the application and evaluation of the doctoral thesis topic consists of 3 or 5 members, whereby at least one member is not a teacher at the study program nor is he/she an employee of the Faculty (according to the Rulebook on doctoral studies).

After all the proposed members of the Committee for the application and evaluation of the doctoral thesis topic received for review and consideration the completed DR.SC.-01 form, and approved it, the doctoral student sends both signed forms, DR.SC.-01 and OB-77/3, to the Doctoral Study Council in electronic form, and submits the original to the Postgraduate Study Student Office.

The proposed mentor has to be present at the meeting of the Doctoral Study Council at which the application for the doctoral thesis topic application is discussed. The Doctoral Study Council sends its proposals, if any, to the mentor and the doctoral student, and after harmonization, forwards them to the Faculty Council.

After accepting the DR.SC.-01 and OB-77/3 forms, the Student Office forwards the forms to the Committee for the application and evaluation of the doctoral thesis topic.  The proposed mentor cannot be appointed as the President of the Committee.

If the doctoral thesis is to be written in English, the forms have to be completed in Croatian and English.

In the case of dual mentorship, if the mentor is not an employee of the University of Zagreb, the consent of his/her institution is required.

The final copy of the DR.SC.-01 form is uploaded in the Online database of doctoral students OBAD (doktorski.unizg.hr/obad), as a prerequisite for further procedure, i.e. before the public presentation on the expected original scientific contribution of the doctoral thesis. The doctoral student has to submit the final copy of the DR.SC.-01 form to the Doctoral Study Council and the Student Office.

The public presentation on the expected original scientific contribution of the doctoral thesis is held at the latest 3 months after the DR.SC.-01 and OB-77/3 forms are accepted. The Student Office, in agreement with the President of the Committee for the application and evaluation of the doctoral thesis topic, publishes a notice on the public presentation on the website of the Faculty of Textile Technology (Appendix 3) at least 7 days before the presentation, wherein it has to have the Doctoral Study Council’s approval via the OB-79/0 form and the decision of the Faculty Council on the acceptance of the DR. SC. - 01 form.

 

2. Doctoral thesis topic evaluation

In accordance with the Protocol (OB-80/0), the President of the Committee for the application and evaluation of the doctoral thesis topic carries out the procedure of public presentation on the expected scientific contribution of the doctoral thesis, and completes the Record (OB-81/0), which is signed by all members of the Committee after the public presentation is completed.

After the public presentation on the expected scientific contribution, all members of the Committee complete the DR. SC. - 02 form, which contains information on the course of the defense of the proposed topic, and the evaluation of the topic, i.e. the opinion of the members of the Committee for the application and evaluation of the doctoral thesis on the proposed topic.

The members of the Committee give their opinion on the original scientific contributions and an assessment of the feasibility of the proposed topic. It is necessary to point out the accepted remarks of the Committee (if any) and the proposed changes made in relation to the DR.SC.-01 form.

 

3. Doctoral thesis topic acceptance

The President of the Committee sends the DR. SC. – 02 form to the Doctoral Study Council. The Doctoral Study Council sends the reviewed and approved form (DR. SC. - 02) to the Faculty Council.

After adoption at the Faculty Council, the President of the Committee has to submit 5 copies of the completed and signed DR. SC. - 02 form to the Student Office at the latest within 7 days.

The Student Office collects the DR.SC.-01, DR. SC. - 02 forms, the Record from the public presentation on the accepted original scientific contribution of the doctoral thesis, on the basis of which it completes the DR. SC. - 03 form. It sends consolidated forms to the Committee for Doctoral Theses at the University of Zagreb, which reviews them and forwards them to the Technical Area Council and the Senate of the University of Zagreb.

If the applicant has been approved to write the doctoral thesis in English, all forms have to be completed in Croatian and English.

The Senate’s Decision on the acceptance of the doctoral thesis topic is sent to the applicant and mentor, who have to submit one copy of the Decision to the head of the Doctoral Study Council and the Student Office for the doctoral student’s portfolio.

 

4. Submission of the doctoral thesis for evaluation

The doctoral candidate, with prior consultation with the mentor, submits to the Student Office:

  • The list and copy of scientific papers with a minimum of 62 ECTS credits earned, where the doctoral student is a co-author of at least one original scientific paper (with the mentor) published or accepted for publication in a journal listed in the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) citation database.
  • Proposal of the Committee for the evaluation and defense of the doctoral thesis (OB 77/3 b) signed by the mentor. The mentor cannot be the president of the Committee, but can be its member. The Committee consists of 3 or 5 members. The members of the Committee must hold at least the scientific-teaching title or artistic-teaching title of an assistant professor or the title of a research associate, or an equivalent title in case of a member of the Committee who acquired the title abroad.
  • Filed copies of unbound doctoral thesis and an e-record, for each member of the Committee, made in accordance with the instructions for doctoral thesis formatting (DR.SC.- 08).
  • Filed written consent and opinion of the mentor on the conducted research and the original scientific contribution of the doctoral thesis (OB-94/0). If the mentor has not given written consent, he/she must explain his/her reasons in writing within 15 days from the day of receipt of the notification. In both cases, the mentor’s explanation, and if needed, the DR. SC. – 04 and DR. SC. – 05 forms are submitted to the members of the Committee for the evaluation and defense of the doctoral thesis, who take it into consideration during evaluation.

The Student Office attaches the following to the items listed above:

  • Certificate from which it is evident that the doctoral student has earned the required 48 ECTS credits (30 ECTS credits from courses and 18 ECTS credits from project assignments).
  • Certificate of settlement of all contractual obligations.

The Student Office submits all required documentation to the Doctoral Study Council. The Doctoral Study Council approves and forwards OB-77/3 to the Faculty Council.

 

5. Doctoral thesis evaluation

After receiving the Faculty Council’s Decision on the appointment of the members of the Committee for the evaluation and defense of the doctoral thesis, the Student Office submits the following within 3 business days:

  • To each member of the Committee, the Faculty Council’s Decision on their appointment for the evaluation and defense of the doctoral thesis,
  • To the doctoral candidate, the Faculty Council’s Decision on the appointment of the Committee,
  • To the head of the Doctoral Study Council, the Faculty Council’s Decision on the appointment of the Committee,
  • To each member of the Committee, the filed copy of the doctoral thesis,
  • To each member of the Committee, the filed form (OB-94/0).

The Committee for the evaluation and defense of the doctoral thesis shall be obliged to, within three months from the day of its appointment and receipt of the thesis, not counting non-business day, give a written report with the doctoral thesis evaluation (DR.SC.-10).

As part of the report on the doctoral thesis evaluation (DR.SC.-10), the members of the Committee for the evaluation and defense of the doctoral thesis provide a review of the hypotheses and objectives from the doctoral thesis topic application (DR.SC.-01), and determine whether the accepted hypotheses have been confirmed and whether the anticipated expected scientific contributions have been realized during the doctoral research topic application.

The President of the Committee prepares a report on the basis of collected opinions of the members of the Committee, and the report is signed by all members of the Committee. Each member of the Committee has the right to submit a separate evaluation. In its report, the Committee for the evaluation and defense of the doctoral thesis proposes:

  • That the doctoral thesis be accepted, with an explicit statement of the realized original scientific contribution, or
  • That the doctoral thesis be rewritten and final evaluation be carried out, or
  • That the doctoral thesis be rejected, after which the doctoral student loses the right to obtain a PhD at that study program. In that case, the rejection of the doctoral thesis has to be explained and form an integral part of the report.

 

6. Doctoral thesis defense

The doctoral student may defend the doctoral thesis after the Faculty Council accepts the positive evaluation of the Committee for the evaluation and defense of the doctoral thesis, no later than within two months. The mentor may participate in the doctoral thesis defense process, as a member of the Committee, but may not be the President of the Committee. The applicant organizes the doctoral thesis defense. After agreement with the members of the Committee, the candidate sends a notice of defense to the head of the Doctoral Study Council (Appendix 4) so that it can be published on the Faculty’s website at least 8 days before the defense.

The President of the Committee carries out the public doctoral thesis defense procedure (OB-82/0). After the doctoral thesis defense, the Committee adopts an evaluation (according to the instructions of the Committee for Doctoral Study Programs of the University of Zagreb, 23 January 2018), as follows:

  • Summa cum laude for exceptionally excellent theses (e.g. scientific discoveries, new theory, new scientific methods, important patent, etc.),
  • Magna cum laude for excellent theses,
  • Cum laude for very good theses,
  • Rite for good, but not as good theses.

The evaluation is adopted by a majority vote of the members of the Committee for the evaluation and defense of the doctoral thesis. After the presentation, the Committee signs the record prepared in advance by the President of the Committee (DR.SC.-11).

The applicant is obliged to submit to the Student Office hard-bound copies of the doctoral thesis for each member of the Committee, 1 copy for the University of Zagreb, 1 copy for the National and University Library, 1 copy for the Library of the Faculty of Textile Technology. Each copy of the hard-bound doctoral thesis must be accompanied by an electronic form on a CD.

Examples of good practice in completing forms and shaping the expected scientific contribution of a doctoral thesis can be found on the website.

The Protocol was prepared in accordance with the existing Rulebook on doctoral studies at the University of Zagreb, Faculty of Textile Technology.

 

Updated: 25 February 2021

Protocol from the topic application to the doctoral thesis defense