Dear PhD Students and PhD Candidates,
We inform you that a new version of the Regulations Governing PhD Training at Semmelweis University (henceforth Regulations) came into force on 1 April 2020. We hereby express our gratitude for the enormous amount of invested work into this amendment to the following head officials: the president of the University Doctoral Council, Prof. Zoltán Benyó MD, the Head of the Doctoral Office, Krisztina Tölgyesi-Lovász and the Dean of the Faculty of General Medicine, Prof. Miklós Kellermayer MD.
For your information, please find the abridged version of the main amendments of the Regulations bellow:
A number of innovative developments related to the procedural structure and overall organisation of the PhD acquisition process are included into the new Regulations.
For instance, the relationship between the University Doctoral Council and the Departmental Doctoral Schools together with the procedure related to the preliminary critique of the PhD thesis performed by the Quality Assurance Committee has been made more explicit and easier to follow.
For instance, the reported, granted and acquired patent can be officially credited as scientific performance besides the PhD candidate’s publications produced during his/her PhD training.
Furthermore, the administrative burdens are going to be eased by introducing an electronic PhD student’s personal record book (index) for students entering PhD training after 1 September 2020. The introduction of this type of performance record is being considered by the University Doctoral Council in the case of current PhD students, as well.
The next novelty is that even current PhD students and PhD candidates are allowed to elect the new, abridged – 25-50 page-long – format of the PhD thesis included into the new Regulations valid from 1 April 2020.
The procedure of workplace discussion and that of the public defence is affected by the changes, too. There will not be critiques of the PhD thesis appointed for the workplace discussion. Instead, participants of the workplace discussion will express their critical ideas and questions related to the obtained research results and the PhD thesis based on the PhD candidate’s presentation.
The most important amendment related to the PhD defence is that the professionals appointed for critique will not have to provide their questions related to the PhD thesis in writing before the defence but they will pose their questions during the public defence of the PhD thesis. Thus, a spontaneous discussion will be generated between the PhD candidate, the members of the defence panel and the audience.
The Act on National Higher Education year 2011 CCIV is not explicit in defining the right of consent of the Doctoral Student Council. Based on the recommendations of the National Association of Doctoral Students the new Regulations have been adjusted to state that we have the right of veto of the modifications in the legal provisions related to doctoral students in the Regulations besides the ones included in the Reimbursement and Benefit Regulations, the Study and Examination Regulations and the Student Feedback On Teachers’ Work. This step is a significant development in representing the interests of doctoral students and in the protection of their rights and obligations.
For PhD students in training from 1 September 2020, the Departmental Doctoral Schools will provide in advance a precise curriculum, pool of courses and exam questions, scientific material for enhancing the students’ preparation for the main and by subjects of each research. The latter may be elected by the PhD student. Before starting any research work, the PhD student and his/he supervisor/consultant=research advisor will sign a joint statement stating the main and by subject of each research. This will apply to PhD students without PhD training at registration. Thus, it will be known right at the beginning of the PhD training what the exam requirements are, and the ways to prepare for and successfully accomplish them will be more explicit!
In the case of PhD students enrolled before 1 September 2020, the theoretical main and by subjects of the complex examination besides the pool of exam questions registered within the official pool of forms are defined individually by the head of the Quality Assurance Board by taking into consideration the preliminary recommendations of the student’s supervisor/consultant=research advisor, the head of the PhD programme and the head of the Departmental Doctoral School.
+ Pieces of information that has been in force but you may not know about it:
You may be credited – up to 6 credits – for participating at a domestic, international conference, course or a course organised at any university provided you submit your application for accrediting it to the Head Office of Doctoral Affairs. It is compulsory to attach your supervisor’s supporting statement along with all the relevant documents certifying your participation, performance and your exam results related to your application.
Kind regards,
Dr. Dániel Szőke
President
Doctoral Student Association of Semmelweis University