Doctoral PhD Procedure

There are two ways to apply, subject to the conditions set out, in the pre-application procedure, if the candidate is authorised in advance:

• Application with a thesis outline (so-called "incomplete documentation")
• Application with complete documentation

Pre-application procedure

1. Submission of the request to the Head of the Doctoral School , with supporting documents
2. The DS’ Doctoral Council checks the application: it may impose conditions, including a description of the reasons for them, their details, and precise deadlines for their fulfilment.
3. It will be submitted to the Doctoral Committee of the ELTE TTTK (TDT). There, the professional decision, if positive, must include a decision on the admission of the application, the professionally justified conditions, the deadlines for their fulfilment and the fact that, according to the law, if any of these conditions are not fulfilled, the application will be rejected and the procedure cannot be repeated.
4. Then the candidate fulfils the conditions, after documenting and reviewing them,
5. The DS again brings the case to the TDT,
6. where, if positive, a decision is taken to allow the degree procedure to commence.

The decision on the application for a doctoral process is taken by the Doctoral Committee of the Faculty (TDT). This power may not be delegated to the Chair or to the Head of the Doctoral School. The Doctoral Committee of the Faculty shall deal only with formally complete applications

• Checking and updating NEPTUN data, checking the database on doktori.hu, and checking and marking the specialisation (based on Annex 1 of the new training EDSz).The list of specialisations is available here.
• Holding a home defense (other names: in-house, trial, preliminary or home defense or debate; research center dispute)

Before the submission of the thesis, the department (institute) responsible for the scientific field of the thesis will organise a scientific discussion (hereinafter referred to as the "home defense") for a preliminary scientific evaluation of the thesis.

Professionals involved in the doctoral programme of the subject, members of the doctoral programme at other universities, supervisors and eminent scientific experts in the field shall be invited to the event.

Minutes shall be taken of the discussion. The detailed rules for the home defense are laid down in the faculty doctoral regulations, with the proviso that the faculty doctoral regulations may also provide for other preliminary assessments prior to the submission of the doctoral thesis, instead of the research site debate. (67/A. §)

As for the organisation and details of the home defense please contact the Doctoral Program Director in question. 

• DOI ID No: The digital object identifier, from hereafter: DOI) and the neccessary data, plus 5 keywords to the Office of Doctoral, Habilitational and International Affairs to:  drhabilcsop@ttk.elte.hu via email.

The required data:

1. Author’s full name
2. exact title of dissertation
3. year of submission
4. Supervisor(s) full name
5. MTMT number of the author
6. Doctoral School and program

The DOI identifier will be sent to the student by e-mail, after which the student will fill in, sign and send the form "Dissertation Publication and DOI Identification Form", which can be found in the table "Forms related to the evaluation procedure", as part of the application (see the next steps of the doctoral procedure, section I).

DOI IDs can only be requested for the calendar year of the actual submission.

The DOI ID must be listed on the internal title page of the printed copies of the dissertation and the abstracts, as well as on the title page of the electronic copies. The Digital Object Identifier (hereinafter referred to as: DOI) of the referenced document should be included in the bibliography of the doctoral dissertation
 

• The Supervisor should also be cleared, if necessary, a new one should be elected and administered (EDSz 45.§ (1))

 (1) If not defined otherwise by the faculty doctoral regulations or the bylaws of the doctoral school, within three semesters of commencing the training, doctoral students may request permission to continue their studies in a different doctoral programme on a different topic or under a different supervisor.

(2) The supervisor is also permitted to tender his resignation within the period specified under subsection (1) or recommend the appointment of a co-supervisor. The supervisor shall submit his/her resignation or recommendation in writing with reasons enclosed to the Head of the doctoral school.

(3) Changing topics or supervisors shall be permitted by the council of the doctoral school

• The procedure fee is payable in advance (Neptun)

Doctoral candidateship (EDSz 64.§)

(1) Upon the acceptance of the application doctoral candidate status shall be established between the Applicant initiating the doctoral degree award procedure and the University. Upon the request of the candidate the faculty office may issue a certification on such status.
(2) The doctoral candidate status shall cease:
a) by the successful fulfilment of the procedure when the doctoral degree is awarded to the candidate by the University Doctoral Council;
b) if the candidate did not submit his/her doctoral thesis within two years of establishing such doctoral candidate status;
c) if the doctoral degree award procedure is cancelled by the disciplinary doctoral council due to the fact that:
ca) two official opponents did not recommend the thesis for public disputation;
cb) the repeated doctoral comprehensive examination has been qualified “insufficienter” on a second occasion or the candidate makes a written statement to the effect that following the first failed comprehensive examination he/she does not intend to repeat it;
cc) the doctoral thesis has been qualified “insufficienter”;
cd) the public disputation has been unsuccessful;
ce) the candidate revokes his/her application for the doctoral procedure;
d) the doctoral degree is not awarded by the University Doctoral Council.

The DOI ID must be included on the first page of the submitted thesis. Failure to do so may be compensated by attaching a so-called list of errors. No signed documents, either physical or online, may be attached to the thesis.  The physical copies will be kept in the ELTE Library and the candidate's additional material will be archived.

• The doctoral thesis may not be drawn up in co-authorship.
• Requirements as to content and formalities, and the rules (number of copies, printed or electronic format, etc.) pertaining to the submission of the doctoral thesis shall be laid down in the doctoral regulations of the faculties; however, the submission of a printed version and one saved on an electronic data carrier is compulsory. The submitted doctoral thesis shall not be supplemented or modified in the course of the doctoral procedure.
• The doctoral thesis must be bound, in A4, typed in word-processing, in 12-point font and with a single-spacing.
• The outer cover page must bear the title "Doctoral Thesis" or „Doctoral Dissertation”, the name of the author and the year in which the thesis was written.
• The first page of the thesis (inside front cover) must include:
  • the title of the thesis,
  • the name of the author,
  • the DOI number,
  • the name of the doctoral school and the name of the doctoral program,
  • the name of the head of the school and the name of the supervisor,
  • the title and degree of the supervisor, and the name of the research centre where the thesis was written.

• In the bibliography of the thesis, the DOI identifier of the documents cited should be included wherever possible.
• A one-page English summary should be included at the end of the essay. The thesis should also include a table of contents and a bibliography, prepared according to the standards of the discipline, with full bibliographic references.
• The internal structure of the thesis should follow the generally prescribed and accepted standards for scientific publications, and the language should follow the rules of the prper English language.
• The doctoral dissertaion submitted in the form of a thesis (only with special, preliminary permission) should be 20-30 pages long.

Formal and content requirements – thesis booklet

• The thesis booklet must be submitted at the same time as the doctoral disertation, but in A5 format, laced, in a maximum of 10 pages (including bibliography). The thesis booklet should be written in word-processing, in 12-point font, with double-spacing, in English.
• The thesis booklet must contain:
  • the title page, which includes the title of the doctoral thesis, the title of the thesis, the name of the author, the name of the doctoral school and the name of the doctoral programme, the name of the supervisor and the year,
  • the background of the work (Introduction, objectives of the work)
  • the methods used,
  • a bulleted summary of the results (theses),
  • the conclusions,
  • a full bibliographic list of the publications on which the theses are based, and a list of any further publications by the candidate on the subject of the thesis.

Formal and substantive requirements for the outline of the thesis

• Candidates who submit a so-called „application with incomplete documentation” (only in case they are given special permision to do so) for the doctoral procedure must submit a draft thesis, which will enable the candidate to assess whether the thesis will meet the requirements by the deadline. This outline should be approximately 2 pages + the list of publications
• The outline should include:
  • a brief background and objectives of the research topic,
  • the research results achieved,
  • a timetable for the work to be carried out,
  • a list of publications published or in the process of publication on the research topic.
• Justified deviations from certain elements of the formal requirements may only be granted by the TDT Chair on request.

I.    Submission of application and other documents

Checklist of the document to be submitted is available here.

II. The Doctoral School checks the doctoral material and proposes the members of the examination/examination committee

III. The Faculty Doctoral Committee (TDT) decides on the initiation of the doctoral procedure

Only when the procdure gets initiated the doctoral candidateship is created. If requested the Office might allow a certificate on this candidateship.

IV. Doctoral exam

The event is organised by the Office of Doctoral, Habilitational and International Affairs.

V. Thesis review

Doctoral EO (15. §) (1) The Doctoral Council shall appoint two official reviewers to examine the doctoral thesis. (2) The two official reviewers shall prepare a written evaluation of the dissertation within two months of the submission of the thesis, within the period of study specified in the doctoral regulations of the higher education institution, and shall state whether they recommend that the dissertation be submitted for public examination. If the recommendation of one of the reviewers is negative, the Faculty’s Doctoral Committee shall invite a third reviewer.

VI. Public Debate

The event is organised by the Office of Doctoral, Habilitational and International Affairs.

EDSZ2013 68.§ (1) The doctoral thesis shall be defended in a public disputation before a Committee of Assessors. In case of a doctoral thesis containing qualified data with regard to national security the disciplinary doctoral council upon the request of the doctoral candidate and the proposal of the supervisor – and on the basis of the supportive opinion of the members of the Committee of Assessors - may call for a closed defence. (2) The Chair of the Committee may only be a university professor, a Professor Emeritus, or a habilitated associate professor, members of the Board shall solely be persons holding a scientific degree. (3) Members and the Chair of the Committee, as well as substitute members and substitute Chair shall be appointed by the disciplinary doctoral council on the recommendation of the Head of the doctoral school.

EDSZ2013 70.§ (1) The Chairman of the disciplinary doctoral council submits the thesis to public disputation ensuing the receipt of two supportive recommendations subsequent to 15 days but within a period of 60 days. The months of July and August are not to be included in the denoted period, cases as per Regulations Section 59 excluded.

EDSZ2013 59.§ The doctoral procedure may be conducted between 1 September and 30 June at the University. Subject to exceptional reasons set out in the faculty doctoral regulations the doctoral comprehensive examination or public disputation may be organised in July, or between 21 and 31 August as well, if the disciplinary doctoral council decided on launching the doctoral procedure prior to 30 June.

VII. Faculty’s Doctoral Committee discusses the case and proposes the award of a PhD degree

EDSZ2013 72.§ (1) The disciplinary doctoral council shall examine the doctoral procedure of the candidate subsequent to the doctoral comprehensive examination and public defence. In case of detecting any irregularities in the course of the procedure, it shall take measures to remedy the deficiencies. (2) In compliance with the duly conducted procedure, provided the candidate’s qualification was not “insufficienter”, neither for the doctoral comprehensive examination nor for the thesis, and the public defence was also successful, the disciplinary doctoral council shall make a recommendation for the award of the doctoral degree and its qualification. The qualification of the degree – pursuant to the rules of evaluation and point system specified in the faculty doctoral regulations – may be summa cum laude, cum laude or rite. (3) In the event the candidate’s doctoral comprehensive examination or thesis was qualified “insufficienter”, or the public defence was unsuccessful the disciplinary doctoral council shall terminate the doctoral procedure.

VIII. ELTE University Doctoral Committee decides on the PhD degree

EDSZ2013 73.§ (1) The University Doctoral Council shall decide on the award of the doctoral degree on the grounds of the recommendation submitted by the disciplinary doctoral council. (2) In case the University Doctoral Council detects any severe irregularities in the course of the procedure, which hinder the decision on the award of the degree, the submission shall be returned to the disciplinary doctoral council for correction, and the disciplinary doctoral council shall be obliged: a) to remedy the deficiency in the procedure, b) to adequately repeat the part of the procedure which was conducted unduly. (3) The University Doctoral Council shall make a decision on the award of the doctoral degree on the recommendation of the disciplinary doctoral council at its first session ensuing the submission of the full documentation, but not later than 4 months following submission. (4) The University Doctoral Council shall give reasons for its decision of refusal to award the doctoral degree. (5) The decision of the University Doctoral Council is final and binding with no grounds for appeal except in case of any violation of statutory provisions, or of the doctoral regulations of the University or those of the relevant faculty.

IX. Confernment

The PhD degree is an authentic instrument.

EDSZ2013 78. § (1) The persons obtaining a doctoral degree shall be conferred the title of ‘doctor’ by the Rector and the heads of the faculties (or their representatives) during a ceremonial graduation. (2) At the conferment the candidates shall be present in person, and as part of the ceremony they shall take an oath defined in Annex 3. It is only the persons having taken the oath who are entitled to use the title testifying their obtaining the doctoral degree. (3) The conferment of doctors shall take place within half a year after the decision of awarding the degree. The ceremony is organized by the Directorate of Education. (4) The Rector is entitled to give permission for an individual conferment of the degree, as distinct from subsection (1) if a candidate applies for it for a good cause worth special consideration.