PhD Process

1.Course Registration and Advisor Assignment 2.Course Load and GPA 3.Qualifying Exam Application 4.Qualifying Exam and Result

1. Course Registration and Advisor Assignment

Course registration for the 1st semester is carried out through the Program Coordinator.
Students may register for the Seminar course from the 1st semester onwards.
An advisor must be assigned by the end of the 1st semester. The advisor assignment process is initiated through the Student Information System (ÖBS).
From the 2nd semester onwards, course registration is done through the advisor.

Students who have not selected an advisor cannot register for courses.

2. Course Load and GPA

By the end of the 4th semester, students must pass as many courses as the credits required by their department, including at least 4 courses offered by their Department and 1 LEE-coded course; in addition, the “Seminar” course must be successfully completed before graduation.
At least two of the courses passed must be taught in English.
The student’s cumulative GPA must be at least 3.00.

The courses successfully completed must total at least 21 credits. However, since credit loads may differ between programs, students should pay attention to this requirement.

Students who fail to meet any of the requirements above are dismissed from the university.

3. Qualifying Exam Application

Students who meet all requirements may proceed to the doctoral qualifying stage.
Students are obliged to apply for the qualifying exam by the relevant semester.
On the announced dates, students must submit their request to take the qualifying exam through the Student Information System (ÖBS), together with their master’s and doctoral transcripts.

Doctoral students must take the qualifying exam no later than the 5th semester, and integrated doctoral students no later than the 7th semester. Students who have not applied for the exam by this semester, or whose application has not been accepted, are considered to have failed the exam.

4. Qualifying Exam and Result

Students whose applications are approved take the doctoral qualifying exam. Students who do not take the exam are considered to have failed.

Pass: Students who pass the qualifying exam proceed to the thesis stage.
Fail: Students who fail the qualifying exam retake it in the following semester.
Second failure: Students who fail the qualifying exam for the second time are dismissed from the university.

1.Starting the Process 2.Uploading the Report 3.Advisor Approval 4.Monitoring Report Defense 5.Uploading the Defense Minutes 6.Result

1. Starting the Process

Students who have passed the Doctoral Thesis Proposal Report defense may start the Doctoral Thesis Monitoring Report process.

2. Uploading the Report

Each semester, by the report submission deadline set for that semester, the student uploads their report, written in the Doctoral Thesis Monitoring Format, to the system via the student interface of the Student Information System (ÖBS) Process Management. Detailed information about the process can be found in the guide on the Documents page.

3. Advisor Approval

The report uploaded by the student is approved by the advisor via the academic interface of the Student Information System (ÖBS) Process Management, and the report is sent to the thesis monitoring committee by e-mail.

4. Monitoring Report Defense

The monitoring report defense takes place within 21 days of the date the advisor approves the report, on a date set jointly by the committee and the student.

5. Uploading the Defense Minutes

The Doctoral Thesis Monitoring Report Defense Exam Minutes completed during the defense are uploaded to the system by the advisor via the academic interface of the Student Information System (ÖBS) Process Management.

6. Result

The defense minutes uploaded by the advisor are checked by the Graduate School staff and the result is entered into the system.

Pass: Students who pass the Thesis Monitoring Report defense continue the Doctoral Thesis Monitoring Report process in the following semester.
Fail: Students who fail monitoring reports twice in a row or three times in total are dismissed from the university. Students not in this situation submit a monitoring report in the following semester.

Important Deadlines

Processes initiated through ITU ÖBS can be tracked via the system.

The maximum period of study is 12 semesters for doctoral programs and 14 semesters for integrated doctoral programs.

The deadline for thesis submission is the last day of the final semester of the maximum period of study. The last day of the semester can be found in the ITU Academic Calendar. By this date, the student must have started the thesis submission process by sending the required documents to the Graduate School via ITU ÖBS. Although it is not a problem if later steps extend beyond the end of the semester, it should be kept in mind that these steps also have their own time limits.

1. Plagiarism Report

The student submits the thesis to the advisor, and the advisor obtains a plagiarism report.

Plagiarism checking tool (TURNITIN) guide: PDF

The plagiarism report must be obtained for the entire thesis without any omissions, and filters such as <%1 must not be applied.
The “Exclude Bibliography” filter may be applied so that the references section does not increase the report result.
Thesis advisors who do not have a user account can request one by sending their name, surname, title and ITU e-mail address to demirgul@itu.edu.tr.

2. White Cover Submission Application

The student starts the white cover submission process via ITU ÖBS.

For the documents that must be included in the “Thesis and Supplementary Files Sharing Link”, click here.

3. Document and Publication Check

The documents are reviewed by the Doctoral Thesis Submission Unit.

Negative: The documents are returned for completion.

4. Appointment of the Defense Jury

The student’s advisor starts the Doctoral Defense Jury Process via ITU ÖBS, and the defense jury is appointed by the Graduate School Executive Board.

A “Jury Appointment Letter” is sent to the advisor, the jury members and the student.

5. Thesis Evaluation Form

The advisor and jury members fill in the “Doctoral Thesis Evaluation Form” and upload it to the system in PDF format.

6. Defense Exam

The advisor and jury members set a date for the defense exam, and the advisor enters it into the system.

The “Doctoral Thesis Defense Minutes” are submitted to the Graduate School with wet signatures within 3 business days at the latest.

7. Defense Result

Pass: Students who pass the defense exam and submit the exam minutes to the Graduate School send their doctoral thesis in PDF format to drtezinceleme@itu.edu.tr for format review.
Revision: Students who receive a revision decision complete the thesis revisions within a maximum of 6 months, and the process starts again.
Fail: Students who fail the defense exam are dismissed from the university.

Students who do not submit the revised thesis within 6 months are dismissed from the university.

8. Black Cover Printing and Submission

After format review approval is received, printing of the Black Cover thesis begins. The plagiarism report is obtained again.

The black cover submission process is started via ÖBS, and the physical submission is made without waiting for approval from the Graduate School.

Doctoral Thesis Black Cover Submission Form
Student Information Form
Plagiarism Report (pages showing the percentage breakdown)
Copy of National ID Card (for non-Turkish citizens, copies of passport and residence permit).
Copy of Marriage Certificate (for women whose surname has changed).
CoHE (YÖK) Thesis Data Entry Form (signed by the student) (generated when obtaining a Reference ID from CoHE and registering in the CoHE Thesis System. A printed copy is also made and added to the thesis CD.)
LEE Thesis CD (if the thesis CD exceeds 500 MB, an additional CoHE CD). Instructions for preparing the CD can be found in the document.

The “Doctoral Satisfaction Survey” must be completed on the computer shown to you at the Graduate School during the Black Cover submission.

Students who do not submit their thesis within 1 month after the defense exam are dismissed from the university at the end of the maximum period of study.

9. Doctor Title

After the Black Cover thesis and all documents have been submitted in full to the LEE Doctoral Thesis Submission Unit, the student is awarded the title of “Doctor” at the first meeting of the Graduate School Executive Board.

In the week following the award of the Doctor title, the Title Letter is prepared and delivered with wet signatures.

10. Diploma

The student collects their diploma from the Office of the Registrar (Student Affairs Department) within one month at the latest.