Doctoral defense

General information

  • Doctoral research at Flemish universities usually takes a minimum of 4 years. The end point is marked by the public defense of your doctoral dissertation or doctoral exam.

After having submitted your doctoral dissertation, the faculty will decide if you can be admitted for the doctoral defense. This consists of two parts:

  1. a first 'closed' assessment by the Examination Board, where the Phd student is heard
  2. the public defense

Certain doctoral students are required to successfully complete the doctoral training programme prior to the defense.

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Submitting your doctoral dissertation to your Faculty

The timing and the procedure for submitting your dissertation can differ from Faculty to Faculty, please check your Faculty's website for the information that applies to you.

Note that if you have a faculty-mandated compulsory doctoral training curriculum (imposed by your faculty at the time of first enrolment), you have to submit your curriculum of the Doctoral Training Programme for final evaluation at least 20 working days before the date of the Faculty Council meeting at which you submit your doctoral dissertation. 

If you do not have a faculty-mandated compulsory doctoral training curriculum, you do not need to submit your curriculum. In that case, you submit just your dissertation to the Faculty Council (in the required number of copies) together with the advice of the Doctoral Guidance Committee or the PhD supervisor. This advice includes a clause regarding the status of research results with a potential for valorisation.

The Faculty Council will then examines if your thesis is admissible. If a compulsory doctoral training programme was required at the start of your doctoral research, the Faculty Council will examine whether you have completed the programme successfully in a timely manner (based on the advice of the Doctoral School). If you meet all formal requirements, an exam committee will be appointed. The committee consists of 5 to 8 voting members, who test the knowledge and competences of the doctoral student. The PhD supervisor can participate in the exam committee without voting rights.

First assessment of the dissertation

Within 3O to 90 days after submission, the examination committee will hold a closed meeting to evaluate the quality of the dissertation, and to decide whether you can be admitted to the public defense, possibly after revisions. You will be invited to present and clarify your dissertation at this meeting. After this first meeting of the examination committee, you will receive a copy of the reports of the examination committee members and receives a copy of the deliberation report.

Public Defense of the dissertation

Announcement of the defense

If you are admitted to the public defense, a date will be set, usually within 60 days of the first meeting of the examination committee. Your Faculty's Student Administration will then send the announcement of your defense to the Registrar's Office, which will publish it on the PhD Defenses portal. At this point, you will be charged the tuition fee for the defense. The financial system of the Registrar's Office (Oasis Fica) will send an e-mail to your UGent e-mail address with an invoice for the tuition fee for the defense.

Please note: the doctoral diploma (and the certificate of the doctoral training programme) can only be delivered after receiving the tuition fee. Make sure that you pay the tuition fee before the doctoral defense, even though your invoice may have a later due date.

Before your public defense, you must also submit the final version of your data management plan (DMP). 

Oral defense

At the start of your public defense, you will present an overview of your doctoral research and its findings in a short presentation. Then, the members of the examination committee will question you about your research. Finally, members of the audience will be given the opportunity to ask questions. This oral defense usually takes place in Dutch or English.

Deliberation

After the oral defense, the examination committee will withdraw to deliberate. 

Proclamation

The proclamation follows immediately after the deliberation. If you have passed, you may carry the title of 'doctor'.  If applicable, the Exam Committee also declares you have successfully completed the doctoral training programme.

Affirmation of research integrity

After a successful proclamation, if your faculty mandates it, the chair of the examination committee will ask you to pledge your commitment to the principles of research integrity. This affirmation is taken at any time after the deliberation of the thesis and before/simultaneously with the presentation of the diploma. More information about this integrity affirmation is available on the university’s intranet (Research->Research integrity and ethics-> Research integrity).

Diploma, certificate and diploma supplement

The Registrar's Office draws up the diploma and the certificate of the doctoral training programme.

Usually, these documents are awarded and handed over immediately after the defense. Should this not be the case, you can collect the documents at the Registrar's Office. If you are still working at Ghent University, you can request that your diploma/certificate is sent to you with internal registered mail (to your working address). The diploma and certificate can also be collected by a proxy, you have assigned.

The Faculty Student Administration draws up the diploma supplement and the certificate supplement.

Usually, these are given to you immediately after the public defense. Should this not be the case, you can collect the documents at the Faculty Student Administration.

Electronic version at the University Library

You must deposit your dissertation in the Academic Bibliographic and Institutional Repository of Ghent University ('Biblio').

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