Procedure from application of the topic to defense of the doctoral thesis

WHAT IS THE PROCEDURE FROM APPLYING THE SUBJECT TO THE SUBMISSION OF DOCTORAL THESIS?

1. APPLICATION FOR THE SUBJECT OF DOCTORAL THESIS

The student registers the topic of the doctoral dissertation via web office by selecting END OF STUDY / Theme application.
During the application process, enter the required data and upload the completed (and signed) form OBR-FUDŠ-010 Application for doctoral dissertation topic in PDF or WORD format.

Note: Only such a topic may be submitted, with which the mentor (and possible co-mentor) have already familiarized him/herself with and confirmed the appropriateness of its content has (we recommend that you step in contact via e-mail or other communication channels with a potential (co)mentor before submitting the theme application).

If the (co)mentor is not a member of the School Assembly, the signature of the (co)mentor must be obtained on the form OBR-FUDŠ-010 before submitting the topic application via the web office (we recommend sending the form via e-mail, so that the (co)mentor can sign it).
After submission of the form OBR-FUDŠ-010 via the web office, the (co)mentor is automatically informed about the submission and can electronically confirm the content appropriateness of the proposed topic and accept the (co)mentorship.
The application is then considered by the Commission for Scientific Research Work.

Note: The Committee meets approximately once a month, on the 3rd Monday of each month.

Afterwards, the student receives a notification on the approval of the topic by e-mail.
An approved topic is valid for 2 years. If the student does not graduate within 2 years of the topic approval, he/she must submit a Request for the topic extension. The topic can be extended for 1 year.
Forms related to the final work are available to students in the web office (END OF STUDY / Instructions and forms)

Student without a status or gapper, must contact the Student Office (referat@fuds.si) to arrange access to the web office and to provide them with other registration information.

WARNING: When submitting applications and forms, it is necessary to ensure that the documents are signed. You can sign the documents by hand or use a digital certificate.
We emphasize that signing the document is necessary and binding. Without a proper signature, your application or form will not be valid, which can lead to complications and delays in resolving your issues.

Notice on the (public) accessibility of the final work:

Students have the option of one-year inaccessibility of their final work for the following reasons: Protection of business secrets, Protection of results for the enforcement of intellectual property rights, Ensuring the safety of people and nature, and Safeguarding classified information.

We advise students to carefully consider the choice of title and topic for their final work, as the work will be freely accessible in the library and in electronic form in REVIS (repository of independent higher education institutions) after one year.

2. DISPOSITION OF THE DOCTORAL DISSERTATION

After the disertation topic has been approved, the candidate submits the disposition of the doctoral dissertation on the filled-out and signed form OBR-FUDŠ-011, which he uploads once again via the web office.
Submission of the disposition of the doctoral dissertation via the web office is done by selecting END OF STUDY / Topic application in the menu, entering the required data and uploading the filled-out (and signed) form OBR-FUDŠ-011 Disposition of the doctoral dissertation under the tab »Disposition«.
After the submission of the form OBR-FUDŠ-011, the (co)mentor is informed about the submission. He/she can then electronically confirm the content adequacy of the disposition for further consideration.
The disposition is considered by the Commission for Scientific Research Work, which submits a proposal to the Senate of SASS on the appointment of a committee to assess the appropriateness of the disposition.
The appointed members of the commission must give their opinion on the appropriateness of the disposition within 30 days.
The individual reports of the appointed members of the commission are considered by the Senate of SASS, which then adopts a positive or negative assessment of the disposition.

Note: The Committee meets approximately once a month, on the 3rd Monday of each month. The Senate of SASS meets once a month, usually on the 3rd Thursday of the month. Student without a status or gapper, must contact the Student Office (referat@fuds.si) to arrange access to the web office and to provide them with other registration information.

3. INSTRUCTIONS FOR WRITING PROFESSIONAL AND SCIENTIFIC WORKS AT SASS

The completed work must be written and organized in accordance with:
Instructions for writing professional and scientific works valid from 31. 5. 2023

Authorship Statement template:
– Authorship statement (in Slovene)

4. DISSERTATION SEMINAR

The candidate must pass the Dissertation Seminar in the 3rd year of study. Part of the obligations is carried out through participation in lectures held by the course coordinator prof. Matej Makarovič, PhD. The other part of the obligations is carried out when the candidate submits the doctoral thesis to Moodle, after the approval of the mentor and after having completed the obligations regarding the lectures. The dissertation is discussed by the Commission for Scientific Research Work, which appoints a 3-member commission. The latter is present when the candidate presents the thesis (a sort of „trial“ before the thesis defense).

The Commission for Scientific Research Work usually meets once a month, namely on the 3rd Monday of each month.

Student without a status or gapper, must contact the Student Office (referat@fuds.si) to arrange access to the web office and to provide them with other registration information.

5. SUBMISSION OF THE DOCTORAL DISSERTATION FOR TECHNICAL REVIEW AND PLAGIARISM TEST

After the (co)mentor’s approval that the final work is suitable for submission, the student must submit the final work in an electronic format that allows corrections to be entered (PDF-A) via the web office (End of study/Final work submission).

Note: Before you will be able to upload the doctoral dissertation in the web office, it is necessary to contact the (co)mentor (via e-mail), who has to confirm the appropriateness of the final work electronically via the web office.

In the web office, the student fills in all the necessary information and, in addition to the doctoral dissertation, uploads the form Review and submission of the doctoral dissertation OBR-FUDŠ-014.
From the day the doctoral dissertation is submitted and approved by the (co)mentor, the deadline of 4 weeks begins to run, when a technical review must be completed by the faculty’s librarian, who electronically confirms the technical suitability of the final work via the web office.
In the event that the dissertation is not technically adequate, the student will receive instructions for corrections via email and must resubmit the corrected thesis. If the last day of the deadline for the technical review falls on a non-working day or any other day designated as a non-working day according to the faculty’s academic calendar, the deadline shall expire at the end of the first following working day.
If a re-review of the final work is necessary, the student submits (via the web office) a new version of the doctoral dissertation with the appropriate corrections given by the faculty’s librarian. From the day the corrected version is submitted, a period of 4 weeks begins during which a repeated technical review must be conducted.
In case the same thesis is again technically inappropriate, a fee of 70 EUR will be charged starting from the third review and for every subsequent review.
A plagiarism test will also be taken at the same time. The student and (co)mentor will receive a plagiarism detector report by e-mail. In case of discovered similarities, the student must consult with his/her (co)mentor and not with the associates of the Student Office or the faculty’s librarian.
The doctoral dissertation must be linguistically appropriate at the time of its final submission (proofreader’s certificate is not required).

IMPORTANT: The final work must be linguistically appropriate upon submission. The candidate must also attach a copy of the examiner’s diploma and a certificate confirming the proofreading of the assignment during the technical review process.
Only certificates from examiners with a degree in Slovene studies or a professor of the Slovene language will be considered valid.

6. FINAL SUBMISSION OF THE DOCTORAL DISSERTATION

The submission process is completed when the student receives a confirmation from the faculty’s librarian via the web office that the doctoral dissertation is technically adequate.
The Student Office forwards the doctoral dissertation to the Senate of the faculty, which appoints a committee to evaluate the doctoral dissertation. The members of the committee must provide evaluations of the doctoral dissertation within a maximum of 1 month from the date of their appointment.
The joint evaluation is considered by the Senate and, on this basis, the doctoral dissertation is accepted, rejected or returned to the candidate to be reviewed or supplemented, and a suitable deadline is set for him to do so.
If the Senate accepts the doctoral dissertation, it appoints a committee for the thesis defense.
Within 14 days of receiving the doctoral dissertation, the appointed members of the committee for the thesis defense must determine the suitability of the submitted doctoral dissertation for defense. In case of any doubts regarding the suitability of the doctoral dissertation for the defense, they inform the Student Office and note their findings on the Review and submission of the doctoral dissertation, which is forwarded to the (co)mentor and the student.
If the members of the committee assess the final work as appropriate, they set the date of the thesis defense.

7. DEFENCE OF THE DOCTORAL THESIS AND DOCTORAL THESIS CERTIFICATE

The Student Office shall send an invitation to the members of the thesis defense committee and the candidate at least 7 days before the thesis defense.
The invitation will include the date, time and place of the public defense of the doctoral dissertation.

The student shall submit three bound printed copies of the doctoral dissertation to the Student Office within 14 days after the successful defense. At the same time, the student also submits the final version of the doctoral dissertation on a CD/USB in pdf format.

After receiving the bound copies of the thesis, the Student Office issues a certificate on the successfully completed defense of the doctoral dissertation to the student, which serves as proof until the award of the doctoral degree (which usually takes place once a year, namely in June).

The Student Office then submits the doctoral dissertation in both formats to the SASS library.

8. PAYMENT FOR THE DOCTORAL DISSERTATION AND ITS DEFENCE

For students without a student status (gappers) in the current academic year, the final thesis and defense are subject to fees as outlined in the current price list.

The final thesis and defense is free of charge if the person is without student status, enrolled in an Postgraduate PhD study program, and had student status in the previous academic year, if they submitted the final thesis through the Web Office by the date of the last KZRD session, and (after approval of the thesis by the (co)mentor) received confirmation from the responsible professional associate that the thesis meets the technical requirements. An additional condition is that the thesis defense must be completed no later than November 30 of the current academic year.