Aim

The aim of the in-house defence is to provide expert help for the candidate to finalise their dissertation through multiple reviews and a public discussion/defence of their work.

In-house reviewers (Előopponensek)

When the intended final version of the dissertation is submitted to the Programme Director and the Director of Studies at the end of semester 7 for the procedure of the in-house defence, it is read by three experts, who are expected to comment on both its content and presentation. The reviewers are appointed by the Programme Director and/or the Director of Studies. The reviewers are:

1. a researcher representing the programme;
2. an external expert of the topic appointed or invited by the Programme Director, and
3. the supervisor or a PhD student.

The reviewers will be aided in their work by this template with the criteria for evaluation.

The review process

The in-house defence can be organized if at least two reviewers accept the dissertation and see it fit to be discussed at the in-house defence. If the dissertation is rejected, the author should ​revise the dissertation following the reviewers' advice/criticism and apart from submitting the improved dissertation also has to prepare and submit a ​separate document where they list the suggestions/critical remarks and their response to these (i.e., briefly mentioning how they have dealt with these in the revised version of the proposal). The best format for this is a two-column table listing the reviewers' remarks in the first column and the author's answers in the second. Each remark should be put in a new row for an easy overview. The reviewer(s) who requested revision and resubmission of the first version of the dissertation are then asked if they accept the resubmitted version, suggest further changes or reject it altogether. In the case of any problems at this stage, the Programme Director and/or the Director of Studies or another appointed member of the programme are asked to facilitate the final decision.

If the dissertation is accepted by the reviewers to be discussed at the in-house defence, the event can be organized by the participant and their supervisor. Please refer to the following sections for details. If the dissertation is rejected, it can be resubmitted at a later date.

In-house defence committee

Chair: Programme Director (or if s/he is the supervisor, then the Director of Studies)

Secretary: one tutor of the programme (to be appointed by the Programme Director)

At least two reviewers

Organization

The in-house defence is organised by the candidate and their supervisor. It has to be held at least 90 days prior to the submission deadline of the dissertation. In specially justified cases this may be reduced to 30 days with the approval of the Council of the Doctoral School. The request has to be endorsed by the Programme Director.

All the members and participants of the doctoral programme are to be invited along with any special experts of the topic of the dissertation, from other universities as well. The date of the defence has to be negotiated with the Programme Director. The text of the dissertation has to be made publicly available 14 days before the in-house defence.

Procedures

The candidate receives the reviews and, if the reviewers see the paper fit for the defence, prepares for the in-house defence.

The in-house defence is a public event, chaired by the Programme Director, where – in preparation for the real defence – the candidate gives a slide presentation of their research with the help of slides and handouts in 15 – max. 20 minutes. The presentation should be a summary of the relevance of the topic, its aims and theoretical background, the methods used in the research process, and, most importantly, the results. The novelty value of the study and its implications should also be highlighted.

The reviewers briefly present their review drawing attention to the merits of the paper as well as its weaknesses and propose suggestions for improvement if necessary. The candidate then responds to the reviews (their response may be written down and read out or presented orally based on their notes). After the candidate’s response the members of the audience are also invited to join the discussion. The discussion aims to provide constructive ideas for the candidate to use in finalising the dissertation.

Minutes are to be taken at the event by one of the tutors of the programme (the secretary of the in-house defence committee). This should include the names of the participants as well as the questions/comments raised. Three copies of the minutes are signed by the tutor and the Programme Director. One copy is given to the candidate, one to the Programme Director, and one is to be submitted to the faculty doctoral office and sent electronically to the Head of the Doctoral School.

The secretary of the committee will be aided in taking the minutes by this template.

Following the successful in-house defence, the programme participant and their supervisor must consult the Programme Director concerning the setting up of the committee for the public defence.

Based on the outcomes of the in-house defence, the Programme Director may require the candidate to revise their dissertation. Having implemented the changes and corrections suggested by the reviewers, the candidate submits the final copy of the dissertation to the Programme Director for a final review before submitting it to the doctoral office.

Scheduling the in-house defence with the final submission of the dissertation planned for the end of  June / January:

Submission of the dissertation for in-house defence: December / June

Reviews to be sent to the candidate: End of February / End of August (– Early September)

In-house defence: by 30 March / by 30 October

Finalising the dissertation: April - June / November - December

Submission of the final dissertation: 30 June / 31 January