19. § Workshop Discussion and Evaluation

(1) As a preliminary documentation, the draft dissertation is supposed to demonstrate the preparedness and suitability of the candidate to be a researcher. The submission of the draft dissertation must be accompanied by the doctoral advisor’s opinion of at least half a page and at most one page.

(2) The workshop discussion may only be conducted after the complex examination is successfully completed.

(3) The doctoral candidate must declare that the draft dissertation was written by the candidate himself/herself and only the sources indicated were used to prepare the dissertation. Any part, which the candidate has taken verbatim or in the same sense but paraphrased from other sources, even if the source is the candidate’s own previous work, must be clearly indicated by referencing the source.

(4) The draft dissertation must be submitted in Hungarian or English. The draft dissertation must be submitted in one printed, bound (stapled) copy and with the same content in .pdf file format electronically to the Office of the Doctoral School. The draft dissertation can be submitted in any month of the year except during the months of July and August. In the draft dissertation, the topicality, economic, social and environmental relevance of the chosen topic should be presented; research questions and, depending on the topic, hypotheses and assumptions should be formulated; the literature background should be explored and analysed; the chosen methodology should be presented and justified with references (complex research design). The draft dissertation should be 70-100 pages on A/4 paper size, with 2.5 cm margins, line spacing at 1.5, written using Times New Roman size: 12, the paragraphs separated by tabs, and on one side of the paper, the pages shall be numbered in the bottom right-hand corner, illustrations (each type with separate numbering, indicating title and source) should be placed within the text, if possible.

(5) The workshop discussion can be conducted in either Hungarian or English. In the case of doctoral students whose mother tongue is not Hungarian, or if the doctoral student submits the draft dissertation in English and expressly requests the sub-programme leader in advance to hold the discussion in English, the discussion will be conducted in English.

(6) The draft dissertation will be evaluated by a dedicated Workshop Discussion Board (hereinafter: ‘the WDB’) of at least five and at most six members, all of whom hold an academic degree. The chairperson of the WDB may be a full professor, Professor Emeritus/Emerita or habilitated associate professor, employed or not employed by the University. At least two members of the WDB, but at least one of the invited referees must be an external professional (not employed by the University). In all cases, the WDB is composed of the official referees (2 persons) and the doctoral student’s doctoral advisor(s) (who cannot be chair or referee). The WDB shall be assisted by a non-voting secretary, who shall keep the minutes. The Secretary shall be a lecturer or researcher at the University with a PhD degree, or an assistant lecturer or assistant research fellow with a pre-degree certificate from the University’s doctoral programme.

(7) The sub-programme leader, in agreement with the doctoral advisor, will propose the composition of the WDB, using the form provided for this purpose, and will also specify the language in which the discussion will be conducted. The composition of the WDB is decided by the DDHC.

(8) Referees have 60 calendar days from the date of submission of the draft dissertation to prepare and submit their written opinions to the Office of the Doctoral School. After 60 days, the coordinator shall send a reminder to the referee who is in delay with the opinion, and if the opponent does not send the opinion by the 90th day, the head of the DS automatically asks the reserve referee approved by the DDHC to evaluate the draft dissertation.

(9) The draft dissertation must be discussed in a public meeting or a workshop discussion in the presence of members of the scientific community. The workshop discussion can take place once the evaluations of the invited referees are available. The workshop discussion should be held irrespective of the assessment made in the referees’ opinions, except for when suspected plagiarism was indicated. The doctoral student may withdraw the draft dissertation once in the knowledge of the referee’s opinions, in which case he/she may submit a new or revised dissertation proposal after 6 months at the earliest. The workshop discussion can only be held in the presence of the chairperson, the secretary, at least one of the invited referees and (one of) the doctoral advisor(s). At least one key external expert must be present in the WDB at the workshop discussion.

(10) After the workshop discussion, the WDB will assess the professional quality and the degree of readiness of the draft dissertation. The WDB’s task, taking into account the discussion, is to assess whether the results of the draft dissertation and the candidate’s research qualities guarantee the timely preparation and submission of a doctoral dissertation that can be defended successfully, and to provide advice to the doctoral candidate in the preparation of said dissertation. If the chairperson of the WDB calls for a formal vote on any issue under discussion, only one of the doctoral advisors shall have the right to vote, if both doctoral advisors are present, they must reach a consensus on the exercise of the right to vote in advance. 

(11) The WDB prepares an evaluation (report) and takes a position on whether the doctoral student’s draft dissertation:

            a)         is recommended for acceptance without amendment

            b1)       is recommended for acceptance once the recommended minor changes have been adopted;

            b2)       is recommends for acceptance once the recommended major changes have been adopted; 

            c)         is not recommended for acceptance for the reasons indicated in the report and proposes that a new draft dissertation be prepared.

(12) If the WDB does not recommend acceptance of the draft dissertation, the DDHC decides when the candidate can submit a new draft dissertation at the earliest. If the discussion of the newly submitted draft dissertation is also unsuccessful, or if none of the referees propose that it be submitted for a second discussion, the DDHC may recommend to the UDHC that the candidate be excluded from doctoral studies.

(13) The minutes and report will be signed and certified by the chairperson of the WDB and the secretary and sent to the Coordinator of DS, who will ensure that they are included for information in the agenda of the next DDHC meeting. 

(14) The DDHC decides on the composition of the evaluation board for the repeated discussion of the resubmitted dissertation draft.