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Doctoral dissertation defence

Doctoral dissertation defence stages

In compliance with Law no. 199/2023, MO no. 3020/2024 and the Regulation approved by SD no. 116/23.09.2024,

The public defence is subject to completion of the following stages:

STAGE I – is carried out at the Doctoral School and consists of:

  1. The similarity analysis

The doctoral student submits to the Doctoral School:

1.1. Electronic documents in .pdf format with the “search” function enabled:

  • The doctoral dissertation, together with all its appendices;
  • Abstracts of the doctoral dissertation (in Romanian and an international language).

1.2. Documents in hard copy, signed, filed at the doctoral school:

  • Application for similarity analysis and assessment of the doctoral dissertation, signed by the doctoral student, endorsed by the doctoral supervisor and the doctoral school director (P_AS_Addendum1);
  • Compliance criteria checklist to confirm the fulfilment of the CNATDCU minimum standards for the specific field in order to be granted the doctoral degree (P_AS_Addendum2);
  • Statutory declaration on the originality of the doctoral dissertation and the fulfilment of the minimum standards and of all the obligations set out in the course of study plan and learning agreement (P_AS_Addendum3);

The doctoral school conducts the similarity analysis, in line with its own methodology, using a software tool approved by CNATDCU, in accordance with the legislation in force.

The documents in hard copy will be included in the application file to be submitted to the Institute for Doctoral Studies. The documents in soft copy are included in the electronic application file for the thesis defence.

The analysis and interpretation of the similarity report result are conducted prior to the preliminary defence, both by the academic integrity and guidance committee and by the member appointed by the doctoral school council, in compliance with the UBB IOSUD regulations.  The aforementioned draw up the document called “Similarity Report Resolution” (P_AS_Addendum4).

If, after having considered the similarity report, the academic integrity and guidance committee and the member appointed by the doctoral school council determine that the doctoral thesis requires revisions, the doctoral school will officially notify the doctoral student and the doctoral supervisor. The similarity analysis process will be resumed once the issues have been addressed.

  1. Preliminary defence

Following the similarity analysis, the doctoral dissertation is defended before the academic integrity and guidance committee appointed by the doctoral school. After the preliminary defence, which is public, based on the recommendation of the committee and the similarity analysis report, the doctoral supervisor makes a decision on the official submission of the dissertation and the scheduling of the public defence by filling in the form entitled Approval – Approval of the doctoral supervisor and of the academic integrity and guidance committee following the preliminary defence of the doctoral dissertation (P_Addendum5).

STAGE II: Setting up the documents in order to upload the thesis for public viewing, 90 calendar days, on the national platform managed by UEFISCDI

The secretary of the doctoral school, the doctoral student, and the doctoral supervisor proceed with the submission of the following documents for the defence application file – the stage of publishing the thesis for open access, as follows:

2.1. Documents in hard copy, duly signed, dated and filed chronologically at the doctoral school (one copy each):

  1. Application for similarity analysis and assessment of the doctoral dissertation, signed by the doctoral student, endorsed by the doctoral supervisor and the doctoral school director (P_AS_Addendum1);
  2. Compliance criteria checklist to confirm the fulfilment of the CNATDCU minimum standards for the specific field in order to be granted the doctoral degree (P_AS_Addendum2);
  3. Statutory declaration on the originality of the doctoral dissertation and the fulfilment of the minimum standards and of all the obligations set out in the course of study plan and learning agreement (P_AS_Addendum3);
  4. Similarity report resolution (P_AS_Addendum4);
  5. Approval of the doctoral supervisor and of the academic integrity and guidance committee following the preliminary defence of the doctoral dissertation (P_Addendum5);
  6. Statement of dissertation approval by the doctoral supervisor;
  7. Statement of acknowledgement regarding the publication of the doctoral thesis in preview (P_Addendum6);
  8. Doctoral dissertation

2.2. Documents in soft copy (CD/DVD only):

  1. Similarity report;
  2. Doctoral thesis in .pdf format with the “search” function enabled;
  3. Dissertation appendices in .pdf format with the “search” function enabled;
  4. CV of the doctoral student, in Europass format, without giving any personal data that cannot be made public (address, phone, etc.).

The defence application file – the open access stage – compiled at the doctoral school, with its two sections, hard copy documents and documents in soft copy, will be submitted to the Institute for Doctoral Studies as scheduled in the dedicated platform.  The Secretariat of the Institute for Doctoral Studies will issue a registered document certifying the official submission of the doctoral thesis in open access for 90 calendar days only if all the documents listed under this title are submitted. (2.1 and 2.2). The ISD secretariat will notify the secretariat of the doctoral school, the doctoral supervisor and the doctoral student by email that the thesis has been uploaded on the platform for public viewing and of the registration number generated by the platform.

STAGE III: Doctoral thesis in open access

The doctoral dissertation and its appendices will be open for viewing on the UEFISCDI platform 90 calendar days prior to the public defence in accordance with the legal provisions in force regarding copyright.

During this period, the doctoral school receives, logs and lists in a report all the comments on the doctoral thesis received on the email address provided in the UEFISCDI platform or through the UBB Registrar’s Office. The doctoral schools will inform the ISD of the person and the dedicated institutional email address where comments on theses in open access may be submitted. As per the IOSUD-UBB Regulation, only comments submitted and signed by a natural or legal person providing identification data, indicating their professional credentials and comments in a clear and unambiguous form may be taken into consideration: Chapter … Page … Paragraph … Text …, Image/Figure/Table etc. violates the ethical and professional standards because …

If, at the end of the 90 days, there are no comments, the doctoral school will complete a report noting only that there were no comments submitted during the public consultation period. The document will be signed by the doctoral supervisor and the doctoral school director and submitted to the ISD, together with the other documents, to be included in the doctoral application file. In this situation, the CSUD director may validate the viva and start the public defence process without convening the CSUD.

If, at the end of the 90 days, any comments have been submitted, these are filed in a report prepared by the doctoral school (registration, content, confirmation of comments). The report will be included in the doctoral application file. This report, along with the link to the thesis and the similarity report containing active links, is submitted for analysis and decision to the CSUD meeting in order to validate the initiation of the doctoral thesis public defence process. The CSUD issues a decision to be forwarded to the doctoral school to be implemented as follows:

  1. The CSUD decision endorsing the public defence – the doctoral thesis public defence process is initiated by appointing the doctoral committee and proceeding with stage IV of the proceedings;
  2. The CSUD decision to reject the defence – the doctoral school is provided with recommendations on revising the doctoral thesis and addressing issues that are inconsistent with the standards of ethics and professional conduct. The doctoral student must revise the content of the thesis within a maximum of 3 months from the date of the decision to reject the defence, and the entire process of conducting the public defence will then be resumed.

Stage IV: submission to the ISD of the documents required to initiate the public defence (supplementing those from stage III) at least 30 calendar days before the date set for the public defence

4.1. Documents in hard copy, duly signed, dated and filed chronologically at the doctoral school (one copy each):

  1. a. The report, noting that there were no comments submitted during the public consultation period, signed by the doctoral supervisor and the doctoral school director (SP_Addendum1) – in work;
  2. b. The decision of the CSUD to endorse the defence where there were comments submitted and the report was reviewed by the CSUD (SP_Addendum1) – in work;
  3. Doctoral supervisor/main supervisor’s (for joint degrees) proposal for the doctoral committee membership, approved by the doctoral school council (SP_Addendum2);
  4. Application to set a date for the public defence. The date proposed for the public defence may not be set earlier than the date previously anticipated for the public defence. (SP_Addendum3);
  5. Statutory declaration addressing the graduate doctoral student’s alternatives in relation to the publication of the doctoral thesis (SP_Addendum4);
  6. Application form to be issued a doctoral degree (SP_Addendum5);
  7. Research report / List of publications signed by the doctoral student and the supervisor. The list contains the titles of the publications as they are presented/included in the electronic application file (see 4.2.3 – below);
  8. The final dissertation assessment reports, written by the reviewers, must be submitted at least 25 days before the public defence of the dissertation (1 copy for each reviewer);
  9. The doctoral thesis and its appendices in hard copy (2 copies in hard cover);

As requested by the National Library, dissertations will not have a wire, comb or spiral binding.

  1. Proof of payment of defence fee – Copy of the payment proof for the doctoral dissertation defence fee (only for doctoral students on tuition);
  2. Clearance form (one copy printed from the dedicated application, endorsed by all departments);

4.2. Documents in soft copy (CD/DVD only):

  1. Abstracts of the doctoral dissertation in Romanian and an international language;
  2. CV of the members proposed for the public defence committee, in Europass format, without giving any personal data that cannot be made public (address, phone, etc.);
  3. Publications from the scientific dissertation, grouped in a separate folder in .pdf format.
  4. Filled in application form for the award of the doctoral degree, in editable word format, SP_Addendum5_Cerere_eliberare_diploma.docx. The doctoral student accepts responsibility for the accuracy of the information provided in the document (personal data, thesis title, etc.) for the purpose of submitting the electronic application file to the Ministry and the filling in of the doctoral degree certificate.

NOTE: Documents submitted in a digital .pdf format will contain the main body text as such and not as image. Exceptions to this requirement may include audio, video or graphic illustrations presented as appendices to the dissertation or in the list of relevant publications. All other documents in digital .pdf format will have the search function enabled.

Access to the platform for scheduling the submission of documents to defend your thesis: solicitari.doctorat.ubbcluj.ro
(To login, you can use your Microsoft UBB account or register on the platform with a valid email address.)

The standards for doctoral theses are described on the websites of the doctoral schools listed here.