Page 55 - Unified Bylaws

Article 49
The University Council shall establish the terms and criteria for
selecting the members of the Defense Committee for both Master’s
and Doctoral theses/dissertations and will define the mechanisms and
procedures for conducting the thesis/dissertation defense, based on a
proposal put forth by the Standing Committee.

The Rule of Implementation for Article 49
The terms and criteria for selecting the Defense Committee members
for Master’s and Doctoral theses/dissertations and the mechanisms
for conducting the thesis/dissertation defense are as follows:
1. The minimum number of committee members shall be three
faculty members. The supervisor and co-supervisor (if any) shall
not constitute the majority of the committee.
2. Committee members must satisfy the conditions for thesis/
dissertation supervision.
3. At least one professor or associate professor shall be among the
committee members.
4. The committee’s decisions shall be determined by the approval of
at least two-thirds of its members.
5. The Defense Committee shall be formed after the master’s or PhD
student has passed all the required courses and the comprehensive
exam (if applicable).
6. The thesis/dissertation supervisor shall submit the request to form
the Defense Committee to the Department chairperson no later
than the end of the 13th week of the semester.
7. The College Council shall propose the Defense Committee, upon
the recommendation of the Department Council, in accordance
with Articles 38 and 39.
8. The majority of the committee members shall be from the relevant
department of the study.
9. For a PhD student’s defense, at least one external member who
has no previous or current association with the university and
did not obtain a doctoral degree from it, shall be included in the
committee.

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Prince Sultan University