Thesis Supervision and Examination Policy
Thesis Supervision and Examination Policy
To provide precise and clear guidelines and procedures for preparing, supervising, submitting, and examining graduate thesis.
This policy applies to all graduate thesis, thesis candidate (student), supervisors, examiners, College Graduate Committee, faculty, and administration who are involved in the thesis development.
Responsibilities
College Graduate Committee
The College Graduate Committee is requested to:
A. Ensure that the student has satisfactorily completed the requirements for the development of thesis.
B. Review and approve the documents related to the development of thesis.
C. Nominate the members of the examination committee of the thesis to the VPAA, based on the recommendations of the main supervisor.
D. Keep records of all activities related to the thesis development.
Student
A. The student is responsible for preparation and submission of his/her thesis for examination.
B. The student must ensure that the research described in his/her thesis was completed during the period of enrolment for the degree at the University, and that it is an account of his/her own research.
C. The student must adhere to the UD Code of Conduct and Research Policies.
D. The student shall consult with his/her advisor before selecting the thesis subject and title.
The Supervisors
A. The main supervisor shall be a faculty member of UD.
B. In some cases, where the area of research is of interest to UD, there could be an external co-supervisor.
C. The supervisor shall provide the student with formal advice on the progress of his/her thesis throughout the development period.
D. The supervisor shall ensure that the thesis subject is related to the program and of interest to UD.
E. The supervisor shall provide recommendations to the Graduate Affairs Committee on the nomination of thesis examiners.
Thesis Structure
A completed thesis is a scholarly research document that epitomizes the fulfillment of the scholarly aspiration of the student. The following are some guidelines about the thesis structure that should be followed by the student:
A. An introduction describing the research in relation to the current knowledge in the field.
B. Thesis chapters must be arranged in a coherent sequence presenting an argument that supports the main findings of the research.
C. A conclusion that summarizes the findings and clearly articulates the new contribution to knowledge in the discipline.
D. A candidate may submit work as part of the thesis that has been published or accepted for publication or manuscripts submitted for publication that contribute directly to their argument and support their findings.
E. In some cases, the candidate may adopt alternative formats for the thesis that suits his/her field of research but must follow the minimum requirement described in items A, B, and C.
Please refer to the UD Thesis handbook for further information.
Plagiarism
All research submissions at UD are checked for plagiarism. It is expected that the thesis supervisor will use TurnitIn to check for plagiarism in the student’s work. The following guidelines should be observed:
1. The thesis, when completed, shall be inspected by TurnitIn for similarity.
2. The supervisor must ensure that the final version thesis is free of plagiarism and suitable for examination.
Removal of a Graduate Degree
A Master’s degree can be removed after graduation in the event plagiarism is discovered/reported in the thesis.
Examining Committee
A. The thesis shall be examined by 3 examiners, including the supervisor and the co-supervisor, if applicable.
B. At least one examiner shall be external to the university.
C. The nominated examiners must:
• Be experts in the discipline, academically reputable in the field of the thesis (except the examiner external to the program), with a significant body of published work, or other publicly recognized output as appropriate for their discipline.
• Hold a qualification at least equivalent to the level of the award being examined.
• Have previous experience in graduate thesis supervision and/or thesis examination; and
• Be willing to serve as the examiner on the Oral Examination Panel if an oral examination has been requested.
D. The identity of the approved examiners shall not be revealed to the candidate at any stage of the examination process, including the nomination process.
E. Examiners’ identities shall be revealed after the conclusion of the thesis examination.
F. The Examining Committee Chair is appointed by the College Graduate Committee and approved by the President and the VPAA.
G. Once the examination committee has been formed, it can only be changed with the consent of the President.
Change of Thesis Supervisor
A. In circumstances in which a supervisory relationship cannot continue, the candidate may request either an alternate supervisor or an administrative supervisor for the purpose of defense.
B. Every effort should be made by the Program Director, Supervisor, and College Graduate Committee so that the student is not penalized if a change in supervisor becomes necessary.
C. Requests to change a supervisor should be submitted to the College Graduate Committee, who will make a recommendation to the Dean.
D. The Dean shall discuss the matter with the VPAA to obtain his approval.
E. The University approval shall be sent by the Office of the VPAA to the College Graduation Committee.
Examination and Defense
Examination Criteria
A. The examiners shall examine the thesis based on the following general criteria:
• Does the candidate demonstrate a significant and original contribution to knowledge (relative to the level of the degree being sought)?
• Does the candidate engage with the literature and the work of others?
• Does the candidate show an advanced knowledge of research principles and methods related to the applicable discipline?
• Is there a coherence in the research, its arguments, and conclusions?
• Is the thesis clearly, accurately, and logically written?
B. The College may add other criteria as it sees fit.
C. One member from the College Graduate Committee and one member from the QAIE shall attend the defense, as observers.
Examination Outcomes
A. The examination reports shall be sent by the examiners to the College Graduate Committee, two weeks before the date of defense.
B. The examiner’s reports must contain a recommendation regarding the thesis and a strong justification for his/her recommendation.
C. The examiners must provide guidance to the candidate regarding any changes required.
D. The College Graduate Committee will review the examiners’ reports and the oral examination reports and will send the examiners’ decision to the VPAA.
Decision for the Thesis
The final decision of the examining members shall be handed to the College Graduate Committee member who is attending the defense. The decision may be one of the followings:
1. Accepted as submitted, this may include corrections that do not require the supervisor’s approval.
2. Accepted with minor modifications, this may include corrections that can be made immediately and to the satisfaction of the thesis supervisor.
3. Accepted with major modifications, the examiners’ reports shall include detailed descriptions of the modifications along with a date for their completion of no more than 2 months.
• The Examining Committee shall examine the modified thesis and, by majority vote, determine if the modifications specified in their reports have been completed to the Examining Committee’s satisfaction.
• If they have, the thesis may be accepted, and the supervisor shall confirm the Examining Committee’s approval to the College Graduate Committee.
• If the Examining Committee is not satisfied that the specified modifications have been made, then they must reconvene to decide if the thesis is rejected, or an additional period of modifications is to be granted.
• The Examining Committee Chair shall report in writing to the Director of Graduate Affairs Committee the outcome of the Examining Committee meeting.
3. Rejected. This notation is used when the work shows serious deficiency, or its validity is in question. Such a thesis may be re-submitted only once, in revised form. Such a resubmission can only be made six (6) months from the date of the original defense.
Modification and Final Submission
A. Students shall be responsible to make the modifications required by the Examining Committee and submit within the time specified above.
B. The thesis supervisor has the authority to grant approval when the required minor modifications have been made by the student.
C. The Thesis Supervisor oversees required major modifications and ensures that they are submitted to the Examination Committee for approval.
D. Student must submit an electronic hard copy of the final version of his/her thesis to the Graduate Affairs Committee.
Appeal of the Decision
A. In case the examination process results in a "non-Award" outcome, the candidate has the right to appeal to the Department of Student Services, within 5 working days.
B. The Department of Student Services shall submit the appeal to the VPAA, who in turn shall submit the appeal to the College Graduate Committee for investigation.
C. The College Graduate Committee shall submit its report to the VPAA within 10 working days.
D. The VPAA shall submit the University response to the appeal to the Department of Student Services and the Graduate Affairs Committee, within ten working days from the date the appeal was received.
E. The Department of Student Services shall send the University response to the student within one working day.
F. The University response at this stage is final.
Copyright and Reproduction
A. When submitting the final and complete version of his/her thesis, the student acknowledges and agrees to grant the University of Dubai a non-exclusive license. This license stipulates that the student owns the copyright to the thesis.
B. By agreeing to this license, the University of Dubai and its Library shall preserve and make the thesis widely available, usually via the Internet and other searchable databases.
C. Students may request a deferment on the publication of his/her thesis.
D. Upon final submission of the thesis, the student shall be deemed to have granted the University a non-exclusive, royalty free license to reproduce, archive, preserve, conserve, communicate to the public by telecommunication or on the internet, loan, and distribute the thesis worldwide for non-commercial purposes, in any format.
I encourage you to refer to the UD Thesis handbook and UD Policies and Procedures which can be found on our website or from your College Program Director for further details.