(This is a translation of the official version in Chinese沪交研[2017]94号)
Chapter One: General Provisions
Article 1 To deepen the reform of postgraduate education, improve the assessment system of dissertation, and promote international review and defense of PhD dissertation of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, these regulations are hereby formulated.
Article 2 Shanghai Jiao Tong University encourages full-fledged schools to carry out international review and defense of PhD dissertation in accordance with these regulations. PhD students joining the double-degree and joint degree programs signed between SJTU and partner universities shall undergo international review and defense on their PhD dissertation in accordance with these regulations.
Chapter Two: Organization and Implementation
Article 3 Each school or its Dissertation Steering Committee shall be responsible to carry out the international review and defense of PhD dissertations under the supervision of the school dean in charge of postgraduate education, and shall designate specific persons (the implementer) to fulfill such responsibilities.
Article 4 The international review and defense of a PhD dissertation should follow these procedures:
I. Appointment of review experts. The PhD supervisor or the Dissertation Steering Committee shall nominate at least 5 experts within the corresponding academic discipline and the discipline director shall appoint the review experts. Each dissertation shall be reviewed by at least three overseas experts, who must be Tenure-tracked professor or Senior lecturer (British system), or experts with higher titles. At least one of them should be tenured professor.
II. Approval and Filing. When passed the pre-defense, finalized the PhD dissertation, and appointed the review experts, the PhD student shall submit the dissertation to his/her school, download and fill out the Application Form for International Review and Defense of PhD Dissertation. The filled form should be submitted to the school for approval and then send a copy of the approved application form to the Graduate School for filing.
III. Dissertation dispatch and comments collection. The implementer, designated by the student’s school or Dissertation Steering Committee, shall send the dissertation to the appointed international experts for review. The implementer is responsible for tracking the reviewing process and collecting the comments/suggestions from the reviewers.
IV. Feedback of comments. The implementer designated by the school or the Dissertation Steering Committee shall summarize and feedback the comments/suggestions from the reviewers to the PhD student and his/her supervisor(s). Upon approval by the Dissertation Steering Committee and the academic discipline, those who meet the conditions for oral defense can proceed to the international defense.
V. International defense. The Defense Committee shall be comprised of 5 to 7 experts, at least one from the international reviewer or at least two overseas experts with the title of Tenure-track or Senior lecturer (British system) or above. In cases where the supervisor is a member of the defense committee, the defense committee shall have seven experts, and the supervisor cannot serve as the chairperson of the committee. The academic discipline and the Academic Degree Evaluation Committee of the School is responsible for approving the members of the defense committee, and confirming the student's qualification to meet the defense requirements of the University and/or the School.
Article 5 For the objection handling of the international review comments, the procedure of the dissertation oral defense, and the conclusion of the defense, one should refer to the Regulations of Shanghai Jiao Tong University on Doctoral Degree Application.
Chapter Three: Additional
Article 6 The PhD dissertations for international review and defense may be written in English, and they are not required to participate in the anonymous review organized by the University. However, an international defense must be organized if the dissertation is reviewed following the international review procedure.
Article 7 Confidential dissertation shall not participate in the international review and defense.
Article 8 These regulations are subject to interpretation by the Graduate School and take effect on September 1, 2017. In case of any discrepancy between this and previous version of the regulations, this version shall prevail.
