Tohoku University Graduate School of Life Sciences Regulations for Handling Doctoral Dissertation and Master's Thesis Review and Final Examination (Defense)

 

(Purpose)

 

Article 1: These regulations establish the procedures for the examination of doctoral dissertations and master's theses (hereinafter referred to as "Theses" for both program) and the final examination (thesis defense) or confirmation of academic ability in the Graduate School of Life Sciences (hereinafter referred to as "the Graduate School") at Tohoku University (hereinafter referred to as "the University"), in addition to the provisions of the Tohoku University Degree Regulations (hereinafter referred to as "Degree Regulations").

 

(Deadline for Submission of Theses)

 

Article 2: Theses must be submitted to the Dean of the Graduate School by the designated deadline.

(Thesis Review and Final Examination for 3-year Doctoral Course)

 

Article 3: If the supervisor deems it necessary, a pre-examination committee may be established prior to the review and final examination for doctoral degree candidates. The pre-examination committee shall be conducted as follows:

Article 4:

Paragraph 1: The Graduate School of Life Sciences Faculty Meeting (hereinafter referred to as "Faculty Meeting") shall select examiners to conduct the Thesis review and final examination.
Paragraph 2: The members of the examination committee mentioned in Paragraph 1 shall be determined in accordance with the "博士論文の論文審査会及び最終試験に関する申合せ事項 (Doctoral Dissertation Review Committee and Final Examination Procedures)".
Paragraph 3: The review committee shall be conducted in the following manner:

Paragraph 4: The final examination shall be conducted as follows:

 

(Required Research Guidance for 3-year Doctoral Course)

Article 5:
Paragraph 1: Completion of the required research guidance as stipulated in the graduation requirements shall be deemed to have been met upon submission of the Thesis.
Paragraph 2: In cases where a student who has been enrolled for three or more years, has completed the required credits for coursework, and has received the necessary research guidance, requests to withdraw without submitting a Thesis, the supervisor may submit a research guidance certification report with a research title, and the student shall be deemed to have received the necessary research guidance for completion of the program.

(Preparation of Thesis for Doctoral Course)

 

Article 6:
Paragraph 1: Thesis must be prepared in electronic format and have a cover page in the following format:

 

                       Cover page

Doctoral Dissertation 〇〇〇〇〇（Title） （If the dissertation is written in English, a Japanese translation must be included in parentheses） 20〇〇 Academic Year Tohoku University Graduate School of Life Sciences Department of 〇〇〇〇〇 〇〇　〇〇（Name）

Paragraph 2: If publication of a summary of a Thesis is permitted instead of the full text of the Thesis, electronic data of the full text and electronic data of the summary of the Thesis must be prepared.
Paragraph 3: The Thesis summary for the submission should not exceed 4,000 characters in Japanese and 2,000 words in English.

(Preparation of Examination Results Summary)

Article 7: The "博士論文の審査及び最終試験の結果の要旨(Summary of the Results of the Doctoral Dissertation Review and the Final Examination)" shall be prepared in a separately specified format and should not exceed 1,000 characters. At the end of this document it should be stated: "自立して研究活動を行うに必要な高度の研究能力と学識を有することを示している。したがって、○○○○提出の論文は、博士（生命科学）の博士論文として合格と認める。(The degree candidate has demonstrated a high level of research ability and academic knowledge required to carry out independent research activities. Therefore, the thesis submitted by [Student's Name] is deemed acceptable as a doctoral dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Life Sciences))".

 

(Shortening the Period of Study for the 3-year Doctoral Course)

 

Article 8: Shortened completion of the program may be granted to students who have achieved outstanding results and have been recognized by the Academic Affairs Committee, the Steering Committee, and the Faculty Meeting as worthy of early completion.

 

(Thesis Review and Final Examination for 2-year Master's Course)

Article 9:

Paragraph 1: The Faculty Meeting shall select examiners to conduct the Thesis review and final examination.
Paragraph 2: The members of the examination committee mentioned in Paragraph 1 shall be determined in accordance with the "修士論文の論文審査及び最終試験並びに後期課程進学者の審査に関する申合せ事項 (Master's Thesis Review Committee and Final Examination Procedures)".
Paragraph 3: The review committee shall be conducted in the following manner:

1. The Thesis Review Committee shall consist of the Thesis Review Examiners.
2. After receiving the Thesis (for review), the examiners shall carefully examine the contents and provide individual advice to the student who submitted the thesis.
3. The supervisor shall provide guidance on the revision of the content of the master's thesis as appropriate in preparation for the final examination.

(Required Research Guidance for 2-year Master's Course)

Article 10: Completion of the required research guidance as stipulated in the graduation requirements shall be deemed to have been met upon submission of the Thesis.

 

(Preparation of Thesis for Master's Course)

 

Article 11: Thesis must be prepared in electronic format and have a cover page in the following format:

 

                     Cover page

Master's Thesis   〇〇〇〇〇（Title） （If the dissertation is written in English, a Japanese translation must be included in parentheses） 20〇〇 Academic Year Tohoku University Graduate School of Life Sciences Department of 〇〇〇〇〇 〇〇　〇〇（Name）

(Shortening the Period of Study for the 2-year Master's Course)

Article 12: The shortening of the period of study shall be determined in accordance with the "前期2年の課程の短縮修了の手続きに関する申合わせ(Guidelines for the Procedures for Early Completion of the 2-Year Master's Program)".　

 

(Examination for Degree by Thesis Submission Only)

Article 13: The Thesis must be submitted to the Dean of the Graduate School by the specified deadline through the Introducing Professor.

Article 14: Other matters related to the examination for the Degree by Thesis Submission Only shall be stipulated by the "生命科学研究科論文博士審査内規(Regulations for the Examination of Doctoral Dissertations of the Graduate School of Life Sciences)".　

(Other Matters)

Article 15: Matters other than those provided in these regulations shall be determined by the Faculty Meeting.