PROTOCOL FOR THE CHAPTER DEFENCE (DSLLCS SLCS)
1. The doctoral candidate must complete the courses entitled Writing a (Sub)Chapter and Chapter Defence in the sixth semester. (NB: the schedule for the Chapter Defence below serves to regulate the first chapter defence at the end of the third academic year, which also counts as part of the mandatory qualification process. Candidates have to take the course Chapter Defence in the seventh or eighth semester, too. In the Doctoral Programme in Hungarian Literature, Modern Literatures and Cultural Studies, the course Writing a Chapter must also be taken at least once more – in semester 7 or 8 –; in the Doctoral Programme in British and North American Literary and Cultural Studies, this course has to be taken four times, in semesters 5–8.)
2. After consulting the subprogramme directors (SPD), the programme director (PD) finalises the date and venue of the chapter defence, and notifies the secretary of the doctoral section (SDS), who sends out the information to the doctoral section, not later than the end of the semester. In duly justified cases, the Chapter Defence may take place in late August. (NB. Subprogrammes may decide to organize the Chapter Defence collectively. In this case, the date and venue are agree upon after the subprogramme directors’ consultation.)
3. Participation in the Chapter Defence is compulsory for the supervisors and subprogramme directors, the reviewers assigned by the doctoral programme, as well as for all PhD students (taking language competences into consideration). In case the subprogramme director is unable to attend or is involved as a supervisor, they can be replaced by a supervisor who is uninvolved). The chapter defence is a public event, open to all members of the doctoral section.
4. Schedule. The doctoral candidate sends their dissertation chapter in pdf format – accompanied by the written approval of the instructor – to the secretary of the subprogramme by 31 May (31 December for cross-semesters) or – pending the approval of the supervisor – 10 days prior to the appointed date of the chapter defence. The secretary of the subprogramme forwards the chapter to the members of the committee and the secretary of the doctoral section. The minimum length of the dissertation chapter is equal to that of the dissertation proposal, i.e. 4000-4500 words (plus bibliography); subprogrammes may decide to maximise the length of the submission.
5. The chapter defence is conducted in front of the previously appointed committee consisting of a chair and the two reviewers. After the two appointed reviewers have presented their respective evaluations, others may offer their comments. The candidate responds to the questions and comments of the reviewers and other participants. The debate is concluded by an official evaluation.
6. The candidate’s performance is evaluated by the three-member committee. The evaluation consists of a grade and a detailed oral evaluation, which is given at the end of each debate or at the end of the doctoral event.