PhD Program Guidelines

PhD Qualifying Exam:

The rules specifying when students take the Qualifying Examination are slightly different for students entering with Bachelor’s degrees and students entering with Master’s degrees, and are as follows.

  • Students entering with Bachelor’s degrees must take the Qualifying Examination no later than seventh (7th) semester.
  • Students entering with Master’s degrees must take the Qualifying Examination no later than fifth (5th) semester.

Please consult with your advisor and/or your program coordinators for the date and other details relating to the exam. All Qualifying exams are conducted in two parts; written and verbal by Doktora Yeterlik Komitesi (DYK) / PhD Qualifying Exam Committee. PhD Qualifying Exam Committee must delegate their rights to conduct the exam to a Jury which must be minimum of five members. PhD Qualifying Jury must consists of 5 members including the the student’s advisor and there must be at least two members from outside of the Koç University.

Thesis Monitoring Committee (Tez İzleme Komitesi):

Thesis Monitoring Committee is appointed on the recommendation of the program and approval of the Graduate School of Sciences and Engineering Executive Council within one month after the student passes the PhD Qualifying Exam.
Thesis Monitoring Committee must consist of three faculty members. Except for the thesis advisor, there must be one member from inside the student’s major program and one member from outside the student’s major program (all members must be affiliated with a university or an academic institution and must at least hold an “Assistant Professor” title). If there is a co-advisor, co-advisor may attend the thesis monitoring meetings.

Thesis Proposal Defense:

Right after passing the PhD Qualifying Exam; thesis proposal must be defended to the Thesis Monitoring Committee within 6 months.

The Thesis Monitoring Committee decides whether the thesis proposal is accepted or rejected.

Thesis Monitoring Meetings:

After the student’s thesis proposal is accepted, the Thesis Monitoring Committee meets twice a year, between January-June and July-December, to evaluate the thesis.

You must bring this signed form to GSSE within three days of the thesis proposal defense date
You must bring this signed form to GSSE within three days of the thesis monitoring meeting date