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NEW REGULATION OF DOCTORAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF THEATRE STUDIES

OF THE NATIONAL AND KAPODISTRIAN UNIVERSITY OF ATHENS

(Decision N. 597/1-2-2018) 

General Principles

Doctoral studies in the Faculty of Theatre Studies of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens are organized and operate in accordance with the provisions of the 4485/2017 Law and in accordance with the general institutional context which is in effect each time. Doctoral studies aim at the advancement of original academic research and they lead on to the acquisition of a Doctoral Degree which certifies the conducting of original academic research and the substantial contribution to the development of knowledge in the Discipline of Theatre Studies (Performing Arts included).

Entitlement to apply for Doctoral Studies

Entitled to apply for undertaking a doctoral thesis is the holder of a Master’s degree from a Greek University Faculty of Theatre Studies or from a recognized as equitable foreign university or of an integrated Master’s in accordance with the 46th article of the 4485/17 Law.

Holders of University’s degree or/and Master’s degree from Humanities are also entitled to apply for undertaking a doctoral thesis; responsible to decide for these applications is the Faculty Assembly.

Holders of University’s/Master’s degree from other disciplines related to theatre (e.g. Drama School graduates or professional artists) are also entitled to apply, and the assembly could accept their application exceptionally.

In special cases, such as authorship of significant scientific or artistic work, an applicant can be justifiably accepted as a doctoral candidate even if he/she does not hold a Master’s degree ( 38th article of the 4485/17 Law). In this case the candidate could be asked to attend classes, seminars or workshops.

Procedure for applying for a Doctoral Degree

Applicants can apply during the academic year (especially September and March), or after the publisising of a relevant call for expression of interest for a doctoral degree in accordance with the 42th article, Law 4485/17.

Supporting Documents Required

1.Application for undertaking a doctoral thesis which includes the following:
- proposed title of the doctoral thesis

- substantiated scientific proposal of the doctoral thesis
- proposed language of the doctoral thesis
- proposed supervisor of the doctoral thesis
2. ID photocopy
3. Analytical curriculum vitae
4. A copy of Bachelor’s Degree (with recognition of equivalence by D.O.A.T.A.P. -for foreign universities graduates).
5.A copy of Master’s Degree (with recognition of equivalence by D.O.A.T.A.P. -for foreign universities graduates).
6. Language Certificates for at least two (2) of the foreign languages established in international bibliography, one at C1 level and the other at B2 level at least.

7. Sample of scientific work or copy of master's thesis.

Procedure for selecting PhD candidates

Having taken into account the submitted applications, the Faculty Assembly classifies them in accordance with the relevance of the research subject and appoints a three-member board for each category of applications.

Each three-member board, consisted by academic staff of the Faculty, examines the corresponding applications together with the submitted documents and calls the applicants for an interview. Consequently, submits to the Faculty Assembly an analytical statement for each one of the candidates in which the reasons for which each one of them is accepted or rejected are written as well as the proposed supervisor in case the candidate does not propose one. The Faculty Assembly, having taken into account the statement of the board as well as the opinion of the proposed supervisor, approves or rejects the candidate’s application with a corresponding justification.

The approval decision defines also the language of the doctoral thesis (article 38 of the 4485/17 Law).

After the registration of the doctoral candidates and the appointment of the three-member advisory committees, the names of the doctoral candidates, of the supervising members from the academic staff or from the researchers, the titles of the undertaken doctoral thesis, together with a short summary as well as the members of the doctoral thesis’ three-member advisory committees are posted by the Secretariat of the Faculty on the website of the Faculty of Theatre Studies both in Greek and in English (par. 4, 4485/17 Law).

Supervising a Doctoral Thesis

1.Supervisor of a doctoral thesis

Entitled to supervise doctoral theses are members from the academic staff of grade A´ Professors, Associate Professors and Assistant Professors of the relevant or other university or researchers of grade A´, B´ or C´ from research centres in accordance with the article 13A of the 4310/2014 Law, as well as the research centres of the Academy of Athens, unless it is differently defined by the existing each time legislative framework (article 39 of the 4485/17 Law).

Each supervisor can supervise 8 (eight) PhD candidates at the most.

2.Three-member Advisory Committee

The Faculty Assembly assigns to the proposed supervisor, in accordance with the 3rd paragraph of 38th article of the 4485/17 Law, the supervision of the doctoral thesis and appoints a three-member Advisory Committee with the responsibility to supervise and support its research process and its writing (par. 2, article 39 of the 4485/17 Law).

The Three-member Advisory Committee consists of the supervisor and two other academic staff members of grade A´ Professor, Associate Professor and Assistant Professor from the relevant or other university or professors of recognized as equivalent foreign institutions who are doctorate holders or researchers of grade A´, B´ and C´, from research centres in accordance with the article 13Aof the 4310/2014, the research centres of the Academy of Athens or from recognised foreign research centres or foundations of the same or related cognitive subject with the doctoral thesis under examination.

At least one member of the three first grades from the academic staff of the Faculty of Theatre Studies has to participate in the Three-member Advisory Committee (article 39 of the 4485/17 Law).

2α Replacement of members of the three-member Advisory Committee

If for any reason the supervisor is absent or it has been proved that he/she is not able to supervise for at least one year, the Faculty Assembly, considering the circumstances, assigns the supervision to another person, in accordance with what is defined in the previous paragraphs, either on its own initiative or after the doctoral candidate’s application and with the opinion of the proposed supervisor. Otherwise, the Assembly assigns the supervision to one of the other two members of the Three-member Advisory Committee, even if this exceeds the maximum number of doctoral candidates that can be supervised per professor, in accordance with those defined in the present Regulation (article 39th of the 4485/17 Law).

If for any reason a member of the three-member Advisory Committee is absent or it has been proved that he/she is not able to supervise for at least one year, or if the development of the research necessitates the involvement of a more qualified Professor or Researcher, or if the candidate requests so, the Faculty Assembly, after a reasoned report by the supervisor, may replace it.

The retired members of the Three-member Advisory Committee continue to watch the progress of the doctoral thesis and, by decision of the Faculty Assembly, are replaced by members of equal number before the examination of the doctoral thesis, in order for the Seven-member Examination Committee to be to be appointed.

2b.A supervisor’s transfer/retirement

If the initial supervisor transfers to another university or to another faculty of the university or retires, he/she continues to act as supervisor of the doctoral thesis that has undertaken and the title is awarded by the Faculty of Theatre Studies of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (39th article of the 4485/17 Law). If the supervisor is discharged, by decision of the Faculty Assembly, he/she is replaced by another member to appoint the Seven-member Examination Committee for the doctoral thesis.

3.Seven-member Examination Committee

The assembly of the Faculty of Theatre Studies appoints a Seven-member Examination Committee for the assessment of the doctoral thesis (par. 1, 41st article of the 4485/17 Law).

In the Seven-member Examination Committee the members of the Three-member Advisory Committee participate with the right to vote except for those who have been discharged; the latter by decision of the Faculty Assembly are replaced with members of equal number who meet the criteria of the second and third subparagraphs of the 2nd paragraph of the 39th article of the 4485/17 Law, as well as four more members, who meet the criteria of the 2nd part of the par. 2 of the 4485/17 Law.

The discharged members of the Three-member Advisory Committee who were replaced can be present during the meeting of the seven-member Examination Committee without being entitled to vote (articles 39 and 41of the 4485/17 Law).

Duration, Rights and Obligations of PhD Candidates

1. Duration

The minimum duration for the acquisition of a Doctoral Degree is three (3) full calendar years from the date of appointment of the Three-member Advisory Committee (article 40, paragraph 1 of Law 4485/17).

The maximum duration of the doctoral study program is five (5) years from the date of appointment of the Three-member Advisory Committee.

Doctoral candidates are entitled to suspend their studies, in exceptional and sufficiently justified cases. The period of suspension may not exceed two years. The period of suspension is not included in the completion time of studies. For the specific period of suspension, the doctoral candidate does not benefit from the entitlements and benefits provided for the doctoral candidates.

At the end of the 5th (or 7th year, after a two-year suspension) academic year, the doctoral candidates shall submit within three calendar months an explanatory statement explaining the reasons for which they are pending. The explanatory statement shall be evaluated by the Three-member Advisory Committee within two months. If the explanatory statement is rejected by the majority, the doctoral candidate shall be deleted without further notice. If the Explanatory Memorandum is accepted, by decision of the Faculty Assembly the doctoral candidate is given one more calendar year. After this year, if he/she has not completed his/her doctoral thesis, he/she is deleted without further notice.

2. Rights and Obligations

-Doctoral candidates are required to renew registration per academic year (Article 45, paragraph 2 of Law 4485/17).

-Doctoral candidates, every year (from 15 to 30 September) present the results of their thesis orally and submit a written analytical statement to the Three-member Advisory Committee on the progress of their doctoral thesis. A copy of the statement, as well as comments on it from the supervisor or the Three-member Advisory Committee, are recorded in the candidate's personal file (par. 2, article 40 of Law 4485/17).

- Candidates can conduct part of their research in another institution / research center of the country or abroad as long as this is required by the thesis subject and with the consent of the supervisor.

-During doctoral studies, doctoral candidates are required to attend at least one scientific conference with national or foreign peer reviewers and to publish at least one journal article with national or foreign peer reviewers.

- Doctoral studies are offered free of charge.

-Doctoral candidates enjoy all the entitlements and benefits provided for the students of the second circle of post graduate students, up to five (5) full academic years from their subscription. Up to five (5) years after the completion of their doctoral thesis, they retain rights of access, borrowing and use of the electronic services of university libraries (Article 40, paragraph 3 of Law 4485/17).

-Following the proposal of the Faculty Assembly and a joint decision of the Ministers of Education and Finances, doctoral candidates may be assisting teaching members of the faculty at undergraduate and postgraduate level, with hourly compensation charged to the Foundation's budget (Article 9, paragraph 3, subparagraph ε, of 3685/2008 Law).

-Candidates that fall under Article 19, par. 4 of Law 4452/17 may be employed as academic fellows by an Act of the relevant Faculty with a fixed-term private employment relationship for teaching, research, scientific, organizational, laboratory or clinical duties, specified in related contract. The announcement of the cognitive subject is made following a proposal of the Faculty Assembly and approval by the Faculty Assembly. The duration of the contract is fixed up to one academic year, depending on the needs of the Faculty. Employment may be renewed or extended, however the total employment time may not exceed three (3) academic years. The employment of the doctoral candidates may be full time or part time and the compensation will be covered by scholarships and resources, which will be provided by the Faculty, without increasing the state’s subsidy to the local university, and in accordance with the provisions in force.

Undertaking a Doctoral Thesis

A. Definition / change of title of a doctoral thesis.

The finalization of the title of the doctoral thesis has to be defined after two years from his/her acceptance by the Faculty. In case of failure to implement the proposed topic due to its range, lack of sufficient information, coverage of the topic by another researcher in the interim, or for any other reason that must be clearly justified at the Faculty Assembly, the subject of the dissertation can be transformed with the consent of his/her supervisor. If that changes completely, the period of suspension may not exceed two years.

B. Suggested Doctoral Thesis Structure

  • CONTENTS
    • Chapter - Sub-chapter - Section titles
    • Page numbers
  • INTRODUCTION
    • Thesis presentation: research hypotheses - objectives - methodology
  • MAIN PART
    • Thesis chapters
    • Footnotes, references (where borrowing from bibliographic sources)
    • Change page for each new chapter, not sub-chapter. When the previous sub-chapter ends at the bottom of the page, the beginning of the new sub-chapter begins with a new page.
    • Page numbering
  • CONCLUSIONS
  • BIBLIOGRAPHY
  • ANNEXES
  • INDEXES

C. Language of a doctoral thesis

The doctoral thesis is written in a language decided by the Faculty Assembly, which takes into account the language proposed by the doctoral candidate in his/her application (article 38 par. 2 & 3 of Law 4485/17).

D.Morphology Font: Times New Roman, font size 12 and line spacing 1.5. Notes in size 10 and single spacing.

E.Paging The entire thesis should have a continuous and unified bookmarking, including the contents, the foreword and the annexes.

The numbering is placed either on the outer edge of the page or on the outer edge of the page.

F. Abstract

The thesis should include a brief and concise abstract that will not exceed one page (up to 500 words). The abstract should also be written in English on the next page. If the thesis is in a language other than Greek, there should be an extensive summary in Greek (2500-3000 words). Abstracts are placed before the bibliography.

G. Notes

References should be footnotes, not endnotes.

Procedure of Examination of a Doctoral thesis

After completing the doctoral thesis, the candidate submits for public defense and evaluation, which is examined by the Three-member Advisory Committee. If the Seven-member Board of Examiners proposes partial corrections and changes, the candidate must, prior to his/her inauguration as a doctorate, make the corrections and submit a copy of the corrected thesis to the supervisor.

If the Three-member Advisory Committee accepts the candidate's request, he/she prepares an analytical report and submits it to the Faculty Assembly, requesting the appointment of a Seven-member Examination Committee (article 41, par. 1 of Law 4485/17). The Seven-member ExaminationCommittee shall be composed of members of the Three-member Advisory Committee, with the exception of its discharged members, who, by decision of the Faculty Assembly, shall be replaced by the same number of members who meet the criteria of the second and third subparagraphs of paragraph 2 of Article 39 of the Law. 4485, as well as four (4) additional members, who meet the criteria of the second subparagraph paragraph 2 of article 39, Law 4485/17.

All members of the Seven-member Examination Committee must have the same or similar scientific specialization to that of the doctoral thesis.

Following the appointment of the Seven-member Committee, the candidate is required to deliver two copies in printed (to the Archive and the Library of the Faculty) and seven copies in electronic form (to each member of the Seven-member Examination Committee) with a comprehensive summary (5 pages) in Greek, if the thesis is written in English and to sign a statement that the thesis is not a product of plagiarism.

The thesis shall be publicly defensed within at least thirty (20) days and not more than fifty (50) days since the appointment of the Seven-member committee. The process of public defense starts with the physical presence of at least four (4) members of the Seven-member Examination Committee, while the other members can participate by videoconference (par. 3, no. 41, Ν.4485 / 17). If the candidate does not appear unjustifiably in support of his/her thesis, he/she is considered rejected.

The doctoral candidate delivers a 30-minute long presentation of his/her thesis and then answers questions from the members of the Seven- member Examination Committee. The oral examination of the doctoral candidate is announced with public announcements and invitations to the teaching staff, students and members of the scientific community. The debate shall be chaired by a member of the Commission defined by it. Subsequently, the Seven-member Examination Committee meets without the presence of third parties, assesses the work in terms of quality, completeness, original thought and contribution to the Discipline, and approves by a majority of at least five (5) members (Article 41 (3) of Law 4485/17), assesses the doctoral thesis with grades of Good, Very Good or Outstanding, and draws up an Assessment Record. If the Assessment Record is signed by four members of the Seven-member Board of Examiners, and a fifth member has signed the Explanatory Report, the title is deemed to have been validly granted (Law 41186/2013, article 39, par. 18).

If the Seven-member Examination Committee evaluate the thesis as not fully satisfactory: can propose partial corrections and changes or radical reform of the thesis, which should be publicly supported (within a period of three to six months), or partial corrections and changes which should not be publicly supported, or rejects the thesis. If the second support is rejected, the Committee rejects the candidate and justifies its decision.

Doctoral Thesis with co-Supervision

The Department of Theatre Studies of the University of Athens may cooperate with national and foreign research centres and institutes for the undertaking of a doctoral thesis with co-Supervision, subject to the conditions provided for in Article 43 (par. 3) of Law 4485/2017.

Decision of the Minister of Education, Research and Religious Affairs, published in the Government Gazette, defines any relevant issue concerning the undretaking of doctoral theses with recognized institutions or research centres and institutes abroad (par. 3, article 43, law 4448 / 17).

Inauguration - Graduation Oath

After the public support and prior to the inauguration, the doctoral candidate is required to submit two copies of his doctoral thesis to the Library of the Department (booklet and in pdf) as well as one copy to the Postgraduate’ Secretariat. In addition, the doctoral candidate is required to submit three other copies of his doctoral thesis to the "Pergamos" Digital Repository, to the National Documentation Center and to the National Library of Greece.

The process is concluded with the gratuation oath and the official inauguration of the candidate before the Faculty Assembly.

Copyright Issues

The copyright of the doctoral thesis belongs to the doctoral candidate, according to Law 2121/93, as amended and in force.

Removal of doctoral candidates

Following the majority recommendation of the Three-member Advisory Committee, the Assembly of the Faculty of Theatre Studies may decide to remove doctoral candidates if:

  • the latter do not renew their annual subscription,
  • their progress is deemed inadequate or stagnant,
  • they have unreasonably discontinued their dissertation work,
  • they do not submit annual detailed statements on the progress of their thesis,
  • they exceed the maximum duration of a doctoral thesis, as defined in this Regulation,
  • they have violated the applicable provisions regarding disciplinary offenses by the disciplinary bodies and committees.
  • at the request of the doctoral candidates,
  • they have been guilty of plagiarism (see Law 2121/93 on Intellectual Property).

Transitional provisions

After the entry into force of Law 4559/2015 (A΄ 142):

  • the doctoral candidates who have been admitted to the program before the law’s 4485/17 entry into force, complete their doctoral thesis in accordance with the provisions of Law 3685/08 (Government Gazette A 148) and the corresponding Doctoral Studies Regulation of the Faculty
  • doctoral candidates with enrollment date after 4th/8/2017, complete their doctoral thesis in accordance with the provisions of Law 4485/17 as amended and in force, and the corresponding Doctoral Studies Regulations of the Faculty as in force.