ITU GRADUATE EDUCATION AND TRAINING REGULATION

ARTICLE 26 –

(1) The student must orally defend their thesis, which has been written in accordance with the thesis writing guidelines determined by the Senate and approved by their advisor, before a jury.

(2) The master's thesis jury is submitted to the institute within one week following the submission of the thesis to the institute, upon the proposal of the program executive committee and the opinion of the head of the relevant department, and is appointed by the decision of the institute executive board. The jury consists of three members, one of whom must be the student's advisor and at least one must be from another department within the University or from another higher education institution. In the event of having a co-advisor, the jury consists of five members, at least two of whom must be from another department within the University or from another higher education institution. A maximum of one jury member may be selected from experts working in institutions and organizations outside of higher education institutions who hold a doctorate/proficiency in art degree in the relevant field.

(3) The jury members shall convene within one month at the latest from the date the thesis is delivered to them to administer the thesis examination to the student. The exam consists of the presentation of the thesis work and a subsequent question-and-answer session.

(4) Upon completion of the thesis exam, the jury shall decide to accept, reject, or request revisions for the thesis by absolute majority or unanimous vote. This decision is notified in writing with an official record (minutes) to the relevant institute by the head of the institute department within three days following the thesis exam.

(5) A student whose thesis is given a revision decision must fulfill the requirements and re-defend their thesis before the same jury within three months at the latest.

(6) Students whose thesis work is deemed unsuccessful are granted a non-thesis master's diploma upon their request, provided that they have fulfilled the course credit load and term project requirements of the non-thesis master's program. The procedure for making this transition is defined in the senate principles.

(7) A student who is assigned a new thesis topic may register to continue their education, provided that they pay the tuition fees or student contributions if they exceed their standard period of study. In this case, their student status continues without benefiting from other student rights, except for fulfilling the requirements related to the thesis and participating in exams.

(8) Master's degree graduation requirements are determined within the framework of the senate principles.

ITU SENATE PRINCIPLES

Article 53-

The following points shall be observed in the completion of a master's thesis:

a) The student must orally defend their thesis, which has been approved by their advisor as being written in accordance with the writing rules determined by the senate, before a jury.

b) Jury members shall convene within one month at the latest from the submission date of the thesis to administer the thesis exam to the student. If the exam cannot be held within one month, the participation of substitute jury members is ensured with the approval of the institute, and the thesis exam is held within two weeks following the initial one-month period.

c) The thesis exam lasts between 60 to 120 minutes and consists of the presentation of the thesis work and the subsequent question-and-answer session. The thesis exam is open to the public; following the questions from the jury members, the audience may also ask questions to the student if deemed appropriate by the chair of the jury. The audience must leave the room during the decision phase.

d) A student whose thesis is given a revision decision is granted a maximum of three months. A student who cannot make the necessary revisions to their thesis at the end of the three-month period may be granted a maximum of two additional months if their excuse is accepted by the institute executive board. At the end of this period, the student will re-defend their revised thesis, submitted to the institute with their advisor's approval, before the same jury. A student whose thesis is rejected in these defense exams, or who fails to submit their revised thesis to the institute at the end of the revision period, will have their thesis advisor and thesis topic changed upon the proposal of the program executive committee, the opinion of the department, and the decision of the institute executive board. Furthermore, in addition to the mandatory twenty-four credits they must take, they are required to retake the courses they failed or passed conditionally, and they may continue their thesis work provided that the weighted Grade Point Average (GPA) of these retaken courses is at least 3.00.

e) During the defense exam, the committee members and the student shall comply with the "Ethical Considerations to be Observed in Interviews and Oral Exams" announced by ITU.

f) Departments may determine additional graduation requirements aside from those specified in the Education and Training Regulation and Senate Principles, if deemed necessary, provided that such requirements are announced prior to the graduate application dates.

g) In the event that a formal written request—stating that the thesis work has been unsuccessful and bearing the signatures of both the student and the advisor—is submitted to the institute and deemed appropriate by the institute executive board, the student is granted a non-thesis master's diploma, provided that they have fulfilled the course credit load and term project requirements of the non-thesis master's program. This application can be made at the end of the third semester at the earliest.