ITU GRADUATE EDUCATION AND TRAINING REGULATION

ARTICLE 40 -

(1) The student submits their thesis, prepared in accordance with the principles of the thesis writing guidelines determined by the Senate, to the institute along with the opinion of their advisor.

(2) The doctoral thesis jury is determined upon the proposal of the relevant program executive committee, the opinion of the head of the institute department, and the decision of the institute executive board. The jury, including the thesis monitoring committee, consists of five members, at least two of whom must be faculty members from another higher education institution. A maximum of one jury member may be selected from experts holding a doctorate degree who work in institutions and organizations outside of higher education institutions. Furthermore, the institute executive board selects two substitute members, one from within the University and the other from the faculty members of another higher education institution.

(3) If the thesis work is conducted with a co-advisor, the jury consists of seven members, at least three of whom must be from outside the University.

(4) Members who are unable to participate in the jury due to justified and valid excuses must notify the institute directorate in writing of their reasons for non-participation within one week at the latest from the date they receive the thesis.

(5) The relevant institute subjects the thesis to a review for a period of two weeks and announces it to the Rectorate, faculties, and other institutes. Any written opinions regarding the thesis received during this period are communicated in writing to the jury members by the institute directorate.

(6) The jury members examine the doctoral thesis submitted by the candidate from scientific and formal perspectives and submit their personal reports regarding the thesis to the institute directorate within twenty-one days at the latest from the date the thesis is delivered to them. Substitute jury members are appointed in place of those who fail to submit their reports by the end of this period. A faculty member who fails to submit their report within the specified time must state their reasons to the institute directorate in writing.

(7) The jury members convene within one month at the latest from the date the thesis in question is delivered to them to administer the thesis exam to the student. The date and place of the doctoral thesis exam are determined by the institutes upon the proposal of the advisor and are notified in writing to the jury members.

(8) Following the thesis exam, the jury convenes closed to the audience, decides to accept, reject, or request revisions for the thesis by absolute majority or unanimous vote, and documents this with an official record (minutes). In addition, it issues a joint report evaluating the doctoral thesis and the exam. In case the thesis is accepted by majority vote, the dissenting opinions of the jury members who voted for rejection and the responses given to these opinions by the other jury members are also included in this report.

(9) The joint report and official record submitted by the jury to the program executive committee are notified to the institute within three days following the thesis exam, with the approval of the program coordinator and the head of the department. For a student whose thesis is rejected, the thesis advisor and thesis topic are changed upon the proposal of the program executive committee, the approval of the institute department, and the decision of the institute executive board, and the process is restarted according to the relevant provisions of the principles determined by the Senate. A student whose thesis is given a revision decision must fulfill the requirements and re-defend their revised thesis, which they have submitted to the institute with their advisor's approval, before the same jury within six months at the latest. For a student who fails to submit their revised thesis at the end of the revision period or whose thesis is still not accepted at the end of the defense exam held after submitting the revised thesis, the thesis advisor and thesis topic are changed upon the proposal of the program executive committee, the approval of the institute department, and the decision of the institute executive board, and the process is restarted according to the relevant provisions of the principles determined by the Senate.

(10) For those admitted to the doctoral program with a bachelor's degree who fail their thesis, a non-thesis master's diploma is granted upon their request, provided that they have fulfilled the course credit load, project writing, and similar requirements of the non-thesis master's program.

(11) Graduation requirements for doctoral education are determined by the Senate.

ITU SENATE PRINCIPLES

ARTICLE 65-

a) In order for the student to submit their doctoral thesis, it is required as a condition that one international scientific article related to their thesis has been published or has received final acceptance for publication in international indexed and peer-reviewed journals classified under the A1 category in the ITU Academic Promotion and Appointment Criteria for the relevant department; and that one international proceeding (paper) related to their thesis has been presented orally, in writing, or visually.

b) In Proficiency in Art education, having given at least two national and/or international concerts related to the field is required as a graduation condition. The concerts must be organized by national and international official institutions.

c) Each department may determine publication criteria above the minimum publication criteria established as graduation requirements. To implement this, the minutes of the department's academic board, specifying the justification, are submitted to the institute. The relevant decision takes effect with the approval of the institute executive board and the university senate.

d) A student whose thesis is given a revision decision is granted a maximum of six months. A student who cannot make the necessary revisions to their thesis at the end of the six-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.

e) For 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, the thesis advisor, thesis monitoring committee, and thesis topic are changed upon the proposal of the program executive committee, the approval of the institute department, and the decision of the institute executive board. If the student retakes any courses they failed and/or passed conditionally, in addition to the mandatory twenty-one credits, and completes these retaken courses with a weighted Grade Point Average (GPA) of at least 3.00, they are re-admitted to the qualifying exam and, if successful, will submit a new thesis proposal.

f) 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.

g) For those admitted to the doctoral program with a bachelor's degree, 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 during the thesis stage and at the end of the seventh semester at the earliest.

Provisional Article 1- In order to apply Articles 50/c and 59/b of these principles regarding periods of study, master's students who have exceeded their maximum period of study as of the beginning of the 2013-2014 Academic Year Spring Semester when these principles came into effect, or who will exceed it at the end of the same semester, are granted two semesters of additional thesis submission time starting from the beginning of the 2013-2014 Academic Year Spring Semester, and doctoral students are granted four semesters of additional thesis submission time.

Provisional Article 2- Article 65/a of these principles applies to students who commenced their studies in the Fall Semester of the 2011-2012 Academic Year and thereafter. For students who commenced their studies in earlier semesters, it is sufficient for them to document that their thesis-related articles have been published or accepted for publication in any national or international peer-reviewed journal in order to submit their thesis.