PHD

Postgraduate Studies Program Regulation for a PhD in Theoretical Art Studies

 

The General Faculty Assembly–Special Composition (known in Greek by the acronym GSES) of the School of Visual and Applied Arts of the AUTh, in the 08-05-1996 and the 27-05-1996 meetings, dealt with the regulations for the completion of a PhD Thesis in the School. Under taking into consideration Law 2083/1992 and article 9 of Law 3685/2008, as well as the opinions expressed during the meetings, the Assembly has agreed upon the application of the following regulation:

 

A. Admission Process

1) Candidates are selected once a year in October.

2) Only graduates of Greek Higher Education Institutions or recognized foreign institutions of equivalent status are admitted.

3) Candidates are required to submit to the Registrar’s Office their application, their resume, a copy of their degree and their MA degree, letters of recommendation by Faculty members and a brief proposal for their thesis. All the above must be submitted from 1 to 30 October according to the existing Regulation provisions. The admission process and the final decision depend on the required qualifications of the candidate, as defined below, as well as on the discretion of a Faculty member to take on the supervision of the thesis.

4) The supervision of a PhD thesis may be assigned to Faculty members, and more specifically, Professors, Assistant Professors and Associate Professors.

5) The basic criteria for the selection of the PhD candidates that must be taken into consideration are the following:

  1. The grade of the candidate’s degree (at least “Very Good”, 7/10 or higher), without considering the thesis, which is evaluated separately and must also have a 7/10 or higher grade. Regarding undergraduate degrees that do not require the completion of a thesis, the overall grade must also be at least 7/10.
  2. The candidate’s grades in two courses relevant to the proposed PhD thesis.
  3. Excellent knowledge of one foreign language and very good knowledge of another one. The knowledge of the foreign languages is verified with the submission of relevant certificates (π.χ. Proficiency, Sorbonne I ή Oberstufe). In case there is no verified certification, the candidates are examined in a language of their choice by a three-member committee. Completion of undergraduate studies in recognized foreign institutions is considered to be a certification of their knowledge.

6) Supplementary criteria for the admission process are the following:

  1. Publications in prestigious scientific journals on the Art History or Theory.
  2. Participation in prestigious scientific symposiums.
  3. Participation in research programs.

7) Special Regulations:

  1. Graduates from other Greek Higher Education Institutions or recognized foreign institutions of equivalent status, whose specialization is irrelevant to Art History and Theory, may be admitted to the PhD Program Study; however, they will have to attend theoretical courses of the School on Art History and Aesthetics for two semesters. Upon their completion of the above courses, their grade will have to be at least 7/10.
  2. Candidates, whose academic background is related to Art, will have to submit a (10-page, typed) detailed proposal of the PhD thesis they intend to take on, along with an annotated basic bibliography.
  3. The final decision depends on the General Faculty Assembly–Special Composition of the School.

 

Completion of the PhD Thesis

1) If the candidate is accepted in the Programme, the General Faculty Assembly-Special Composition, on the basis of the initial proposal, assigns a supervising faculty member (Professor, Assistant Professor or Associate Professor) together with an Advisory Committee consisting of two additional faculty members with a relevant specialization, belonging either to the School, to other AUTh Schools or other Higher Education Institutions.

2) In consultation with the candidate, the Advisory Committee decides on the subject of the thesis. After this, the doctoral dissertation is conducted in accordance with the regulations specified in the article 13 of Law 2083/ 92, as seen below:

  1. The thesis must be completed in no fewer than three (3) full academic years from the date of the definition of the PhD thesis.
  2. At the end of each year of study, the candidate presents a progress report of his/her research to the Advisory Committee. The three-member advisory committee, in collaboration with the doctoral candidate, presents and submits a progress report and decides whether the PhD candidate will continue to work on his/her dissertation or not.

 

Doctoral Thesis Approval

1) The PhD candidate:

  1. As soon as he/she completes their research or otherwise project, they present it to the Advisory Committee, which decides whether it is adequate or not. If the work is deemed adequate, the candidate is allowed to compose a pre-final draft of their thesis.
  2. The pre-final draft of the PhD thesis is submitted to the Advisory Committee for evaluation and afterwards, the candidate is to compose the final version of the dissertation. The PhD candidate is not obliged to accept and follow all recommendations made by the Committee.
  3. The final form of the PhD thesis must be meticulously typed or printed on at least 80gr paper, with a printed cover and bookbinded. The illustrations have to be the original (not photocopies) and the line drawings must be clear and publishable.
  4. At the end of the thesis, there must be a complete abstract of the paper in a foreign language.
  5. The thesis must not be published prior to the final judgment.

2) When the doctoral thesis has been submitted to the Registrar’s office (in eleven copies) and all members of the advisory committee concur that the thesis has been completed, they confirm this in writing to the General Faculty Assembly–Special Composition and request that a seven-member examination committee be appointed. This examination committee consists of the three members of the Advisory Committee and 4 more Faculty members appointed by the General Faculty Assembly-Special Composition. At least three of the members of the examination committee must be Professors, and all members must be familiar with the subject matter of the candidate’s dissertation, even if they belong to a different AUTh School or other Institution of equivalent status.

3)

  1. In thirty to forty-five days from the appointment of the examination committee, the candidate has to publicly defend his or her thesis. The candidate may get an extension of an additional 45 days, if this is formally approved by the School.
  2. The viva voce examination of the candidate’s dissertation is announced by the School at least a week in advance, and posted in both the Faculty and the School announcement boards. The announcement has a specific format (29x21cm) filled with all the necessary information. It may also be published in newspapers. The appropriate location of the candidate’s public defense is decided by the committee.

4) The candidate publicly defends his or her thesis for about forty-five minutes before the seven-member examination committee and responds to the questions and remarks made. This part of the defense may take up to one hour and a half. During the presentation of the thesis, the candidate may employ audiovisual equipment.

5) After the completion of the defense process, the examination committee retires and assesses the originality and the comprehensiveness of the thesis and whether it constitutes a contribution to scholarship, as well as the oral presentation of the candidate. Moreover, the structure of the thesis, the adequate use of sources and bibliography, the cohesion and clarity of the candidate’s way of expression and the degree of accuracy with which the candidate formed well-founded responses to the questions posed by the committee, are taken into consideration for the final decision.

6) The committee votes to award the candidate with the doctoral title with an open vote. The approval of a doctoral thesis requires the concurring opinion of at least five (5) members of the examination committee. Upon the approval of the thesis, it is also assessed and the decision on the grade is made according to the majority of the committee. The oldest Faculty member in the committee is also appointed Chair of the committee.

7) The examination committee, with the supervision of the Chair, records the whole procedure in the minutes with cohesion and clarity. The members of the committee that voted against, must submit a comprehensive note, which will be amended to the minutes, explaining the reason for their vote.

8) Upon the approval of the PhD thesis

the candidate must submit to the Registrar’s office, six (6) more copies of the thesis that will be deposited to:

  1. The Central Auth Library (1)
  2. The National Library (2)
  3. The School Library (2)
  4. The School Registrar’s Office (1)

and prior to the PhD convocation, the candidate, with the assistance of the School must fill in and submit the special form of the National Documentation Center of the National Hellenic Research Foundation, along with an abstract of their thesis and some additional scientific information regarding its contents. These forms, as well as a copy of the PhD thesis are submitted by the Registrar’s Office to the National Documentation Center of the National Hellenic Research Foundation in order for them to update the National Archive of PhD theses.

9) The convocation ceremony is held by the General Faculty Assembly-Special Composition

  1. The candidate may submit an application, endorsed by a comprehensive decision of the Advisory Committee and in exceptional cases, in order to request that the time extension that may have been given, not be formally counted in the formal duration of the PhD study program.
  2. The General Faculty Assembly-Special Composition may approve and propose to the General School Assembly to grant academic leave to the candidate in order for him/her to meet with scientific needs in Higher Education Institutions or research institutions in Greece or abroad.
  3. The title of the PhD thesis may be revised after the submission of a comprehensive application-approved and endorsed by the Advisory Committee- of the candidate to the General Faculty Assembly-Special Composition.