XJTU Graduate Degree Application Guidance

The English content below was translated from illustrated guide from announcement of Xi'an Jiaotong University Postgraduate Education in Chinese version as at March 1, 2023 at https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/OumizaHmodixVgGowHRf8g. {.is-info}

Question: I am confused about the degree application, and I would be grateful if you could answer it. For example: what training links do we need to go through, and what application conditions can we apply for a degree?

XJTU: Don't worry, I'm here. I have prepared this illustrated guide to help you apply for a graduate degree. It can answer your questions and help prepare you for the degree at Xi’an Jiaotong University! {.is-info} {.is-success}

Guidance

In order to establish scientific and correct academic values, strengthen the implementation of virtues and talents, innovate evaluation methods, strengthen process control, and further improve the quality of postgraduate degree awarding, this opinion is formulated in accordance with the Academic Degree Regulations of the People's Republic of China and the Interim Implementation Measures of the Academic Degree Regulations of the People's Republic of China, and in combination with the actual situation of the university.

Overall requirements

The topic selection and research of postgraduate dissertations should follow the principle of "facing the world's scientific and technological frontier, the main economic battlefield, the major national needs, the people's life, and health.” - The supervisor is the first person responsible for postgraduate training and should strengthen the academic guidance and quality control of postgraduate dissertations. - College (department, center) is the basic organization to carry out graduate training and should be based on the characteristics of the discipline to formulate degree standards and quality assurance measures. - The university is responsible for macro management, selecting qualified tutors, supervising the training process, controlling the quality of degree awarding, and evaluating the topic selection, research process, and innovative results of dissertations through peer experts. It is not only about dissertations and awards.

Master’s Degree Application

Basic Technique

Graduate students in our university or those with equivalent graduate education.
Pass the course examinations for the master's degree.
Complete; a. Proposal report b. Interim assessment c. Pre-defense d. Dissertation submitted for examination and defense.
Those who reach the following academic standards can apply for a master's degree.
Enter the thesis evaluation and defense link. a. Acquire a solid basic theory and systematic expertise. b. Having the ability to engage in scientific research or independently undertake specialized technical work.

Specific Implementation

The application for a master's degree is implemented by each School(department, center). Each faculty's academic degree assessment sub-committee may formulate the implementation rules of master’s degree application according to the guidelines and relevant regulations of the university and submit them to the Graduate School for the record before implementation.

Doctoral Degree Application (Ph.D.)

Basic Technique

Graduate students in our university or those with equivalent graduate education.
Pass the course examination for the doctoral degree.
Complete; a. Proposal report b. Interim assessment c. Pre-defense d. Dissertation submitted for examination and defense.
Those who reach the following academic standards can apply for a Ph.D. degree.
Enter the thesis evaluation and defense link. a. Acquire a solid, broad basic theory and systematic and in-depth expertise. b. Ability to independently engage in scientific research. c. Make a creative achievement in science or technology.

Proposal Report

• The proposal report should be completed in the second academic year. The specific time is determined by the supervisor or the department. The time from the proposal report's approval to the thesis defense application is generally not less than one year. • The opening report should be organized by the department and should be conducted publicly in the School(department, center) in the form of academic activities, and relevant teachers and graduate students are invited to participate. • The expert panel is composed of 3-5 doctoral supervisors in and outside famous universities (The main supervisor and the members of the supervisor team). • The content of the assessment includes a literature review, significance and scientific basis of topic selection, research basis, research content and plan, work difficulties and characteristics, expected results, and possible innovations, etc. • The project proposal report that has passed the review must be submitted in writing to the postgraduate management department of the college (department, center) for the record.

Interim Assessment

• The mid-term assessment is generally arranged in the fourth semester (it can be carried out in the third semester after the postgraduates transfer from comprehensive to doctoral training). • The mid-term assessment shall be organized by the department and shall be conducted openly in the form of academic activities. The assessment panel shall consist of 5-7 doctoral supervisors of the discipline or related disciplines. • The content of the mid-term assessment includes three aspects: the comprehensive examination of the basic discipline (including the reading of the basic literature collection of the discipline), the comprehensive ability of business performance, and the progress of the thesis work. • Graduate students can participate in the mid-term assessment only after submitting written materials such as course grades and project research progress reports signed by their supervisors. • All review materials for the mid-term assessment must be filed in the postgraduate management department of the school (department, center).

*** The doctoral students should attend the mid-term assessment on time. If they need to postpone the assessment under special circumstances, they should apply for it by themselves, agree with the supervisor, and pass the examination and approval of the school, and then the school will organize a separate assessment. The subsequent degree application should be focused on by the degree assessment sub-committee. {.is-warning}

Pre-Defense

After completing the dissertation, the doctoral students shall conduct a public pre-defense within the scope of the school (department, center) and report their research results. • The pre-defense expert group comprises 3-5 doctoral supervisors of the discipline or related disciplines and highly recognized technical experts or management experts in the industry. • In the pre-defense, we must strictly examine the frontier of the topic. Theoretical and practical significance, whether the dissertation has an independent opinion, the workload of the dissertation, the systematicness and completeness of the research work, and the correlation with the proposal and the mid-term research content, etc.

Step of Pre-defense

• Questions raised in the pre-defense. • Doctoral students carefully revise, supplement, and fill out the revision instruction form. • The instructor signs the agreement and reports to the leader of a pre-defense expert group to sign and agree. • Enter the thesis evaluation and defense link. • (If any) For the dissertation that has not been passed, the doctoral candidate should revise and redefend the dissertation.

Dissertation Submitted for Defense.

1. Submit for Defense and Approval.

a. Can apply for dissertation review only after satisfying the requirements of the school (department, center) for innovative achievements. b. Applicants should submit. - Application for a doctoral degree - Academic transcripts of doctoral students - Doctoral dissertation specification review comment form - Dissertation Plagiarism Check Report - Doctoral dissertation submission form for review and approval - Business appraisal for doctoral students - Comments on doctoral dissertation review - Ph.D. dissertation pre-defense - Checklist of application materials for doctoral dissertation - and other related materials

c. Apply for the dissertation to the chairman of the Academic Degree Assessment Committee of the school (department, Center) to submit the dissertation for review and approval. d. The dissertations of applicants with equivalent academic qualifications must be approved by the Academic Degrees Office of the Graduate School.

2. Information Disclosure

a. The doctoral dissertation that has been approved by the Academic Degree Assessment Committee of the school (department, center) submitted for review, together with the "Doctoral Dissertation Innovation Evaluation Form", b. supporting materials for innovative achievements shall be submitted by the Academic Degree Assessment Committee and be announced in the courtyard, c. and the Academic Degree Assessment Committee is responsible for accepting complaints and reports.

3. Evaluation Method and Content

a. The academic dissertation and its supporting materials shall be submitted for examination by the school (Department, Center) according to the subject and research direction. b. At least 3 Judges = Regular Reviews + Anonymous Reviews c. Review content i. Innovation evaluation: Innovation Level & Academic Achievements ii. Comprehensive evaluation and review conclusion • Significance of the topic • Theoretical Basis & Expertise • Ability to independently engage in scientific research. • Writing skills d. Blind review comments must be anonymous, and the original review comments should be kept confidential.

4. Reviewer Requirements

Generally, they should be full-time senior experts in the same research field or related disciplines, with deep academic attainments and doctoral guidance qualifications, or experts approved by the Graduate School, or highly recognized technical experts or management experts in the industry. • External experts > or equal to 2 persons • Internal experts < or equal to 2 persons • Regular assessors and blind assessors shall not be repeated.

5. Use of Review Comments

The review submissions include: a. Review Form b. Innovation Evaluation Form c. Comprehensive Evaluation Form d. Review conclusion Form e. The review conclusions include: i. Agree to defend. ii. Defense after minor revision. iii. After the overhaul, degree assessment committees decide whether to defend. iv. After overhaul, send it to the original reviewer for review. v. Disagree.

Minor revisions refer to minor revisions to the paper’s typesetting, format, and wording. Major revision refers to a large number of changes such as adjusting the structure of the paper, supplementing the research content, and improving the data. {.is-danger}

How to deal with review submissions

When all review conclusions are Agree to defend = You can directly apply for Defense
How to deal with each review conclusion a. Agree to defend i. The applicant should revise the dissertation according to the review opinion form and fill in the "Doctoral Dissertation Modification Instruction Form". ii. Supervisor's signature confirmation. iii. You can apply directly for defense. b. Defense after minor revision i. The applicant should revise the dissertation according to the review opinion form and fill in the "Doctoral Dissertation Modification Instruction Form". ii. Supervisor's signature confirmation. iii. You can apply directly for defense. c. After the overhaul, degree assessment committees decide whether to defend. i. The applicant should revise the thesis according to the review comments form within two months after the receipt of the review opinion. ii. Submit the revised thesis and the "Explanation Form for Revising Doctoral Dissertation" (signed and approved by the supervisor) iii. Submit to the Academic Degree Assessment Committee for review. (The committee organizes an expert group for verification at least 3 people and at least one of them is a member of the Degree Evaluation Committee, approval period is at least 3 working days) iv. After the examination is approved, the applicant can apply for the defense. The examination opinions shall be submitted to the Academic Degree Assessment Committee as an attachment for reference when discussing whether to recommend granting a degree. d. After overhaul, send it to the original reviewer for review. i. Applicants should revise their thesis according to the review comments form within two months after the receipt of the review opinion ii. Submit the revised thesis and the "Doctoral Dissertation Modification Instructions Form" (in duplicate, one of which must be signed and approved by the supervisor) iii. Submit to the Academic Degree Assessment Committee for re-examination by the original reviewer, The retrial conclusion and review opinion shall serve as the basis for the application for defense and degree. iv. The previous evaluation conclusions, review comments and the "Doctoral Dissertation Modification Form" shall be submitted to the Defense Committee and the Academic Degree Evaluation Committee as attachments for reference when discussing whether to recommend granting a degree. e. Only one review comment = Disagree i. The applicant is not allowed to defend, and the degree application is terminated ii. Applicants could revise their dissertation and resubmit it. • since receiving the "disagree response" half a year from review comments. iii. During the re-examination, this opinion will still be implemented, and the student's doctoral dissertation will be included in the key review objects of the Degree Evaluation Committee. The conclusion of "disagreeing with the defense" does not accumulate negative points for the quality of the supervisor's dissertation. f. At least two or more’s review comment = Disagree i. The applicant is not allowed to defend, and the degree application is terminated ii. Applicants could revise their dissertation and resubmit it. • since receiving the "disagree response" 1 year from review comments. iii. During the re-examination, this opinion will still be implemented, and the student's doctoral dissertation will be included in the key review objects of the Degree Evaluation Committee. At the same time, there are negative points for the quality of the supervisor's dissertation - 2 points. g. When a paper has been significantly revised according to the reviewer's opinion, the original review conclusion and review opinion can not reflect the academic level of the revised paper. i. The applicant can terminate the degree application. ii. Applicants could revise their dissertation and resubmit it. • Since receiving the " first review " half a year. iii. This does not apply to situation where review conclusion includes disagreement. h. When the applicant does not accept the review conclusion. i. The applicant should provide clear reasons for academic objection and defense opinions. ii. Supervisor's signature iii. Submit to the Academic Degree Assessment Committee, and require Chairman of the Academic Degree Assessment Committee for approval. (The committee organizes an expert group for verification at least 3 people and at least one of them is a member of the Degree Evaluation Committee, approval period is at least 3 working days) iv. If the review opinion of original reviewers is negative a. Disagree: The review conclusion of the original reviewer is disagreement. Submit the original paper to another three reviewers for blind review b. Others: The review conclusion of the original reviewer is different from the beginning. Submit the original paper to two other reviewers for blind review. v. The review opinion of this blind review is used as the basis for agreeing to organize the defense. vi. The previous review opinions and the review opinions issued by the expert group are submitted as attachments to the defense committee, the degree evaluation sub-committee, and the school degree evaluation committee. a. If an objection appeal is filed against the review opinion that the review conclusion is "disagreeing with the defense", the student's doctoral dissertation will be included in the key review objects of the degree evaluation sub-committee, and the university degree evaluation committee. b. Doctoral students with unified recruitment can raise objections at most 1 evaluation opinion, and the doctoral students of the same academic level can raise objections to two evaluation opinions. i. The applicant shall be submitted for examination no more than three times. i. The results of innovation evaluation include • 优 = Excellent • 良 = Good • 中 = Middle • 差 = Poor ii. All of the reviewers' comments on the innovation. As a percentage of all reviews: Excellent + Good < 70% (The doctoral dissertation of the student is included in the key examination objects of the Academic Degree Assessment Sub-committee and the Academic Degree Assessment Committee.) iii. Suggestions on the use of comprehensive evaluation score in thesis. The average score of all the expert assessors < 70 Points (The doctoral dissertation of the student is included in the key examination objects of the academic degree Assessment Sub-committee and the Academic Degree Assessment Committee of the university)

6. Review Period:

The date when the thesis submitted for review is approved = 35 working days (The applicant's urging is not accepted, but the school (department, center) should promptly publish the return status of the review comments online.)

7. Review Summary

If the requirements for application for defense are met, the defense secretary shall fill in the "Summary Form of Doctoral Dissertation Review Opinions". The summary form shall objectively, truly and comprehensively reflect the opinions of all reviewers (including the retrial) and shall not intentionally conceal or omit.

8. Requirements for Submission of Doctoral Dissertations

with the same academic level and secret-related doctoral dissertations: a. According to the "Regulations of the Academic Degrees Committee of the State Council on Conferring Master's and Doctoral Degrees to Persons with the Same Academic Ability as Postgraduates" (Degree [1998] No. 54), doctoral dissertations with equivalent academic qualifications should be reviewed by at least 5 reviewers, and all of them shall be blind reviewed by the graduate school. b. The doctoral dissertations that have completed the confidentiality filing shall be submitted for review by the school (department, center) in accordance with the regulations on confidentiality in accordance with conventional methods, and the reviewer shall be the secret-related personnel with the qualification for evaluation.

Dissertation Defense

• Defense Approval

o Proposal report approved > Approval for dissertation defense = At least 1 year o Submitted for review and approval > Dissertation defense = At least 1 month o Applicants must submit.  Ph.D. Thesis Defense Approval Form  Summary Form of Doctoral Dissertation Review Comments  Checklist for Ph.D. Dissertation Defense Materials  Ph.D. dissertation review opinion  and other related materials o Apply to the chairman of the Academic Degree Assessment Committee of the school (department, Center) for examination and approval of defense. o Those who apply for a doctoral degree with the same academic level must also be approved by the degree office of the Graduate school.

• Requirements for Defense Committee

o The defense committee = 5-7 experts (External experts at least 2)  Supervisor of a doctoral student in the same or related field of study  or highly recognized technical or management experts in the industry o More than two-thirds are senior experts. o Degree applicants should submit their dissertations to the defense committee = one week in advance. o The dissertation defense committee must consist of 7 members.  Ph.D.  Joint PhD  The first doctoral student trained since serving as a doctoral supervisor. o For doctors with the same educational level, there are no less than 2 committee members from external school and the applicant’s working unit. o For the joint training doctor, there should be no less than 2 committee members external our school and the joint training unit. o The supervisor of the applicant shall not be a member of the defense committee. During the defense, the supervisor should avoid the discussion of the defense committee's comment stage and the resolution of the defense committee except introducing the relevant information of the applicant, participating in the questions and hearing the defense.

• Defense Resolution

o According to the circumstances of the defense, the defense committee votes by secret ballot on whether to confer a doctorate degree, and forms a resolution on the defense o More than two-thirds of the responding committee members agree that the respondent is approved o Signature of the members of thesis defense committee o Submit to Degree Evaluation Committee For those who fail to pass the defense, the defense committee can make a decision on whether to agree to revise the thesis and re-defend, and it needs to be approved by more than half of all members. • Paper revision o The master's thesis should be revised after 3 months and within 1 year. o The doctoral dissertation should be revised after 6 months and within 2 years.
• Re-defense is allowed for 1 time only • The student's dissertation is included in the key review objects of the Degree Evaluation Committee. Review by the Academic Degree Assessment Committee of the School • It is reviewed by the Degree Assessment Committee of University’s School: the Sub-committee of Academic Degree Assessment shall assist the university Academic Degree Assessment Committee in its work, comprehensively examine the political and ideological performance, course examination, thesis content, thesis evaluation and defense, innovative evaluation and other aspects of the candidates recommended by the defense committee to award master's or doctor's degrees, and be responsible for accepting all kinds of objections and appeals in the process of degree application.

• Recommendations on whether to confer degrees are made by secret ballot.

o Chairman of the Committee o The ratio of Actual attendance / Number of members must more than two-third • Pass o The ratio of Number of people who agree / attendances must more than two-third. o & The ratio of Number of people who agree / Number of members must more than half. • If Degree assessment sub-committee voted not to pass o The master's thesis should be revised after 3 months and within 1 year. o The doctoral dissertation should be revised after 6 months and within 2 years. o Reapply for defense.

Review by the University Academic Degree Assessment Committee

• The academic degree Assessment Committee of the University shall mainly examine the applicant materials which are not unanimously approved by the branch in the degree awarding list submitted by the Academic degree Assessment Committee and other circumstances. • Recommendations on whether to confer degrees are made by secret ballot. o Chairman of the Committee o The ratio of Actual attendance / Number of members must more than two-third. • Pass o The ratio of Number of people who agree / Number of members must more than half. • If the University Acadeic Degree Assessment Committee voted not to pass - o The master's thesis should be revised after 3 months and within 1 year. - o The doctoral dissertation should be revised after 6 months and within 2 years. - o Reapply for defense.

Degree Award Quality Assurance

Management: Based on this opinion and in combination with the actual situation, each degree evaluation sub-committee formulates the conditions, requirements, procedures and other detailed rules for each link of postgraduate degree application under the premise of ensuring quality and embodying characteristics. Achievement types, quantity requirements, quality requirements and scope of application. Among them, innovative achievements may include academic papers related to doctoral dissertations, scientific research achievement awards, authorized invention patents, national or industry standards, major engineering practice achievements, major social practice achievements, or invention designs published or produced during the doctoral period. Or major research results that are not suitable for public publication.
Surveillance throughout the process: The whole process of dissertation management is informatized, and the whole process of degree conferment is informatized. It strengthens process management and key node supervision and can be consulted and reviewed at any time to improve the quality of degree conferral. Information such as the supervisor team, regular reviewers, the list of members of the defense committee, review, and defense opinions, etc. are compiled into the dissertation.
Responsibility traceability: During the degree conferring process, if any problem is found in any link, immediately go back to the previous link. For dissertations whose quality is deemed unqualified by the university’s academic degree evaluation committee and not awarded a degree, or dissertations with quality problems identified by other methods (such as "problematic" dissertations identified in random inspections), the source of responsibility shall be traced to the training unit, department, etc. Institute and tutor, and deal with it according to the relevant regulations of the school.

Supplementary Provisions

These guidelines will come into effect on January 1, 2023. The original "Guidelines for Postgraduate Degree Application of Xi'an Jiaotong University" (Xijiaoyan (2020] No. 127) will be abolished simultaneously.
The responsibility for interpreting this guidance is the responsibility of the Graduate School
Xi’An Jiaotong University sincerely wishes all the students to apply for a degree smoothly.

REMARK1: The English content above was translated from illustrated guide from announcement of Xi'an Jiaotong University Postgraduate Education in Chinese version as at March 1, 2023 via https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/OumizaHmodixVgGowHRf8g.