What are standards of thesis instructors in Vietnam?

What are standards of thesis instructors in Vietnam?

According to Clause 2, Article 8 of the Admission and Training Regulations for Master’s Degree issued with Circular 23/2021/TT-BGDDT, a thesis instructors in Vietnam must meet the following standards:

- Having specialized doctor’s degree suitable with training majors and thesis topic of learners;

- Having foreign language capacity and information technology application to conduct research and perform international scientific exchange;

- Having scientific research results relating to the thesis topics within 5 years prior to the date on which the instructors are assigned to guide learners;

- Satisfying other requirements as per standard training programs of the majors and regulations of education institutions.

What Standards Must a Master's Thesis Advisor Meet? (Image from the Internet)

What are regulations on thesis assessment in Vietnam?​

According to Article 9 of the Admission and Training Regulations for Master’s Degree issued with Circular 23/2021/TT-BGDDT, the thesis assessment in Vietnam is regulated as follows:

- Theses are evaluated through a defense before a council. The defense session is publicly held except for topics in fields that require confidentiality as stipulated by State regulations.

- Thesis defense committee must meet the following requirements:

+ The committee must have at least 05 members, including a chairperson, a secretary, 02 reviewers, and other members; of whom at least 01 reviewer must be external to the training institution;

+ The committee members must meet the same standards set for thesis advisors as stipulated in Clause 4, Article 8 of these Regulations; of whom the chairperson must be a full-time lecturer or researcher at the training institution;

+ The advisor can participate in the committeeas a member but may not grade the thesis; a student's parents, spouse, children, or siblings cannot participate in the council.

- Conditions for a student to defend their thesis:

+ The student has completed all components of the training program;

+ The thesis has been submitted and approved by the advisor for defense;

+ Other requirements set by the training institution have been met.

- The thesis defense session is held when at least two-thirds of the committee members are present, including the chairperson, secretary, and at least 01 reviewer.

A virtual defense can be conducted with the consent of the committee members and the student; the entire proceedings of the virtual defense must be recorded and archived at the training institution.

- The thesis score is the average score given by the participating committee members on a scale of 10; it is considered passing if it is greater than or equal to 5.5 points.

- If the thesis fails to meet the requirements, the student may revise, supplement, and have the thesis re-evaluated within 03 months from the date of the first committeemeeting; a third evaluation is not organized.

- After successfully defending, the complete thesis (revised and supplemented according to the council's requirements, if any) must be submitted and archived in the training institution's library; it must be published on the training institution’s website for at least 30 days, except for topics that require confidentiality as stipulated by State regulations.

*Note: The training institution’s regulations provide detailed criteria and processes for thesis assessment; other regulations related to thesis assessment.

When shall the thesis in Vietnam be appraised?

Article 10 of the Admission and Training Regulations for Master's Degree issued with Circular 23/2021/TT-BGDDT stipulates the thesis appraisal as follows:

Thesis appraisal​

1. When there are comments, complaints, denunciations, or in other cases as required for management, the training institution decides on the organization of the thesis quality appraisal​.

2. The thesis appraisal committee has the same composition and standards as thesis assessment committee; members of thesis assessment committee do not participate in the appraisal council.

3. The training institution’s regulations provide detailed rules for establishing the thesis appraisal council; the process of the committee meeting and handling of the appraisal results.

Thus, the thesis is subject to appraisal when there are comments, complaints, denunciations, or in other cases as required for management.