When is a doctoral dissertation in Vietnam evaluated?

When is a doctoral dissertation in Vietnam evaluated?

Based on Clause 1, Article 20 of the Regulations on Doctoral Admissions and Training issued together with Circular 18/2021/TT-BGDDT:

Principles for Selection, Inspection, Review, and Implementation Process

1. The review of training records and the evaluation of the quality of the dissertation by the Ministry of Education and Training shall be carried out in the following cases:

a) Random inspection and review upon request for management work, monitoring, inspection of the implementation of these Regulations and related regulations;

b) Inspection and review in specific cases when there are complaints, accusations or whistle-blowing.

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Thus, a doctoral dissertation is evaluated under the following circumstances:

- Random evaluation upon management, monitoring, and inspection requests;

- When there are complaints, accusations, or whistle-blowing.

When is a doctoral dissertation in Vietnam evaluated?​ (Image from the Internet)

What are procedures for evaluation of results of a doctoral dissertation in Vietnam?

According to Clause 3, Article 20 of the Regulations on Doctoral Admissions and Training issued together with Circular 18/2021/TT-BGDDT, the procedures for doctoral dissertation evaluation are as follows:

Step 1: The Ministry of Education and Training issues a written notice listing cases requiring dissertation quality evaluation based on periodic reports from the training institution;

Step 2: The training institution submits 03 sets of dissertation evaluation files to the Ministry of Education and Training;

Step 3: The Ministry of Education and Training conducts the evaluation and issues a written notice of the results to the training institution within a maximum of 60 working days from the date of receipt of complete and compliant documents.

The dossier includes:

- The doctoral dissertation;

- The dissertation summary;

- Copies of the doctoral candidate’s research publications.

What are procedures for the handling of the evaluation results of a doctoral dissertation in Vietnam?

According to Article 21 of the Regulations on Doctoral Admissions and Training issued together with Circular 18/2021/TT-BGDDT, the handling of doctoral dissertation evaluation results is as follows:

* The evaluation results meet the requirement in the following cases:

- The training records provided by the institution sufficiently demonstrate compliance with admissions, training organization and management, and the dissertation evaluation process according to the institution's regulations for doctoral candidates;

- The dissertation quality is agreed upon by at least 02 out of 03 scientists with the title of professor or associate professor, holding a doctoral science degree or a doctorate, with appropriate expertise and understanding of the candidate's research topic and field.

* The evaluation results do not meet the requirement in the following cases:

- The training records provided by the institution do not sufficiently demonstrate compliance with admissions, training organization and management, and the dissertation evaluation process according to the Regulations on Doctoral Admissions and Training issued together with Circular 18/2021/TT-BGDDT and the institution's regulations for doctoral candidates;

- The dissertation quality is not agreed upon by at least 02 out of 03 scientists performing the evaluation.

* For cases where the dissertation quality does not meet the requirements (i):

- The Ministry of Education and Training decides to establish a Dissertation Evaluation Council to review, evaluate, and decide on the dissertation quality; authorizes the training institution to organize a Dissertation Evaluation Council meeting under the supervision of a representative from the Ministry of Education and Training;

- The Dissertation Evaluation Council consists of 07 members, including at least 03 members who are not independent reviewers or members of the Dissertation Examination Board; the scientists who did not approve the dissertation as stipulated at point b, clause 2, Article 21 of the Regulations on Doctoral Admissions and Training issued together with Circular 18/2021/TT-BGDDT are mandatory members of the Council;

- The standards and duties of the members of the Dissertation Evaluation Council are similar to those of the members of the Dissertation Examination Board of the institution as stipulated in clause 2, Article 16 of the Regulations on Doctoral Admissions and Training issued together with Circular 18/2021/TT-BGDDT;

- The Dissertation Evaluation Council meets only if at least 06 members, including the chairman, secretary, and council members who disagreed with the dissertation, are present;

- The dissertation fails the evaluation if at least 02 council members present do not approve it.

In this case, the training institution organizes and presides over a dialogue between the Dissertation Evaluation Council and the Dissertation Examination Board with the participation of a representative from the Ministry of Education and Training.

The number of members from both councils attending the meeting is at least 09, including the chairman, reviewers, secretary, and members who disagreed from both councils.

The dissertation is not approved if at least 03 members present at the dialogue do not agree. The result of the dialogue meeting is the final evaluation result of the dissertation quality.

* In case the dissertation quality still does not meet the requirements after implementing the regulations in (i), the training institution considers and decides on the following actions:

- If the candidate has not been awarded a doctorate, the training institution reassesses the dissertation if it has not been evaluated a second time within a maximum time frame of 06 months;

- If the candidate has been awarded a doctorate, the degree revocation is implemented in accordance with current regulations and in the following cases:

+ The training records are confirmed to have serious violations or errors leading to the individual not meeting the conditions for admission, recognition as a doctoral candidate, and maintaining the quality assurance conditions during their study and research at the training institution;

+ Plagiarism and improper citations in the dissertation as concluded by the Dissertation Evaluation Council; if these sections are removed, the dissertation does not meet the requirements stipulated in the Regulations on Doctoral Admissions and Training issued together with Circular 18/2021/TT-BGDDT;

+ The doctoral candidate’s dissertation is not approved by the Dissertation Evaluation Council as stipulated at point đ, clause 4, Article 21 of the Regulations on Doctoral Admissions and Training issued together with Circular 18/2021/TT-BGDDT.

* Within a maximum of 60 working days from the date of receipt of the notification from the Ministry of Education and Training regarding the final evaluation results or the date of the dialogue meeting results, the training institution submits a written report to the Ministry of Education and Training on the handling of the evaluation results along with evidence.