Turkey

In Turkey, graduate/doctoral degree-awarding universities have academic units called an “institute” in different research fields (e.g., Institute of Science, Institute of Social Sciences, Institute of Educational Sciences, Institute of Medical/Health Sciences, Institute of Information Technologies [IT], etc.), instead of one graduate school as is the case in the USA. Tasks and procedures such as student acceptance, registration, student affairs, and graduation are conducted by each institute separately. Students are not allowed to register and/or enroll in more than one graduate program concurrently. However, a student can take courses from another university’s institute and have it included in her/his total credit count.

In Turkey tuition and fees charged to doctoral students are very low (140 TRY ≈ €15 per semester). In addition, there are possibilities of low interest rate long-term education loans (1950 TRY ≈ €200 per month) and scholarships. In addition, TUBİTAK (The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey) provides competitive research

“Doctoral students need to complete at least nine courses, including a seminar, a course on scientific research methods and research and publication ethics, and a thesis preparation course.”

funds for doctoral students, with the possibility of conducting parts of the research abroad in collaboration with foreign universities. Another possibility to finance research costs is through Scientific Research Projects (SRP) funds that are made available by each university’s own resources. A doctoral student’s dissertation project costs may be financed by SRP through a joint application by the doctoral advisor and the doctoral student.

Completing a doctoral program in Turkey typically takes eight academic semesters, which can be extended up to a maximum of 12 semesters. By the end of the second semester, a doctoral advisor is assigned to each student by the institute’s executive board, by taking into account students’ preferences and the approval of the department’s academic board. If a student prefers, a co-advisor can also be appointed. Full-time faculty members with experience in having supervised a master’s thesis to successful completion can qualify as doctoral advisors.

Doctoral programs include five stages: completing the coursework, passing the qualifying examination, submitting a doctoral proposal, undertaking dissertation work, and defending the doctoral dissertation. These stages are explained on the next page:

Coursework

Doctoral students need to complete at least nine courses, including a seminar, a course on scientific research methods and research and publication ethics, and a thesis preparation course. Each semester is typically 60 ECTS, and 240 ECTS total are required for graduation, including the thesis research and PhD dissertation for students holding a master’s degree (students without a master’s degree need to complete coursework totaling 300 ECTS in six semesters).

The qualifying examination (QE)

After successfully completing the coursework with a minimum GPA of 3.0/4.0, doctoral students are eligible to take the QE no later than the fifth semester into their doctoral studies. A QE is given by a panel of five faculty members: the student’s own advisor and two faculty members from another higher education institution must be on the panel. The QE mainly assesses students’ knowledge of the major concepts and issues in their field and their skills in conducting independent

Enrobing by the academic advisor after a successful defense

“There is no restriction on the language to be used in theses/dissertations. However, except for foreign language departments, Turkish is the dominant language.”

research. The QE is composed of written and oral examinations. QEs are given twice a year, as announced in the academic calendar. A student may take the QE two times in a PhD program.

A dissertation monitoring committee (DMC) of three faculty members is formed for each doctoral candidate after passing the QE. In addition to the doctoral advisor, one member should be from the same department and the third member should preferably be from an outside institution or a different department of the same institution. The student’s progress is regularly monitored by the advisor and the DMC, which periodically meets and provides feedback and recommendations for improvement.

Dissertation proposal

Within six months after the QE, the student needs to prepare the proposal for the dissertation and submit it to the DMC for review and approval. The dissertation proposal includes the purpose of the thesis work and research problem/ questions, the research method and a future work plan.

DMC meetings are held twice a year, once between January and June and once between July and December. The candidate submits a written progress report including a summary of the completed work to her/his DMC at least 15 days before the meeting date.

Dissertation work

A typical dissertation includes the following chapters: introduction and literature review that leads to statement of the problem, theoretical/conceptual framework, methodology, data and data analysis, findings and results, and lastly conclusion and discussion. In Turkey there are several English-medium universities, which mandate that theses and dissertations be written in English. Otherwise, there is no restriction on the language to be used in theses/dissertations. However, except for foreign language departments, Turkish is the dominant language.

University senates determine and publish regulations related to preparation and finalization of the doctoral dissertations. Each institute determines details of thesis/dissertation preparation guidelines in their published manuals. Before a dissertation defense

Posing together with the committee members

committee is formed, a student must publish an article produced from their dissertation work in a scholarly journal. Each completed dissertation has to be subjected to an online certified plagiarism test. If plagiarism is detected, the institute executive board decides on the disciplinary and penalty consequences to be applied. The dissertation defense committee (DDC) consists of five members, at least two of whom are faculty members of another higher education institution; the former three members of the DMC are natural members of the DDC. Dissertation defense

The doctoral defense takes place within one month after the candidate delivers the completed dissertation. During the defense the candidate makes a short presentation followed by a question-and-answer session. The defense is open to an audience of academics, graduate students, and/or experts in the field. In a closed session, the committee gives a verdict by absolute majority to accept, reject, or request revisions. The decision is reported to the institute with personal reports, within three working days following the defense date.

If revisions are requested, the candidate must submit the revised dissertation within six months. If a candidate is found successful by the committee after the defense, s/he is enrobed in academic regalia by the doctoral advisor or, in some cases, by the eldest member of the committee. After enrobing, a dinner usually follows at a fancy restaurant.

Candidates successfully completing all these stages are entitled to receive a doctoral diploma with the written decision of the institute’s executive board. The graduation date of a doctoral candidate is the date committee members sign the dissertation signature page. Doctoral degrees are conferred upon candidates during a commencement ceremony. All academics and candidates wear gowns at this ceremony.

National statistics

The national theses/dissertations database statistics show that in the last 40 years, the number of completed theses/dissertations has risen dramatically from slightly over 100 to more than 7000 in 2020 (these figures do not include the fields of medicine/health/ dentistry/veterinary sciences).

A doctoral diploma awarded by Gazi University