Overview of Academic Requirements for M.S. and

Ph.D. Degrees

What / Whom to consult?

Academic Calendar

Graduate Degree Requirements (main page) and Instruction Letter (yönetmelik)

FENS webpage (refers to above pages if possible, but also gives further info)

Administrative Staff:

Çağla Gürsu / Işıl Önal

Academic Advisor (later to be replaced with your thesis advisor)

Members of the Ph.D. Committee*:• BIO – Batu Erman• CS – Berrin Yanıkoğlu• EE – Mehmet Keskinöz, Cem Öztürk• IE – Kerem Bülbül• MAT – Alpay Taralp• MATH – Aydın Aytuna• ME – Mustafa Ünel

*In particular, about Qualifier Exams.

FENS Webpage

Registration Highlights

Registration – You must be registered every semester during your study at SU!• Courses offered during each semester is posted on the Web for Faculty/Students before

the beginning of the registration period.

• Registration must be done during the specified dates in the Academic Calendar.• Add-Drop period is within the 2nd week & requires the approval of the advisor

• If you have a good reason, which is found acceptable and approved by Grad. School and the President, then you may be granted to register within 2 weeks following the add-drop period.

Advisors – An academic advisor is initially assigned to you to monitor your personal and academic development and provide guidance in the registration, add-drop, etc. processes of courses,you pick your thesis advisor.Thesis advisor, once chosen, becomes your academic advisor.

Instruction Highlights (1)Academic Assessment and Grades –

Success in the courses are evaluated through homeworks, mid-terms, final exam, projects, etc. A make-up for an exam may be granted by the faculty member, if your excuse is found valid. There are no compensation (bütünleme) exams.

For graduate students, the lowest passing grades are “C” and “S” for credit and non-credit courses respectively.

Letter Grade

Coefficient

A 4.0

A- 3.7

B+ 3.3

B 3.0

B- 2.7

C+ 2.3

C 2.0

C- 1.7

D+ 1.3

D 1.0

F 0.0

Non-Credit Courses

I = Incomplete P = ProgressingS = SatisfactoryU = UnsatisfactoryT = TransferNA = Non attendance

Instruction Highlights (2)Exemption from Courses – Students who had taken courses earlier at another graduate program,

recognized by YÖK, can make a request to be exempted from these courses.

• Apply to the Grad. School within 15 days following the registration.

• If the equivalence of the course is accepted, “T” grade will be given (for Transfer)

• Depending on the number of exempted courses, amount of time to be reduced off the maximum period of education will be determined.

Repeating Courses –

• Students who get an F, U, NA, D, D+, C- grade for a course must take the subject course again.

• If the course is elective or has been dropped from the curriculum, then a substitute course must be taken upon approval of the advisor.

• If the grade is B or better the course cannot be repeated.

Substituting Courses – Only elective courses and courses taken out of a program can be substituted. Required courses cannot be substituted. See the Instruction Letter for further details.

Instruction Highlights (3)Dismissal –

• If CGPA (Cumulatif GPA) is below 2.00 in any semester,

• If CGPA is below 2.50 in two consecutive terms,

• If the thesis study grade (in M.S. with thesis) is “U” in two consecutive terms,

• If the course load cannot be completed within specified semester limits (see below for the limits) and/or if the CGPA is below 3.00 at the end of the period of the related program,

• If the program cannot be completed within the prescribed period,

• If the thesis is rejected by the Jury,

• If not successful in the Doctoral Qualifying Exam twice,

• If the Ph.D. thesis proposal is rejected for the second time,

• (After completing the Doctoral Qualifying Exam) if the requested extra courses cannot be completed by the end of the 6th semester.

Topic and Advisors

You are asked to pick an advisor within the 2nd semesterTry to make your choice as early as you can so that you can start working towards your thesis soon– At least, be involved in a project/topic as soon as you can,

You can change your advisor and/or topic later on.

Highlights for M.S. with Thesis (1/2)

Requirements and Periods – Following are general rules! Each program may have additional requirements regarding courses to be taken and so on. Please talk to your advisors after following these general rules:

• Thesis advisor is chosen within the 2nd semester.• 7 courses (min. 21 total credits), a non-credit course (grad. seminar), a thesis.• Must be registered to M.S. thesis course every term starting with the 3rd semester. • Completion of courses in at most 4 semesters; max. of 2 semesters may be granted by the

Grad. School for thesis completion.• A minimum CGPA of 3.00 at the end of the program.• Can take up to two courses from the undergraduate program upon approval of Grad. School.• Can take graduate courses from other higher education institutes subject to approval of

Grad. School.

Highlights for M.S. with Thesis (2/2)

Thesis –

• The Thesis Jury consists of 3 or5 people (see the Instruction Letter for the formation of the Jury).

• The thesis is written and defended in English.

• An unbound copy is provided to each jury member; jury meets within one month and prepares a report; exam takes place within 3 days (preferably on the same day).

• Thesis exam has two phases: (i) presentation; (ii) questions and answers. The exam is open to everyone.

• Jury accepts, rejects or requests modification of the thesis.

• If thesis is to be modified, it is defended against the same Jury within a max. of 3 months.

• If the thesis is accepted, and other requirements are fulfilled, student submits min. 3 bound copies of the thesis to the Grad. School within one month of the date of the exam.

M.S. and Double M.S. without Thesis

See the Instruction Letter for details.

Highlights of Ph.D. Programs (1/4)

Requirements and Periods –

Two separate rules for those starting the PhD program with an MS degree and those with only a Bachelor’s degree:

• With M.S. 7 courses (min. 21 total credits); With B.S. 14 courses (min. 42 credits), qualifying exams, and a dissertation.

• Completion of courses in at most 4 semesters (with M.S.); 6 semesters (with B.S.). • Completion of the program in 8 semesters (with M.S.); 10 semesters (with B.S.). Max. of 4 semesters

may be granted by the Grad. School for dissertation completion.• A minimum CGPA of 3.00 at the end of the program. • Can take graduate courses from other higher education institutes upon approval of Grad. School.• Those accepted to Ph.D. Program with B.S. may take up to 2 undergrad. courses upon approval of

Grad. School.

Highlights of Ph.D. Programs (2/4)Courses

Qualifying Exam – written

Thesis proposal

Thesis Defense

Qualifying Exam – oral

Highlights of Ph.D. Programs (3/4)

PhD Qualifying Exam – Coordinated by the Ph.D. Committee.

1. Must be completed within 5 semesters (with M.S.); 7 semesters (with B.S.).

2. Must have a valid and sufficient score in one of the following English language exams: 60 in KPDS; 60 in ÜDS; 213/550 in TOEFL; 6.0 in each section of IELTS.

3. Students who are not successful in the exam must take it again in the following semester (two attemps maximum and must be completed within 5 or 7 semesters – see 1))

4. Once you pass the written exams, there is an oral exam given by a jury consisting of 3 faculty members.

5. Ph.D. committee may ask the student, who is successful in the Qualifying Exam, to take additional courses even if the course load is completed. During this additional period, the student must get a CGPA of minimum 2.00 at the end of each semester and must complete all courses with a CGPA of minimum 3.00 having achieved a “C” grade on each course at the end of the 6th semester.

Further details (content of the exams, reference books etc.) can be found at the PhD Qualifying Exam page.

Highlights of Ph.D. Programs (4/4)

Thesis Committee and Defense of Thesis Proposal – Upon completion of the Doctoral Qualifying Exam,

• A Thesis Committee, consisting of 3 faculty members, is formed by the Graduate School (see the Instruction Letter for the formation of the Thesis Committee).

• The student defends his/her thesis proposal (including the purpose, method and study plan of the research) before the Thesis Committee within six months of successfully finishing Qualifying Exams. A written report on this issue is to be given to the members of the Committee in maximum 15 days before the verbal defense. The Committee accepts or rejects the thesis proposal.• If the proposal is rejected the student is entitled to select a new advisor and a new

subject. Students who continue with the same advisor are asked to repeat their proposal defense within 3 months (for students who change the thesis subject, 6 months time is granted to repeat the proposal)

• The Thesis Committee meets twice a year (once in periods during January-June and July-December) for students whose thesis proposal is accepted, to follow up the progress (it is your job to arrange this).

Highlights of Ph.D. Programs (5/4)

Thesis –

• Defence at least one semester after the proposal stage. The thesis is written and defended in English.

• Thesis Jury consists of 5 members (see the Instruction Letter for the formation of the Jury).

• A copy is provided to each jury member and the exam takes place within one month. Defence location/date is announced at least one week in advance.

• Thesis exam has two phases: (i) presentation; (ii) questions and answers - open to everyone.

• Jury accepts, rejects or requests modification. If thesis is to be modified, it is defended before the same jury within 6 months.

• If the thesis is accepted, and other requirements are fulfilled, student submits min. 3 bound copies of the thesis to the Grad. School within one month of the date of the exam.

Further Info

You are strongly recommended to consult the Instruction Letter for Graduate Programs for further information. For specific requirements of different programs, go to individual program requirements.For theses, consult the Handbook for the Preparation of Sabancı University Graduate Thesis and Dissertations – consult Writing Center to get help with your writing (do not leave this til the end – you should take drafts there so that your writing improves over time)

S.U. Grad. Scholarship is granted at most for 4 semesters in MS and 8/10 semesters in PhD.It is your responsibility to follow the deadlines, hand the thesis in on time, etc.

Other Advice

Work hard– Your research and teaching assignments are both

very important– Be timely & proactive, especially in your teaching

assignment

Learn difficult subjects now– It will get more difficult to learn things as you get

older

You may find a copy of these slides

in my webpage

Wish you success in your studies at Sabancı University.