Thesis Submission

The master student submits a softcopy and a hardcopy of the thesis to the Coordinator of Master Studies Office to be subjected to plagiarism detection and format evaluation.

Coordinator of Master Studies Office

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Student

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Chief of Post Graduate Studies

The Coordinator of Master Degree Studies Office evaluates the format of the thesis according to the criteria stated in the “Thesis Format Evaluation Checklist”. Then he/she sends the student and the supervisor the output of the evaluation.

The student modifies the thesis format according to the evaluation output. The Coordinator of Master Degree Studies evaluates the format of the modified thesis again. If all the format criteria are met, he/she confirms that the thesis format is of a satisfactory level.

The student delivers a CD/DVD with an electronic copy of the modified thesis in MS Word version to the Coordinator of Master Degree Studies Office.

The Coordinator of Master Studies Office checks whether the following criteria are met or not and checks the text of the thesis for plagiarism.

• University Order of Title & Supervisor is available
• Completed 10 months thesis preparation  period
• Approval for publishing an article is available*
• The format of the thesis is of a satisfactory level
• The number of thesis pages is between 70-150 pages for all the master   degree programs.
• Plagiarism Percentage of the thesis is below 30%
• Student Clearance Form is Available

Note*: the article should be published (or approved to be published) in a journal that is approved by the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research. Which means that the articles published in journals listed in predatory or hijacked journals are not acceptable (Always check out the journal inside these links:

List of Predatory Publishers https://predatoryjournals.com/publishers/

List of Predatory Journals https://predatoryjournals.com/journals/

List of Hijacked Journals https://predatoryjournals.com/hijacked/)

If all the above criteria are met, the Coordinator fills and issues the “Form of Thesis Readiness for Examination”signed by the Chief of Post Graduate Studies. By this, it is confirmed that the thesis is ready to be submitted for examination. The form is sent to the Thesis Supervisor.

The Thesis Supervisor fills and submits the “Form of Thesis Submission for Examination”to the Head of Department. In this form, the Supervisor asks the Head of Department to form a Defense (VIVA) Committee and to determine the Date, Time, and Venue of the Thesis Examination Session. The Supervisor shall also nominate (3 to 6) academicians for the Committee membership.  The supervisor will informally contact the nominated members to confirm that they are willing and able to complete the examination in the expected timeframe of one month.

The eligibility criteria for the membership are:

• Holding an “Assistant Professor” Academic Title or higher.
• For academicians holding a “Lecturer” Academic Title (only for PhD holders), he/she should have minimum two years’ experience teaching in a higher education institution after the issuance of the last academic title, and he/she should have minimum two articles published in an approved journal after the issuance of the last academic title.
• It is important that members are at “arm’s length” from the student and the thesis.
• Having strong expertise in the field of the research.

Scientific Committee of the Master Program

+ the Head of Department

The Scientific Committee of the Master Program and the Head of Department hold a meeting to recommend members of the Defense (VIVA) Committee and to determine the date, time, and venue of the examination session. The Head of Department will approach the recommended members who will, if satisfied, endorse this recommendation. Then the Head of Department will send minutes of the meeting to the Vice-President for Academic Affairs for his approval. The Vice-President forwards the minutes to the University President. If the President approves the list of recommended members, the Dean of the relevant faculty will issue an “>Order for Master Degree Defense (VIVA) Committee Establishment” featuring his signature.

 The Defense (VIVA) Committee is composed of:

• The Thesis Supervisor, with no assessment right.
• An Internal Faculty, with assessment right.
• Two non-TIU/partnermembers (External Assessors), with assessment right.

Please note the followings:

–          If the Thesis Supervisor is a TIU staff, then the Internal Faculty should be a staff in the partner university of the relevant academic program and vice versa (for example, for the Dentistry Master Program, if the thesis supervisor is a TIU Staff, then the Internal Faculty should be from Hawler Medical University).

–          The External Assessors can be staff from any university other than TIU and the partner university of the relevant academic program.

–          The Chair of the Committee is the member with the highest academic title. If two members have the same academic title, then the one with larger number of teaching experience years will be chosen.

The student submits 5 spiral binded copies of the thesis to the Head of Department.

Each member in the Defense (VIVA) Committee reviews and checks the thesis in the expected timeframe of one month.

The thesis Defense (VIVA) session proceeds as follows:

• The Committee Cahir reads aloud the “Order for Master Degree Defense (VIVA) Committee Establishment”.
•  The Thesis Supervisor introduces the student within 3-5 minutes.
•  The student presents a summary of his/her thesis orally within 20 minutes.
• The Committee members evaluate the student presentation and defense abilities according to the criteria stated in the “”Recommendation Report by Defense (VIVA) Committee Member for MSc./MA Degree”.
• The Committee holds an internal round of talks by the end of the Defense (VIVA) session.
• The Defense (VIVA) Committee transfers the scores of the individual members to the “”Recommendation Report by Committee on the Examination for the Degree of Master Degree” and they make the Final Decision which will be one of the followings:

o   Degree approved without correction as it is.

o   Degree approved subject to minor corrections within one month.

o   Degree approved subject to more substantial, or less straightforward corrections within a period of three months. No re-examination is required.

o   The student is allowed to revise and resubmit the thesis/dissertation for examination within a period of six months.

o   The student is not approved nor allowed to revise the thesis for any examination- outright failure.

Note: the Degree is approved when the sum of the Academic Level Evaluation and the Defense Evaluation is greater or equals to 70 points (where each of the evaluations is scored out of 50 points).

• The Chair of the Examination Committee communicates the result to the master student and the supervisor. Copies of the recommendation reports will be sent to the student and the supervisor.
• The original copies of the recommendation reports will be submitted to the Head of Department.

Note:Only master candidates and TIU/partners staff can present during the student’s presentation and the decision announcement sessions while can’t present during the discussion sessions.

The student modifies the thesis according to the corrections suggested by the Defense (VIVA) Committee. Then he/she submits the final modified version to the Tracer for his/her approval.

The Tracer checks the modified version of the thesis and traces the corrections. If the amendments meet the corrections suggested by the Defense (VIVA) Committee Members, then he/she sends “Thesis Corrections Approval”to the Scientific Committee of the Master Program through the Head of Department.

Note: if the corrections were not done within 40 days, the Tracer has the right to write a memo to the Head of Department to terminate the student.