【FAQ 2.0】 Adjustment of Postgraduate Education in Spring 2020
Foreword
Dear students, due to the novel coronavirus outbreak, Tsinghua University made a series of adjustments to the spring semester of 2020. Accordingly, the education and teaching arrangements for postgraduates will undergo certain changes. The following document is a list of frequently asked questions, and may serve as a reference for students. For most information regarding schedule adjustments, enrollment, graduation and degree awarding, postgraduates may consult the Notice Concerning Administrative and Educational Adjustments for the Spring Semester 2019-2020 Academic Year and the Student Graduation Work Plan in Response to Epidemic Prevention and Control. For other unanswered enquiries, students may contact the academic affairs office of their respective school/department or the Graduate School for further clarification.
Meanwhile, we hope that all postgraduates will continue to follow the motto of Tsinghua University, thus to pursue the values of progress, self-reliance and academic excellence.
Part I: Curriculum and Practical Courses
Q1: How can postgraduates apply for degree course exemption?
Q2: How do you apply for the credits of the lecture course entitled ‘Development of Employability and Entrepreneurship skills for Graduate Students’ (Course number: 62550031)?
A: During the period of epidemic prevention and control, students will apply online for the credits of the lecture course ‘Development of Employability and Entrepreneurship skills for Graduate Students’ (62550031). Postgraduates can check their course attendance through https://www.wjx.top/jq/16005541.aspx and submit their final paper via email to yjssyk@126.com. For further enquiries or special circumstances, please contact the Office of Graduate Studies as soon as possible.
Q3: During the period of epidemic prevention and control, will the practical courses of professional degree-seeking postgraduate students proceed as planned?
A: The Graduate School has already advised the schools and departments to postpone professional practice. Some requirements concerning the duration of practice can be adjusted according to the development of the epidemic. For graduating students, if the practice must be completed before the end of the epidemic, further organizational adjustments can be made while respecting the basic requirements of the school/department and the university. Faculty and students should avoid congregation and maintain preventive health measures. For specific information, students should follow the arrangements of their school/department.
Q4: During the coronavirus epidemic, will part-time professional degree-seeking postgraduate students proceed with their academic schedules as planned?
A: Each school/department will make adjustments regarding teaching arrangements for their part-time professional degree-seeking postgraduate students. For specific information, please contact the academic affairs office of your school/department.
Q5: How will the academic schedules for international students in joint degree programs and English-taught programs be arranged?
A: The requirements included in the Notice Concerning Administrative and Educational Adjustments, during the Spring Semester 2019-2020 Academic Year, are also applicable for international students. For specific information, international students should contact the academic affairs office of their school/department or their program coordinator.
Q6: How will joint degree program course credits attained overseas be recognized?
Q7: How can postgraduate students apply to adjust their individual curriculum plans?
A: During the period of prevention and control, only the applications of graduating students will be processed. The instructions are as follows:
1: The student informs her/his supervisor regarding the desired adjustments of the individual curriculum plan. The supervisor must approve the proposed adjustments and a record of the communication with and approval by the supervisor should be kept by the student (i.e. through email or WeChat);
2. The student files an online application and downloads the word application form;
3. The student submits the completed form alongside the record of communication via email to the academic affairs office of their school/department. The school/department will submit the completed application to the Graduate School before the deadline (two weeks prior to the submission date of the student’s postgraduate degree theses);
4. Once the epidemic is over, paper application materials with signatures and seals shall be submitted for documentation.
Part II: Academic and Professional Development Programs
Q8: Will the academic and professional development programs for postgraduate students still proceed as planned?
A: As much as possible, the school or department will make necessary arrangements for the program to proceed on time alongside spring semester courses. Some practical courses or requirements will be postponed if needed. They will either be entirely rearranged according to the return date of students back to campus or their content and organization will be restructured in order to allow students to complete content remotely, off campus. For students affected by the epidemic prevention and control efforts, the time requirements for the program’s completion can be adjusted. For further enquiries or special circumstances, please contact the Office of Graduate Studies or the Office of Professional Degree Education as soon as possible.
Part III: Development and Training Tasks
Q9: How will doctoral students complete their final academic report?
A: On the basis of ensuring quality control of the final academic report on PhD dissertations and considering the reasonable time required by doctoral students to revise dissertations, the requirement that “the final academic report should be held no less than three months before applying for defense” can be appropriately relaxed during the epidemic prevention and control period. Based on the principles of ensuring quality, maintaining fairness and keeping records, the organization of the final academic report can take a flexible form on the premise of meeting the basic requirements of the schools and departments, such as through decentralized organization and by communication via network meetings, and other such methods that reduce the congregation of people. Specific details are subject to the arrangements of the respective school/department.
Q10: For students who plan to graduate in the spring semester but fail to meet requirements of academic activities and reports, what should they do?
A: During the epidemic prevention and control period, academic activities may be organized online instead of offline. For specific arrangements, students should consult the academic affairs office of their school/department.
Q11: Will training tasks such as doctoral qualification examinations and postgraduate research proposal defenses be conducted as usual?
A: Schools/departments can postpone the doctoral qualification examinations, postgraduate research proposal defenses and other such tasks so long as they do not involve graduating students (those soon to graduate). During the epidemic prevention and control period, the corresponding completion time limit for such tasks can be relaxed. If the task must be completed before the epidemic is over, the organization can take a flexible form on the premise of meeting the basic requirements of the schools and departments, such as through decentralized organization and by communication via network meetings, and other such methods that reduce the congregation of people. Specific details are subject to the arrangements of the respective school/department.
Part IV: Submission and Review of Dissertations
Q12: How will the anonymous review procedures for doctoral dissertations for graduation in April 2020 be arranged?
A: For doctoral students who have submitted their dissertations to the Graduate School before January 3, 2020, the reports of anonymous reviewers will be returned to their schools/departments before March 13. During the epidemic prevention and control period, the Graduate School will simplify the procedure and send reviewers’ reports to schools/departments by email.
Q13: How will the anonymous review of doctoral dissertations for graduation in June 2020 be arranged?
A: Doctoral students who plan to graduate in June 2020 should participate in the first batch of dissertation submission in the spring semester 2020. The submission period as determined by the Graduate School is from March 2nd to April 13th. The school/department has a higher priority for special requirements. Graduate School will partly adjust the anonymous review procedure for doctoral dissertations.
(1) On submission of electronic version of dissertation: doctoral students who intend to submit a degree dissertation should contact their supervisors to review the dissertation, and to provide their list of open reviewers and reviewers to be avoided. The communication records between students and their supervisors should be saved as proof (such as through e-mail or WeChat). After being approved by supervisors, the doctoral students can submit the dissertation application form, dissertation, and the communication records with supervisors to the school/department by email. After being approved by the school/department, the doctoral students should submit the dissertations electronically via the Tsinghua Info portal. Dissertations must be submitted between 8:00 a.m. of March 2nd and 5:00 p.m. of April 13th. The submitted dissertations once passing initial format examination by the Graduate School cannot be withdrawn. Failure of initial format examination will result in submission failure, and the student will need to resubmit their dissertation by the deadline. After the deadline, the submission system will automatically be closed. Therefore, the students are suggested to submit their dissertations as early as they can to avoid possible failure of initial format examination, and unpredictable problems such as network congestion close to the deadline.
(2) On feedback of reviewers’ reports: Once the reviewers’ reports are ready to be returned, the Graduate School will send them to the schools/departments by E-mail. The deadline for return of the dissertation review reports is May 18th.
Q14: How will the anonymous review of doctoral dissertations for graduation in August 2020 be arranged?
A: Doctoral students who plan to graduate in August 2020 should participate in the second batch of dissertation submission. The Graduate School will accept submissions from May 5th to May 26th. Students should follow instructions of their own school/department for any other requirements. The review feedback should be collected before July 7th. If the second batch is also influenced by the epidemic, the procedures for the first batch of students set to graduate in June 2020 will be followed. For further questions or special cases, please feel free to contact the Office of Graduate Studies, Graduate School directly.
Q15: How will the anonymous review of doctoral dissertations for graduation in October 2020 be arranged?
A: Doctoral students who plan to graduate in October 2020 should participate in the third batch of dissertation submission. The Graduate School will accept submissions from June 11th to June 25th. Students should follow instructions of their own school/department for any other requirements. The review feedback should be collected before September 3rd. If the third batch is also influenced by the epidemic, the procedures for the first batch of students will be followed. For further questions or special cases, please feel free to contact the Office of Graduate Studies, Graduate School directly.
Q16: If major revisions of dissertations are required by anonymous reviewers, should they be finished according to the deadline of the Implementation for the Anonymous Review of Peer Experts for Doctoral Dissertations?
A: According to the Implementation for the Anonymous Review of Peer Experts of Doctoral Dissertations, if the reviewers require major revisions of a dissertation before defense application, the revision time shall be more than one month. If the reviewers deem that the dissertation does not reach the required academic quality and doctoral defense is not permitted, the revision time shall be more than three months. If major problems still exist after revision, another revision time shall be set for more than six months. During the epidemic prevention and control period, the disciplinary degree committee may determine reasonable revision times based on review feedback to ensure the dissertation quality. For further questions or special cases, please feel free to contact the Office of Graduate Studies, Graduate School directly.
Q17: How will the anonymous review of doctoral dissertations proceed in case of a second review，a request for arbitration or restart of the anonymous review process?
A: During the period of epidemic prevention and control, these cases will be handled on a case-by-case basis. Doctoral students should at first time contact the Office of Graduate Studies, Graduate School（62780499), prepare the prescribed materials and send them to the OA mailbox yjsypyc@mail.tsinghua.edu.cn. The Graduate School will organize the review as soon as all required materials are provided, and will send the electronic review reports to the students’ school/department.
Q18: How will the open review of the doctoral dissertations and the master’s theses be arranged?
A: The open review of the doctoral dissertations and the master’s theses should be completed in accordance with the time specified by the schools/departments. During the epidemic prevention and control period, in special circumstances, the completion deadline may be relaxed after approval. Please contact the academic affairs office of the school/department for details.
Q19: How will the selection of outstanding graduate dissertations be processed?
A: During the period of epidemic prevention and control, graduate students who intend to apply for the outstanding dissertation award should submit the application form through the Tsinghua Info portal, via email to their supervisor, as well as to their school/department and the chairman of the disciplinary degree committee for approval. The school/department can use a variety of methods to publicize the selection process. The disciplinary degree committee may submit the nomination list as appropriate via paper or electronic version. Once the epidemic is over, the paper materials with signatures during the selection process will need to be resubmitted for documentation. Please contact the academic affairs office of the school/department for details.
Part V: International Conference Funding for doctoral students
Q20: How can doctoral students who participated in international conferences in 2019 through International Conference Funding apply for reimbursement?
A: According to the university financial requirements, graduate students who participated in international conferences in 2019 should complete the reimbursement application by the end of June 2020. If graduate students are unable to return to school due to the epidemic, they can entrust a student or a faculty/staff member to handle it on their behalf. If due to special circumstances the application cannot be handled, please contact the Office of Graduate Studies, Graduate School as soon as possible to avoid financial loss.
Q21: How can doctoral students who participated in international conferences at the beginning of 2020 through the International Conference Funding apply for reimbursement?
A: From 2020, funds for doctoral students attending international conferences will be adjusted to be given in the form of “post-grant” funding, that is, the fees for doctoral and master's students participating in international conferences must be given in advance through their supervisor’s account or personal advances. According to “Tsinghua University Doctoral Training Fund Management Regulations” made by the Graduate School, the graduate student should submit a summary report and relevant supporting materials, after which the funding will be transferred to the research account of the student’s supervisor.
Q22: Due to the coronavirus epidemic, can doctoral students, who have applied for the International Conference Funding but are unable to make it, receive compensation for expenses incurred?
A: Graduate students should provide receipts for incurred expenses and apply for reimbursement. Any questions or explanations of special circumstances should be directed to the Office of Graduate Studies, Graduate school as soon as possible.
Part VI: Graduation and degree related work
Q23: Due to the delay of the 2020 spring semester, will there be any changes in the schedule for graduation and degree-awarding?
A: The graduation and degree review dates for April and June 2020 remain unchanged. The organization and timeline for the final academic report and thesis defense can be adjusted. To ensure time for research and theses writing, an additional graduation and degree review session will be added in August. The arrangements are as follows:
(1)For students who plan to graduate in April, the original procedure and timeline remains unchanged. The University Degree Committee will decide the award of master’s and doctoral degrees on April 9th.
(2)For students who plan to graduate in June, the University Degree Committee will decide the award of master’s and doctoral degrees on June 18th. Doctoral dissertations should be sent for review between March 2nd and April 13th and review feedback should be collected before May 18th.
(3)For students who plan to graduate in August, the University Degree Committee will decide the award of master’s and doctoral degrees on August 13th. Doctoral dissertations should be sent for review between May 5th and May 26th and review feedback should be collected before July 7th.
Students who plan to graduate in the spring semester of 2020 should keep in close contact with their supervisors, remain proactive and focused on their research work, follow graduation arrangements made by the University and schools/departments, and should any issues arise, contact their supervisor, school/department or the Graduate School timely.
Q24: What are the thesis defense requirements for graduate students who apply for degree review in April and June 2020?
A: If necessary, a thesis can be defended through an online conference after approval.
Application for Defense and Approval: Graduate students submit materials via email on the prescribed date in accordance with their school/department requirements. Signatures can be obtained after the epidemic prevention and control period has concluded.
Thesis defense: The online defense requirements and procedures should be consistent with the offline ones, by being legal, standardized, fair, and open. The composition of the defense committee and defense procedures should be strictly consistent with the Procedures and Requirements of the PhD Dissertation Defense and Procedures and Requirements of Masters Theses Defense.
Q25: What are the requirements for graduate students extending their registration to the longest extent by the end of the spring semester of 2020?
A: For graduate students who extend their registration to the longest extent by the end of the spring semester, schools/departments and supervisors will make collective efforts to ensure they graduate on time in June. Those who are unable to complete their dissertation on time due to the influence of the epidemic can appropriately postpone their graduation until August. The university will arrange an additional graduation and degree review session on August 13.
Source: Graduate School of Tsinghua University