Thesis Procedures
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Supervisor
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Thesis supervisors must be members of METU. Professors from other universities can be co-supervisors for METU theses.
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Master's students have to assign their supervisors at the end of their first semester. PhD students have to assign their supervisors at the end of their second semester. Their interactive course registrations will be approved by their supervisors following that semester.
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You can assign your co-supervisor through the same system. If the name of the co-supervisor is not on the list in the mentioned system, you can email sbetez@metu.edu.tr by providing us with the necessary information about the co-supervisor you want to assign, including the title, institution, and email address.
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A thesis supervisor must have supervised at least one master's thesis in order to be able to supervise a PhD dissertation.
Jury Assignment
In line with the decision of the Council of Higher Education (YÖK) taken on 25.12.2014 and YÖK's official letter sent on 15.01.2015:
- Juries for the master theses
must be formed by three professors, and at least one of the jury members must not be a METU member. According to the METU Rules and Regulations Governing Graduate Studies, if the co-supervisor is a member of the jury, then the jury must be formed by five professors.
- Juries for comprehensive exams and PhD dissertations
must be formed by five professors, including the advisor and two professors who are not a member of METU.
- Associate Members for the Jury
There must be two associate members for the jury. One of those must be a METU member, and the other must be out of METU.
- Juries are assigned by the decision of the board of the related graduate school (GS).
- The thesis jury appointment form needs to be sent latest one month before the meeting date of the committee.
- Jury Assignment Form
YÖK Thesis Data Input and Publication Permit Form: (YÖK Tez Veri Girişi ve Yayımlama İzin Formu):
First register at https://tez.yok.gov.tr/UlusalTezMerkezi/sistemGiris.jsp and then fill in the Thesis Data Input Online Form. You do not have to bring the hard copy of the document. Please keep in mind that GSSS cannot submit your thesis/dissertation to the YÖK system if you do not complete this process.
Ethics
All studies conducted by Middle East Technical University and/or carried out by METU staff/students and requiring the gathering of information from human participants are subject to an examination by the METU Human Research Ethics Committee. For more information regarding the steps you need to take please click here.
Thesis Defence
After the thesis defence, the Thesis Defense Report (Tez Sınavı Tutanak Formu (TSTF)) must be prepared. Departments must send this report to the GSSS within three business days. If a student fails or a correction is given, a jury report must be added to this document. This document must not be given to students.
Following the juries:
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SUCCESSFUL:
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TSTF is sent to the GSSS by the department.
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Student completes thesis submission procedure (see the following section) within the one-month period following the defense.
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When all the procedures are completed, TSTF is sent to the Regsitrar's Office by the GSSS.
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CORRECTION (EXTENSION):
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Juries can give an extension for correction for three months for Master's students and for six months for PhD students.
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TSTF and Jury Report signed by all jury members is sent to the GSSS within three business days.
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TSTF and Jury Report are sent to the Registrar's Office by the GSSS with the approval of the Graduate School.
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Students have to be registered for each and every semester during this extension.
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At the end of the extension, students defend their theses/dissertations before the same jury.
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FAIL:
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TSTF and Jury Report signed by all jury members is sent to the GSSS within three business days.
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TSTF and Jury Report are sent to the Registrar's Office by the GSSS with the approval of the Graduate School.
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Registrar's Office dismiss the student.
Grade section of the TSTF must be filled out by the Jury.
Thesis Submission
All graduate students must follow the instructions below to complete the thesis submission procedures within one month at most after their thesis defense.
Template (It is a suggestion)
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Prepare your thesis according to the rules specified in the Thesis Manual.
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The signature page of the thesis must be format-checked before collecting the professors' signatures. The full text of your thesis does not have to be ready for the format check of the signature page; you can get it checked separately. Since the signature page is checked by comparing it with the TSTF, the Graduate School must receive the TSTF before the page is checked. For the format check, please send the page (.pdf) to sbetez@metu.edu.tr.
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After you pass your thesis defence successfully, send the .pdf of your thesis, including the complete Turkish Summary reviewed in line with the suggestions of the jury, to sbetez@metu.edu.tr for the format check. It is important to include the word "FORMAT" in the header of emails sent for format checking. GSSS will complete your format check in three business days and return the document to the student for revisions. After three business days, if no response has been received, the student should send a reminder email.
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Following the format check, collect all the signatures (in blue ink) except that of the Director of the Graduate School and get your thesis bound. All copies are to be submitted to the Thesis Office (Room 442) for the last signature (Working days until 16.00) of the Director. This process might take approximately one week. For queries about the status of your thesis, you may send an e-mail to sbetez@metu.edu.tr.
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You must prepare at most 6 and at least 3 copies of your thesis. One of these copies is to be submitted to the METU Library. No copies are submitted to the Graduate School of Social Sciences. For information about the procedure of Thesis Submission to the Library, please click here.
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The thesis title and thesis summary must be changed with the final version, which was approved by the thesis jury, on OIBS 71. The department should change OIBS 71 status of the student to "not approve" to enable the student to update thesis information.
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Theses/Dissertations can be secured by the decision of the board of the GSSS, which will follow the application of the advisor and the approval of the department, for not more than six months. To this end, petitions of advisors and students must be submitted to the related department, and these petitions must be sent to the GSSS by the department. The defense date and the reason for the request must be defined clearly in those petitions. Please keep in mind that the board decision process might take up to two weeks.
- While submitting your thesis copies to the Thesis Office:
- You are expected also to submit the first page of the "Turnitin Similarity Index" report. This page must be signed by the Thesis Advisor with his/her title, name and surname on it. Similarity index may be at most 20%.
- Please do not forget to sign plagiarism (iii) page.
While your thesis copies are at the Thesis Office waiting to be signed, you are expected to prepare the following documents:
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Updating YÖK Thesis Data Input and Publication Permit Form: (YÖK Tez Veri Girişi ve Yayımlama İzin Formu)
The students who are successful in the thesis exam update the thesis information that they have previously entered into the Thesis Automation System.
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E-Mail:
Save the full .pdf version of your thesis. The name of this .pdf document must only be the reference number provided to you by YÖK in the Thesis Data Input and Publication Permission Form. Send this document by e-mail to sbetez@metu.edu.tr. Please write "Referans No - MS/MA/PhD - Name Surname" in the subject part of the e-mail. Signature page must not be signed in this document. Please keep in mind that personel information (Signatures, citizenship ID numbers, phone number, email adress, adress, birth place, birth date, marital status, nationality, ORCID, personal photogrpahs) must be covered (unseen) in the document that is sent to be uploaded to the YÖK Ulusal Tez Merkezi. Your CV and Ethical Permission Page are not exemptions.
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METU Library E-Thesis Submission Form:
METU Library Thesis Submission Guide
Following the completion of the signature procedure:
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Receive signed copies of your thesis from the Graduate School and submit a signed copy to the Library.
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Your graduation procedures will be initiated when the Library sent the necessary information to GSSS and .pdf document of your thesis, that was accepted after the format check, reached to the sbetez@metu.edu.tr address.
According to the decision of the Executive Board of the Council of Higher Education (YÖK) taken on 13.05.2020, all graduate students of thesis programs and all academics must have an "Open Researcher and Contributor ID - ORCID" number and should register all of their publications. Please open an account in the https://orcid.org/ address and register your publications.
Graduation
GSSS reviews your documents when you submitted E-Thesis Submission Form and .pdf document of your thesis that was accepted after the format check. After this control, your TSTF will be directed to Registrar's Office with the approval of the Dean of the Graduate School. Registrar's Office reviews your documents and, if you fullfiled the graduation requirements, accepts your documents. This process can take a couple of days.
Only Registrar's Office is responsible for your graduation. GSSS cannot give documents regarding your graduation process.
For more information please see: