Thesis Defense Examination and Graduation Procedures

1. Prerequisites for Thesis Defense

Before attending the thesis defense, master’s and doctoral students must fulfill at least one of the following academic requirements related to their thesis:

For Master’s Program:

1. a) Presenting at least one paper (oral or poster) at a national/international scientific conference, symposium, or congress.
2. b) Having an article published or accepted for publication in a national/international peer-reviewed journal.
3. c) Being the author or co-author of a published or accepted book or book chapter by a national/international publisher.

For Doctoral Program:

1. a) Having at least one article related to the doctoral thesis published, accepted, or assigned a DOI number in a peer-reviewed journal indexed in international databases.
2. b) Being the author or co-author of a published or accepted book or book chapter by a national/international publisher.
3. Thesis Submission

Students must fill out the “Form 21C Master’s or Doctorate Thesis Submission Form” available on the institute's website (https://sabe.beun.edu.tr/formlar.html), and submit the thesis along with documentation of at least one of the above-mentioned requirements to their advisor.

3. Plagiarism Report

Before the thesis defense, the advisor must obtain a plagiarism report using Turnitin or a similar program.

4. Thesis Jury Proposal

Based on the proposal of the advisor and the relevant department head, the thesis defense jury is formed with the approval of the Department Board.

Form 21A (Master’s) or Form 21B (Doctorate) must be filled. The Department Board Decision must clearly state whether the student meets the requirements listed in item 1.

5. Master’s Thesis Jury

Composed of 3 or 5 faculty members, including the thesis advisor and at least one member from outside the university.

If the jury has only 3 members, a second advisor (if any) cannot be included.

Two substitute members, including one from outside the university, must be appointed.

6. Doctoral Thesis Jury

Composed of 5 faculty members: 3 from the thesis monitoring committee and at least 2 from outside the institution (including the advisor).

Whether the advisor has voting rights is decided by the Administrative Board. If not, a sixth member is added.

A second advisor may attend the jury without voting rights.

Two substitute members (one from outside the university) must be appointed.

Note

The thesis defense date must be set within a range of at least 15 days and at most 1 month after the Institute Administrative Board meeting.

7. Submission of Thesis to the Institute

The department sends the digital copy of the thesis (prepared according to the thesis writing guide), the jury proposal, and the Department Board Decision to the institute for review by the Institute Administrative Board.

The institute sends the thesis and plagiarism report to the jury members via email along with the jury invitation letter.

Jury members are required to fill out Form 21D Master’s/Doctorate Plagiarism Evaluation Form before the defense and submit their opinions to the institute.

8. Documents to Be Completed at the Thesis Defense
9. a) Form 22A: Master’s/Doctorate Thesis Defense Minutes
10. b) Form 22B: Master’s/Doctorate Thesis Evaluation Form

Documents to Be Submitted to the Institute Within 1 Month After the Thesis Defense

Students who pass the thesis defense, meet all graduation requirements, and whose thesis is found to comply with formatting rules must submit the following:
Thesis Writing Guide

1. 3 hardbound copies of the thesis
2. prepared according to the thesis submission guide (signed by the jury)
3. 2 CDs
4. Thesis Data Entry and Publication Permission Form
5. Clearance Form
6. Photocopy of national ID card
7. Library Permission Form

Before submission, students must send the thesis to the Vice Director of the Institute for format approval, following the thesis writing guide.