Doctoral Dissertation

1.　Progress Report Presentation Meeting

Students must organize a progress report presentation meeting in the first quarter of the 2nd year of doctoral program (Spring Admission: mid-May, Autumn Admission: mid-November) in order to report the annual progress made in their studies and research, etc. during the previous year. The schedule and room reservation need to be arranged by the students themselves.

1. At a progress report presentation meeting, students are required to explain;
- literature review
- up-to-date progress, and plans of the research thereafter
- courses that the students attended
(only those who are from fields other than the computer science and engineering)

2. Students must prepare and submit a progress report on their research approved by the research advisor to the Dean of the Graduate School (Student Affairs Division).

[Contents to be included in the progress report]

• Schedule of the presentation meeting (Date, Start and End Time, Venue)
• Attendees (names of research advisor and assumed referees of preliminary review, number of other attending professors and students)
• Outline of research and evaluation result of the presentation
• Comments and advices of referees, etc.

＊Presentation materials (slides, etc.) must be attached to report
＊Report format is free.

3. Students must keep a copy of progress report, and submit it along with other required materials upon implementation of their preliminary review.

※In principle, students who have not earned the regular course and seminar course (except for Research Seminar III) credits required for the completion of the doctoral program cannot proceed to the doctoral dissertation review.

2. Preliminary Review

1. Determination of doctoral dissertation titles and establishment of the Dissertation Review Committee and Application for Doctoral Dissertation Preliminary Review

• Research advisors (and sub research advisors) shall determine the dissertation titles in consultation with relevant students
• The chief referee of the Dissertation Review Committee submits a written Application for Doctoral Dissertation Preliminary Review.

Submission deadline：【AY2026 Spring Completion】Monday, May 11, 2026【AY2026 Autumn Completion】Monday, November 10, 2025
To whom to submit： Dean of the Graduate School (Student Affairs Division)
Submitted materials： Application for Doctoral Dissertation Preliminary Review PDF / Word

[Doctoral Dissertation Review Committee]

• Members: one chief referee, and at least three co-referees
• The chief referee must be a Doctoral "Maru Go" faculty member.
• Two or more co-referees shall be Doctoral Maru Go faculty members.

[Period of the Preliminary Review]

• Research advisors shall propose the Doctoral Dissertation titles, establishment of the Dissertation Review Committee and the period of the Preliminary Review to Dean of the Graduate School by submitting the Application for Doctoral Dissertation Preliminary Review

2. Submission of the documents for the Doctoral Dissertation Preliminary Review

Submission deadline：
【AY2026 Spring Completion】Monday, May 25, 2026~ At any time up to two weeks before the preliminary review
【AY2026 Autumn Completion】Friday, December 12, 2025~ At any time up to two weeks before the preliminary review
To whom to submit： one to each referee (a copy), and one to the Student Affairs Division (an original copy)

[Submitted Materials]

1. Request for Doctoral Dissertation Preliminary Review PDF / Word
2. Abstract of Dissertation (Students are encouraged to submit abstracts in Japanese as well, if possible.)
3. List of publications
4. Curriculum vitae
5. Copies of publications, etc.
6. Completed dissertation
   * Dissertations shall be written in English. No particular number of pages is specified. Doctoral Dissertation Template PDF / Word/ Latex
7. Copy of the Report of Progress Report Presentation
8. Record of Change of Doctoral Dissertation Title PDF / Word
   * Only if a change of the title was made. A change of the title after this point will not be permitted. However, changes found to be minor by the GSAAC will be allowed.
9. Submission of an electronic version───Copy the electronic files of item 1 to 8 in PDF format to the designated directory.

3. Doctoral Dissertation Preliminary Review

The chief referee and co-referees must be present at the preliminary review.
Period： 【AY2026 Spring Completion】Monday, June 8 ~ Friday, October 16, 2026【AY2026 Autumn Completion】Monday, January 5 ~ Friday, April 10, 2026

[Contents]

• Oral presentation of about fifty minutes, followed by an oral examination of about fifty minutes per student。
• Presentations must be done in English.

《Assessment Criteria》

• Research progress
• Submission of academic papers (Students are required to have one or more papers submitted to a major academic journal during the enrollment in the doctoral program with a peer review result of accepted, conditionally accepted, or requiring minor revisions. Students must be the primary author (main contributor) of the paper(s).)
• Basic academic ability
• English competency

(Notes)The student in question must be the sole primary author of papers used to satisfy doctoral degree requirements. However, if the authors of any of these papers are listed in alphabetical order or any order other than contribution level, and a sole primary author cannot be identified, students shall submit evidence that they are the sole primary author of said paper. Based on the evidence submitted, the GSAAC will determine the usability of the paper for this purpose.

4. Judgment regarding the Preliminary Review

In order to pass the preliminary review, two-thirds or more of the Dissertation Review Committee members must approve.

[Pass]

• The student is allowed to prepare for the final review.
• Problems to be solved by the time of the final review and items pointed out must be clearly shown to the successful student.

[Fail]

• The student is not allowed to prepare for the final review.
• Advice on the research thereafter must be clearly given to the student.
• The student who failed is allowed to have another preliminary review which will be held based on the dissertation review schedule six months later.

Dissertation Review Committees shall report in writing on the review results including matters pointed out, and the expected date of final review to the Dean of the Graduate School.

Submission Deadline：【AY2026 Spring Completion】 Friday, October 23, 2026【AY2026 Autumn Completion】Friday, April 17, 2026
To whom to submit： Dean of Graduate School（Student Affairs Divisio）

• Report on Results Regarding Doctoral Dissertation Preliminary Review PDF / Word

The review results are to be deliberated and authorized by the Graduate School Academic Affairs Committee
The review results are to be notified to students by way of chief referees.

3. Final Review

1. Submission of the documents for the Doctoral Dissertation Final Review

Submission deadline：【AY2026 Spring Completion】 Friday, December 11, 2026 【AY2026 Autumn Completion】 Monday, May 25, 2026
To whom to submit： one to each referee (a copy) , one to the Student Affairs Division (an original copy)

[Submitted Materials]

1. Request for Doctoral Dissertation Review PDF / Word
2. Abstract of Dissertation (Students are encouraged to submit abstracts in Japanese as well, if possible.)
3. List of publications Excel
4. Written reply to matters pointed out during the preliminary review
5. Manuscript of the doctoral dissertation
   * The final draft shall be English. There is no particular limit to the number of pages. Doctoral Dissertation Template PDF / Word/ Latex
6. Other final review materials, etc
7. Submission of an electronic version───Copy the electronic files of item 1 to 6 in PDF format to the designated directory

2. Doctoral Dissertation Final Review

The chief referee and co-referees must be present at the final review.
Period for the final review：【AY2026 Spring Completion】 Monday, January 4 - Thursday, January 7, 2027
【AY2026 Autumn Completion】 Monday, June 8 - Thursday, June 11, 2026

[Contents]

• Oral presentation of about fifty minutes, followed by an oral examination of about fifty minutes per student
• Presentations must be done in English.

《Assessment Criteria》 (Based on the Diploma Policy, the following items will be assessed comprehensively.)

• Contents of the doctoral dissertation (Novelty, contributions to the research field, etc.)
• Response regarding matters pointed out at the preliminary review
• Presentations and answers to questions must be logical and clear
• Papers accepted for or published in academic journals or conference proceedings, and/or papers presented at academic conferences.
  Students must satisfy the following requirements prior to the judgement of the final review.
• Doctoral dissertations must contain at least two contributions by the student on the theme correlated with the content of the doctoral dissertation. In other words, a doctoral dissertations must cite at least two papers accepted or published of major journal papers submitted during their enrollment in the doctoral program with the student in question as the primary author (main contributor), in principle.
• In the event the student is the primary author (main contributor) of only one accepted or published major journal paper, either of the requirements below ('a' or 'b') must be satisfied;
  a) The student is also the primary author (main contributor) of at least one additional peer-reviewed non-major journal paper. In this case, the non-major journal paper(s) must contain at least one contribution distinct from that in the major journal paper.
  b) The student is also the primary author (main contributor) of at least two peer- reviewed papers published in major conference proceedings. In this case, the conference papers must jointly contain a contribution distinct from that in the major journal paper.
  In both cases, Dissertation Review committee must clearly explain the relationship between the contributions in the doctoral dissertation and the accepted/published papers.

(Notes)

*The student in question must be the sole primary author of papers used to satisfy doctoral degree requirements. However, if the authors of any of these papers are listed in alphabetical order or any order other than contribution level, and a sole primary author cannot be identified, students shall submit evidence that they are the sole primary author of said paper. Based on the evidence submitted, the GSAAC will determine the usability of the paper for this purpose.

*Peer-reviewed non-major journals in these guidelines refer to journals listed in academic journal databases (Scopus, etc.). In addition, the two papers published in peer-reviewed major conference proceedings must share no more than one third of their content described in b) above, and the content of previously published conference papers must be cited in conference papers written later.

3. Judgment regarding the Doctoral Dissertation Final Review

In order to pass a dissertation review, two-thirds or more of the Dissertation Review Committee members must approve.

[Pass]

• In the case that the student's dissertation requires some modification, document indicating items to be modified must be prepared.

[Fail]

• The items pointed out must be clearly shown to the student.
• Students who failed can undergo a dissertation review again six months later without undergoing another preliminary review according to the dissertation review schedule.

Dissertation Review Committees shall submit a report on the review results to the Dean of the Graduate School.

Submission deadline：【AY2026 Spring Completion】 Monday, January 18, 2027【AY2026 Autumn Completion】 Monday, June 22, 2026
To whom to submit： Dean of the Graduate School（Student Affairs Division）

• Report on Results Regarding the Final Doctoral Dissertation Review PDF / Word

The final review results are to be deliberated on and authorized by the Graduate School Faculty Assembly, conditional to agreement by at least two thirds of the members in attendance at the Graduate School Faculty Assembly meeting satisfying the quorum of two-thirds of all members.

The chief referees of the Dissertation Review Committees shall notify relevant students of review results.

4. Dissertation Presentation ～ Application for Academic Digree

Please check the Guideline for Doctoral Dissertation regarding the style of Dissertation and Materials for Doctoral Dissertation Presentation.

1. Doctoral Dissertation Presentation

Submission Deadline：【AY2026 Spring Completion】Monday, February 8, 2027 　【AY2026 Autumn Completion】Friday, July 31, 2026　
Date of Presentation： 【AY2026 Spring Completion】Monday, February 15, 2027 【AY2026 Autumn Completion】Friday, August 7, 2026
The presentation meeting is open not only to those related to the University of Aizu, but also to the general public.

2. Submission of final Dissertations, their Abstracts, and Summary of the Final Review Result

Submission deadline：【AY2026 Spring Completion】Thursday, February 18, 2027 【AY2026 Autumn Completion】Thursday, August 13, 2026
To whom to submit： Dean of the Graduate School（Student Affairs Division）
Submission of an electronic version： Copy the electronic files to the designated directory
Those who are unable to submit finalized Dissertations are required to postpone conferment of the academic degree accordingly.

3. Submission of Confirmation of Online Publication (Repository Listing) of Dissertation Form

Submission deadline：【AY2026 Spring Completion】Thursday, February 18, 2027 【AY2026 Autumn Completion】Thursday, August 13, 2026
To whom to submit： The Director of the Information Systems and Technology Center of the University of Aizu （Student Affairs Division submit to the University Library）
Refer to　"Registration of doctoral dissertations" on the University of Aizu Academic Repository and submit the "Confirmation of Online Publication (Repository Listing) of Dissertation Form(Form2）"

4. Submission of the Application for the Academic Degree

Submission deadline： 【AY2026 Spring Completion】Thursday, February 18, 2027 【AY2026 Autumn Completion】Thursday, August 13, 2026
To whom to submit： The University President（Student Affairs Division）

• Application Form for the Academic Degree PDF / Word

Deliberation on Conferment of Academic Degrees

• Graduate School Academic Affairs Committee
• Graduate School Faculty Assembly

Dissertation Abstracts and Summaries of the Dissertation Review Results

※Regarding the Dissertations after the Autumn Completion in 2014, please access to "the University of Aizu Academic Repository".

• the University of Aizu Academic Repository: https://u-aizu.repo.nii .ac.jp/