The Doctoral Qualifying Exam evaluates the student’s knowledge of the basic subjects and concepts of the field and whether the student has the depth of scientific research competence required for doctoral work. To be eligible for the exam, students must have successfully completed their courses and the seminar course with a cumulative GPA of at least 3.00, and must have passed the METU English Proficiency Exam or another equivalent English exam as determined by the University Senate.
Students must take the Qualifying Exam no later than the end of their 5th semester. The exam is held twice a year, in May and November, and the names of the applicants are submitted by the department to the Graduate School one month before the exam. Students planning to take the Qualifying Exam in a given semester should obtain detailed information from the Doctoral Program Registration Advisor and should:
- add the course with code 5690098 during registration, and
- submit the signed Doctoral Qualifying Application Form (G5) and Doctoral Course Control Form (G8 for M.Sc. and G9 for Ph.D. courses that has been taken before. ) to the department’s student affairs by the last day of the registration week.
Format and Evaluation
The exam is evaluated by an examination jury and consists of a written and an oral part and is conducted entirely in English; only students who succeed in the written part take the oral part. The jury decides by absolute majority whether the student is “successful” or “unsuccessful”, and the result is reported to the Graduate School within three days.
The jury may require a successful student to take additional courses even if the course load has been completed. These courses are taken with NI status and must be passed with a grade of at least BB within the maximum duration; otherwise, the student cannot defend the thesis and is dismissed from the program.
A student may take the Qualifying Exam at most twice. Students who fail the exam must take it again in the following semester; a student who fails a second time is dismissed from the program. A student who does not attend any part of the exam is considered to have used that exam right and is deemed unsuccessful in that part. The exam schedule will be announced on ODTÜClass under the course code ME 98.
Useful Resources:
- Doctoral Qualifying Exam Guideline
- For any questions, contact with Ph.D. Qualification Committee Coordinator. (See the Committees and Advisory Board website.)