• Doctoral Studies - the third level of academic higher education.
• The Doctoral Educational Programme is a combination of a study component and a scientific-research component, which aims to train a scientific staff and ends with the award of the academic degree of Doctor.
• The rules and prerequisites for admission to the doctoral programme are regulated by the regulations of the relevant faculty and the doctoral education programme.
• Information on doctoral education programmes can be found on the website of the relevant faculty.

https://www.tsu.ge/ge/juridical/axad_council_resolutions/2018acad/2452018/

• A person holding the Master's degree or with an equal academic degree has the right to study for a doctorate.
• The right to study for a doctorate can be granted to a graduate of a foreign university in accordance with the legislation of Georgia.
• Admission to the doctoral programme is announced in the fall and/or spring semesters.
• The doctoral candidate must submit the documents specified in the individual administrative-legal act of the Rector of the University.
• A PhD candidate is required to have at least a B2 level of English, German or French. If the doctoral student chooses the English / German / French language as the empirical basis for his / her research, knowledge of this foreign language at the C1 level is required.
• A doctoral candidate who wants to study in a Georgian language programme and whose native language is not Georgian, must submit  a B2 level certificate of Georgian language proficiency; if the empirical basis of the study is Georgian - a C1 level Georgian language proficiency certificate (if any) or a Georgian language test is required. A doctoral candidate is exempted from the Georgian language exam if a separate component/components of the doctoral education programme is implemented in one of the languages ​​that is a prerequisite for enrollment in the doctoral education programme, in which case Certificate of B2 level of knowledge in the Georgian language must be submitted at least two semesters before defending the dissertation; if the empirical basis of the research is Georgian - Georgian language proficiency of C1 level with certificate or exam must be presented.
• In order to gain the right to study for a doctorate, a doctoral candidate: a) passes an interview and / or takes an entrance exam (oral and/or written) in the specialty, taking into account the prerequisite for admission to the relevant programme; b) passes the foreign language exam and/or confirms the knowledge of a foreign language on the basis of submitting the relevant document.
•  The criteria for interviewing a doctoral candidate and/or examining in the specialty (oral and/or written) must be pre-approved, public and accessible.
•  Additional requirements for admission to the programme may be established by the faculty doctoral programme and the doctoral education programme.
•  The rules for admission to the doctoral programme are regulated by the regulations of the relevant faculty.
•  The change of the doctoral education programme is regulated by the doctoral programme of the relevant faculty.

• Application on behalf of the Rector of TSU;
• Applicant’s autobiography (CV);
• Certified copy of the diploma and the diploma’s enclosure  confirming the Master's degree or equivalent (for a TSU graduate by the relevant faculty of the university, and in another case - a notarized copy; for Master's graduates on the year of entrance - a certificate of granting the qualification);
• Document certifying one-stage, five-year, higher education, equalization to the Master's degree (issued by the National Centre for Education Quality Development, LEPL);
•  Copy of ID card;
•  The consent of the head of the doctoral programme;
•  The consent of the probable scientific supervisor;
•  A notarized copy of the international certificate documenting the knowledge of a foreign  language/certificate issued within the framework of the project- "CERTUS" of the National Centre for Assessment and Examinations  (if any);
•  A notarized copy of the certificate documenting the knowledge of the Georgian Language at B2 Level (if any);
•  A notarized copy of a document certifying education received in a foreign country (if any);
•  A copy of the conscript's military registration certificate (or military ticket, if any);
•  Photograph (3X4) - Printed 2 pcs. and the electronic version on CD;
•  Another document, if any, required by the doctoral programme.

Enrolment in a doctoral program

When preconditions defined by the doctoral educational programme and met, and upon concluding a bilateral agreement, an individual administrative-legal act of the Rector on admission is issued.

The student is given his/her own profile to enter the electronic learning management system (lms.tsu.ge) when registering for the first semester of the doctoral programme. The student can receive the following services through the electronic learning management system:

• Implement an individualized curriculum;
• See the subjects chosen by him/her, the grades obtained and the credits awarded in the study card;
• Get familiar with the educational programmes available at the faculty, the list of study courses, syllabi, study and examination tables;
• Conduct correspondence on issues related to the learning process with the relevant Learning Process Management Department/Faculty Service, and on issues related to the exams - with the Examination Centre.
• Conduct monitoring of the tuition fee payment.

• The amount of tuition fee is determined in accordance with the university fees set for the year of enrolment.
• Doctoral education programme may charge different tuition fees. The issue of reliefs of tuition fees is decided by the Faculty Council on the basis of the nomination of the head of the programme.
• PhD student’s funding is provided within a grant funded by the Scientific Foundation (s) in the form of university funding, scholarships, charities and self-funding.
• From the moment the dissertation is submitted the doctoral student is exempted from semester registration and tuition fee.  

Status suspension

The grounds for suspension of student status are:

• Lack of administrative or academic registration;
• Late Personal application (The student must apply to the university rector with a request for suspension no later than 2 weeks after the start of the study process without indicating the reason.);
• The student must apply to the TSU rector within 5 weeks from the start of the study period for the request of suspension of student status on the grounds of studying at a HEI abroad (except for studying within the exchange educational programme) or illness (if it is documented that the student is unable to participate in the study process).
• In case of prolonged and severe illness, an exception may be determined by order of the Rector (during the period of auditory training).
• The maximum term for suspension of student status is 5 years, except in cases provided by law (studying in a foreign HEI or illness).

Grounds for termination of student status:

• Personal Statement;
• The graduation of the educational programme by the student at the given level;
• Suspension of student status for more than 5 years;
• Inability to receive a credit three times in the same compulsory course;
• A decision made as a result of disciplinary proceedings against a student by the Faculty Council on the basis of the University Code of Ethics, internal regulations and disciplinary measures;
• Death.

A PhD student status can be terminated by the decision of the Faculty Dissertation Council:

• In cases of confirmation of plagiarism or falsification of data;
• For failure to comply with the terms of the agreement between the University and the PhD student;
• In other cases provided for by the regulations and legislation of the Faculty Dissertation Council.

• The duration of the doctoral education programme is not less than 3 years and its training component includes no more than 60 credits.
• Six semesters after the enrollment on the doctoral programme, the prerequisite for registration in the next semester is the solicitation of the scientific supervisor and the head of the programme to the faculty, which must substantiate the expediency of continuing the study/research. After the end of the six semesters, the issues related to the continuation of the study are regulated by the faculty doctoral regulation.
• PhD students who have met the requirements of the programme will submit the required documents for the defence of the dissertation to the faculty and will defend the dissertation in accordance with the rules established at the University.

• The study and research components of the doctoral programme contribute to the mastery of the branch and methodological skills of the doctoral student, preparing him/her for future pedagogical, scientific and professional activities;
• The scientific-research component is an integral part of the doctoral programme, which is presented in the form of a dissertation, as well as in the form of another scientific project/paper/activity;
• The learning component includes the following activities:

               A) At least one field seminar (10-25 credits, compulsory);

               B) Professor’s assistance (not less than 5 credits, compulsory);

               C) Research methodology (not less than 5 credits, compulsory);

              D) Other study activities (training courses/modules, internships, etc.) are determined by the doctoral education                   programme and the doctoral regulation of the faculty.

• If the PhD student is also a TSU assistant/teacher or invited personnel, leading lecture/practical/seminar/laboratory trainings, the work performed can be considered as the professor's assistance with the minimum number of mandatory credits (5 ECTS credits) defined for the professor's assistance by this standard, if the mentioned work has been done without payment.
• The completed study and research components are a prerequisite for submitting a dissertation.

Midterm /final exam of the study course:

• The doctoral student is allowed to take the final exam, if he/she accumulates at least 51 points, taking into account the maximum scores of the intermediate assessments and the final exam.
• The grounds for failing the doctoral exam is:
• Student’s action during the exam, which contradicts the instructions for conducting the exams and the TSU Code of Ethics;
•  Receiving less than 50% of the scores set for the final exam.

Conditions for taking the additional exam:

• In case of non-appearance at the final exam, when the exam is conducted by the faculty, it is allowed to take the relevant additional exam based on the application written by the student on behalf of the Dean, indicating the honourable reason for not appearing and submitting the certifying document. The decision to allow a doctoral student to take an additional exam is made by the Dean;
• In case of non-appearance at the final exam, when the exam is conducted by the examination centre, it is allowed to take the relevant additional exam based on the application sent to the exam centre through electronic base (lms.tsu.ge) with reference to the honourable reason for not appearing and submitting a confirmatory document before the additional exam. The decision to allow a doctoral student to take an additional exam is made by the Examination Centre;
• The doctoral student will be admitted to the additional examination during the examination period of the current semester, within the time limits set for the additional examinations by the order of the Rector.

Appointment of an individual exam for a doctoral student:

• In case of failure to appear for the final or additional exam for an honourable reason, when the exam is conducted by the faculty, the appointment of the main exam or additional exam in individual manner in the set timeframe is allowed on the basis of the student's application on behalf of the Dean indicating the honourable reason for not appearing and submitting a confirming document. The decision to allow a student to take the exam is made by the Dean;
• In case of failure to appear for the final or additional exam for an honourable reason, when the exam is conducted by the examination centre, it is allowed to appoint the exam individually within the time limit for the main or additional examination on the basis of the student's application to the examinational centre sent through the electronic base (Ims.tsu.ge) indicating the honourable reason for not appearing and submitting a confirming document. The decision to admit a student to the exam is made by the examination centre;
• In case of failure to appear for the final and additional exams, the appointment of an individual exam after the end of the exam period is allowed for the doctoral student only when the state or university interest is the reason for not appearing for the main and additional exams, or when the physical inability of appearing at the exam is confirmed. The decision to make an individual appointment of the exam after the end of the examination period is made by the Rector of the University on the basis of the nomination of the Dean.

• The dissertation is a scientific paper defended by the doctoral student to obtain the academic degree of Doctor.
• The dissertation should reflect the justified results of the research and create new knowledge.
• The dissertation must be in Georgian, and the abbreviated version of the dissertation must be submitted in Georgian and one of the European languages ​​(English, German, French).
• The issue of conducting a dissertation in another language is decided by the Faculty Council.
• If the paper is in a foreign language, the abbreviated version of the dissertation must be submitted in Georgian.
• The abbreviated version of the dissertation should reflect all components of the dissertation. The volume of the abbreviated version of the dissertation is determined by the doctoral regulation of the relevant faculty.
• The technical data of the dissertation paper will be developed by the faculty, which will be approved by the University Dissertation Council upon the recommendation of the Dean of the Faculty.

Submitting a dissertation

• The doctoral student shall submit to the Faculty Council 4 printed and 1 electronic versions of the dissertation.
•  In addition to the dissertation, the doctoral student must submit:
  • A)The statement that the dissertation is the result of an independent research by a PhD student and does not contain plagiarism/falsified data.
  • B)A summary report of the work done by the doctoral student.
  • C)Results of the dissertation research carried out in accordance with the requirements of the doctoral programme of the faculty - a short version of the main provisions of the dissertation - in Georgian and one of the European languages ​​(English, German, French).
  • D)The conclusion of the scientific supervisor on admission to the public discussion of the dissertation.
  • E)Certificate issued by the faculty on the fulfillment of the requirements set for the publication of scientific publications defined by the faculty doctoral programme;
  • F)Certificate issued by the faculty on the completion of the study component, the accumulated credits and the full completion of the semesters;
  • G)A copy of the published scientific papers and/or a certificate issued by the editor (editorial board) on the scientific paper to be published and the printed version of the paper;
• The submitted documents are checked by the faculty.
•  After submitting the dissertation materials, the faculty council shall give progress to the case proceedings within one month.
• The doctoral programme of the faculty and the regulations of the faculty may determine additional requirements related to the submission of the dissertation.
• According to the regulations of the University Dissertation Council, certain powers provided for the Faculty Council, by the decision of the Faculty Council, may be transferred to the Permanent Sectoral Dissertation Commission, if any.

Obligation to publish international scientific publications

A prerequisite for defending a dissertation is the publication of the following two scientific publications related to the dissertation topic - peer-reviewed scientific articles in such high-ranking international journals (or conference papers) that have an ISSN code and have an international editorial board (or scientific committee), and which are spread internationally  and is open to international cooperation. At the same time, at least one of these two publications must be in an international journal (or conference paper) indexed by Scopus or Web of Science, or ERIH PLUS (ERIH PLUS only for those doctoral students working in the fields of Kartvelology and Caucasiology).

Reviewers of the dissertation

• The Faculty Council shall allocate at least two reviewers for the purpose of reviewing the dissertation paper, which shall be approved by the University Dissertation Council upon the recommendation of the Dean of the respective Faculty. In case of submission of a negative conclusion by one of the reviewers, a new reviewer is appointed.
• The reviewer should have the academic degree of Doctor, research experience in the field/specialty/direction of the doctoral dissertation topic and relevant publications.
• The reviewer is obliged to review the dissertation paper no later than 60 calendar days after the transfer of the dissertation by the relevant faculty and submit the review to the faculty.
• The reviewer shall submit a conclusion (review) in accordance with the established review form.
•  In case of negative evaluation of the dissertation paper by two reviewers, according to the decision of the Faculty Council, the doctoral student shall not be allowed to defence and shall be given the right to work on the dissertation paper for one academic year.

Defending the dissertation

• The defence of a dissertation is public. Information about this is published on the website of the university (relevant faculty) at least one week before the defence of the dissertation.
• The language of the dissertation is Georgian, unless otherwise determined by the faculty council.
• The defence process involves the presentation of the paper by the PhD student, a scientific discussion, and the conclusion (evaluation) of the Dissertation Defence Commission.
• The defence regulation is determined by the regulations of the University Dissertation Council.
•  In the case of such doctoral education programmes, after completion of which graduates are awarded the academic degree of Doctor of the University and a Foreign Higher Education Institution, there may be different regulations for the defence of the dissertation, which are developed by the parties and approved by the University Dissertation Council.

Assessment of the dissertation

• The dissertation is evaluated by the members of the Dissertation Defence Commission in a confidential manner by 100 - point system.
• For the final evaluation of the dissertation, the Dissertation Defence Commission shall issue an arithmetic mean of the scores, which shall be conformed with the following system:

                         A) Summa cum laude - excellent work - 91-100 points of assessment;

              B) Very good (magna cum laude) - a result that exceeds the requirements in every way - 81-90 points of maximum;

              C) Good (cum laude) - the result that exceeds the requirements - 71-80 points of maximum evaluation;

              D) Average (bene) - average level work that meets the basic requirements - 61-70 points of maximum assessment;

               E) Satisfactory (rite) - a result that, despite the shortcomings, still meets the requirements - 51-60 points of maximum evaluation;

               F) Insufficient - a work of unsatisfactory level that does not meet the requirements due to significant deficiencies in it - 41-50 points of maximum assessment;

              G) Completely unsatisfactory (sub omni canone) - a result that does not meet the requirements at all - 40 points and less of the maximum score.

• In case of receiving the assessment provided for in sub-paragraphs “a” - “e”, the doctoral student shall be awarded the academic degree of Doctor.
•  Upon receipt of the assessment provided for in sub-paragraph (f), the doctoral student is entitled to submit a revised dissertation within one year.
•  In case of receiving the assessment provided for in sub-paragraph “g”, the doctoral student loses the right to submit the same dissertation.
•  The Chairman of the Dissertation Defence Commission shall inform the PhD student of the Commission's conclusion (assessment) orally.

Granting quality and commitment to publish the dissertation

• In case of completion of the doctoral programme and defence of the dissertation, the doctoral student is awarded an academic degree, the name of which must be determined in accordance with the classifier of the fields of study.
• The doctoral student of the relevant faculty of the university is awarded the academic degree of Doctor by the University Dissertation Council in compliance with the requirements of the relevant regulations.
• The diploma is signed by the Rector of the University, the Chairman of the University Dissertation Council and the Dean of the Faculty.
• The faculty is obliged to submit an electronic form of the dissertation to the University Publishing House, University Library and the National Parliamentary Library of Georgia within one month after awarding the academic degree of Doctor; at the same time, one printed and electronic copy of the dissertation should be submitted to the University and National Scientific Libraries.