Lecture
The purpose of this chapter is to give a brief overview of the main stages of a candidate's work connected with preparing and conducting the dissertation defence.
In this chapter we will answer the questions: How does the official defence of a dissertation proceed in a specialised academic council? What
actions by the candidate precede the dissertation defence? What is
a pre-defence? What documents are drawn up after the dissertation defence for the purpose of submitting them to the Higher Attestation Commission (VAK)?
The key concepts of this chapter are: preliminary assessment
of a dissertation, dissertation defence, specialised academic council.
However boundless the work on a dissertation may seem, it
still comes to an end sooner or later. And here a surprise awaits the candidate: finishing work on the text of the dissertation does not mean the candidate is ready for the defence.
In the period between the completion of the dissertation research
and the receipt of the Candidate's or Doctor's diploma, the candidate still
has to carry out a great many important (for the defence) tasks and prepare
a whole series of documents (Fig. 15.2, 15.3 and 15.4).
Let us note that before the official defence in the specialised academic council, the dissertation must, first,
undergo a preliminary assessment at the place where the work was carried out (at the department
of the institution or in the research division of a research institute), and second, a preliminary assessment in the specialised academic council. This stage of considering the dissertation is called the "pre-defence".
During the pre-defence at the department (in the research division), the candidate is given the opportunity to deliver a presentation illustrating the main points of the dissertation. In this case the same amount of time
is allotted for the candidate's presentation as at the defence itself – 15
minutes for Candidate's dissertations and 20 minutes for Doctoral dissertations. Then
a discussion of the dissertation is held, and if the department's
assessment is positive, a decision is made to recommend the dissertation for
defence before the specialised academic council (provided the identified shortcomings are corrected).
Fig. 15.2. Stages of work in preparing for the pre-defence of a dissertation at the department
Fig. 15.3. Stages of work in preparing for the defence of a dissertation in the specialised academic council
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