Dean’s Provision no. 18/2017

Dean’s provision governing content-related, formal and technical essentials concerning elaboration and submission of final theses and acts of their filing and accessibility in electronic form

Charles University, Faculty of Social Sciences

Dean’s Provision no. 18/2017

Title:

 Dean’s provision governing content-related, formal and technical essentials concerning elaboration and submission of final theses and acts of their filing and accessibility in electronic form

 

In effect from:

1. 10. 2017

In Prague, on September 15th 2017

PhDr. Jakub Končelík, Ph.D.

Dean of the Faculty

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

CONTENT

Introductory provisions

PART I – Faculty coordinator, responsibilities and powers of the faculty staff

PART II – Content-related essentials

                Art. 1 – Bachelor’s theses

                Art. 2 – Master’s theses

                Art. 3 – Rigorosum theses

                Art. 4 – Dissertation theses

PART III – Announcement and selection of topics, assignment and submission of theses

                Art. 5 – Bachelor’s and diploma theses

                Art. 6 – Rigorosum theses

                Art. 7 – Dissertation theses

PART IV – Formal requirements and technical essentials

                Art. 8 – Technical essentials

                Art. 9 – Formal requirements

                Art. 10 – Acts of publicizing and filing final theses

PART V – Art. 11 – Requirements for registering and holding defence proceedings, insertion of defence evaluations into the SIS 

PART VI – Transitional provisions

PART VII – Final provisions

 

For the implementation of Article 18a Para 1 of Study and Examination Regulations of Charles University (hereinafter “SZŘ UK“), Article 7 Para 1 of Rigorosum Examination Regulations (hereinafter “RŘ UK“) and Article 11 of Rector’s Provision no. 23/2016 (hereinafter “OR 23/2016“), the following provision has been issued to complement and specify procedures pertaining to the announcement of topics, submission, filing and accessibility of final theses. 

 

Introductory Provisions

  1. Final theses (hereinafter “theses”) comprise Bachelor’s, Master’s, State doctoral and Dissertation theses, in accordance with § 45 Para 3, § 46 Para 3 and 5, § 47 Para 4 of the Law on universities, as valid. The thesis has an electronic as well as a paper form.
  2. A student, or a participant of the state doctoral examinations (hereinafter “a student“) bears the responsibility for the submission of both paper and electronic forms of the thesis, the accuracy and completeness of the files entered in the students’ information system (hereinafter “SIS“), and their correspondence with a submitted paper form of the thesis; the faculty bears the responsibility for an act of publicizing the thesis.
  3. Serious content-related discrepancies between electronic and paper forms of the thesis can lead to initiation of disciplinarian proceedings.
  4. Should the student find out upon the submission of an electronic version of the thesis in the SIS that s/he needs to carry out any additional modifications in this version, s/he will address the head of the department or the chairman of the subject board with the request to unlock the records of the thesis in the SIS to enter any modifications. An act of unlocking the thesis is feasible within the period stipulated by the calendar set for the submission of theses for defence proceedings. Should any changes be necessary to be performed in the SIS upon the expiry of such a period (changes of descriptive attributes or of attached files submitted by students), the designated member of the faculty staff can execute such a change upon the approval by the head of the department or the chairman of subject board. The same procedure applies to any additional modifications performed in the paper form. The criterion stipulated in para 3 must always be complied with.

 

PART I – Faculty Coordinator, Responsibilities and Powers of the Faculty Staff

  1. Dean has appointed the faculty coordinator responsible for an act of filing and publicizing the final theses.
  2. Activities of the faculty coordinator are stipulated in Article 8 of OR no. 13/2017.  The faculty coordinator primarily:
    • communicates with the designated person from the Computer Center of Charles University (hereinafter “ÚVT UK“) about the matters pertaining to an act of filing the final theses,
    • provides regular updates to the faculty management regarding the state of filing of the final theses,
    • gathers suggestions and advice from individual faculty workplaces and faculty management regarding an act of filing and publicizing the final theses, processes them and submits to ÚVT UK,
    • organizes entering of theses into the system at the faculty,
    • communicates with the students and addresses the issues related to the entering of attachments in accordance with art. 5 para 4 of OR no. 13/2017,
    • coordinates the activities of the faculty in the area of filing and publicizing the final theses in interaction with ÚVT UK, i.e. s/he provides the faculty staff with the instructions for the fulfilment of tasks related to the filing and publicizing the final theses in their electronic form, and furthermore s/he verifies the fulfilment of such tasks.
  3. The faculty coordinator is not the contact person for students in the questions concerning writing of the thesis. Should any questions arise, students can contact their advisor or the workplace which has announced the topic of individual theses.
  4. The heads of the faculty departments primarily:
    • announce the topics of the theses,
    • assign the topics of the theses to students,
    • record the data of the submission of paper form of the thesis and review the essentials related to the submitted thesis,
    • review the record about the thesis and its finalization (i.e. documentation about the completeness of the records about the thesis for the purposes of its accessibility) in the SIS,
    • gather other essential materials (paper forms of the thesis, electronic forms of the thesis, evaluations of the thesis, and others) to complement “older theses“ in the SIS, unless available in the faculty library,
    • coordinate an effort to identify the thesis which has already been incorporated into the university repository or in the library system and the record of which is to be entered in the SIS,
    • grant access to the printed form of work, unless otherwise provided by law.
  5. The head of the department entrusts one or more members of the department staff with the fulfilment of such activities.
  6. The heads of the faculty library and the TGM library of Social Sciences in Jinonice are primarily responsible for:
    • providing the information pertaining to the costs incurred in the process of getting extracts, transcripts or copies of the publicized thesis and to the way these have been secured in case the final thesis or its part is not available in a written form,
    • complementing the records of “older theses,“ including the files with full texts of the theses, in the SIS system,
    • coordinating an effort to identify the theses which have already been incorporated into the university repository or the library system and the record of which is to be entered in the SIS.
  7. The head of the faculty library entrusts one or more members of the library staff with the fulfilment of such activities.
  8. Designated staff of the study department are in charge of:
  • accurate and complete records of the applications for defence,
  • accuracy and completeness of results of defences entered in the study obligations in the SIS system and in a student’s documentation file, including the record of the course of defence proceedings,
  • coordinated effort to identify the student and his/her studies, whose thesis has already been incorporated into the university repository or the library system and the record of which is to be entered in the SIS.

 

PART II – Content-related Essentials

Art. 1

Bachelor’s Theses

  1. The bachelor’s thesis is the final qualification thesis, whose defence is part of the state final examination in bachelor’s study programme.
  2. The topic of the bachelor's thesis must correspond in its focus to the study programme and field of study.
  3. Bachelor's thesis is a content-coherent and comprehensive written work, compiled by the student independently under the professional guidance of the supervisor.
  4. The minimum extent of bachelor's thesis is 30 standard pages of the text itself (54 thousand characters including spaces), i.e. without an abstract and appendices and a list of literature.
  5. The bachelor's thesis is submitted in the accreditation language of the respective bachelor’s study programme realized at the Faculty of Social Sciences of Charles University. The guarantor of the study programme may grant an exception.

 

Art. 2

Master’s Theses

  1. The master’s thesis is the final qualification thesis, whose defence is part of the state final examination in the follow-up master's study programme.
  2. The topic of the bachelor's thesis must correspond in its focus to the studied study programme and field of study.
  3. Master's thesis is a content-coherent and comprehensive written work, compiled by the student independently under the professional guidance of the supervisor.
  4. The minimum extent of master’s thesis is 60 standard pages (108 thousand characters including spaces) of the text itself, i.e. without an abstract and appendices and a list of literature. In case the master’s thesis is written in English, its minimum extent is 50 standard pages (90 thousand characters including spaces) without an abstract and appendices and a list of literature.
  5. The master’s thesis is submitted in the accreditation language of the respective follow-up Master’s study programme. The guarantor of the study programme may grant an exception.

 

Art. 3

Rigorosum Theses

  1. The rigorosum thesis is the final qualification thesis, whose defence is part of the rigorosum examination.
  2. The topic of a rigorosum thesis must correspond in its focus to the respective Master’s study programme within whose accreditation a decision has been passed on the authorization to award the academic degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
  3. Rigorosum thesis is a content-coherent and comprehensive professional study independently elaborated by the applicant. A rigorosum thesis should demonstrate the applicant’s deeper knowledge of the subject-matter, the ability to creatively elaborate a specialized topic at the appropriate content and methodological level, and the ability to independently work in the field of research or development or independent creative activity.
  4. Rigorosum thesis is submitted in the accreditation language of the respective Master's study program within whose accreditation a decision has been passed on the authorization to award the academic degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Rigorosum thesis in another language can only be submitted with the Dean's approval, based on a written request from the applicant recommended by the chair of the relevant committee for state rigorous examination.
  5. The minimum extent of rigorosum thesis is 80 standard pages (144 thousand characters including spaces) of the text itself, i.e. without an abstract and appendices and a list of literature.
  6. The Diploma thesis completing defence proceedings according to Act no. 172/1990 coll., or according to the Act on universities and meeting the requirements stated in Article 4 of these Rules and Article 4 para 3 of the Rigorous Regulations may be recognized by the committee as a rigorosum thesis. In such a case, a successfully defended diploma thesis is submitted in the framework of the rigorosum examination, which states that it is a diploma thesis, which has applied for recognition as a rigorosum thesis.
  7. In case the dissertation thesis has been acknowledged as a rigorosum thesis, the employee of the study department will enter the record about the rigorosum thesis and the study obligation with the outcome of the defence proceedings in the SIS system (in such a case, the date of the defence corresponds to the date of the acknowledgment of the thesis). Furthermore, s/he will attach other corresponding files related to the thesis, without the evaluations, which are in such a case non-obligatory.

 

Art. 4

Dissertation Theses

  1. The dissertation thesis is the final qualification thesis, whose defence and performance of the state doctoral examination properly complete the doctoral study programme.
  2. The topic of the dissertation thesis must correspond in its focus to the studied doctoral study field. The topic of dissertation is written in co-operation with the supervisor. The topic of the thesis in the form of propositions is approved by the respective subject board within the individual study plan of a doctoral student.
  3. The dissertation thesis is a content-coherent and comprehensive scientific document, which describes the author's research and its outcomes.
  4. Dissertation thesis demonstrates the student’s capacity and preparedness for independent work in the field of research or development or independent theoretical and creative activities. The dissertation thesis must include the original and published outcomes or the outcomes received for publication. The dissertation thesis must correspond to the methodological standards of the relevant study discipline, contribute to the deepening of the scientific knowledge and benefit its development.
  5. Recommended extent of the thesis is between 100 and 250 standard pages, without an abstract, appendices, and a list of literature. A dissertation thesis can be either methodologically and thematically coherent text, or a collection of writings with an integrating introductory and final text.

 

PART III –Announcement and Selection of Topics, Assignment and Submission of Theses

Art. 5 – Bachelor’s and Master’s Theses

  1. Individual departments, or staff designated by the heads of individual departments, announce the topics of the theses via the SIS system. Student can propose a topic of the thesis as well and can address the teacher who s/he wishes to have as an advisor. In case of an agreement reached between the advisor and student, the advisor or a designated person of the department will announce the new topic in the SIS system.
  2. A student can register for the topic announced in the SIS within the period stipulated by the calendar of an academic year. The registration will be performed electronically via the SIS system. The advisor will then confirm in the SIS the assignment of a topic to a given student. Once confirmed, the assignment becomes binding. Any changes to the topic of the thesis are subsequently allowed solely upon the written request of a student, reviewed by an advisor, guarantor of the study programme, and a corresponding vice-dean of the faculty. If a student chooses to write a thesis on a completely different subject than the one which has been approved, he/she proceeds according to paragraph 1 of this article. Changes in the title of the final thesis, which do not affect the subject of the thesis, are carried out by the supervisor of the thesis or the authorized person of the respective department/institute.
  3. A student cooperates with his/her supervisor on the propositions of the thesis so that the supervisor can assign the final thesis to the respective student in a timely manner in the SIS. The supervisor of the thesis consults the propositions with the guarantor of the study programme.
  4. The propositions contain compulsory data: the topic of the thesis in the language of the thesis and the English language and, if the language of the thesis is not Czech, then also the topic in the Czech language; elaboration principles, a list of scientific literature, and preliminary contents of the thesis. Other necessary data are as follows: the language of the thesis, the type of the thesis, the field of the thesis, and the supervisor of the thesis. It is also possible to add the name of the consultant and keywords in both Czech and English.
  5. After completing all the required data, the supervisor assigns the thesis to a particular student and confirms the propositions.
  6. Once the assignment of the thesis has become binding, the SIS allows the student to modify only some data related to the thesis, primarily the key words in Czech and English language. The SIS enables the student to store an electronic form of his or her thesis, its attachments and abstracts. 
  7. The text of the thesis can be edited only until it has been submitted to the defence proceedings, except for corrigenda.
  8. The Bachelor's and Master’s theses are submitted in two printed copies in ring or fixed binding; these copies are returned to the student upon completion of the defence proceedings. Individual institutes, or departments will post any detailed information about submitting the theses on their websites.
  9. A student will submit his/her final thesis within the term determined by the schedule of the academic year according to the relevant planned term of defence proceedings. The deadline for submission of work in both printed and electronic form is the same; the thesis is considered as submitted if the student has handed in both forms of the thesis by the deadline.

 

Art. 6

Rigorosum Theses

  1. The topic of a rigorosum thesis is stated in the application for the state rigorosum examination and is approved by the chairman of the state examination committee.
  2. The record of the rigorosum thesis in the SIS is created by the study department during the registration of the applicant. The applicant will receive an automatic email about the data needed to insert the thesis. If the has been accepted, it shall be entered into the SIS only after the applicant has received written notice from the department that it has been accepted.
  3. The topic of the assigned thesis may be changed in exceptional cases on the basis of a written request from the applicant for the state rigorosum examination delivered to the study department of the faculty via the mail room. The change of the assignment shall be decided by the chairman of the state examination committee.
  4. Once the assignment of the thesis has become binding, the SIS allows the applicant for the state rigorosum thesis to modify only some data related to the thesis, primarily the key words in Czech and English language. The SIS enables the student to store an electronic form of his or her thesis, its appendices and abstracts. 
  5. In the case of an application for recognition a previously defended dissertation thesis as a rigorous thesis, two printed copies shall be submitted in a ring or fixed binding to the department where the applicant performs the state examination.
  6. The rigorosum thesis is submitted in two printed copies in ring or fixed binding to the department where the thesis has been assigned; these copies are returned to the participant of the rigorosum procedures upon completion of the defence proceedings.
  7. A student will submit his/her final thesis within the term determined by the schedule of the academic year according to the relevant planned term of defence proceedings. The deadline for submission of work in both printed and electronic form is the same; the thesis is considered as submitted if the student has handed in both forms of the thesis by the deadline.

 

Art. 7

Dissertation Theses

  1. The topic of the thesis is determined by agreement between the supervisor and the student as part of the preparation of an individual study plan.
  2. Insertion of the topic of the thesis in the SIS is provided by the study department within two months upon commencement of studies at the latest.
  3. The approval of the respective subject board of the proposal of the topic of the thesis and its elaboration is necessary for the consent of the supervisor with the guidance of the thesis.
  4. As a rule, the language of the dissertation thesis corresponds to the language in which the study programme is accredited, or the thesis may be written in English. For a dissertation language different from the one mentioned in the previous sentence, the subject board of the faculty must grant the student an approval.
  5. The abstract is written in the language in which the study program is accredited, and one other language. In the case of the dissertation thesis written in Czech, the abstract is written in Czech and English. In case the dissertation thesis is written in another language within the programme accredited in the Czech language, the abstract is written in the language of the dissertation thesis and in the Czech language.
  6. Once the assignment of the thesis has become binding, the SIS allows the student to modify only some data related to the thesis, primarily the key words. The SIS enables the student to store an electronic form of his or her thesis, its appendices and abstracts. 
  7. The topic of the assigned thesis may be changed in exceptional cases on the basis of a written request from the student. The change of the assignment shall be decided by the subject board.
  8. The dissertation thesis is submitted in two printed copies in ring or fixed binding to the study department of the faculty and in an electronic form in the SIS; these copies are returned to the student upon completion of the defence proceedings.
  9. The dissertation thesis is submitted by the student no later than 60 days before the scheduled date of the defence proceedings. The deadline for submission of the thesis in both printed and electronic form is the same; the thesis is regarded as submitted if the student has handed in both forms of the thesis by the deadline.

 

 

PART IV – Formal Requirements and Technical Essentials

Art. 8

Technical Essentials

  1. When writing a standard text document, the minimum requirement is 60 characters per line and 30 lines per page, i.e. 1,800 characters per page (the so-called standard page). Font size, page layout, margins, and line spacing need to be customized
  2. Generally, a standard form of the page of the final thesis applies the fonts of 12 points, the gaps between the paragraphs are recommended to be of the size of 6 points. Notes, resp. footnotes can be written in a 10-point font. The text is aligned on both sides (aligned to a block).
  3. Electronic version of the thesis will be entered by a student/applicant for a state doctoral examination through the SIS website interface in the archive format of PDF/A version 1.3 or higher. Further details are stipulated by the rector’s provision.

 

Art. 9

Formal Requirements

  1. The thesis must meet the criteria set by the internal regulations of the university and faculty and this provision.
  2. The detailed format of the final work is contained in the templates attached to this provision.

 

 

Art. 10

Acts of Publicizing and Filing Final Theses

  1. Should the thesis contain data not publishable on the internet, the student/applicant for state doctoral examination will extract the corresponding parts into the attachment of the thesis and when submitting the thesis in the SIS, s/he will make the request to exclude the attachments from being made accessible. Such a request may be submitted by the advisor as well, by the date of the defence at the latest. The application for the exclusion of attachments from the publicized thesis is assessed by the respective vice-dean of the faculty, based on the recommendation of the supervisor. The outcome of this assessment shall be recorded in the SIS by an authorized person before finalizing the record on the thesis.
  2. Procedures for recording and publicizing Bachelor’s, diploma and dissertation theses are governed by the Study and Examination Regulations of Charles University. The procedures for recording and publicizing rigorosum theses are governed by the Rigorosum Regulations of Charles University. Details related to making the final thesis accessible through an electronic database are provided by Rector's Provision no. 13/2017.

 

PART V – Requirements for Registering and Holding Defence Proceedings, Insertion of Defence Evaluations into the SIS

Art. 11

  1. The student will apply for the defence of the final thesis electronically via the SIS within the term specified in the schedule of an academic year in case of Bachelor’s and Master’s theses. In the case of rigorosum and dissertation theses, the student/applicant for the state rigorosum examination completes a prescribed form, which s/he passes through the mailing room to the study department.
  2. The student will receive the assessment of the supervisor of the thesis and the opponent of the thesis through the SIS 5 working days at the latest before the performance of defence proceedings.
  3. The applicant for the state rigorosum examination will receive 2 opponent’s assessments through the SIS 5 working days at the latest before the performance of defence proceedings.
  4. The assessments contain statements as to whether the submitted thesis fulfils the requirements for the given type of thesis in the given field. Marks are reported in the assessment in the SIS.
  5. In the case a system ‘Theses’ has found matches with other documents, statements to this fact are also included in the assessment.
  6. The student/applicant for the state rigorosum examination will attend the defence proceedings, even if, according to the statements by one or both reviewers, his/her thesis has not met the requirements for the final thesis in the given field.
  7. Only if the student has not successfully defended his/her thesis, s/he or has the right to revise it and submit it in any of the following terms or ask for a new assignment of the thesis.
  8. An authorized employee of the department shall ensure that printed copies of the thesis are available during the defence proceedings.
  9. Upon completion of the defence proceedings, an authorized employee of the department shall add a record of the course of defence proceedings to the record of the thesis. The previous sentence does not apply if the record of the course of defence proceedings is filled in electronic form directly during the defence proceedings.
  10. After the defence proceedings of the thesis, the author of the thesis has the possibility to add a file with corrigendum to a record of the thesis in the SIS (including revisions of typographical and similar minor mistakes), no later than 15 days after the proceedings.
  11. Upon completion of the defence proceedings, an authorized employee of the department will examine the completeness of the record of the thesis in the SIS, including the enclosed files according to this provision in terms of the requirements for publication of the electronic form of the thesis and will check the compliance of the Czech and English title of the thesis with a paper form of the thesis. After performing this review, s/he will confirm the record of the thesis for publication through the so-called finalization, no later than 20 days after the defence proceedings.
  12. The electronic form of the thesis will be automatically sent to the university repository to be made accessible.

 

PART VI – Transitional Provisions

  1. Acts of submission and publicizing of the theses submitted for defence proceedings before September 30, 2017 are governed by the Rector's Provision no. 6/2010, in the version valid on the date of submission of the final thesis.

 

PART VII – Final Provisions

  1. The provision herein comes into force on the date of its signature.
  2. This provision annuls Dean’s provision no. 29/2010.

 

Appendices:

  1. Template of final thesis – Bachelor’s thesis in Czech
  2. Template of final thesis – Bachelor’s thesis in English
  3. Template of final thesis – Master's thesis in Czech
  4. Template of final thesis – Master's thesis in English
  5. Template of final thesis – Rigorosum thesis in Czech
  6. Template of final thesis – Rigorosum thesis in English
  7. Template of final thesis – Dissertation thesis in Czech
  8. Template of final thesis – Dissertation thesis in English
  9. Template of final thesis -  LaTeX

 

PhDr. Jakub Končelík, Ph.D.

Dean of the Faculty

In charge of accuracy:

PhDr. Petr Soukup, Ph.D.

Vice-Dean for Student Affairs

 

PhDr. Petr Bednařík, Ph.D.

Vice-Dean for Doctoral Studies