1. Doctoral degree examinations are divided into three parts:
(1) Annual review and qualification test
(2) PhD pre-oral defense
(3) PhD dissertation oral defense
2.Annual assessment and qualification test
(1) Within three months after the admission of a PhD student into the Department, a PhD candidate qualification assessment committee must be set up, responsible for offering the student suggestions about how to choose courses, the annual assessments and qualification exams.
(2) A qualification assessment committee consists of five members, and the advising professor serves ex-officio as a member and the convener of the committee. As for the other four members, the convener recommends two members and the Examination Committee and the Academic Committee jointly recommend two members, appointed after the Institute Director approves. The members should be qualified to serve as a member of doctoral degree examination committee according to the Degree Conferral Law. The members should be served by full-time assistant professors or higher rank professors at NTU in principle, or qualified full-time assistant professors (or people of the same rank) or higher rank professors from other universities, whose expertise is related to the PhD candidate's research field, or jointly appointed by NTU, or part-time assistant professors or higher rank professors. When members need to be changed, the new members will be recruited in the same way.
(3) Every PhD student should be assessed by the qualification assessment committee once per academic year. The assessment is mainly aimed to the reports of seminars, study and research progress. The assessment should be completed within one month after the final exam of the second semester of each academic year is completed. The Institute Director collects the present professors' ratings and assessments for the seminar report by the PhD student, and provides them for the assessment commission as a basis for the annual assessment.
(4) PhD students who fail two annual assessments within the required period may flunk out of the doctoral program.
(5) After the assessment, the members of qualification assessment committee should provide suggestions about the study and course selection for the student being assessed.
(6) Every PhD student must pass the qualification test within three years after enrolment. The assessment committee gives the test and decides whether the student passes it. The qualification test can be merged into the current annual assessment.
(7) PhD students who fail the qualification test may take the test 6 months later. Those who fail the qualification test twice may flunk out of the doctoral program.
(8) Students who fail to complete an annual assessment or pass the qualification test within the said period due to special conditions (such as pregnancy, illness, or injuries) may submit an application after his advising professor agrees, to the Examination Committee of the Department for approval, and postpone the annual assessment or the qualification test for at most one year after the approval is granted.
(9) PhD students may use a published SCI-Extended paper (or has been accepted for publication) related to the atmospheric sciences, of which he/she is the first author or not less than the second author, or not less than the second author of an SCI paper (the author's address and the name of unit he belongs to must be those of the Department) to apply for exemption from the qualification test. After the assessment committee confirms and grants approval, the student is deemed to pass the qualification test. The paper must be a research result achieved after the student gets his/her master's degree. After the exemption application is accepted, the paper must not be listed as one of the SCI papers required for graduation.
3. PhD pre-oral defense
(1) Each student is required to pass the PhD pre-oral defense chiefly based on the dissertation proposal within four years after enrollment (for those in-service training student the deadline can be extended another year). The pre-oral defense is carried out by the student's qualification examination committee. If the assessment members think it is necessary to change the deadline because of research progress, the related application should be submitted to the Department for approval in accordance with the provisions.
(2) Students who conditionally pass the PhD pre-oral defense must pass it within a year, and students who fail the pre-oral defense flunk out of the doctoral program.
4. Each student should submit their draft dissertation two weeks before the doctoral oral defense to members of oral defense committee for review.
5. After passing the qualification evaluation and assessment, the student must publish another SCI paper related to the atmospheric sciences, of which he/she is the first author (the author's address and the name of unit he belongs to must be those of the Department), and then the student may apply for a doctorate examination.
6. The PhD dissertation oral defense committee consists of seven members, including four members from the NTU and three from other universities. The advising professor recommends the members of the committee before the pre-oral defense is held, and the members will be invited after the director gives his consent.
7. Graduate students permitted to pursue doctoral degrees should study at least for three semesters from the date they become PhD students, and complete at least 30 credits of courses including master's courses, and then they may apply for doctoral degree examinations.
8. The other relevant regulations are the same as those in the Academic Affairs Charter of the University.
