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PhD Program

Bylaw Regarding Doctoral Thesis (Dissertation) in PhD Program

Article 1
(Foundation and Structure of Thesis Guidance Committee, Member Qualification)

  1. A Ph.D. candidate has one chief faculty advisor from whom he/she receives guidance.
  2. After a candidate has spent six months (excluding time studying abroad or on leave of absence) in the program, the chief advisor will, after consultation with the candidate, request another member of the faculty to act as deputy advisor on the candidate's guidance committee. The chief advisor will inform the Graduate School of Asia-Pacific Studies (GSAPS) office of this request on a designated date in September or February (The chief advisor may submit this request even if the candidate is studying abroad or on leave of absence). After the request is confirmed, the deputy advisor will be officially appointed at the Faculty Meeting in October or April. The deputy advisor may meet with the candidate before this appointment is formalized.
  3. The guidance committee consists of the chief advisor and the deputy advisor. The chief advisor acts as the chief examiner during the doctoral degree examination.
  4. If a faculty member external to GSAPS is requested to be the deputy advisor, the chief advisor must submit that person's curriculum vitae and list of previous publications and research at the GSAPS Faculty Meeting for approval.

Article 2
(Selection of Alternate Chief Advisor and Deputy Advisor)

  1. If the chief advisor or the deputy advisor is unable to execute their duties under Articles 4, 6 and 7 of these bylaws, the Faculty Meeting will select alternate faculty members.
  2. In case of 1. above, when alternate faculty members need to be selected before the faculty committee has met, the Dean of GSAPS may select the member(s) and report this to the Faculty Meeting at its next meeting.

Article 3
(Change in Chief Advisor or Deputy Advisor)

In case it is necessary, for an acceptable reason, to change the chief advisor or the deputy advisor, the approval of the Faculty Meeting is required.

Article 4
(Guidance Carried Out by the Guidance Committee)

Aside from the prescribed events in these bylaws, the guidance committee should hold periodic meetings at which the candidate reports the progress of his/her research.

Article 5
(Submission of Research Plan)

After six months (excluding time studying abroad or on leave of absence) of the establishment of the guidance committee, the Ph.D. candidate should submit a research plan (approximately 12,000 characters in Japanese or 4,000 words in English) written in the prescribed format. (There are designated dates for this submission in February and September.) Candidates should submit this after receiving approval from their guidance committee. (Candidates need not be physically present in order to submit the plan). The Faculty Meeting should approve the research plan in March or October.

Article 6
(Application for Interim Presentation, Conditions for Establishing the Interim Presentation Committee)

  1. After the candidate obtains approval of his/her research plan from the Faculty Meeting, and has received permission from his/her guidance committee, s/he will continue with his/her research and submit the form "Request for Approval of Interim Presentation" to request holding an interim presentation. At this time, the candidate must also submit a document summarizing the contents of the interim presentation (approximately 2,000 characters in Japanese or 700 words in English). This will be distributed to all GSAPS faculty members. The request for approval to hold an interim presentation, as well as the summary of the proposed presentation, should be submitted two weeks prior to the date of the presentation.
  2. The "Request" form in 1. above should clearly stipulate the names of the chief advisor and the deputy advisor, as well as the two teaching staff members chosen by the guidance committee. Please note that if the deputy advisor is from outside GSAPS, then at least one of the two teaching staff members on the interim presentation committee must be a project research advisor in the GSAPS MA program and/or Ph.D. program (including former GSAPS faculty members). These four members comprise the interim presentation committee.
  3. The GSAPS office will post the "Request" form on the bulletin board and distribute it to the GSAPS faculty.
  4. The interim presentation should be public. All four members of the interim presentation committee are required to attend.
  5. The interim presentation should last one hour, with a question and discussion session following.
  6. The interim presentation is considered part of the evaluation process to determine whether the candidate may proceed to write his/her doctoral thesis. If the candidate fails his/her first interim presentation, he/she is allowed to have one more try. (Please note that two is the maximum number of interim presentations allowed).
  7. Following the presentation, the chief advisor should obtain the signatures of the interim presentation committee members on the form "Report of the Interim Presentation" and submit it to the GSAPS office. The report then should be presented at the Ph.D. Faculty Committee meeting.

Article 7
(Submission of At Least One Paper to an Academic Journal)

  1. A candidate who has finished the interim presentation must submit at least one paper (related to his/her doctoral research topic), published in a peer-reviewed journal, or in a journal published by a respected academic society or equivalent institution to the guidance committee (four copies of each paper). An article "in press" is also acceptable as long as the criteria are met.
  2. The four members of the interim presentation committee will examine the paper submitted by the candidate and determine whether or not the paper satisfies the required conditions. If the paper is acceptable, the chief advisor will submit to the GSAPS office the "Report of the Examination of Treatise" with the four signatures of the guidance committee. This form is submitted when the candidate submits his/her doctoral thesis.

Article 8
(Submission of Thesis)

  1. A candidate who has fulfilled the above requirements and who has completed a minimum of two years (excluding time studying abroad or on leave of absence) in the Ph.D. program is qualified to submit his/her Ph.D. thesis. Five copies of the thesis should be submitted to the GSAPS office along with the following seven documents:
    1. Recommendation of the guidance committee (1 copy)
    2. Application form designated by Waseda University Degree Regulation 8, Chart 1 (1 copy)
    3. Summary of the thesis (approximately 2,000 characters in Japanese, 700 words in English (6 copies)
    4. Curriculum vitae (6 copies)
    5. List of previous research and publications (6 copies)
    6. Electronic file (1 copy)
    7. Letter of approval for electronic open access (1 copy, if applicable)
  2. The chief advisor will submit one copy of the "Report of the Examination of Treatise" to the GSAPS office at the same time as the candidate submits the thesis.
  3. The thesis should be between approximately 200,000 and 600,000 characters in Japanese, or between 70,000 and 200,000 words in English. The thesis should be printed on A4-sized paper, written horizontally with a word processor, printed on both sides of the paper, with margins of 25mm on the top, right and left, and 30mm on the bottom, and pages numbered at the bottom center of the page.
  4. The deadline for submission is set twice a year: September for candidates who will complete the Ph.D. program in March; and February for candidates who will complete the Ph.D. program in September. The GSAPS office will announce the exact deadlines for submission.
  5. The Ph.D. Faculty Committee will examine all documents and determine whether or not the thesis is suitable to be examined. If it is suitable, they will select four examiners and propose them at the GSAPS Faculty Meeting.
  6. In case an examiner external to GSAPS (excluding previous project research faculty in the MA or Ph.D. program) is selected, the main advisor should submit that examiner's curriculum vitae and list of research and publications, and obtain the approval of the Ph.D. Faculty Committee.

Article 9
(Procedures Regarding Examination and Determination of Results)

  1. The Faculty Meeting will establish the thesis screening committee, which will be comprised of four examiners. Two examiners will be the members of the guidance committee, with the candidate's chief advisor as chief examiner.
  2. When the screening committee is established, the chief examiner will decide the schedule of the oral examination and announce it to the candidate through the GSAPS office.
  3. September submissions must be screened (including oral examination) two weeks before the January Faculty Meeting. February submissions must be screened two weeks before the June Faculty Meeting.
  4. The oral examination should be public, and all examiners must be present in principle. The examination date must be announced by the GSAPS office two weeks prior to the examination. The screening committee will judge the thesis. A judgement of "pass" requires the approval of three-fourths of the examiners. All participants in the oral examination should follow the directives of the chief examiner.
  5. Two weeks prior to the Faculty Meeting that discusses the results of the screening, for a successful candidate, the chief examiner should submit the "Summary of the Doctoral Thesis" and the "Report of Examination" (approximately 4,000 characters in Japanese, or 1,500 words in English) to the GSAPS office. (The thesis's title must be written in both Japanese and English.) For an unsuccessful candidate, the chief examiner should submit a report of the unsuccessful examination with the reasons for failure. All examiners should sign the examination report. The chief examiner will report the examination results at the Ph.D. Faculty Committee meeting, and must obtain the approval of the faculty committee. The GSAPS office will distribute the above document to all faculty members one week before the Faculty Meeting.
  6. The Faculty Meeting that discusses the final result of the doctoral thesis and the issuance of the Ph.D. degree requires attendance by more than two-thirds of the members, as stipulated in Clause 2 of Article 18 in the Waseda University Provisions for Degrees.
  7. In judging the results, as a rule there is no discussion, and an open vote is cast. When a two-thirds majority of the members to approve is obtained, the faculty committee recommends to Waseda University that it issue the Ph.D. degree.
  8. The candidate who has passed all the screening must submit the thesis (3 copies) bound in a black hard-cover, with gold lettering, within two weeks after the official announcement. The candidate who has passed the examination may modify the thesis submitted before the examination under the guidance of the guidance committee. Only minor additions or modifications will be accepted. No major additions or modifications are permitted.

Article 10
(Shortening the Period of Enrolment)

The regulation concerning the enrolment period, as stipulated in Clause 2 of Article 1, Article 5, and Clause 1 of Article 8, shall not prevent the approval of short-term completion by the Faculty Meeting for students who have shown outstanding results. The application for short-term completion to the Dean can be made by the chief advisor with the approval of the guidance committee.

Article 11
(Regulations for Submission of Thesis for Candidates Who Have Withdrawn from the Program)

A candidate who has been enrolled in the Ph.D. program for at least three years, and who has completed the interim presentation and withdrawn from the program, will be considered to have officially completed the Ph.D. program. Article 7, "Submission of at Least One Paper to an Academic Journal," is not considered a requirement for completion of the Ph.D. program.

If the above mentioned Ph.D candidate who has officially completed the Ph.D program does not submit the doctoral thesis in Article 8 of this regulation,or fails the thesis evaluation and examination, s/he is allowed to submit the doctoral thesis within three years from the day of withdrawal, as stipulated in Clause 5, Article 14 of the University Regulations.

Article 12
(Changing of Bylaws)

These bylaws may be revised at the discretion of the Faculty Meeting.

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