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PhD in Leadership and Mastery of Change

Thesis: subject and scope, and the viva          

The process of defining more precisely the subject and scope of the practice-oriented thesis (doctoral dissertation) is generally initiated at the end of the first year of the PhD curriculum. Extensive personal guidance will be provided by the doctoral supervisor (in the bilingual English/French version of our programme the supervisor is called "directeur ou promoteur de thèse").   

Since the number of seats in our PhD programme is highly limited, and in view of the fact that the curriculum flow and duration is tied to individual factors, the timing of completion of the entire programme, including the thesis, varies for each candidate. The oral defence of the written thesis will therefore be organised for each candidate separately (instead of a "cohort" of candidates), or eventually for several candidates on the same day (if the written thesis completion timings of these candidates are within 6 weeks of one another).  

The standard procedure at our Graduate School is that the viva (viva voce, or "soutenance à vive voix"), being the thesis' oral defence, would be undertaken in Belgium, and in front of an examining committee (jury) of which the thesis supervisor is a member (customary in Western continental Europe). The viva starts with a short exposé by the candidate of his/her thesis, followed by a series of questions and comments by the jury members. Detailed procedural guidelines will be communicated to each candidate

The alternate procedure is one where the viva is undertaken at a recognised educational institution in the candidate's home country or country of residence. This procedure is applied in specific cases, such as in an academic tutelage (cotutelle), or of a co-endorsement of the degree, or when on the occasion of a (special) visit of the thesis director, or when there is a medical counter-indication to the candidate's plane-travel,.. An inter-collegiate agreement and/or process-guidelines will be arranged beforehand between the faculty of the institution where the viva will take place, and the THIERRY thesis director/promoter.   

In the eventuality that the candidate foregoes doing the viva of his/her doctorate thesis, a comprehensive examination of the written thesis will nevertheless have to be undertaken in order to qualify for the alternate Postgraduate Diploma of the School (this is not  the same as being awarded  the Doctor of Philosophy degree). 

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| Foreword | Approach | Pillars | Modes | Thesis | Admission | Tuition fees |