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Progress report and qualifying exam

The purpose of the qualifying exam is for the student to

  • demonstrate solid progress on the research project,
  • present an ambitious and realistic plan for Part B, and
  • show an ability to communicate scientific work.

Think of the qualifying exam as an opportunity for reflecting on where you are heading and how to get there, and for getting feedback from other experienced researchers than your supervisor(s). 

Registration for qualifying exam

The student and supervisor will be contacted by GSNS three months before the qualification exam with relevant information.

The student must complete the blue part of registration form, including;

  •  Making sure all ECTS points have been registered in MyPhD
  • If enrolled on Bachelor's degree: attach up-to-date version of "Approval of Master's programme" and documentation for Master's courses
  • Information about study abroad - planned or completed

Supervisor must complete the green part of the registration form, including;


Progress report

Three weeks before the qualification exam, the student must submit a progress report. The report must not exceed 30 pages, including appendices. Note that the report should contain not only an overview of the preliminary results but also ideas and plans for the remaining part of the PhD project. The progress report must follow the guidelines in the GSNS regulations (Section 9.4). 

  Recommended structure of the progress report:

  • Short introduction to the field of research and aims of the PhD project
  • Overview of results obtained so far (reuse of material from publications or manuscripts is permitted, but not from BSc or MSc theses) 
  • Ideas for Part B (can, for example, be structured as short abstracts of hypothetical future papers) and a tentative work plan
  Don't underestimate the third part about your ideas and plans! We recommend that at least 5 pages are spent on this part.  

Qualifying exam

At Department of Computer Science, the PhD qualifying exam consists of a 30 (not 45!) minutes presentation by the student, followed by 30-35 minutes of discussion.

After the exam, the supervisor/internal examiner will give the signed assessment to Henriette G. Farup. Please note that the evaluation must be entered into the template supplied by GSNS before it is signed.

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