Preliminary examination of a doctoral dissertation

Before sending the manuscript to the preliminary examination:

• If possible, it is recommended that the manuscript should use the University of Jyväskylä dissertation template.
• It is the duty of the supervisors to ensure that the dissertation manuscript is eligible for preliminary examination. The supervisors also ensure that the manuscript meets all dissertation requirements (abstract and summary don't have to be included in the manuscript which is sent to preliminary examiners but they have to be included in the final dissertation manuscript). 
• It is the duty of the candidate to ensure the correctness of the language of the dissertation. This should be done before the preliminary examination, if possible, or at the latest when the manuscript has been finalised. It is recommended to use a native proof-reader. There is a separate process description concerning the proofreading of theses and abstracts (in Intranet UNO). Attention should also be paid to the correctness of the language of dissertations written in the native language of the candidate.
• Before the preliminary examination process, the manuscript is analysed by a plagiarism detection software (Turnitin).
  • Information and instructions on Turnitin can be found in HelpJYU.
  • The supervisor-in-charge should keep the report issued by the Turnitin for one year.
  • The supervisor-in-charge sends a short statement concerning the responsible conduct of research (RCR) to the faculty's doctoral studies coordinator for archiving. In UNO there are instructions on RCR statement for supervisors-in-charge (in Intranet UNO). 
  • The faculty is responsible for providing the report and the RCR statement for the preliminary examiners in case they want to use it in assessing the manuscript.

When the doctoral student, having heard his or her supervisors, has decided to submit the dissertation manuscript for preliminary examination:

• at least two experts in the field of research are selected as preliminary examiners. As a general rule, they should also be at least docents or have the same level of expertise. However, anyone holding a doctorate can be a preliminary examiner if they are particularly distinguished in the field. A supervisor cannot act as a preliminary examiner. Ineligibilities must be considered, please read the general instructions above.
• The preliminary examiners are proposed by the specialisation representative of the subject in question. The specialisation representative uses a specific form for the proposal to nominate the preliminary examiners (in Intranet UNO). The form should be sent to the Faculty to the doctoral studies coordinator in HelpJYU service portal.
  • When submitting the proposal on the preliminary examiners, please indicate if the doctoral student has a cotutelle agreement or similar agreement or contract.
• Doctoral student sends the study intended as dissertation as a pdf file to the faculty's doctoral studies coordinator in HelpJYU service portal.
• The supervisor-in-charge sends a short statement concerning the responsible conduct of research (RCR) to the faculty's doctoral studies coordinator for archiving in HelpJYU service portal. 
• The doctoral studies coordinator verifies that the doctoral student is registered as a student of the subject in question and enrolled for attendance as a doctoral student.
• Doctoral studies coordinator sends the doctoral student information about the proposal regarding preliminary examiners so that the doctoral student can comment on the selection if they wish so.

After the Faculty Council's (or Dean's) decision on preliminary examiners:

• The decision on the preliminary examiners is announced to the doctoral student and the supervisor-in-charge.
• The faculty's doctoral studies coordinator sends the manuscript to the preliminary examiners together with information regarding the examination process. The Dean of the Faculty has made the decision on the six-week length of the preliminary examination.
• The faculty's doctoral studies coordinator checks the situation regarding the doctoral student’s doctoral studies from the student registry and sends a summary to the doctoral student and the supervisor-in-charge.

The candidate and the preliminary examiners must not communicate directly with each other. The faculty's doctoral studies coordinator oversees the communication between the candidate/supervisor(s) and the examiners. The preliminary examiner must mention in their report if they have communicated directly with the doctoral candidate during the preliminary examination process.

BEFORE THE EXAMINATION PROCESS

1. Dissertation requirements

Familiarize yourself with the dissertation requirements: requirements valid until 31.12.2024 and requirements valid from 1.1.2025 onwards. Remember to pay attention to the instructions on the transition period!
 

2. Layout of the thesis

It is strongly recommended to use the dissertation template of the Faculty already when preparing the thesis for the pre-examination. For instructions on the formatting of the dissertation, see the instructions for the publishing of the doctoral dissertation (see the faculty-specific guidelines).

Please contact the scientific editor of the Faculty, Marja-Leena Rantalainen, already before the pre-examination. The scientific editor will check the formatting of the thesis and give the publishing permission.

You should contact the university's publication unit (dissertations-osc@jyu.fi) during the pre-examination, to agree on practical matters and the publication schedule. They will help you e.g. with publication permits and possible technical problems.

Note! The JYU publication unit should receive a thesis that is ready for publication and approved by the scientific editor of the Faculty, about one month before the date of the public examination.
 

3. Language check

The language check of the dissertation, and the separate publications that are part of the dissertation, can be paid from the faculty divisions, when the Scribendi service is used in accordance with the faculty's instructions (the faculty assistant will give the instructions). First agree the language check with your supervisor, and then contact the faculty assistants (it-secretaries-servicecentre@jyu.fi). 

Note! The work must be submitted to Scribendi together with the faculty assistants, to handle the payment correctly! Please contact the assistants at least 7 days before you need the language check to be done (take into account the holiday seasons; longer time might be needed due to holidays).
 

4. Plagiarism detection

All doctoral dissertations at JYU are checked with a plagiarism detection software before preliminary examination. This must be done to the final version of the thesis, the version that will be sent to the pre-examination. The main supervisor is responsible for the plagiarism check. The software used is Turnitin.

When the supervisor of the thesis has confirmed the dissertation manuscript meets the requirements of a doctoral dissertations in quality and in quantity, and the dissertation is ready for preliminary examination, the student will send the dissertation manuscript for plagiarism check. Note that before the final plagiarism check, doctoral students can use the general course area in Moodle to independently check different versions of the manuscript in the Turnitin application. However, this course area does not store manuscripts in the standard Turnitin repository and it is not accessible to supervisors, so it cannot be used for plagiarism check of the final manuscript.

For the plagiarism check, the doctoral student must submit the doctoral dissertation manuscript to the Turnitin area of the Faculty. Here's how to do it:

• Register in Sisu for the course ITKJ9000 Doctoral dissertation. NOTE: this course is only for the Turnitin plagiarism check. The course allows you to access the Faculty's Moodle area for the Turnitin plagiarism check of doctoral dissertations.
• Submit the manuscript for the plagiarism check, preferably as a single PDF file. Include only the summary and unpublished manuscripts in your submission for Turnitin (do not include published articles).
• Go through the Turnitin report with your supervisor and see if some editing or other modifications are needed. Before the disseration manuscript can be sent to the preliminary examiners, the supervisor must confirm to the coordinator (HelpJYU) that the Turnitin report is acceptable.
• Report filters: In the filters (funnel image) you should select "Exclude quotes", "Exclude bibliography", and "Exclude sources that are less than 1 words". You should thoughtfully look through the parts where the program detects similarity and, if necessary, edit the text to reduce the similarity. There is no actual % threshold for passing the check. However, if the similarity is 25% or more, the report will need the approval of the vice dean in addition to the supervisor.

More information about plagiarism check and Turnitin
 

NOMINATING THE PRELIMINARY EXAMINERS

1. The criteria for preliminary examiners

According to the Degree regulations of the University of Jyväskylä, at least two preliminary examiners, with doctoral degrees and sufficient academic merits, are nominated. The supervisor of the dissertation cannot act as an preliminary examiner. The preliminary examiners shall be from outside of the University of Jyväskylä.

What is said about the disqualification of officials in the the Administrative Procedure Act (434/2003, 27 §) applies to the dissertation examination process. In the dissertation examination process, the absence of grounds for disqualification means that none of the persons (preliminary examiner, opponent, a member or presenting official of the faculty council, a member of the assessment board) participating in the process has such relationship with the doctoral candidate that would cause the person’s impartiality to be questioned. 

In the Faculty of Information Technology, these additional guidelines should be followed::

1. "Sufficient academic merits": The publication history of the pre-examiner should clearly reach the level of a docent.
2. The supervisors should not have recent close collaboration with the pre-examiners (such as co-authored publications within 3-5 years).
3. The pre-examiner should be familiar with the research field of the thesis.
4. The pre-examiners of the thesis can act as the opponent of the same thesis.
5. The pre-examiner should not have an employment relationship with the University of Jyväskylä nor be an emerita/emeritus of the University.
6. The pre-examiner can be a docent of the University or the Faculty.
7. The pre-examiner can have part-time teaching responsibilities in the Faculty.
8. The pre-examiner can give visiting lectures in the Faculty.
9. The pre-examiner can supervise doctoral theses in the Faculty, if no fee is paid for the supervision.
10. The pre-examiner can have other active collaboration with the Faculty.
     

2. Communication with the preliminary examiners

The supervisor(s) and the student should discuss about potential pre-examiners. According to the degree regulations of the university, the doctoral candidate shall be given an opportunity to comment on the selection of the preliminary examiners.

The supervisor asks the preliminary examiners for their consent to the role. The process should be started well before the dissertation is ready for pre-examination, as sometimes it can take time to find the pre-examiners. Please note that the supervisor does not make the decision about the pre-examiners. It should be ensured that also the decision-makers (see below) consider the suggested persons suitable.

Note! In no case should the doctoral candidate be in any contact with the preliminary examiners. The supervisors and the coordinator of doctoral studies take care of all communication. The pre-examiner must mention in their report if they have been in contact with the author of the doctoral thesis during the review process. The doctoral candidate must inform their supervisor if the pre-examiner has been in contact with them during the examination process.
 

3.  Decision on the preliminary examiners

When the supervisor has discussed about potential pre-examiners with the doctoral student, and asked for their agreement to the role, the supervisor should deliver the information to the coordinator of doctoral studies using the given form (see the link below). In addition to the form, the following must be submitted: 1) doctoral thesis manuscript, 2) current CV for both suggested pre-examiners, and 3) current and complete publication list for both suggested pre-examiners. The form and the attachments should be submitted to the coordinator (HelpJYU) at latest 8 days before the meeting of the Faculty Council (see Faculty Council meeting times).

Form for nominating the preliminary examiners(docx)

Note: When submitting the proposal on the preliminary examiners, please indicate if the doctoral student has a cotutelle agreement or similar double degree agreement or contract.

If the specialisation representative and the Vice Dean for research approve the suggestion, the Faculty Council will make the final decision on the matter.
 

PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION

1. Dissertation manuscript and instructions to the pre-examiners

When the Faculty Council has made a decision on the pre-examination, the coordinator of doctoral studies will send the dissertation manuscript and instructions to the appointed pre-examiners.
 

2. Evaluation reports

The pre-examiners have one month to give their evaluation, consisting of a free-form written report (1-2 pages) and an assesment form (see the link below). The pre-examiners must state whether permission should be granted or rejected for the public examination of the dissertation. The statement cannot be conditional to revision. In the Faculty of Information Technology, the pre-examiners are also asked for their view on grading of the thesis (see the assessment form below).

Assessment form for pre-examiners(pdf) (the decision on the preliminary examiners has been made by 31 July 2025)

Assessment form for pre-examiners (pdf) for the grading scale fail – pass – pass with distinction

Note! The doctoral student should prepare a description or listing of the changes made to the thesis after the pre-examination. This is for the Faculty Council for the evaluation of the thesis after the defense. Please send the document to doctoral studies coordinator (HelpJYU) before the defence.

PUBLIC EXAMINATION

The public examination (defence) should be planned no earlier than one month after the arrival of (positive) pre-examination reports. It is good to have some leeway in the timetable to allow for possible delays and/or the need to revise the dissertation manuscript.

See also instructions on permission for a public examination and on organizing the public examination.

When you are ready to submit your dissertation for preliminary examination, please familiarise yourself carefully with the general instructions of JYU described above, as well as with the following instructions at JSBE.

Dissertation requirements

Please read the dissertation requirements at JYU, including also the faculty-specific instructions at JSBE.

• If your doctoral study right began on or after January 1, 2024, you must follow the dissertation requirements effective from January 1, 2025.
• If your  doctoral study right began on or before August 1, 2023, you are subject to a transition period, during which you can follow either the dissertation requirements valid until December 31, 2024, or the requirements effective from January 1, 2025. The transition period ends on December 31, 2025.

Formatting of the dissertation

Familiarise yourself with the general instructions about the publishing process and using the dissertation template of the university. 

Plagiarism detection

After the doctoral student has agreed with the supervisor(s) about handing the manuscript of the dissertation for the preliminary examination, the dissertation manuscript and unpublished articles (if any) will be detected for plagiarism using Turnitin. The disciplines have their own practical instructions for the plagiarism detection, and you may consult your supervisor for further instructions. The responsible supervisor of the doctoral student is responsible for checking and approving the report. Please see general instructions about using Turnitin in HelpJYU.

Submitting the dissertation to preliminary examination and appointment of the preliminary examiners

The dissertation supervisor will agree with the preliminary examiners about their availability for the task.

The doctoral student sends the dissertation manuscript as a pdf file to the administrative coordinator of the doctoral school via HelpJYU form Contact doctoral education services. In article-based dissertations the copies of the articles are attached to the same pdf file with the manuscript.

The responsible (main) supervisor or the Head of the discipline will send the proposal of the preliminary examiners, together with their CVs or links to their CVs, to the administrative coordinator of the doctoral school via HelpJYU form Contact doctoral education services. The proposal must include information that the manuscript has undergone plagiarism detection. Additionally, for those who obtained their study rights on or before August 1, 2023, it must indicated whether the manuscript will be submitted for preliminary examination according to the dissertation requirements valid until December 31, 2024, or dissertation requirements effective from January 1, 2025. The transition period ends on December 31, 2025, after which all manuscripts submitted for preliminary examination must comply with the requirements effective from January 1, 2025. The preliminary examiners will be appointed in the next possible Faculty Council meeting.

Instructions for Pre-Examiners

After the preliminary examiners have been appointed, the administrative coordinator of the doctoral school will send the dissertation manuscript and instructions directly to the preliminary examiners (cc: responsible supervisor). 

• Doctoral dissertations evaluated according to the requirements effective from January 1, 2025: JSBE instructions for the pre-examiner_1.1.2025 dissertation requirements.
• Doctoral dissertations evaluated during the transition period according to the requirements valid until December 31, 2024: JSBE instructions for the dissertation examination. Note: The transition period ends on December 31, 2025. After this date, all dissertations will be pre-examined and evaluated according to the requirements effective from January 1, 2025.

Preliminary examination statements

Once the preliminary examiners have returned their statements, the administrative coordinator of the doctoral school will share them with the doctoral student and the supervisors. The doctoral student is asked whether they accept the statement(s), or alternatively they are given the opportunity to comment on the statement(s) within 14 days. After both statements have arrived and are supporting the granting of the printing permission, the permission for the public examination will be processed in the next possible Faculty Council meeting.

Before submitting the manuscript for preliminary examination:

• The supervisors make sure that the manuscript is ready for preliminary examination
• The practicalities of language editing must be agreed upon with the supervisor-in-charge and the head of the department. If the doctoral student does not have access to funding from a research project, the department may reimburse moderate costs of language proof-reading. For negotiation concerning this, the head of the department must be contacted beforehand. Please note that proof-reading of Finnish text is not reimbursed. 
• Before the preliminary examination process, the manuscript is analysed by a plagiarism detection software (Turnitin). The doctoral student sends the dissertation manuscript to the plagiarism detection system before the preliminary examination. The supervisor-in-charge takes care of the practicalities of the detection and reviews the report received. Information and instructions on Turnitin can be found in HelpJYU.

Submitting the manuscript for preliminary examination and making the proposal on the preliminary examiners:

• After the check for plagiarism (Turnitin) the doctoral candidate submits a final version (one pdf), ready for preliminary examination of the dissertation manuscript in electronic form (e.g. as an attachment) to coordinator responsible for the doctoral studies in the faculty via HelpJYU service portal.
• The supervisor-in-charge suggests preliminary examiners with a form which is sent to the coordinator via HelpJYU service portal.
• The doctoral candidate is informed about the preliminary examiners and given an opportunity to comment on the selection

Decision on the preliminary examiners:

• The coordinator prepares the matter to be presented to the Dean
• The Dean nominates a minimum of two preliminary examiners 
• Preliminary examiners are expected to deliver their statement within one month

Doctoral programme in Education: form for proposing the preliminary examiners can be found in Intranet UNO.

When you are ready to submit your dissertation for preliminary examination, please familiarise yourself carefully with the general instructions of JYU described above, as well as with the following instructions at the Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences.

Dissertation requirements

Please read the dissertation requirements at JYU, including also the faculty-specific instructions at the bottom of the page.

• If your doctoral study right began on or after January 1, 2024, you must follow the dissertation requirements effective from January 1, 2025.
• If your  doctoral study right began on or before August 1, 2023, you are subject to a transition period, during which you can follow either the dissertation requirements valid until December 31, 2024, or the requirements effective from January 1, 2025. The transition period ends on December 31, 2025.

Formatting of the dissertation

Familiarise yourself with the general instructions about the publishing process and using the dissertation template of the university. In addition, the scientific editors at the Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences have formulated additional instructions for the formatting of the dissertation at the faculty. You can download the instructions from the scientific editors below:

Instructions to the formatting of the dissertation at the Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences

Plagiarism detection

After the doctoral student has agreed with the supervisor(s) about handing the manuscript of the dissertation for the preliminary examination, the dissertation manuscript and unpublished articles (if any) will be detected for plagiarism using Turnitin. The main supervisor of the doctoral student is responsible for checking and approving the report. Please see general instructions about using Turnitin in HelpJYU.

Submitting the dissertation to preliminary examination and nomination of the preliminary examiners

The dissertation supervisor will agree with the preliminary examiners about their availability for the task.

The responsible (main) supervisor fills in the proposal of the preliminary examiners, after they have negotiated with the doctoral student and the main representative of the specialisation. The supervisor sends the form to the coordinator of the doctoral school via HelpJYU form Contact doctoral education services. The proposal must include information that the manuscript has undergone plagiarism detection. Additionally, for those who obtained their study rights on or before August 1, 2023, it must indicated whether the manuscript will be submitted for preliminary examination according to the dissertation requirements valid until December 31, 2024, or dissertation requirements effective from January 1, 2025. The transition period ends on December 31, 2025, after which all manuscripts submitted for preliminary examination must comply with the requirements effective from January 1, 2025. The coordinator will ask the Head of the Doctoral Programme and the Dean to sign the decision after receiving the dissertation manuscript.

The doctoral student sends the dissertation manuscript as a pdf file to the coordinator of the doctoral school via HelpJYU form ask about doctoral education. In article-based dissertations the copies of the articles are attached to the same pdf file with the manuscript. In case the dissertation includes unpublished articles, also the supplementary information (if any) of those articles must be attached.

Instructions for Pre-Examiners

After the dean has decided on the preliminary examiners, the coordinator of the doctoral school will send the dissertation and instructions directly to the preliminary examiners (cc: responsible supervisor). 

• Doctoral dissertations evaluated according to the requirements effective from January 1, 2025: Instructions for the pre-examiner of a doctoral dissertation at the Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences and evaluation form.
• Doctoral dissertations evaluated during the transition period according to the requirements valid until December 31, 2024: The instructions and the evaluation form are available in the Intranet Uno (pdf). Note: The transition period ends on December 31, 2025. After this date, all dissertations will be pre-examined and evaluated according to the requirements effective from January 1, 2025.

Preliminary examination statements

Once the preliminary examiners have returned their statements, the coordinator of the doctoral school will share them with the doctoral student and the supervisors. The doctoral student is asked whether they accept the statement(s), or alternatively they are given the opportunity to comment on the statement(s) within 14 days. After both statements have arrived and are supporting the granting of the printing permission, the doctoral student is asked to prepare a short summary (about 1 page) for the Faculty Council meeting about the changes that will be made to the final thesis based on the preliminary examination statements. The summary of changes is sent to the doctoral school coordinator via HelpJYU form Contact doctoral education services.

BEFORE THE EXAMINATION PROCESS

1. Dissertation requirements

Familiarize yourself with the dissertation requirements: requirements valid until 31.12.2024 and requirements valid from 1.1.2025 onwards. Remember to pay attention to the instructions on the transition period!
 

2. Layout of the thesis

It is strongly recommended to use the dissertation template of the Faculty already when preparing the thesis for the pre-examination. For instructions on the formatting of the dissertation, see the instructions for the publishing of the doctoral dissertation (see the faculty-specific guidelines). Please note that in an article-based dissertation, the manuscript must include all of its articles/papers (published articles as well as manuscripts).

Note! You should contact the scientific editor of the Department already before the pre-examination. The scientific editor will help you in formatting the thesis. The scientific editors are listed on the web pages of the JYU publishing unit.

You should contact the university's publication unit (dissertations-osc@jyu.fi) during the pre-examination, to agree on practical matters and the publication schedule. They will help you e.g. with publication permits and possible technical problems.

Note! The JYU publishing unit should receive a thesis that is ready for publication and approved by the scientific editor of the Faculty, about one month before the date of the public examination.

Supplementary material

The doctoral candidate must ensure that possible supplementary material included in the thesis or the original papers of an article-based thesis are easily available to the preliminary examiners and the opponent, either as an attached part of the dissertation (pdf), as a separate attached file (pdf, excel), or as a web link that takes you directly to the material. The web link should be clearly visible, e.g. on the cover page of the article. The doctoral candidate delivers the material (dissertation manuscript and possible separate files) to the Faculty Doctoral School, which forwards the material to the preliminary examiners as an attachment to the official invitation. Custos delivers the dissertation to the opponent. Custos must ensure that the opponent also receives possible supplementary files in one of the above-mentioned forms.
 

3. Language check

If you wish, you can use a language editing service to check and edit the language of your dissertation. You may discuss about this possibility and the cost of the service with your supervisor. The faculty and departments do not pay the cost of the language check.

Language editing and proofreading services:

• Centre for Multilingual Academic Communication (Movi)
• englanniksi.fi
   

4. Plagiarism detection

All doctoral dissertations at JYU are checked with a plagiarism detection software before preliminary examination. The supervisor-in-charge is responsible for the plagiarism check. The software used is Turnitin. 

When the supervisor of the thesis has confirmed the dissertation manuscript meets the requirements of a doctoral dissertations in quality and in quantity, and the dissertation is ready for preliminary examination, the student will send the dissertation manuscript for plagiarism check.

Please note that before the final plagiarism check, doctoral students can use the university's general Moodle course area to independently check different versions of the manuscript in the Turnitin application via Moodle. However, this course area does not store manuscripts in the standard Turnitin repository and it is not accessible to dissertatin supervisors or heads of doctoral programmes, so it cannot be used for plagiarism check of the final manuscript.

In the Faculty of Mathematics and Science, the doctoral student must submit their doctoral dissertation manuscript as well as unpublished article manuscripts that are a part of an article dissertation for Turnitin checking. NOTE: do NOT include published articles in your submission for Turnitin.

Your doctoral dissertation manuscript:

• Register in Sisu for the course MTKJ9000 Doctoral dissertation. NOTE: this course is only and only for the Turnitin plagiarism check.
• This course will allow you to access the Faculty's Moodle area for the Turnitin plagiarism check of doctoral dissertations. Upload your doctoral dissertation manuscript there.

If you have unpublished article manuscripts as a part of your article dissertation:

• The article manuscripts, and arxiv publications that have not yet been published elsewhere, must also be submitted for Turnitin check.
• Upload your article manuscripts in the Doctoral Dissertation Moodle. There is a separate Turnitin space for article manuscripts under your Department’s space.

After the check, go through the Turnitin report with your supervisor and see if some editing or other modifications are needed

Report filters: In the filters (funnel image) you should select "Exclude quotes", "Exclude bibliography", and "Exclude sources that are less than 1 word". You should thoughtfully look through the parts where the program detects similarity and, if necessary, edit the text to reduce the similarity. There is no actual % threshold for passing the check. 

Before the decision on the preliminary examiners will be made, the Head of the Doctoral Programme will also check and approve the Turnitin report. 

More information about plagiarism check and Turnitin

NOMINATING THE PRELIMINARY EXAMINERS

1. The criteria for preliminary examiners

The Faculty follows the general criteria and disqualification guidelines of the University (see the guidelines at the top of this webpage).
 

2. Communication with the preliminary examiners

The supervisor(s) and the student should discuss about potential pre-examiners. According to the degree regulations of the university, the doctoral candidate shall be given an opportunity to comment on the selection of the preliminary examiners.

The supervisor asks the preliminary examiners for their consent to the role. The process should be started well before the dissertation is ready for pre-examination, as sometimes it can take time to find the pre-examiners. Please note that the supervisor does not make the decision about the pre-examiners. It should be ensured that also the Head of the Doctoral Programme consider the suggested persons suitable.

Note! In no case should the doctoral candidate be in any contact with the preliminary examiners. The supervisors and the coordinator of doctoral studies take care of all communication. The pre-examiner must mention in their report if they have been in contact with the author of the doctoral thesis during the review process. The doctoral candidate must inform their supervisor if the pre-examiner has been in contact with them during the examination process.
 

3.  Decision on the preliminary examiners

When the suggested pre-examiners have agreed to the role, the official decision on pre-examination is made. This proceeds as follows:

• The student and the supervisor should fill in a form for nominating the pre-examiners, and deliver the form and the dissertation manuscript to the Faculty Doctoral School (HelpJYU). This should be done about 3 months before the planned public examination (defence).
• The doctoral school asks the Head of the Doctoral Programme to approve the nomination (in the Department of Biological and Environmental Science, the Head of the Doctoral Programme may ask comment from the principal professor if they want to).
• The Vice Dean for Education makes the final nomination*

Note: The opponent(s) and the custos may be named in the same decision. See the instructions on permission for a public examination.

Note: When submitting the proposal on the preliminary examiners, please indicate if the doctoral student has a cotutelle agreement or similar double degree agreement or contract.

*At its meeting on 19.1.2022, the Faculty Council of the Faculty of Mathematics and Science transferred the appointment of the preliminary examiners, the opponents and the custos, as well as the date and venue of the public examination to the Dean for the period 19.1.2022-31.1.2026. In accordance with the division of labour, the Vice Dean for Education will decide on these matters from 1 January 2022 to 31 December 2025.
 

PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION

1. Dissertation manuscript and instructions to the pre-examiners

When the decision on the pre-examination has been made, the faculty doctoral school will send the dissertation manuscript and instructions to the appointed pre-examiners.
 

2. Evaluation reports

The pre-examiners have one month to give their evaluation, which consists of a free-form written report (2-4 pages) and an assesment form. The pre-examiners must state whether permission should be granted or rejected for the public examination of the dissertation. The statement cannot be conditional to revision. In practice, this means that a positive evaluation report may contain proposals to improve the work, but making changes cannot be a condition for granting the permission.

In the Faculty of Mathematics and Science, the pre-examiners are also asked for their view on whether the thesis belongs to the top 10 % in the discipline (see Approval and assessment of the doctoral dissertation).

The pre-examiners submit their reports to the faculty doctoral school. The doctoral school then gives the reports to the doctoral candidate and the main supervisor. The doctoral candidate has two weeks to respond to the pre-examiners evaluation reports, or to indicate that they have no objections to the reports.
 

PUBLIC EXAMINATION

The public examination (defence) should be planned no earlier than one month after the arrival of (positive) pre-examination reports. It is good to have some leeway in the timetable to allow for possible delays and/or the need to revise the dissertation manuscript.

Note! The JYU publishing unit should receive a thesis that is ready for publication and approved by the scientific editor of the Faculty, at latest one month before the date of the public examination. A tighter schedule should be agreed well in advance with the university's publication services.
 

SEE ALSO:

Permission for a public examination and decision on the public examination event 

Organizing the public examination 

Publishing the doctoral dissertation 

In addition to the above, the following guidelines apply to the Doctoral Programme in Biological and Environmental Science: 

After the third year of the doctoral training, the follow-up group should discuss the dissertation date and the proposals for preliminary examiners and the opponent. At least 6 months before the dissertation, the supervisors discuss the content of the thesis and the names of potential preliminary examiners and opponent with the principal professor of the doctoral programme board (UNO intranet, login required). If the supervisor is the principal professor, she/he will discuss about potential names with other professors of the division.

The thesis manuscript needs to be ready at least 3,5 months before the planned dissertation. At this point (after consulting the supervisors), the student should give the thesis to the principal professor of the doctoral programme board (UNO intranet, login required). The professor's responsibility is to evaluate if the content fulfills the general criteria for scientific contribution and students own contribution. At this stage, the summary, publications and unpublished manuscripts that will be included in the thesis must be presented.