My role as expert in the Examination Board

As a member of the Examination Board, you are responsible for the appraisal of the dissertation of the doctoral student. The Examination Board consists of five to eight members who are qualified to vote, including the chair, three to six experts (including you) who form the ‘reading committee’, and one study programme representative called ‘rapporteur’. In addition, the supervisors of the dissertation can attend the sessions of the Examination Board, but they will not be qualified to vote. As soon as the Examination Board is composed by the Faculty Council, the chair of the Examination Board and/or the Faculty Student Administration (FSA) will act as your contact person.
The entire process after the dissertation is ‘submitted’ is through Plato. You will be able to download the uploaded dissertation there and consult the reports. All communication also takes place through Plato.
With the exception of the chair, each voting member of the Examination Board draws up a written appraisal of the dissertation prior to the doctoral exam. You appraise the dissertation in full and spend extra attention to the chapters that are in close keeping with your expertise. The report of an expert usually counts about 1,500 words and is in principle written in English or in Dutch. If the dissertation has another language as its subject, it is possible to depart from this rule. All Examination Board members must know the language used (at least passively). The written appraisal states a number of positive and negative elements about the dissertation (e.g. about the bibliography, the methodology, the analysis, the discussion, the conclusion, the use of source material), as well as a number of possible points of special interest for the doctoral student. You upload your report to Plato at least seven working days prior to the first session. The rapporteur prepares a summary report of the written reports of the experts of the Examination Board. The doctoral student and the Examination Board members can consult all reports via Plato at least 4 working days before the first deliberation. If the student does not receive all reports on time, the student may request that the first deliberation be postponed.
The doctoral exam consists of two separate sessions that are each deliberated on and assessed: (1) the (closed) first deliberation of the Examination Board on the doctoral dissertation, and (2) the public defence of said dissertation. There are some specific criteria for an article-based doctorate.
As a member of the Examination Board, you attend the two sessions of the Examination Board. If you wish to attend one of the meetings through video conferencing, you notify the administrative supervisor responsible and the chair of the Examination Board. The chair of the Examination Board is responsible for communicating the video link. If you are unable to attend a meeting, immediately notify the chair of the Examination Board.
During the first session, the Examination Board members assess the doctoral student’s skills and competencies by means of a conversation. The Examination Board members and the doctoral student have a substantive discussion. Subsequently, the members deliberate on the basis of (1) the written reports and (2) the hearing of the doctoral student. The members of the Examination Board decide by simple majority of the votes, abstentions not taken into consideration. If a second voting round again results in a tie, the decision will not be in the student’s favour, in accordance with the Education and Examination Code at Ghent University. The deliberation will result in one of the appraisals below:

The default option:
Admission to the second part (public defence), possibly after making small corrections.
The option if a number of bigger problems arise:
Admission to the second part, following corrections to the dissertation.
The option if serious problems that are not easily solved arise:
No admission to the second part of the examination.

The outcome of the deliberation is substantiated and included, together with the attendance register, in a deliberation report, which is uploaded into Plato by the chair. The report is then sent to the doctoral student.

During the second session (the public defence, which lasts one to two hours), the doctoral student puts forward an oral and public defence of his/her doctoral dissertation before the Examination Board. The session starts with a short presentation by the doctoral student for a maximum of 20 minutes, after whichthe members of the Examination Board can ask questions. The session takes place in Dutch or English, unless otherwise established. All Examination Board members must know the language used (at least passively).
Whether or not the (duly authorised) Examination Board members wear a gown during the public defence is a choice usually left to the doctoral student. If necessary, the faculty can provide a gown in the faculty’s colours.
For practical matters (e.g. travel and accommodation expenses), please contact the administrative supervisor responsible.
The Examination Board deliberates in camera on the examination as a whole, immediately after the public defence. The Examination Board members decide by simple majority of the votes, abstentions not taken into consideration, whether or not the academic degree of doctor is to be awarded. If a second voting round again results in a tie, the decision will not be in the student’s favour.

The examination decision is publicly announced by the chair immediately after the deliberation, following the second session. The doctoral student is declared passed or failed; no grades of merit or congratulations are awarded. In case of a positive decision, one of the supervisors may hold a laudatio and the doctoral student receives the diploma, a beret and a gift from the faculty.