Procedura prijave i odbrane disertacije

After fulfilling the obligations defined by the study program, the student gains the right to submit a reasoned proposal for the doctoral dissertation topic to the Teaching and Scientific Council of the respective department.

The mentor is obliged to guide the doctoral candidate throughout the dissertation process, monitor the quality of the candidate’s work, encourage the publication of their papers, and facilitate participation in scientific and artistic projects.

The student has the right to change the mentor or the topic once, with a written request to the Teaching and Scientific Council if necessary. The request for changing the topic or mentor must be submitted on an official form. (Obrazac – Zahtjev za promjenu teme ili mentora disertacije).

The doctoral dissertation is a public scientific or artistic work, subject to public scientific or artistic evaluation.
The forms of doctoral work are:

• Monograph.
• A collection of published scientific papers accompanied by a critical review chapter, which consists of an introduction, discussion, conclusion, and a comprehensive review of relevant literature (so-called Scandinavian model). The critical review places the results of the doctoral dissertation in the context of existing scientific knowledge. This form of work is possible only within the scope of research work in the doctoral program, and scientific papers must be published after enrolling in the doctoral studies. The scientific papers presented as the doctoral dissertation must form a cohesive whole consisting of at least three papers published in journals indexed in the SCI, ERIH, HEINONLINE, and ECONLIT databases. Each paper, except in special cases, can qualify only one doctoral candidate. The doctoral candidate must be the main author in at least two of the papers. The collected papers must make a new scientific contribution compared to the individual papers.
• Doctoral dissertation in the field of arts is original and innovative artistic research in the context of contemporary artistic creation and ends with the presentation of the artistic work and an appropriate theoretical paper.

In agreement with the mentor, the student defines the working title of the doctoral dissertation. The topic application and doctoral dissertation project should contain: (Obrazac – prijava teme disertacije)

• The student’s biography,
• Working title of the dissertation,
• Proposed mentor,
• Explanation of the topic proposal, which includes: defining and describing the scientific research problem, the subject and goal of the research, a review of prevailing concepts in the literature, the hypothesis to be tested, the methodology to be applied, a list of literature,
• List of published scientific and professional papers.

For the chosen topic, the student submits a written application to the Teaching and Scientific Council of the department where the doctoral studies are enrolled. If the Teaching and Scientific Council accepts the proposal for the doctoral dissertation, it proposes to the Senate a Committee for the evaluation of the suitability of the topic and the candidate for the analysis of the doctoral dissertation application.

The Committee for the evaluation of the suitability of the topic and the candidate consists of three members, including the mentor. The proposed mentor cannot be appointed as the president of the committee. The majority of the Committee members must be in full-time employment at the University of Novi Pazar.

The proposal from the Teaching and Scientific Council is presented by the head of doctoral studies at the Senate meeting for approval.

After the Commission is approved by the University Senate, the mentor and the student are required to defend the suitability of the topic and the candidate before the Commission formed by the Senate. The Commission for the Evaluation of the Suitability of the Candidate, Topic, and Mentor may invite the candidate to explain the objectives and expected outcomes and to present the research program along with the conditions necessary for the successful completion of the doctoral dissertation.

The Commission for the Evaluation of the Suitability of the Topic and Candidate submits a report on the evaluation of the topic, candidate, and mentor to the Teaching and Scientific Council of the department within 30 days from the date of appointment. The report is submitted using the form prescribed by the University. (Obrazac – podobnost teme i kandidata).

A Commission member may present a dissenting opinion differing from the majority opinion, which must be explained in written form and signed. The dissenting opinion becomes an integral part of the report.

If the Commission for the Evaluation of the Suitability of the Topic and Candidate does not submit the report within 30 days, the Teaching and Scientific Council may appoint a new Commission.

The candidate is granted approval to proceed with the doctoral dissertation after the acceptance of a positive report from the Commission for the Evaluation of the Suitability of the Candidate, Topic, and Mentor, as well as after receiving approval from the University Senate.

The doctoral dissertation must be written on A4-format paper and must be linguistically, stylistically, and technically properly formatted in accordance with modern procedures, techniques, and technologies for publishing scientific, professional, or artistic works.

The cover of the final version of the doctoral dissertation is dark navy blue and contains the following text (Doctoral Dissertation Title Page):
Download the form here

• At the top: The University’s emblem, UNIVERSITY OF NOVI PAZAR, Department of __________________________, Study Program: __________________.
• In the center: The candidate’s full name.
• Two lines below, in the center: TITLE OF THE DISSERTATION (in bold capital letters).
• One line below: Doctoral Dissertation (in parentheses).
• Following this is the mentor’s name.
• At the bottom: Novi Pazar, month, year.

The first inner page contains the same text as the cover.

This is followed by:

• An abstract in English (or another world language) (may also be placed at the end).
• Table of contents.
• Summary of the dissertation in Bosnian or Serbian.
• Summary of the dissertation in English.
• The original final text of the doctoral dissertation.
• List of references.

After the first page, the dissertation may include additional pages containing dedications, acknowledgments, a glossary, images and graphs, a list of abbreviations, and similar content.

Once the student has completed writing the dissertation, the mentor is obligated to review it within 60 days from the date of submission and decide whether to grant written approval for the student to submit it for evaluation. (Form – Mentor’s Notification)

If the mentor fails to fulfill their obligations for an extended period without valid justification or is unable to perform their duties for legitimate reasons, the candidate may request a mentor change. The decision on mentor replacement is made by the University Senate, based on a proposal from the Department's Academic Council.

Similarly, if the mentor is unable to continue their duties for a prolonged period due to justified reasons or reasons attributable to the candidate, the mentor may initiate the termination of their mentorship role. The decision on mentor replacement, in this case, is also made by the University Senate, following a proposal from the Department's Academic Council.

If the mentor refuses to give approval, they must provide a written explanation within 15 days. In both cases, the mentor’s written explanation is submitted to the Doctoral Dissertation Evaluation Committee, which will consider it during the evaluation process.

Before proceeding to the evaluation stage, it is verified whether the doctoral candidate has fulfilled all obligations prescribed by the study program.

For the evaluation process, the candidate submits the dissertation in softcover format and electronic format. Upon receiving the mentor's positive response, the student must send the electronic version of the dissertation to the university library at biblioteka@uninp.edu.rs for an authenticity check. For artistic doctoral dissertations, in addition to the public presentation, the candidate submits the theoretical part and all necessary documentation for evaluation.

The doctoral dissertation manuscript must be submitted to the Head of Doctoral Studies in four copies, distributed as follows:

• Three copies for the members of the evaluation committee.
• One copy for the University Library.

After fulfilling all the previously mentioned requirements, the Department’s Academic Council is responsible for proposing the members of the dissertation evaluation committee, while the University Senate officially appoints the Doctoral Dissertation Evaluation Committee, which consists of three members.

Members of the committee must hold at least the academic or artistic title of Assistant Professor (Docent).

The committee is obligated to submit a report to the University Senate that includes the evaluation of the dissertation within 60 days from the date of its appointment. (Form – Dissertation Evaluation)

The doctoral dissertation (or artistic project) and the committee’s report must be made publicly available in electronic format for 30 days before the Department’s Academic Council adopts the committee’s report. Once approved by the Department’s Academic Council, the report is forwarded for final approval to the University Senate of Novi Pazar.

The defense of the doctoral dissertation is public. The defense must be held on the premises of the University, in the language in which the doctoral dissertation was written.

The course of the Doctoral Dissertation Defense is as follows:

The Chair of the Committee presents data and information about the doctoral candidate and provides a brief overview of the dissertation. The doctoral candidate presents a short summary, the results, and the conclusions they have reached. The committee members ask questions in written form.

The Committee for the Defense of the Doctoral Dissertation, after conducting the procedure, makes a decision on whether the doctoral candidate "has defended" or "has not defended" the doctoral dissertation. The evaluation is made by a majority vote of the members of the Committee for the Defense of the Doctoral Dissertation.

The Chair of the Committee announces the decision and publicly proclaims whether the dissertation has been defended or has not been defended.

A record of the course of the defense is kept and signed by the committee members and the recorder.