Completion of studies

Completion requirements

The requirement for completing doctoral studies and obtaining the academic title Doctor of Science (PhD) is that the candidate successfully completes all study obligations prescribed by the programme and successfully defends the doctoral dissertation, amounting to a total of 240 ECTS credits.

Doctoral candidates are also required to publish at least one scientific article based on the doctoral research as first author in a journal indexed in SCIE with an impact factor. The article must be published or accepted for publication no later than at the time the doctoral dissertation is submitted for evaluation.

The doctoral candidate must register the dissertation topic within the deadline set by the Faculty and submit the completed doctoral dissertation no later than two years after the approval of the dissertation topic by the Senate of the University of Ljubljana. If the candidate fails to re-register the dissertation topic within the deadline set by the Faculty, if the Senate of the University of Ljubljana does not approve the dissertation topic, or if the candidate fails to submit the completed dissertation after topic approval, the doctoral studies cannot be completed.

If a doctoral candidate has an interruption of studies exceeding two years and has not yet had the dissertation topic approved by the Senate of the University of Ljubljana, the possibility of continuing or completing the studies is assessed in accordance with the provisions of the Statute of the University of Ljubljana. A doctoral candidate who is granted permission to continue or complete the studies must complete them under the currently valid study programme.

Requirements for demonstrating the research activity of the supervisor

A doctoral supervisor or co-supervisor must be a higher education teacher at the University of Ljubljana holding the academic title of Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, or Full Professor, or a researcher holding the title of Research Associate, Senior Research Associate, or Scientific Councillor, and must demonstrate active research engagement with an appropriate bibliography in the broader field of the doctoral dissertation topic.

The minimum requirements for demonstrating the research activity of supervisors and co-supervisors are determined by a decision of the Senate of the University of Ljubljana, published on the website of the Doctoral School of the University of Ljubljana.

A supervisor or co-supervisor may also be a person holding appropriate habilitation from another (domestic or foreign) institution, provided that they have relevant references in the broader field of the doctoral dissertation topic, participate in a doctoral study programme, or are employed at an institution with which the University of Ljubljana or its Faculty has a cooperation agreement. A person may supervise or co-supervise a maximum of six doctoral candidates enrolled in any doctoral study programme at the University of Ljubljana, provided that no more than two years have passed since the candidates’ most recent enrolment in a study year or additional year.

A doctoral candidate may also have an external advisor, who contributes specific expertise to the preparation of the doctoral dissertation.

Submission of the doctoral dissertation proposal

In agreement with the supervisor and any co-supervisor or external advisor, the doctoral candidate submits the doctoral dissertation proposal in accordance with the guidelines of the Faculty of the University of Ljubljana responsible for conducting the doctoral degree procedure.

By the end of the third semester, the student prepares a doctoral dissertation proposal in which they clearly define and place the topic within the narrower field of their research work, present the expected scientific contributions, justify them professionally and methodologically, and support them with initial results. The proposed topic must also be presented publicly. The preparation and presentation of the dissertation topic are awarded 10 ECTS credits.

Forms required for the submission of the dissertation proposal

• Dissertation proposal submission form
• Template for writing the doctoral dissertation proposal
• Proposal of the Doctoral Student Monitoring Committee
• Supervisor’s / Co-supervisor’s statement