Unsatisfactory regular assessment

The principal supervisor must notify the Graduate School, e.g. in connection with a regular assessment if he or she assesses that the PhD student does not adequately follow the PhD plan.

To ensure that the PhD programme gets back on track, the Graduate School initiates a process of rectification, giving the PhD student a three-month period to resolve the problem.

Process illustration: Unsatisfactory Regular Assessment

The unsatisfactory regular assessment process has the following features:

  • In case the PhD programme is not progressing satisfactorily, the supervisors must write a statement using the form "Supervisor statement regarding negative regular assessment". The statement must  be submitted to the Graduate School alongside the regular assessment form.
  • The Graduate School will give the PhD student the opportunity to submit his or her comments on the statement within a deadline of two weeks.
  • After the deadline, the Head of the Graduate School assesses whether the PhD programme is progressing satisfactorily or Not satisfactorily. If the PhD programme is progressing Not satisfactorily then the PhD student will be granted a three-month rectification period. A rectification period can only be granted once during a PhD study.
  • Subsequently, the supervisors will be asked to prepare a rectification plan in order to address the shortcomings. The rectification plan must be designed in dialogue with the PhD student.
  • The Graduate School will formally initiate the three-month rectification period.
  • After the rectification period, the supervisors prepare a new regular assessment and submit it to the Graduate School.
  • If the new assessment is satisfactory the PhD study continues. If not, the Graduate School will terminate the enrolment.
  • The Graduate School will in that case inform the PhD student about the possibility to appeal the decision.

If problems in terms of cooperation arise, please contact the Graduate School.

The three-month period does not trigger an extension to the PhD programme and students are only entitled to one such period during a PhD programme.