Policy for quality assurance of doctoral theses within the
KTH School of Architecture and the Built Environment
Adopted by the Board of the School on 18thSeptember 2006
1. Issues of responsibility
In-house quality control is undertaken throughout the entire thesis process up until an
Assessment Board for the Viva Voce and a Special Examiner for the Licentiate Seminar
have been appointed and dates for these two events have been established. Consequently
the main responsibility for quality control always lies with the primary thesis supervisor.
Close cooperation between supervisors within each doctoral studies subject is a vital
component of quality activities. The subject syllabus is also an important instrument of
quality control. Individual syllabi are important tools for follow up of course planning
and study success.
The primary tasks of department and school management within doctoral studies are to
support the work of the supervisors and to build up creative research environments for the
doctoral students to become a part of.
The basis of the School’s quality control is careful compliance with KTH regulations and
guidelines for doctoral studies and for quality control.
2. Quality goals
A Licentiate or Doctoral Thesis must, in a cohesive manner, deal with a delimited
problem area within research and build on previous research of relevance. The Executive
Summary for a compilation thesis must, together with articles included, provide a good
picture of how the research activities reported fit into a wider research context. The
equivalent background description must also be included in a monograph doctoral thesis
on a unified theme.
Irrespective of whether a licentiate thesis is presented as a monograph or a compilation
thesis, it must show such characteristics as concerns quality and scope that it is able to
form the basis of at least two normal research articles suitable for publication in
internationally recognised scientific journals using peer assessment.
Irrespective of whether a doctoral thesis is presented as a monograph or a compilation
thesis, it must show such characteristics as concerns quality and scope that it is able to
form the basis of at least four normal research articles suitable for publication in
internationally recognised scientific journals using peer assessment.
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3. Secondary supervisors
At the KTH School of Architecture and the Built Environment, many doctoral thesis
projects are carried out in which perspectives from different disciplines and scientific
areas meet. This is a vital strength of the School’s research and doctoral studies. However
this does mean that supervision is often necessary from disciplines other than that of the
primary supervisor.
It is the responsibility of the primary supervisor to ensure that the doctoral student
receives supervision on the necessary disciplinary perspectives to ensure high quality
levels in the doctoral student’s research and education. If necessary a secondary
supervisor representing a complementary discipline, or several secondary supervisors if
more disciplines are involved, will be appointed normally on to the proposal of the
primary supervisor.
Even if thesis content is not multi-disciplinary, it is of great value to a doctoral student to
have more than one supervisor to turn to. Consequently each doctoral student at the
School will have at least one secondary supervisor, unless there are substantial arguments
against this course of action.
4. Continuous follow up at seminars
The seminar plays a central role in research and doctoral studies. Within the School of
Architecture and the Built Environment it is recommended that the doctoral student’s
texts, in the form of draft articles or chapters, be regularly discussed at seminars. Active
efforts should be made within every subject to develop seminar forms suitable to the
material that will stimulate active discussions with well-informed participants.
5. Recommendations concerning Mid-term Assessment
Within the School of Architecture and the Built Environment, postgraduate students
studying for a PhD degree must either take a Licentiate Degree or carry out a Mid-term
Assessment, unless there are substantial arguments against this course of action. KTH
regulations apply for the Licentiate Degree. The following procedure is recommended for
the Mid-term Assessment; please note these only apply to students who are not taking a
Licentiate degree.
The Mid-term Assessment takes the form of a seminar ("Mid-term Seminar") in which
thesis work completed and plans for continued research up to a PhD are assessed with the
help of an external expert. This seminar will be carried out when the text material that
forms the report on half the thesis work is developed to such an extent that it is suitable
for external assessment. As preparation for the Mid-term Assessment, doctoral students
draft brief reports (1-2 A4 pages) on the continuation of their thesis research. The
Supervisor then, in consultation with other supervisors within the subject, appoints at
least one Assessor, of which at least one is a person who has gained a PhD and is not
employed by, or closely connected to, the relevant KTH department. Current conflict of
interest regulations to be applied in the same manner as for a degree viva.
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The Mid-term Seminar is a public seminar in which the majority of the time is spent on
the views of the Assessor/s on the material submitted and the doctoral student’s
comments on these views. The Mid-term Seminar must be publicly advertised well in
advance and included in the School’s schedule.
A report is to be made of proceedings during the Mid-term Assessment. In this report the
Assessor/s confirm that they have carried out the assessment. In addition the primary
supervisor answers the following two questions: (1) Are any special measures such as
additional supervision necessary in order to ensure that research up to the doctoral degree
will be successful? If so which measures? (2) Which other conclusions can be drawn for
future doctoral studies?
The signed report is submitted to the School’s doctoral studies secretariat for filing. If the
Mid-term Assessment finds that special measures are necessary in the future, the
Supervisor must inform the Head of Department and the departmental Director of PostGraduate Studies concerning such measures.
6. Final Seminar
It is often advantageous if the final quality control carried out before a Licentiate, and
especially before a PhD, takes the form of a Final Seminar. The importance of a Final
Seminar generally grows in relationship to how much of the thesis text has not already
been accepted for publication. At the Final Seminar there must be a Special Examiner
who normally comes from outside the relevant department. The same routines are applied
for examination and report writing as for the Mid-term Seminars.
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