Part A students must follow the same rules and regulations as all other students who write a Master’s thesis. This means that the thesis topic and supervision plan must be submitted to Arts’ Studies Administration office (not the PhD Administration office) six months before the transition to part B. In addition, it is very important that a working thesis title is submitted to Arts Studies Administration at least six weeks before the thesis is turned in so that a co-examiner can be assigned. Read more about the rules for the Master’s thesis process.
Please note that deadlines can vary due to reasons such as ‘leave of absence’, illness, misaligned enrolment start and the like.
4+4 students are not exempted from the study progress reform while enrolled in part A. Although some procedures for ensuring timely progress for these students are now performed as part of the biannual evaluations, the rules for Master’s degree students must be followed very precisely in connection with the Master’s thesis, in relation to which Arts Studies Administration is responsible for ensuring timely progress through the standard registration procedures.
In addition, it is also extremely important to note that the Master’s degree programme officially concludes on the day on which the mark for the Master’s thesis is registered. This means that the PhD student is withdrawn from part A at the end of the month and transferred to the two-year part B, no matter how much time the student might nominally have left in part A. It is not possible to transfer any remaining time on part A to part B, which means that early assessment of the Master’s thesis de facto results in a shorter total period of study.
As it is the responsibility of the principal supervisor to ensure that the PhD programme is completed in accordance with the rules, we encourage everyone to familiarise themselves with the applicable rules and regulations, which are available on the website of the PhD administration office: phd.au.dk/gradschools/arts/rulesandregulations
Anyone with questions about the faculty’s interpretation of these rules and regulations is welcome to contact the Arts PhD administration or studies administration.
If you are a PhD student enrolled in a flexible programme (such as 4+4), the rules of the study progress reform apply to you for Part A of your PhD programme, cf. Ministerial Order no. 1061 of 30 June 2016 (historical).
Here are some of the most important new rules:
The latest Ministerial Order no. 2285 of 1 December 2021 (Danish).
A note on the registration requirement:
The completion of your Master’s degree programme is included in the planning of your PhD programme. If you complete the biannual evaluations in part A and complete your Master’s degree as required during part A, you fulfil the requirement of 30 ECTS credits per semester. This applies without regard to how you plan to complete the courses and exams of the Master’s degree programme.
To make sure that your course of study progresses according to the plan you agree with your supervisor, it is very important that you meet the deadlines for your PhD plan, for the biannual evaluations and not least for registration for courses and exams. You should also be aware that there are fixed periods for the Master’s thesis process. Stay up-to-date about deadlines and requirements on your students’ portal, and contact your studies centre if you have any questions about the Master’s component of your programme.
You are welcome to contact your PhD programme administrator if you have additional questions.
Submission of Master’s thesis after enrolment end on part A
If you do not submit your Master’s thesis in time for the Master’s degree to be awarded no later than the last day of enrolment on part A you must apply for leave between part A and part B.
You can find the application form under “Illness and other absence” on the Forms and templates website.
