Defence

Defence step by step – abbreviated procedure:

Procedure for the submission of diploma theses

Defence procedure step by step - summary:

1. Obtain all credits required for the final semester/year (including diploma seminar)
2. Submit an application to the Dean for the diploma examination through the USOSweb 10 days before the examination at the latest
3. Your application needs to be approved by the promoter;
4. The Student Assistance Office (SAO) registers your thesis in the USOS and the Diploma Paper Archive (see: Guidelines)
5. Fill in the data of your thesis in the APD (abstract, keywords - in Polish and English) and attach your thesis. Submit your thesis for review in the APD
6. Your promoter reviews your thesis in the APD and either accepts it or sends it back for correction;
7. Promoter and reviewer publicise their reviews in the APD;
8. You can take the diploma examination.

In accordance with Rector’s Decree No. 5/2020/2021, BA and MA diploma examinations may take place both at university premises and online (MS Teams).

The promoter, in consultation with the student, decides about the mode.

Detailed rules for conducting BA and MA examinations at the Faculty of Political Science and Journalism, Adam Mickiewicz University Poznań

To graduate you need to complete the following:

• You need to pass all examinations and obtain approval on all courses included in the study plan. Note: A condition to get an approval on the BA or MA diploma seminar is to file your BA or MA thesis and to have it approved by the promoter;
• To take the diploma examination, non-stationary students must have their full tuition fee paid.
• Clearance sheet: e-clearance sheet is generated automatically in USOSweb when the diploma number is assigned (a few days after the defence). The e-clearance sheet is issued separately for each study programme. For the approval sign in your e-clearance sheet you need to have all borrowed books returned to the University Library and faculty libraries, and all University fees paid.
• Ten days before the examination, you submit an application through the USOSweb to the Dean requesting the diploma examination to be held (USOSweb -> STUDENT’S SECTION -> Applications, guidelines: http://static.wnpid.amu.edu.pl/pliki/usos/instrukcja-USOS-WNPiD-podania.pdf). In your application, you specify the following: the title of your thesis in the language it was written (original language); the name and surname of the promoter.
• The promoter expresses his/her opinion on the application in the USOSweb (USOSweb -> STAFF SECTION -> OPINIONS ON APPLICATIONS). While filling in his/her opinion, the promoter verifies information provided by the student in the application and adds missing information so that both the student's application and the promoter's opinion contain:

1) title of the thesis in the language in which it was written (original language);

2) promoter’s name and surname;

3) reviewer’s name and surname;

4) examination committee chairperson’s name and surname; and

5) date and hour of the examination.

After approval by the Vice-Dean, the SAO registers the thesis online.

In the case of an online procedure, after receiving notification of the examination date, the chair of the committee creates a meeting in the Microsoft Teams calendar entitled "Diploma examination (student’s name, surname and docket number)", to which the student and other examination committee members are invited as mandatory participants. The participants should immediately confirm the invitation through Microsoft Teams.

In the case of an at university premises, the promoter informs you of the date, hour and the room number.

Thesis:

After the thesis has been registered by the SAO, the student records the following in the APD (see guidelines at https://apd.amu.edu.pl/):

• title of the thesis in Polish, if written in a language other than Polish.
• title of the thesis in English, if written in a language other than English,
• abstract of the thesis in Polish and English and in the original language, if the original language is neither Polish nor English,
• keywords in Polish and English and in the original language, if the original language is neither Polish nor English,
• approval of the author's statement,
• electronic version of the thesis in a single pdf. file; if the thesis contains attachments, the student uploads them into the ADP system in one archive file (ZIP, RAR, 7Z).

Diploma examination:

On a specified date:

- of an offline examination, the student and committee members meet in a designated room;

- of an online examination, the student and committee members initiate a connection in MS Teams videoconference and join the meeting:

1. Once the student and all committee members have initiated the connection, the chair of the committee informs participants that it is not being recorded, and then verifies the student's identity. For this purpose, the student presents a document confirming his/her identity to the webcam in a way that makes it possible for the committee members to read student’s personal data.

2. Before starting the main part of the examination, the chairperson of the committee explains to the student technicalities related to the examination, as well as consequences of the videoconference being interrupted (loss of connection) before the end of the examination.

3. In order to enable the committee to ensure that the student answers the examination questions independently, the chairperson of the committee may instruct the student as to how to behave and how to position the webcam so that the student can communicate with the committee.

4. If, during the examination, the connection with the student or a member of the committee is lost, the chair of the committee should discontinue the examination and order it to be repeated.

5. In the event of a short-term loss of communication with a member of the examination committee, the chairperson interrupts the examination and, once the communication is restored, he/she will resume the examination, provided that the communication between the student and the other members of the examination committee, including the chairperson, is maintained during the interruption. If the connection problems with one of the board members recur, the chairperson of the committee decides whether the examination can continue or whether it should be repeated.

6. It is allowed to retake an online examination due to the loss of connection only once at the request of the student. In the absence of such a request, as well as in the case of an interruption to the retake examination, the examination is repeated once again offline at the premises of the university.

7. The loss of connection, the interruption (resumption) of the examination, and the decision to repeat the examination need to be recorded in the examination report.

8. Student's failure to establish an online connection on the scheduled examination date is equivalent to not taking the examination.

9. Students should send an excuse for not taking the examination from their student e-mail address (user_name@st.amu.edu.pl) to the promoter before the examination date or immediately after the reason for not taking the examination ceases to exist.

10. In case a student receives a failing grade in an online examination, the examination should be repeated offline at the premises of the university.

11. During an online diploma examination, the chairperson of the committee randomly chooses one general question and one question related to the field of the student’s specialisation. The third question concerns issues raised in the thesis. Other members of the examination committee may ask additional questions.

12. In the event that a student receives an unsatisfactory grade or fails to take the diploma examination by the set deadline without justified excuse, the dean designates the second and final date for the examination. The diploma examination retake may take place no earlier than one month and no later than three months after the date of the first examination.

Receipt of diploma:

To collect the diploma, the student should go to the Student Assistance Office with his/her ID.

The diploma is ready for collection when two dates are publicised in the USOSweb in the "diplomas" tag: "diploma issue date" and "diploma receipt from date".

Exams' questions:

• International Relations (BA)
• International Relations (MA)
• Public Governance (MA)
• Journalism and Social Communication