Thông tư 08/2017/TT-BGDDT

CIRCULAR

INTRODUCING REGULATIONS ON DOCTORAL ENROLMENT AND TRAINING

Pursuant to the Law on Education dated June 14, 2005; the Law on Amendments to certain articles of the Law on Education dated November 25, 2009;

Pursuant to the Law on Higher Education dated June 18, 2012;

Pursuant to the Government's Decree No. 75/2006/ND-CP dated August 02, 2006 on elaborating and providing guidance on the implementation of certain articles of the Law on Education; the Government's Decree No. 31/2011/ND-CP dated May 11, 2011 on the amendments to the Government's Decree No. 75/2006/ND-CP dated August 02, 2006 on elaborating and providing guidance on the implementation of a number of articles of the Law on Education; the Government’s Decree No. 07/2013/ND-CP dated January 9, 2013 on revision of Point b Clause 13 Article 1 of the Government’s Decree No. 31/2011/ND-CP dated May 11, 2011 on amendments to several articles of the Government’s Decree No. 75/2006/ND-CP dated August 2, 2006 elaborating and providing guidance on implementation of certain articles of the Law on Education dated November 25, 2009;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decision No. 123/2016/ND-CP dated September 01, 2016 on defining the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of Ministries and Ministry-level authorities;

Pursuant to the Government's Decree No. 32/2008/ND-CP dated March 19, 2008 on defining the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry of Education and Training;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 141/2013/ND-CP dated October 24, 2013 specifying and providing instructions for the implementation of several articles of the Law on Education;

Pursuant to the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 418/QD – TTg dated March 17, 2016 on approval of the plan for simplification of administrative and regulatory procedures concerning doctoral enrolment and training activities;

In the light of the request of the Director of the Higher Education Department;

The Minister of Education and Training hereby introduces regulations on doctoral enrolment and training.

Article 1. Regulations on doctoral enrolment and training shall be hereto annexed.

Article 2. This Circular shall enter into force from May 18, 2017 and replace the Circular No. 10/2009/TT-BGDDT of the Minister of Education and Training dated May 7, 2009 introducing the Regulations on doctoral training and the Circular No. 05/2012/TT-BGDDT dated February 15, 2012 on amendments to certain articles of the Regulations on doctoral training annexed to the Circular No. 10/2009/TT-BGDDT dated May 7, 2009.

Article 3. The Chief of the Office, the Director of Higher Education Department, Heads of relevant entities affiliated to the Ministry of Education and Training, and Heads of Higher Education Establishments, which are tasked with or obtain permission for the doctoral training, shall be responsible for implementing this Circular./.

REGULATIONS

ON DOCTORAL ENROLMENT AND TRAINING
(Annexed to the Circular No. 08 /2017/TT-BGDDT of the Minister of Education and Training dated April 4, 2017)

Chapter I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of application

These Regulations prescribing doctoral enrolment and training activities shall encompass enrolment for and admission to doctoral degree programs; organization and management of training activities; compilation of standards, tasks and rights of relevant individuals and entities; dissertations, dissertation evaluation and defense; assessment of training process, doctoral dissertation quality and doctoral degree conferral; lodging of complaints, accusations, conduct of audits, inspections and imposition of sanctions or disciplinary actions.   

Article 2. Subjects of application

1. These Regulations shall be applied to national universities, regional universities, academies, higher education establishments (inclusive of higher education establishments as members of national universities or regional universities) that are commissioned to offer doctoral training, and scientific research institutes that obtain permission to offer doctoral degree programs (hereinafter referred to as institution), and other related entities and individuals.

2. These Regulations shall not be applied to doctoral degree program, partnership doctoral degree programs between local institutions and overseas ones in which the doctoral degree is awarded by the latter, partnership doctoral degree programs between local and overseas institutions in which the doctoral degree is awarded by both partners.

Article 3. Doctoral degree program

1. Doctoral training program shall be designed, assessed and released at the discretion of institutions in accordance with applicable laws and regulations, and conform to the following requirements:

a) The minimum number of credits required for doctoral students that have achieved master’s degrees and bachelor's degrees is 90 and 120 respectively;

b) Minimum standards for doctoral degree graduation shall involve empirical and theoretical knowledge; awareness, professional practice, interpersonal and behavioral skills; self-initiative and self-discipline in applying knowledge and skills by graduated doctoral students to perform professional tasks which must reach the 8^th level in the National Qualifications Framework of Vietnam which has been approved under the Prime Minister's Decision No. 1982/QD-TTg dated October 18, 2016 (hereinafter referred to as National Qualifications Framework).

2. Doctoral degree structure shall consist of supplementary courses, doctoral degree courses and doctoral dissertation.

3. Supplementary courses shall be aimed at providing doctoral students with relevant professional knowledge and qualifications in order for them to carry out their research dissertations.

a) With respect to doctoral students who have attained master's degrees, after considering courses that they have already taken for their master's degrees, knowledge to be updated or supplemented and requirements concerning their doctoral research field and dissertation, directors of universities, academies, presidents of higher education establishments, directors of scientific research institutes that have been licensed to offer doctoral degree programs (hereinafter collectively referred to as head of institution) shall define the number of supplementary courses and credits that doctoral students are required to study.

b) With respect to doctoral students who have not obtained any master's degree, supplementary courses of study shall be comprised of doctoral degree courses relative to the academic fields or majors of study (hereinafter referred to as discipline), exclusive of foreign language and dissertation courses; shall equal at least 30 credits in the knowledge volume in order to ensure that they will meet the 7^th-level graduation standard within the National Qualifications Framework and requirements of their research fields and topics.   

4. Doctoral degree courses, whether compulsory or elective, shall serve the purpose of promoting their theoretical knowledge in particular areas or majors of study (hereinafter collectively referred to as discipline), developing research methodologies and ability in applying these methodologies, including:

a) Course on the general literature review requires that doctoral students express their capability of analyzing and evaluating domestic and international research projects that directly relate to their particular research topics from which research purposes and tasks in the doctoral dissertation are inferred;

b) Course on doctoral sub-dissertations requires that doctoral students improve their capability of conducting researches and self-researches and updating new knowledge that directly relates to doctoral dissertation topics;

c) Each doctoral student must complete from 06 to 09 doctoral degree courses equivalent to 14 – 20 credits out of which the course on the general literature review and 02 or 03 doctoral sub-dissertations decided by the head of an institution are compulsory.

5. Doctoral dissertation is the result of a scientific research conducted by a doctoral student that contains new theoretical and empirical contributions in a particular area of study, is valuable to development and promotion of scientific knowledge and absolutely deal with all issues raised in the doctoral dissertation topic.

6. Institutions shall be permitted to adopt doctoral training programs developed by overseas institutions under the provisions of Point c, Clause 1, Article 36 of the Law on Higher Education.

Chapter II

ENROLMENT AND ADMISSION

Article 4. Enrolment and admission method and time

1. Enrolment and admission methods shall be subject to Point a, Clause 2, Article 34 of the Law on Higher Education.

2. Annual enrolment frequency: 01 or multiple.

3. Heads of institutions shall, after consulting these Regulations and relevant binding regulations, take responsibility for developing the enrolment and admission plan (according to the Form given in the Appendix I), ensure that all necessary information about enrolment and admission methods, enrolment open times, quality assurance conditions and other information must be provided. 

Article 5. Enrolment requirements

In order to be eligible for enrolling in doctoral degree programs, a doctoral student must meet the following requirements:

1. Hold at least an undergraduate degree with the excellent grade or a master's degree.

2. Be an author of 01 peer-reviewed journal article, paper or presentation relating to an intended research field which is published on the academic journal, or proceedings of seminar or specialized workshops 03 years (36 months) till the date of submission of application for enrolment.

3. If the doctoral student is a Vietnamese national, (s)he must hold one of the language qualifications or certificates as a proof of his/her foreign language competence, including:

a) Undergraduate degree or master’s degree issued by an overseas institution to full-time learners in a visiting country where they have to use English or another language during their learning period;

b) Undergraduate degree in foreign language majors issued by a Vietnamese institution;

c) At least Level-45 TOEFL iBT certificate or at least Level-5.0 IELTS certificate (Academic test) issued by a internationally or locally-accredited testing organization 02 years (24 months) till the date of submission of application for enrolment;

d) If the language used during academic years is another foreign language other than English, (s)he must meet regulations laid down in Point a of this Clause; or if the undergraduate degree in a major in a foreign language other than English, (s)he must meet regulations laid down in Point b of this Clause; if (s)he holds a certificate in a foreign language other than English at the equivalent level (as prescribed by the Appendix II) in accordance with Point c of this Clause which is issued by an internationally- and domestically-accredited testing organization 02 years (24 months) till the date of submission of application for doctoral degree enrolment, (s)he must be able to communicate in English to serve his/her research purposes (e.g. use English to explain issues relating to his/her particular research area to convey what (s)he means to listeners and understand other people’s presentation about their issues relating to his/her particular research area in English).    

dd) Candidates enrolling for the doctoral program in English language must hold another certificate in a foreign language other than English at the equivalent level (as stipulated in the Appendix II) in accordance with Point c of this Clause issued by an internationally- and domestically-accredited testing organization 02 years (24 months) till the date of submission of application of such enrolment; or must meet regulations laid down in Point a of this Clause if they use a foreign language other than English during the learning period; or meet regulations laid down in Point b of this Clause if they have obtained undergraduate degrees in a foreign language other than English.

4. If a doctoral student is a foreign national, (s)he must achieve at least 4^th – level qualification in the Vietnamese language as required by the Framework for foreigner’s competence in the Vietnamese language or meet foreign language requirements according to the specific rules of a institution. 

5. Doctoral students must acquire sufficient managerial or supervisory experience and gain a level of seniority relative to specific disciplines in which they wish to enroll in accordance with regulations issued by heads of institutions.

Article 6. Documentation requirements for enrolment in doctoral training programs

1. Application package for enrolment in doctoral training programs shall include:

a) Application form.

b) Academic curriculum vitae.

c) Authenticated duplicate copy of degree or certificate, or a duplicate copy of degree or certificate submitted along with the original copy for verification purposes (in terms of online submission).

d) Written evidence of scientific research experience stipulated by Clause 2 Article 5 of these Regulations and seniority (where appropriate).

dd) Research proposal (according to the form given by a institution where necessary).

e) Recommendation letter including evaluation of professional quality, competence and research ability of doctoral students which is given by at least 01 scientist or scholar holding the title of professor, associate professor or holding the degree of Doctor of Philosophy or the degree of Doctor who has worked with candidates on their research discipline-related activities and have expertise in candidates’ proposed research fields.

g) Written document stating that a doctoral student is allowed to enroll in a doctoral degree program, issued by his/her host institution in accordance with application provisions on training and education of officials or public servants (applicable to the doctoral student who is an official or public servant).

h) Other relevant documents requested by a institution.

2. The number of application documentation: 01 set.

Article 7. Enrolment announcement

1. Enrolment announcement shall be published on the website of a institution and by other means of mass media at least 03 months before the date of admission or admission test, which must clearly state the followings:

a) Enrolment requirements;

b) List of doctoral disciplines open for enrolment that belong to specific doctoral training fields; list of doctoral advisors satisfying requirements set out in Article 11 of these Regulations;

c) Intakes of candidates admitted to specific doctoral disciplines;

d) Documentation requirements for application for admission as referred to in Article 6 hereof, enrolment open time and enrolment fee;

dd) Enrolment and admission plan and method, admission decision notification date and beginning date for study;

e) Tuition fee, policies for tuition fee exemption, reduction and financial support for doctoral students during their learning period (where appropriate);

g) Other necessary requirements and information.

2. Heads of institutions shall be responsible for contents of an enrolment announcement and ensuring compliance with applicable laws and regulations as well as consistence with the enrolment and admission scheme of a institution.

Article 8. Organization of enrolment and admission activities, and recognition of doctoral student status

Pursuant to regulations laid down in Point b, Clause 2, Article 34 of the Law on Higher Education, heads of institutions shall adopt specific regulations on enrolment processes and activities, standards, admission and enrolment numbers, duties and rights of individuals and collectives involved in enrolment and admission activities; approve the list of enrolled or admitted students, and grant a decision on recognition of doctoral student status.   

Chapter III

CONDUCT, ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT OF TRAINING ACTIVITIES

Article 9. Conduct, organization and management of training activities

1. Pursuant to regulations laid down in Clause 2, Article 37 of the Law on Higher Education, heads of institutions shall adopt specific regulations on conduct, organization and management of doctoral training activities in order to ensure compliance with provisions of these Regulations and other equivalents.  

2. Doctoral training duration:

a) The doctoral training duration that starts from the date of grant of the decision on recognition of doctoral student status shall be subject to provisions laid down in Clause 1, Article 35 of the Law on Higher Education and Point d, Clause 4, Article 2 of the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 1981/QD-TTg dated October 18, 2016 on approval of the Framework of National Education System and ensure that the minimum study load requirements stipulated by Clause 1, Article 3 hereof are satisfied;

b) If circumstances are special shall doctoral students be allowed to get a shortening or extension of their study periods under the provisions of Clause 7 of this Article.   

3. Doctoral training activities shall be carried out according to the formal education system under which doctoral students must take at least 12 months to study full time and in a continuous manner at institutions for the period of 24 initial months that begins from the date of grant of the decision on recognition of doctoral student status.

4. Teaching and taking supplementary courses and doctoral degree courses must occur at the institutions where doctoral students are studying.  In cases where institutions do not offer training programs that encompass supplementary courses that doctoral students wish to take, they must send their doctoral students to other institutions allowed to offer training programs with which these supplementary courses are integrated under the terms and conditions of an agreement between institutions.

5. In the course of working on a doctoral dissertation, it is compulsory that a doctoral student conduct a scientific research for which length of time shall fall within the time frame specified in Clause 2 of this Article.

6. Changes shall be made during the training process as follows:

a) A change of doctoral dissertation shall be allowed to ensure that the doctoral student and his/her advisor manage to complete the training program in accordance with provisions set forth in Clause 1, Article 3 hereof and within the time frame specified in Point a, b and c, Clause 7 of this Article;

b) An assignment of extra advisor or change of advisor shall be allowed within the maximum duration of 12 months till the ending date of study period under the decision on recognition of doctoral student status (inclusive of any extension where applicable) unless otherwise affected by unexpected occurrences; 

c) The request for a change of institution shall be considered for acceptance if a doctoral student’s remaining study period is at least 12 months as stated in the decision on recognition of doctoral student status and the receiving institution is offering a training program in the doctoral degree major similar to the one that (s)he is studying. Upon receipt of agreement from the institution where (s)he is studying, the head of the receiving institution shall receive and make a decision on recognition of doctoral student status with the new training duration equal to the remaining study length of time according to the decision on recognition of doctoral student status issued by his/her previous institution (including any extended time where available). Recognition of accumulated learning outcomes and supplementary courses that doctoral student is requested to take (if any) shall be decided by the head of the receiving institution.

7. The training program shall be considered as already completed within the predetermined duration, and extension and shortening of the study period shall be allowed under the following circumstances:

a) The doctoral student shall be deemed as having completed their training programs within the specified duration if the doctoral dissertation has been approved by the university or academy-level Dissertation Examination Committee (hereinafter referred to as Committee) within the duration specified in Point a, Clause 2 of this Article;

b) Where the doctoral student is unable to complete the training program by the deadline, (s)he must apply for extension of the study period. Maximum extended duration is 24 months.

Within this duration, the doctoral student must study in a continual manner at the institution.

After the extended period ends and if the doctoral student's dissertation is not approved by the university- or academy-level examination committee (even if re-examination is allowed as prescribed by Article 22 hereof), the head of institution shall grant a decision to expel the doctoral student. The learning outcome achieved from the doctoral training program shall be irretrievable.

c) The head of institution shall consider granting a decision to permit the doctoral student a shortening of the study time length if the doctoral student fully completes the training program in accordance with these Regulations.

Chapter IV

STANDARDS, DUTIES AND RIGHTS OF INDIVIDUALS AND ENTITIES CONCERNED

Article 10. Lecturers of doctoral training programs

1. Eligibility standards: The lecturer must:

a) be Vietnamese nationals or aliens meeting regulations laid down in Clause 1 Article 54 of the Law on Higher Education;

b) hold the title of professor, associate professor or hold the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, Doctor's Degree in majors relative to courses undertaken in the training program;

c) act as the leader of grassroots or higher-level scientific and technological assignments, or participate in ministry-level or higher-level scientific and technological assignments, whether in the past or at present;

d) be the principal author of at least 02 articles or scientific works published on specialized academic journals.

2. The lecturer shall have duties and rights referred to in Article 55 and Article 58 of the Law on Higher Education and other relevant regulations.

Article 11. Advisors of doctoral students

1. Individual advisors shall meet the following eligibility standards:

a) be Vietnamese nationals or aliens meeting regulations laid down in Clause 1 Article 54 of the Law on Higher Education;

b) hold the title of professor, associate professor or hold the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and doctorate degree in majors relative to the dissertation topic or the research area of the doctoral student; if an individual advisor has not yet obtained the title of professor or associate professor, (s)he must spend at least 03 years (36 months) in scientific research and lecturing activities from the date of grant of the decision on conferral of his/her doctor's degree; 

c) act as the leader of grassroots- or higher-level scientific and technological assignments, whether in the pass or at present;

d) be the principal author of at least 01 article or scientific work published on the academic journal indexed in the ISI Thomson Reuters or Scopus - Elsevier database (hereinafter referred to as ISI - Scopus Index) or at least one chapter cited in a book with the ISBN code which is published by an overseas publisher; or be the principal author of at least 02 peer-reviewed articles published on the international workshop proceedings, or 02 peer-reviewed articles or scientific works published on the overseas academic journal in the dissertation topic-specific field;

dd) Where the individual advisor has not yet achieved the title of professor or associate professor, in addition to meeting regulations laid down in Point d of this Clause, (s)he must be the principal author of one more article or scientific work published on the academic journal indexed in the ISI – Scopus;

e) Have a good command of foreign language for research and international scientific issue discussion activities;

g) The individual advisor must be a tenured lecturer or academic of a institution, or an overseas scientist or Vietnamese scientist working abroad under a lecturing or scientific research agreement with the institution.

2. Each doctoral student shall be instructed by 02 advisors at maximum, subject to the following provisions:

a) The primary advisor must fully comply with standards set out in Clause 1 of this Article.

b) The secondary advisor must meet minimum standards set out in Point a, b, c Clause 1 of this Article;

c) At least either advisor must be the tenured lecturer or academic of the institution.

3. Duties and rights of the advisor:

a) Have duties and rights referred to in Article 55 and Article 58 of the Law on Higher Education;

b) At the same point of time, a professor may be appointed as the independent or external advisor or co-advisor of no more than 05 doctoral students; an associate professor or person holding the degree of Doctor of Philosophy may be appointed as the independent or external advisor or co-advisor of no more than 04 doctoral students; a person holding the doctorate degree may be appointed as the independent or external advisor or co-advisor of no more than 03 doctoral students;

c) Be disqualified from becoming the advisor or co-advisor to the doctoral student if there are 02 doctoral students whose doctoral dissertations have not been approved by the Dissertation Examination Committee at the university or academy level, including re-examination of these dissertations as specified in Article 22 hereof (where appropriate), for the period of 06 years (72 months) till the date of assignment of dissertation examination tasks;

d) Guide, assist, assess, oversee and encourage the doctoral student to perform their learning and scientific research duties;

dd) Approve the doctoral dissertation, make a request for examination of the doctoral dissertation carried out by the relevant academic unit, university- or academy-level committee provided that doctoral dissertation satisfies requirements set out in Article 15 hereof; 

e) Implement other specified duties and rights.

Article 12. Duties and rights of the doctoral student

1. Implement regulations laid down in Article 60 and Article 61 of the Law on Higher Education.

2. Draw up the study and scientific research plan for the entire program and specific semesters which need to be approved by the advisor and an academic unit.

3. Submit a performance and achievement report on a periodic manner in accordance with regulations adopted by a institution.

4. Have access to materials of all kinds, libraries and laboratory equipment items used for study, scientific research and dissertation writing purposes.   

5. Implement other specified duties and rights.

Article 13. Duties and rights of the academic unit

1. Approve the study and scientific research plan drawn up by the doctoral student; facilitate, support, expedite, monitor and examine execution of the plan.

2. Manage the doctoral student during their study and scientific research activities at the academic unit.

3. Hold periodic meetings about scientific topics attended by the doctoral student.

4. Take necessary actions to examine the doctoral dissertation at the academic unit; consider approving or rejecting the request for examination of the dissertation carried out by the university- or academy-level Dissertation Examination Committee in accordance with regulations laid down in Point b, Clause 3 Article 16 hereof.

5. Implement other specified duties and rights.

Article 14. Duties and rights of the institution

1. Formulate, issue and publicize specific statutes of the institution on doctoral enrolment and training under the provisions of these Regulations and other equivalents.  

2. Publish information relating to doctoral enrolment and training on the institution’s website.

3. Make necessary arrangements to perform the doctoral enrolment, training and dissertation evaluation activities and manage the doctoral training and doctoral degree awarding process according to the plan and applicable regulations.

4. Provide necessary personnel and facilities for lecturers, advisors, doctoral students and Dissertation Examination Committee (i.e. assign appropriate staff and use appropriate information technology tools to check and detect any sign of dissertation plagiarism and send a review report to the university- or academy-level Dissertation Examination Committee for consideration, evaluation and conclusion). 

5. Hold scientific workshops and seminars on the national and international scale by, and publish peer-reviewed scientific research journals by, the institution.

6. Develop specific policies to ensure the gender equality during the doctoral enrolment and training process in order to make contribution to performing strategic national aims regarding the gender equality in the education and training field.

7. Make necessary arrangements for audit of implementation of regulations on the doctoral enrolment and training process.

8. Duly implement the reporting and filing regime, subject to the following provisions:

a) Upon completion of each enrolment and admission process, submit a report to the Ministry of Education and Training on enrolment and admission activities and results, enclosing decisions on recognition of students admitted to the doctoral training program (according to the Form given in the Appendix III);

b) Submit a evaluation report to the Ministry of Education and Training on doctoral training and doctoral degree conferral activities, criteria and plan for enrolment of doctoral students in specific disciplines in the following year in December every year (according to the Form given in the Appendix IV); 

c) Upon the last days of even months a year, submit a report to the Ministry of Education and Training on the list of resumes of doctoral students that have completed their training profiles and whose dissertations have been approved by the university- or academy-level Dissertation Defense Examination Committee 02 months before (according to the Form given in the Appendix V);

d) Keep and deposit profiles in accordance with the Circular No. 27/2016/TT-BGDDT dated December 30, 2016 of the Ministry of Education and Training on the duration to store and deposit specialized materials and documents in the education field.

Chapter V

DOCTORAL DISSERTATION, DISSERTATION EVALUATION AND DEFENSE

Article 15. Requirements of the doctoral dissertation

1. Meet regulations laid down in Clause 5, Article 3 hereof and provisions adopted by heads of institutions on dissertation contents, form and format, citation and reference index (see the Form given in the Appendix VI).

2. Comply with laws and regulations on intellectual property protection, which is specifically stipulated as follows:

a) Provide full details of references and clearly cite the sources of other author’s research results, conclusions or findings (if any); 

b) If contents of collectively-written scientific papers of which the doctoral student is the co-author are used in the dissertation, the written permission for use of research results, conclusions or findings from other co-authors must be obtained;

c) Comply with other regulations on intellectual property.

Article 16. Evaluation of doctoral dissertation by an academic unit

1. Application requirements for evaluation of doctoral dissertation carried out by an academic unit:

a) Completed supplementary courses and doctoral courses as referred to in Clause 3 and 4 Article 3 hereof;

b) Published at least 02 articles on research findings, conclusions or findings of the dissertation either of which is published on an ISI-Scopus-indexed academic journal, or published at least 02 peer-reviewed presentations or papers on the international conference proceedings or 02 peer-reviewed articles on the overseas journal;

c) Obtain permission from a collective or advisor to apply for dissertation evaluation and examination carried out by an academic unit.

2. Evaluation or examination of a dissertation carried out by an academic unit in the form of a scientific workshop shall be held one time or multiple times till the date of submission of the request for review or examination of the dissertation carried out by university- or academy-level Dissertation Examination Committee; members of an academic unit, doctoral students, learners, students and interested persons shall be entitled to participate in such occasion (unless the dissertation defense is closed).

3. The head of a institution shall issue specific regulations on dissertation evaluation within the remit of an academic unit, evaluation processes, methods, number, standards and roles of scientists or scholars invited to offer any comments on the dissertation; comply with the following provisions:

a) The minimum number of scientists or scholars invited to give their comments on the dissertation is 05 ones who hold the title of professor, associate professor or the degree of Doctor of Philosophy or have expertise relevant to the doctoral student’s research topic or field; scientists or scholars from inside or outside the doctoral student’s institution shall be allowed to attend such evaluation. Two thirds (2/3) of scientists participating in the previous evaluation must be kept unchanged for the following evaluation (where applicable) in order to give their opinions on the process of completing the doctoral dissertation. This is also attended by those disapproving of request for dissertation evaluation carried out by the university- or academy-level Dissertation Examination Committee;

b) Request for evaluation of the dissertation by the university- or academy-level Dissertation Examination Committee shall be made only if at least three fourths of scientists invited to the final evaluation give their approval or uncontentious opinions (specified in dissertation comment sheets).

Article 17. Independent or external dissertation review

1. The doctoral student’s dissertation shall be reviewed by 02 independent or external reviewers or examiners before being subject to evaluation carried out by the university- or academy-level Dissertation Examination Committee.

2. An independent or external examiners or reviewers is a Vietnamese or foreign scientist or expert, gains experience in scientific research activities and expertise relevant to the dissertation topic; is not in relationship with the doctoral student as his/her father, mother, wife, husband, child, natural brother or sister; is not in partnership or collaboration with the doctoral student and his/her advisor during the process of completion of the doctoral dissertation.

3. The list of independent or external reviewers or examiners shall be treated as a confidential document of the institution.

4. The head of institution shall issue specific regulations on standards for independent or external review; processes and procedures for selection, request for reviewing opinions and processing of independent or external reviewing opinions; confidentiality requirements for officials, public officers or employees, reviewers, examiners and security requirements for information or materials relating to independent or external review or examination in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.

Article 18. Eligibility and documentation requirements for request or application for evaluation of a doctoral dissertation carried out by the university- or academy-level Dissertation Examination Committee

1. Eligibility requirements that a doctoral student must meet to obtain permission for evaluation of his/her dissertation by the university- or academy-level Dissertation Examination Committee shall be composed of the followings:

a) The academic unit requests evaluation of the dissertation by the university- or academy-level Dissertation Examination Committee;

b) Independent or external reviewers or examiners referred to in Article 17 hereof has given their uncontentious opinions on or approval of such evaluation;

c) Doctoral students do not serve any criminal sentence or are not subject to any disciplinary action at the degree of at least warning.

2. Application package for evaluation of a doctoral dissertation carried out by the university- or academy-level Dissertation Examination Committee shall be comprised of the followings:

a) Dissertation full texts;

b) Dissertation abstracts;

c) Pages showing new findings written in Vietnamese and English or any other foreign language as required by the institution;

d) Consent forms issued by co-authors referred to in Point b, Clause 2 Article 15 hereof (where available);

dd) Written request made by an academic unit for grant of a permission for the doctoral student's defending his/her dissertation in front of university- or academy-level Dissertation Examination Committee;

e) Transcript showing scores of supplementary courses (where available), doctoral degree courses, doctoral sub-theses and general literature reviews;

g) Decision on recognition of the doctoral student status and proof of changes made during the training process (where applicable);

h) Separate written comments of 02 independent and external reviewers or examiners;

i) Other documents defined by the training department.

3. The doctoral student shall be responsible for preparing documents referred to in Point a, b, c, d Clause 2 of this Article; the rest of documents shall be synthesized by the institution on its own.

Article 19. University- or academy-level Dissertation Examination Committee

1. The head of institution making a decision on establishment of the university- or academy-level Dissertation Examination Committee shall issue specific regulations on standards and roles of each member of the Committee in accordance with Clause 2, 3, 4 and 5 of this Article.

2. Eligibility standards for committee members:

a) Be Vietnamese citizens or foreign nationals;

b) Hold the title of professor, associate professor or hold the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, doctorate degree and have expertise relevant to the doctoral student’s research topic or the research field;

c) Have published their research papers, earned good reputation and acquired experience in activities relating to the doctoral student’s research field, including a requirement that each reviewer must have at least 01 journal article or scientific paper published on the peer-reviewed overseas scientific journal or peer-reviewed international conference proceedings.

3. Number of Committee members:

a) The Committee shall be composed of 07 members, including at least 05 members holding the title of professor, associate professor; not more than 03 members who have already participated in the dissertation evaluation at the academic unit; not more than 03 members working as officials at the institution;

b) The head of institution shall decide the number of professors, associate professors and the number of members working as officials at the institution in case of evaluation of the doctoral dissertation in the disciplines piloted for training at the institution.

4. The Committee shall be composed of the chair, secretary, 03 reviewers or examiners and other members; the chair of the Committee must hoe the title of professor or associate professor in the discipline relevant to the doctoral student’s dissertation topic; reviewers must not co-author publications related to the dissertation topic of the doctoral student; a representative of the team giving advice to the doctoral student may be invited to join as committee members. 

5. Father, mother, wife or husband, child, natural brother or sister of the doctoral student shall not be admitted to the university- or academy-level Dissertation Examination Committee.

Article 20. Evaluation of a doctoral dissertation at the university or academy level

1. The head of institution shall issue regulations on the time limit, requirements, processes and procedures for holding of a session of evaluation of the dissertation at the university or academy level which meets the following regulations:

a) The dissertation must be subject to open evaluation, except when a dissertation is allowed to be subject to closed evaluation as stipulated by Article 21 hereof;

b) Time and venue of such evaluation, dissertation abstracts and full texts, pages showing new findings written in Vietnamese or English or any other foreign language shall be publicly informed on the institution’s website no later than 20 days before the date of dissertation defense, except when the dissertation is allowed to be subject to closed evaluation as stated in Article 21 hereof;

c) A meeting of the university- or academy-level Dissertation Examination Committee shall not be held in the absence of the committee chair or secretary or at least 2 committee members;

d) The dissertation shall be evaluated in the form of voting (whether in favor or against) in which case it is considered that the dissertation would not be approved if there are at least 02 committee members attending the meeting who cast their dissenting votes;

dd) The Committee must make its resolution regarding the evaluated dissertation which clearly defines comments on the dissertation from committee members; new findings in theoretical and practical aspects; deficiency or imperfectness in contents and representation; integrity; the committee’s conclusions on disapproval and reasons for or approval  of the dissertation (including any recommendations for revision, supplementation where necessary), proposal for recognition of qualification and conferral of doctorate degree;

e) Record of dissertation evaluation session at the university or academy level ratified by all committee members present in that session, verified and signed by the committee chair and secretary.

2. Where necessary (due to objective reasons or when any members make their request for non-participation in the Committee), the head of institution shall make a decision on change of present members or admission of more members into the university- or academy-level Dissertation Examination Committee and duration of the Committee that starts from the date of entry into force of the final decision on change of present members or admission of more members into the Committee.

Article 21. Evaluation of a doctoral dissertation according to the confidentiality or security regime (closed evaluation)

1. If the dissertation topic relating to the national security is included in the list of state secrets defined by competent authorities, the head of institution shall be obliged to determine the confidentiality of that topic promptly after obtaining the decision on recognition of the doctoral student status, submit a report on this to the Ministry of Education and Training, enclosing grounds for determination of confidentiality of that topic, and must receive approval from the Ministry of Education and Training to proceed to write the dissertation.

2. The head of institution shall assume responsibility for security or confidentiality regulations during the process of training, research, dissertation writing, evaluation, relevant document or material storage in accordance with the Government’s security and confidentiality policies.

3. The doctoral student whose dissertation is defined as confidentiality as stipulated by Clause 1 of this Article shall not be subject to provisions set forth in Point b, Clause 1 Article 16 and Point b, Clause 1 Article 20 hereof.

4. Notwithstanding Clause 3 of this Article, the doctoral student carrying out their doctoral dissertation according to security or confidentiality policies shall comply with all other provisions laid down in these Regulations.

Article 22. Re-evaluation of a doctoral dissertation at the university or academy level

1. In cases where the doctoral dissertation is not ratified or approved by the university- or academy-level Dissertation Examination Committee in the primary evaluation session, the doctoral student shall be allowed to revise their dissertation and request the secondary evaluation.

2. The university- or academy-level Dissertation Examination Committee on the secondary evaluation of the doctoral dissertation shall be composed of at least 05 members who have already participated in the primary evaluation and out of whom committee members giving dissenting opinions on the dissertation must be present.

3. The head of institution shall issue specific regulations on the time limit, process and procedure for the secondary evaluation of the dissertation at the university or academy level.

4. The tertiary evaluation shall not be held.

Chapter VI

ASSESSMENT OF THE TRAINING PROCESS, DISSERTATION QUALITY AND CONFERRAL OF DOCTORATE DEGREE

Article 23. Assessment of the training process, dissertation quality

Assessment of the training process, dissertation quality shall be required when:

1. Random assessment of not more than 20% of documentation on the training process and dissertation quality has been approved by the university- or academy-level Dissertation Examination Committee in a report made by the institution as stipulated in Point c, Clause 8 Article 14 hereof.

2. Assessment occurs if there is any accusations or complaints regarding the documentation on the training process, contents and quality of the dissertation.

Article 24. Dossiers of assessment of the training process, dissertation quality

1. Dossiers of assessment of the training process

a) Application for enrolment and admission as the doctoral student describing sufficient evidence of eligibility requirements for enrolment and admission, stipulated in Article 6 hereof;

b) Request for evaluation of the dissertation by the university- or academy-level Dissertation Examination Committee, referred to in Clause 2 Article 18 hereof;

c) Application documents required for conferral of the doctorate degree, defined in Clause 2 Article 28 hereof;

d) 01 set of assessment dossiers is required.

2. Dossiers of assessment of dissertation contents and quality

a) The version of doctoral dissertation from which information about the doctoral student, advisor and institution has been removed;

b) The copy of dissertation abstracts from which information about the doctoral student, advisor and institution has been removed;

c) Duplicate copies of journal articles on research findings as prescribed;

d) 03 sets of assessment dossiers are required.

Article 25. Process for assessment of the training process, dissertation quality

1. Within the permitted duration of 10 business days of receipt of the report from the institution , defined in Point c Clause 8 Article 14 hereof, the Ministry of Education and Training shall inform in writing cases in which assessment by the institution is required and specific assessment requirements.

2. Within the maximum duration of 60 business days of receipt of all required documentation from the institution as stated in Article 24 hereof, the Ministry of Education and Training shall commence assessment and send a written notification of the assessment result.

3. The training process is considered as satisfying assessment requirements only if assessment dossiers conform to provisions on enrolment, admission, organization, conduct and management of training activities, process for carrying out dissertation evaluation provided by these Regulations.

4. Dissertation contents and quality shall be assessed in the form of an opinion poll in which judgments from 03 scientists or scholars holding the title of professor or associate professor, Doctor of Philosophy or doctorate degree, having relevant experience and expertise in the doctoral student’s dissertation topic and research area will be collected.

a) The dissertation is considered as satisfying assessment requirements only if there are two out of three uncontentious opinions;

b) In either case where the dissertation fails to satisfy assessment requirements referred to in Point a of this Clause or there is any letter of accusation regarding dissertation contents and quality, the Ministry of Education and Training shall grant a decision on establishment of the Dissertation Assessment Council, authorize the head of the host institution of the doctoral student to convene the meeting of the Council which is supervised by representatives of the Ministry of Education and Training.

Article 26. Dissertation Assessment Council (hereinafter referred to as Council)

1. The Dissertation Assessment Council shall be composed of 07 members, including at least 04 members who have not yet participated in the dissertation evaluation at the academic unit level, have not yet accredited as independent or external reviewers or examiners, or have not yet accepted as members of the university- or academy-level Dissertation Examination Committee; shall be joined by scientists involved in the assessment process who give their contentious opinions on the dissertation in accordance with Clause 4 Article 25 hereof.

2. Eligibility standards for members of the Dissertation Assessment Council shall be the same as those for members of the university- or academy-level Dissertation Examination Committee provided in Clause 2 Article 19 hereof.

3. The Dissertation Assessment Council shall be composed of the chair, secretary and other members.

4. The Council’s meeting shall take place only if at least 06 members including the chair, secretary and other council members who give their contentious opinions on the dissertation (if any) are present. 

5. The Council shall perform the designated functions such as considering, assessing and resolving on dissertation contents and quality, or justifying accusations or complaints.

6. The dissertation shall be considered as unsatisfying with assessment requirements when there are at least 02 council members giving their dissenting opinions.

7. In the event that the dissertation is not approved by the Council, the head of institution shall hold and preside over a conversation between the Dissertation Assessment Council and the university- or academy-level Dissertation Examination Committee which is attended by representatives of the Ministry of Education and Training. The minimum number of members of both the Council and Committee attending the conversation shall be 12 participants with a requirement that the chairs, reviewers, secretaries and members giving dissenting opinions be present. The dissertation shall not be approved if at least 03 members present in that conversation give their dissenting opinions. Results of the conversation session shall be the decisive result of assessment of dissertation contents and quality.

Article 27. Handling of assessment results

1. If it is determined that the dissertation has satisfied assessment requirements in accordance with Point a, Clause 4 Article 25 hereof or has been approved by the Council with a requirement that it should be revised or supplemented, the Committee shall collaborate with the advisor and doctoral student to review and decide any necessary changes or modification upon the request of the assessor or the Council.

2. If the dissertation is not approved by the Council,

a) When the doctoral student has not yet been awarded the doctorate degree, (s)he shall be allowed to make any revision or modification and request re-evaluation under the provisions of Article 22 hereof;

b) When the doctoral student has been awarded the doctorate degree, the institution shall take necessary actions in accordance with Clause 2 Article 31 hereof.

3. If the dossiers of the training process do not satisfy assessment requirements, based on the notification of the Ministry of Education and Training, the head of institution shall make any required improvement and give explanations.

4. Within the maximum duration of 02 months (60 days) of receipt of the notification of the Ministry of Education and Training regarding the assessment results, the head of institution shall submit a written report to the Ministry of Education and Training on handling of such assessment results according to requirements set out in Clause 1, 2, 3 of this Article, enclosing any relevant evidence.

Article 28. Conferral of the doctorate degree

1. The doctoral student must meet the following eligibility requirements to be awarded the doctorate degree:

a) The doctoral student’s dissertation has been approved by the university- or academy-level Dissertation Examination Committee for at least exactly 03 months (90 days);

b) The doctoral student has completed any revision or modification of the dissertation subject to the resolution of university- or academy-level Dissertation Examination Committee, and certified by the advisor, the host institution and the Committee chair (where applicable);

c) If assessment is required according to the notification of the Ministry of Education and Training, referred to in Clause 1 Article 25 , the assessment results must be satisfying as required by Clause 3 and Point a, Clause 4 Article 25 and Clause 1 Article 27 hereof; or the assessment results achieved from the Ministry of Education and Training have not yet been obtained by the assessment deadline referred to in Clause 2 Article 25 hereof;

d) His/her dissertation full text and synopsis or abstracts as the final version signed by the doctoral student, the advisor and attested by the head of the host institution after completion of any revision or modification requested by the Council and the Committee have been published on the website of the host institution and deposited with the National Library of Vietnam (in print or pdf file format).

2. Documentation requirements for conferral of the doctorate degree shall be specified as follows:

a) Minutes of the dissertation evaluation at the university or academy level;

b) Resolution made by the Committee;

c) Record of vote counting, evaluation forms of all Committee members present in the evaluation session;

d) Comment or evaluation form of the advisor or advising team;

dd) Checklist of Committee members present in the evaluation session, enclosing their signatures;

e) Note of receipt of the dissertation and dissertation abstracts or synopsis issued by the National Library of Vietnam;

g) Evidence of public disclosure of the date of dissertation evaluation, except when a dissertation is allowed to be subject to evaluation according to confidentiality or security policies or closed evaluation as stipulated by Article 21 hereof;

h) Other documents defined by the training department.

3. The institution shall synthesize documentation submitted to apply for award of the doctorate degree and begin conferring the doctorate degree to the doctoral student when the doctoral student has met all statutory requirements set out in Clause 1 of this Article and store or retain records or documents evidencing conferral of the doctorate degree in accordance with applicable laws and regulations. 

4. The head of institution shall be responsible for inspecting the training process, dissertation quality, organization and operation of the Committee prior to convening of the regular meeting of the Scientific and Training Board of the institution in order to approve the list of doctoral students eligible for being awarded the doctorate degree and grant a decision on conferral of the doctorate degree.

Chapter VII

COMPLAINT, ACCUSATION, AUDIT AND VIOLATION RESOLUTION

Article 29. Complaints or accusations

1. Entities, individuals and doctoral students shall be vested with the right to lodge their complaints and make their accusations against violations arising from enrolment, admission, organization and management of training activities, dissertation evaluation and conferral of doctorate degree.  

2. Any complaint, accusation and handling thereof shall be subject to the Law on Complaint and the Law on Accusation.

Article 30. Audit

1. The Ministry of Education and Training shall audit training activities carried out by institutions in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.

2. Audited subject matters shall encompass training activities, organization and management of training activities, process for dissertation evaluation and defense, conferral of doctorate degree and handling of complaints and accusations by institutions.  Audit conclusions and recommendations (if any) shall be notified in writing by the Ministry of Education and Training to the audited institutions.

Article 31. Handling of violations

1. In case of detecting any violation arising from enrolment and admission process, organization and management of training activities, dissertation evaluation and conferral of doctorate degree, the Ministry of Education and Training shall send institutions written requests for handling of these violations or handle them at their discretion within its jurisdiction.

2. Revocation of the doctorate degree shall be subject to applicable laws and regulations and shall take place if:

a) There is any fraudulent act detected in the enrolment application which results in ineligibility for enrolment and admission into the doctoral program as well as for recognition of doctoral student status;

b) There is any illegal duplication or citation found in the dissertation which can lead to failure to meet requirements set out in Article 15 hereof by removal of the duplicated or cited contents;

c) The dissertation has not yet been approved by the Dissertation Assessment Council in accordance with Clause 7 Article 26 hereof.

3. In cases where it is established that the doctoral student has committed other violations, depending on the severity of such violations, they shall be subject to disciplinary actions ranging from reprimand, warning, temporary or indefinite-term study suspension to criminal prosecution.  

4. The Dissertation Assessment Council established by the head of the institution under the provisions of Article 26 hereof shall be vested with the authority to determine whether a doctoral dissertation is in violation of regulations laid down in Point b, Clause 2 of this Article.

Chapter VIII

IMPLEMENTATION

Article 32: Transitional provision

1. As for doctoral programs into which decisions on admission of doctoral applicants have been made prior to the date of entry into force of this Circular, institutions designing these doctoral programs shall comply with the Regulations on Doctoral Training issued together with the Circular No. 10/2009/TT-BGDDT dated May 7, 2009 of which certain articles are amended according to the Circular No. 05/2012/TT-BGDDT dated February 15, 2012 issued by the Minister of Education and Training.

2. As for doctoral programs for which enrolments are carried out from the date of entry into force of this Circular to end of December 31, 2018, regulations on eligibility standards for the doctoral advisor according to Point d, Clause 1 Article 11 hereof, and regulations on eligibility requirements for the doctoral student’s application for evaluation of the dissertation by the academic unit according to Point b, Clause 1 Article 16 hereof, shall be implemented as follows:

a) The advisor on dissertation topics included in the Major Group I (according to the Appendix VII) must be the principal author of at least 01 article published in a foreign language on journals indexed as one of the scientific and academic journals by the State Council for Professor Title of Vietnam or on overseas prestigious specialized journals in the research fields relevant to the doctoral student’s dissertation topics;  

b) The advisor on dissertation topics included in the Major Group II (according to the Appendix VII) must be the principal author of at least 01 research paper or presentation published on the peer-reviewed proceedings of international conferences or at least one chapter in a ISBN-numbered reference book released by a foreign publisher or 01 article published in a peer-reviewed scientific and academic journal in the scientific research field relevant to the doctoral student’s dissertation topics; 

c) The doctoral student working on dissertation topics included in the Major Group I (according to the Appendix VII) must publish their research contents and findings in at least 02 articles or papers or presentations out of which there must be 01 article published in a foreign language on journals indexed as specialized journals by the State Council for Professor Title of Vietnam, or on overseas accredited specialized journals;  

d) The doctoral student working on dissertation topics included in the Major Group II (according to the Appendix VII) must publish their research contents and findings in at least 02 articles or papers or presentations out of which there must be 01 paper or presentation published on the peer-reviewed proceedings of international conferences or 01 article published on peer-reviewed overseas scientific journals.  

3. As for doctoral programs for which enrolments are carried out from January 1, 2019 onwards, the  doctoral student’s advisor shall comply with Point d, Clause 1 Article 11 and the doctoral student shall comply with Point b, Clause 1 Article 16 hereof.

APPENDIX I

(Issued with Circular No. 08 /2017/TT-BGDDT on April 04, 2017 by the Minister of Education and Training)

DOCTORAL ENROLMENT AND TRAINING PROPOSAL

1. General information about the Institution

1.1. The name and the website of the Institution, etc.

1.2. Information about the Institution’s enrolment and training at the Doctoral Level at the time of the Project development (number of majors/specialties, student numbers, research results or findings, etc.)

1.3. Other necessary information

2. Specific details of the Project

2.1. Target students for enrolment

2.2. Method of enrolment

2.3. The enrolment targets based on majors or specialties

2.4. The Institution’s conditions for and capabilities of scientific research: research directions, implemented research topics, supporting facilities for research, etc.

2.5. Enrolment organization: time and frequency of enrolment/year

2.6. Policy on priority: priority given to those identified in the regulations

2.7. Tuition and financial support policies

2.8. Other contents(complying with the current regulations)

3. Information about quality assurance requirements

3.1. Facilities serving the purposes of training and research

3.2. List of tenure lecturers qualified to supervise doctoral students with different majors/specialties

3.3. Research projects in cooperation with other domestic and international training or research institutions or businesses

3.4. Quality accreditation

3.5. Other requirements for quality assurance

4. Other necessary information

APPENDIX II

TABLE OF REFERENCE IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE CERTIFICATE
(Issued with Circular No. 08 /2017/TT-BGDDT on April 04, 2017 by the Minister of Education and Training)

APPENDIX III

SAMPLE REPORT ON ENROLMENT RESULTS
(Issued with Circular No. 08 /2017/TT-BGDDT on April 04, 2017 by the Minister of Education and Training)

To: Ministry of Education and Training

REPORT ON DOCTORAL STUDENT ENROLMENT IN …. (YEAR)

Contents:

1. Collection of registrations

2. Organization of the enrolment

3. General evaluation on the enrolment and suggestions (if any)

Attached:

Decisions on doctoral student admissions.

APPENDIX IV

SAMPLE REPORT ON
ANNUAL TRAINING OF DOCTORAL STUDENTS
(Issued with Circular No. 08 /2017/TT-BGDDT on April 04, 2017 by the Minister of Education and Training)

To: Ministry of Education and Training

REPORT ON THE TRAINING OF DOCTORAL STUDENTS IN … (YEAR)

I. The current number of doctoral students

II. Plan for the new target number of enrolments in … (year)

(Reports and schedule tables conform to the current regulations on the target setting of enrolments by the Ministry of Education and Training)

III. Report on research directions and doctoral students’ supervisors for the new plan of enrolment.

APPENDIX V

SAMPLE REPORT
LIST OF DOCTORAL STUDENTS SUCCESSFULLY DEFENDING THEIR DISSERTATIONS DURING THE YEAR

(Issued with Circular No. 08 /2017/TT-BGDDT on April 04, 2017 by the Minister of Education and Training)

To: Ministry of Education and Training

LIST OF DOCTORAL STUDENTS SUCCESSFULLY DEFENDING THEIR DISSERTATIONS

(Month ….         year ….)

APPENDIX VI

FORMAT AND STRUCTURE OF A DOCTORAL DISSERTATION
(Issued with Circular No. 08 /2017/TT-BGDDT on April 04, 2017 by the Minister of Education and Training)

1. The doctoral dissertation is written in Vietnamese or in a foreign language, using the font type of Times New Roman with the font size of 13-14, UNICODE.

2. It has the doctoral student’s claim about the truthfulness of the dissertation content.

3. A doctoral dissertation includes:

a) Rationale for the research topic, research question(s), research aims, subjects and scope of the research, research methodology, scientific and practical significance of the research;

b) Literature review: analysis of and evaluation on other previous related studies published either locally or internationally, thus identifying the research aims, core content and research methodology;

c) Theoretical or conceptual framework of approaching the research topic and research methodology;

d) Research findings and discussion;

d) Conclusion and Recommendations: new findings are presented, conclusions are reached from the research findings, and suggestions and recommendations on further research are provided;

e) List of references cited and employed in the dissertation in accordance with the Institution’s Guidelines;

g) List of published journal articles/research works related to the dissertation and accompanying consent forms of co-authors (if any);

h) Appendices (if any).

APPENDIX VII

CHART OF CLASSIFICATION OF MAJORS

(Issued with Circular No. 08 /2017/TT-BGDDT on April 04, 2017 by the Minister of Education and Training)