Summary of Rules, Regulations and Proceduresfor the Doctoral Course Program in Civil Engineering
April 1989
Revised: April 2004
Revised: Jan. 2008
Revised: Oct. 2010
Revised: Oct. 2012
Revised: Oct. 2013
Revised: Oct. 2014
Revised: Oct. 2015
Department of Civil Engineering
1. INTRODUCTION
This summary has been prepared for students' easy reference to the rules, regulations,requirements and procedures for the doctoral degree in Civil of Nagoya University. If students
need additional details about requirements and procedures, they are advised to read theUniversity Bulletin and School of Engineering Bulletin II and to consult their academic advisers
and the department chairmen.
It is said that obtaining doctoral degree in Japan is harder than that in other countries such as
the U.S.A. That is true to a certain extent. Until recently, most doctoral course students in ourdepartment needed almost 5 years to accomplish doctoral thesis. However, the department's
policy recently adopted is that the students are strongly recommended to concentrate on theirstudy and to finish all work within three years.
2. REQUIREMENTS(1) Course requirement
A minimum number of 8 credits is required (see University Bulletin and School ofEngineering Bulletin II and consult the supervisor for details). Students are recommended tocomplete the course requirement within the first two years. There is no standard for performancerequirement, but you should have grade A for every subject in entire graduate course works.
All students of the Forefront Studies Program for Civil and Environmental Engineering arerequired to take minimum 14 credits including “Civil Engineering and Policies for Developing
Countries I &II (4 credits: Note that these classes are held every other year)”, “Seminars byAcademic Advisor (8 credits)” and “Global Research Internship 2 (2 credits)”. The otherstudents are also expected to take these classes as much as possible.
(2) Examinations
All students are required to pass the following examinations at given moments.
a) Qualifying examination for the maintenance of candidacy (See page 5)b) Midterm examinationc) Final examination (doctoral thesis defense)(3) Publications
Three technical papers are usually required to be published in the technical journals ofestablished reputation before submitting the first draft of the doctoral thesis. However, one of thethree papers can be submitted for publication after obtaining doctoral degree, if the doctoralcommittee permits it. Students are advised to consult their supervisors on details.
(4) Residence requirement
Three academic years of doctoral study are usually required for doctoral course. From
October to September of the following year constitutes one academic year.
(5) Shorten certificate
In the exceptional case in which a candidate can make superb work, it is possible for him/her
to finish doctoral course in one year (three years including master's course). The proceduresdescribed in this summary are not applicable in this case. Students are required to consult theiracademic advisers.
(6) Time limitation
Six academic years for doctoral program are the maximum limitation. Typical time span,
however, is supposed to be three years by the department. If students are receiving the stipend
from the Japanese Government, they should know that the maximum scholarship tenure for
doctoral students is three years.
(7) Doctoral thesis
A candidate is required to write a doctoral thesis under the direction of a professor in his/herdepartment. The thesis must treat a topic related to the candidate's specialty in his/her major
subject, show the results of original research, provide evidence of high level of scholarship andmake a significant contribution to the knowledge in the field.
The doctoral thesis will be normally written in Japanese or in English.
3. TIME SEQUENCE AND PROCEDURES(1) Doctoral committeea) An academic supervisor is designated at the time of enrollment to the doctoral course. Hewill be the chairman of the doctoral committee in most cases.
b) Tentative doctoral committee members are organized shortly after the entry. The
committee conducts qualifying examinations for the maintenance of candidacy and midterm
examination at given moments.
c) Full doctoral committee is organized just after submission of the first draft of the doctoral
thesis to the department. The members of this committee are the same as of the tentative
doctoral committee in most cases. Review and suggestions for the revision of the doctoral
thesis are conducted under the direction of the committee.
d) The formal recognition of the full doctoral committee is performed by Graduate School ofEngineering after submission of the final draft to Graduate School of Engineering.
(2) Evaluation and screening
Program evaluations are continually made by the supervisor, the doctoral committee and thedepartment's faculty besides the examinations described in 2.(2).
a) Evaluation of the candidate's course performance and research progress by the supervisorand department faculty at the same time as qualifying examinations for the maintenance ofcandidacy and midterm examination.

b) Evaluation of the candidate's achievement of requirements and research progress by thedoctoral committee and department faculty at least three months before submitting the firstdraft of the doctoral thesis. More than two accepted technical papers with peer-review arerequired to initiate review and suggestions for revision.
(3) Doctoral thesis defense and final examination
Required procedures for the doctoral thesis are as follows:a) Approval of the first draft by the supervisor.
b) Submission of the first draft and qualification documents to the department through thesupervisor and approval by the department to start review and suggestions for revision
which will be done under the direction of the doctoral committee.
c) Distribution of the first draft to the doctoral committee members through the supervisor.
d) Review and suggestions for revision under the direction of the committee.
e) Submission of the final draft (usually a bounded copy) to the department under thedirection of the doctoral committee and acceptance of the draft at the faculty meeting of thedepartment.
f) Submission of the final draft (three bounded copies) with the application form for thedefense to Graduate School of Engineering through the department and acceptance of thedraft at the professors' meeting of Graduate School of Engineering. The formal doctoralcommittee members are also organized at it.
g) Doctoral thesis defense and final examination
The presentation period is normally of not more than one and one-half hours' duration.
The questioning session open to public is usually of a half hour. Then, the closed oral
examination by the committee members is conducted for about two hours. Finally, theclosed oral examination by the department faculty members takes normally less than a halfhour.
h) Approval of doctoral degree by the department and submission of the report of thedecision to Graduate School of Engineering through the chairman of the doctoralcommittee.
i) Evaluation of the doctoral thesis and final approval of doctoral degree in the professors'
meeting of Graduate School of Engineering.
j) Conferment of degree
With the due process mentioned above, a candidate will be conferred the certification of
the doctoral degree in September of the third academic year.
(4) Ethical standards in preparing doctoral thesis and journal papersa) A doctoral course student is a researcher who is required to maintain high ethical standards.
The doctoral thesis and journal papers should have original contributions to the relevant
field and should be based on a study first reported. They should not contain plagiarizedmaterials or falsified research data. In addition, as a general rule, duplicate publication isnot allowed. The student should keep a research log that can be a proof of originality andpriority of his/her research findings. Furthermore, when the student quotes other papers or
newspapers, consult with your advisor as there are strict rules and restrictions forquotations.
b) It is mandatory that a student obtain permission from his/her advisor when submitting a
research paper to a journal or international conference.
c) If a student violates ethical standards written above, he/she may be punished according tothe University’s regulations.

Qualifying Examinations for the Maintenance of Candidacyand Midterm Examination
Each doctoral candidate must pass a qualifying examinations for the maintenance ofcandidacy administered by the tentative doctoral committee.
OBJECTIVES OF QUALIFYING EXAMINATIONS
The objectives of the doctoral degree qualifying examinations and midterm examination areto examine whether or not a candidate has sufficient intellectual ability, strong motivation,adequate research capacity and proficiency in his/her field of study, as well as an adequate
understanding of the fundamentals of Civil Engineering in order to have a reasonable chance of
successful completion of the requirements of the doctoral degree program.
TIME OF QUALIFYING EXAMINATIONS
The qualifying examinations will be held in April of the first year and October of the secondyear. If all work can’t be finished within three years, additional qualifying examinations will beheld in July of the third year and semi-annually from the fourth year on. Midterm examination
will be held in April of the second year. The specific time is to be arranged by the tentative
doctoral committee. The candidate is not permitted to make a second attempt.
CONTENTS OF QUALIFYING EXAMINATIONSThe examinations will consist of a written part, a presentation and an oral part.
(1) Written Examination
The written report shall be submitted to the doctoral committee.
For the qualifying examinations for the maintenance of candidacy, the report shall at least
contain the following items in each qualifying examination.
a) Motivation, background and outline of the researchb) Progress of the research workc) Publications and presentationsd) Current academic credit status
For the midterm examination, the report shall at least contain the following items in eachqualifying examination.
a) Progress of the research workb) Future plan of the research workc) Prospect of the doctoral thesisd) Publications and presentationse) Current academic credit status(2) Presentation and Oral Examination
Each candidate is required to present objectives and outline of his/her research in the first andsecond qualifying examinations. Each candidate is required to present his/her research results
and show the perspective of his/her doctoral thesis in qualifying examinations held in April ofthe second year and after July of the third year. Each candidate will be examined orally by thetentative doctoral committee members following the presentation. The candidate will beexpected to answer all the questions given by the committee members and audience.
QUALIFYING EXAMINATIONS PROCEDURES(1) Submission of the written report to the committee
The written report shall be submitted to the doctoral committee at least one week before thepresentation.
(2) Presentation
While the presentations in the first and second qualifying examinations are not needed to beopen to public, the presentation of the midterm examination should be open to public.
(3) Oral Examination
The oral examinations will be given immediately following the presentation. While the oral
examinations in the first and second qualifying examinations are not needed to be open to public,
the oral examinations after the third qualifying examinations should be open to public.
(4) Evaluation
The performance of each candidate will be judged by the committee based on the results ofthe Qualifying Examination as well as on the candidate's total career up to the Qualifying
Examination. The result will be reported to the department faculty members, and then the final
decision will be made by them.
The candidate will be required to take an additional examination, if a clear-cut decision
cannot be agreed upon.
(5) Notification
Each candidate will be informed of Faculty's decision by the supervisor as soon as feasible.

Table of Time Sequence and Procedures
The following table shows an example of time sequence and procedures for students'
convenience. The schedule below is the limiting one to obtain doctoral degree within threeacademic years.
TimeProcedures
The First Academic YearOctober* Enrollment
Organization of the tentativedoctoral committee
April* The first qualifying examination for themaintenance of candidacy
The Second Academic Year
October* The second qualifying examination for themaintenance of candidacy
April* Midterm examination
The Third Academic Year
The 1st week of May
Check of the requirements by thedoctoral committee
The 4th week of June
Check of the requirements for doctoral
degree by the department's faculty
and approval of preparing doctoral
thesis* Submission of the first draftof the doctoral thesis to thedepartment upon the permissionof the supervisor.
After acceptance by the department,* start of review andsuggestions for revision
under the direction of thedoctoral committee.
The 4th week of July
* Submission of the final draft andthe plagiarism check result of the thesis
to the department. After acceptanceby the department, submission of
three bounded copies toGraduate School of Engineering.
AugustAcceptance of the final draftby Graduate School of Engineering.
End of August to beginning of September* Defense and final examination
Approval of doctoral degreeby the department
September
Final approval of doctoral degree
by Graduate School of Engineering.
* Conferment of doctoral degreeProcedures prefixed with a symbol * need candidate's performance.

Supplementary Remarks
Students are kindly requested to keep in mind the following during the doctoral course:(1) To concentrate on their study.
(2) To publish as many technical papers as possible.
(3) To consult their academic advisers not only on their academic items, but also on theirpersonal life.
(4) To ask their tentative doctoral committee for their widely opinions about study, life, and soon.
(5) To have strong will and perseverance to overcome the difficulties they may face.
(6) To have friendship with as many people as possible.

The department faculty members hope strongly that students will successfully complete thedoctoral course program within three years. Students are always welcome to come to faculty
members' offices to have instruction and guidance on their research and to have advise about
their personal life.