Degree Regulations of Shimane University: Detailed Regulations for Doctor Course of
Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology(Item 1 of the Detailed Regulations of the Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology of
Shimane University, 2020)(Enacted on February 19, 2020)(Last Revised on March 22, 2022)
Section 1: General Provisions(Purpose)
Article 1. These Detailed Regulations stipulate the necessary matters related to the conferment of doctoral
degrees in the Doctor Course of the Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology of Shimane
University (hereinafter, the "Doctor Course"), based on Article 22 of the Degree Regulations of Shimane
University (Item 95 of the Regulations of Shimane University, 2004; hereinafter, the "Degree
Regulations"), and Article 22, Paragraph 2 of the Regulations of the Graduate School of Natural Scienceand Technology of Shimane University (Item 1 of the Regulations of the Graduate School of Natural
Science and Technology of Shimane University, 2018; hereinafter, the "Regulations of the Graduate
School").
(Definitions)
Article 2. In these Detailed Regulations, "Course Doctorate" shall refer to doctoral degrees that are conferred
based on the provisions of Article 3, Paragraph 3 of the Degree Regulations, and "Thesis Doctorate" shallrefer to doctoral degrees that are conferred based on the provisions of Article 3, Paragraph 4 of the Degree
Regulations.
(Evaluation Criteria)
Article 3. The evaluation criteria of doctoral theses shall be stipulated separately.
Section 2: Course Doctorate(Preliminary Assessment)
Article 4. Students who wish to acquire a Course Doctorate must undergo a preliminary assessment prior to
the submission of their doctoral thesis, as provided in Article 5, Paragraph 2 of the Degree Regulations.
(Eligibility for Preliminary Assessment)
Article 5. Students who can apply for preliminary assessment shall be those who fall under either one of thefollowing descriptions.
i. Students who are currently enrolled in the Doctor Course, and have earned the number of credits
stipulated in Article 14, Paragraph 1 of the Regulations of the Graduate School (hereinafter, the"Prescribed Credits"), or students who are reliably anticipated to earn the Prescribed Credits andhave received the necessary research guidance.
ii. Students who have been enrolled for at least one year in the Doctor Course (in the case of students
who completed the Master's Course of the Graduate School after enrollment of one year or more, thisshall be three years, including the period of enrollment in the said course), who have received thenecessary research guidance, and who are recommended by their main academic advisor as having
produced particularly outstanding research achievements(Application Documents for Preliminary Assessment)
Article 6. Students who apply for preliminary assessment (hereinafter, "Preliminary Assessment Applicants")
shall submit each of the documents listed below to the Dean of the Graduate School, after obtaining theapproval of their main academic advisor.
i. Preliminary Assessment Application (Appended Form No. 1)
1 copyii. Doctoral Thesis Draft
3 copies
iii. Doctoral Thesis Abstract (Appended Form No. 2)
3 copies
iv. List of Publications (Appended Form No. 3)
3 copies
v. Related Publications
3 copies
vi. Curriculum Vitae (Appended Form No. 4)
1 copy(Application Period for Preliminary Assessment)Article 7. The prescribed period of application for preliminary assessment shall, in principle, be Novemberof the academic year in which the student is anticipated to complete the course (for students who are
anticipated to complete the course in September, the period of application shall be May).
(Referral of Preliminary Assessment)
Article 8. When an application for preliminary assessment is made, the Dean of the Graduate School shallorganize a Preliminary Assessment Committee based on deliberation by the Graduate School Faculty
Meeting in order to decide whether the application is worthy of a doctoral thesis assessment, and shallrefer the preliminary assessment to the said committee.
(Preliminary Assessment Committee)
Article 9. The Preliminary Assessment Committee shall be composed of the following members, for eachPreliminary Assessment Applicant.
i. Three or more members from among the faculty members responsible for the Doctor Course,
including the Preliminary Assessment Applicant's main academic advisor
ii. When necessary, a maximum of two faculty members responsible for other graduate schools of
Shimane University, or faculty members/researchers from other universities or research institutes
2. The members of the Preliminary Assessment Committee stipulated in the preceding paragraph (hereinafter,the "Preliminary Assessment Committee Members") shall be determined by the Graduate School Faculty
Meeting, using the List of Candidates for Preliminary Assessment Committee (Appended Form No. 5).
When adding a faculty member responsible for other graduate schools, other universities and/or research
institutes to the Committee in accordance with Item ii of the preceding paragraph, the Short Curriculum
Vitae (Appended Form No. 6) of the said Candidate, including his/her research career, shall be appended
to the said List.
3. The Preliminary Assessment Committee shall appoint a chairperson, who shall be selected from themembers of the Committee other than the Preliminary Assessment Applicant's main academic advisor, by
the mutual election of the Preliminary Assessment Committee Members stipulated in Item 1 of Paragraph
1. The chairperson shall coordinate the Committee.
4. The Preliminary Assessment Committee shall, in principle, complete the preliminary assessment within aperiod of four weeks from the day on which the preliminary assessment was referred to the Committee,
and the chairperson shall promptly report the results of the preliminary assessment to the Dean of the
Graduate School using the Preliminary Assessment Results Report (Appended Form No. 7).
(Notification of Preliminary Assessment Results)
Article 10. The Dean of the Graduate School shall notify the Preliminary Assessment Applicant of the results
stipulated in Paragraph 4 of the preceding Article using the Preliminary Assessment Results Notification(Appended Form No. 8), and additionally report the said results to the Graduate School Faculty Meeting.
(Application for Assessment)
Article 11. Preliminary Assessment Applicants whose application was approved as a result of thePreliminary Assessment shall apply for doctoral thesis assessment.
2. Preliminary Assessment Applicants whose application was deemed unworthy of a doctoral thesis
assessment as a result of the Preliminary Assessment shall be able to reapply for preliminary assessment
after improving the contents of their thesis.
(Application Forms for Doctoral Thesis Assessment)
Article 12. Students who apply for doctoral thesis assessment (hereinafter, "Applicants") shall submit each of
the documents listed below to the Dean of the Graduate School, after obtaining the approval of their main
academic advisor.
i. Doctoral Thesis Assessment Request Form (Appended Form No. 9)
1 copyii. Doctoral Thesis (1 volume)
5 copies
iii. Doctoral Thesis Abstract (Appended Form No. 2)
5 copies
iv. List of Publications (Appended Form No. 3)
5 copies
v. Related Publications
5 copies(Application Period for Doctoral Thesis Assessment)
Article 13. The prescribed period of application for doctoral thesis assessment shall, in principle, be Januaryof the academic year in which the student is anticipated to complete the course (for students who are
anticipated to complete the course in September, the period of application shall be July).
(Referral to Thesis Assessment)
Article 14. When an application for doctoral thesis assessment is made, the Dean of the Graduate School
shall refer the assessment to the Graduate School Faculty Meeting.
(Assessment Committee)

Article 15. The Graduate School Faculty Meeting shall, when an assessment is referred in accordance withthe preceding Article, organize an Assessment Committee composed of the following members, for eachApplicant.
i. Three or more members from among the faculty members responsible for the Doctor Course. They
must include the Applicant's main academic advisor and three professors.
ii. When necessary, a maximum of two faculty members responsible for other graduate schools of
Shimane University, or faculty members/researchers from other universities or research institutes.
2. The members of the Assessment Committee stipulated in the preceding paragraph (hereinafter, the"Assessment Committee Members") shall be determined by the Graduate School Faculty Meeting, using
the List of Candidates for Assessment Committee (Appended Form No. 10). When adding a faculty
member responsible for other graduate schools, other universities and/or research institutes to theCommittee in accordance with Item ii of the preceding paragraph, the Short Curriculum Vitae (Appended
Form No. 6) of the said Candidate, including his/her research career, shall be appended to the said List.
3. The Assessment Committee shall appoint a chief examiner (hereinafter, the "Chief Examiner"), who shallbe selected from the members of the Committee other than the Applicant's main academic advisor, by themutual election of the Assessment Committee Members stipulated in Item 1 of Paragraph 1. The Chief
Examiner shall coordinate the Assessment Committee.
(Doctoral Thesis Defense)
Article 16. The Assessment Committee shall hold a doctoral thesis defense at the stage of the thesis
assessment.
2. The Chief Examiner shall notify the Applicant of the details of the doctoral thesis defense, in principle atleast one week in advance of the date of the defense, using the Thesis Defense Notification (Appended
Form No. 11), and make a public announcement.
(Execution of Thesis Assessment and Final Examination)
Article 17. The Assessment Committee shall carry out the thesis assessment and the final examination.
2. The Chief Examiner shall notify the Applicant of the necessary matters related to the final examination
using the Final Examination Notification (Appended Form No. 12).
3. The final examination shall be conducted either orally or as a written response, principally regarding thecontents of the thesis and related subjects.
(Deliberation of Thesis Assessment Results)
Article 18. The Assessment Committee shall deliberate and decide whether the thesis is worthy ofconferment of a degree, based on the results of the thesis assessment and the final examination.
2. The decision mentioned in the preceding paragraph shall be made by the agreement of at least two-thirdsof the members of the Assessment Committee.
3. The verdict of evaluation of the thesis assessment and the final examination shall be either Pass or Fail.
(Report of Thesis Assessment Results)
Article 19. The Assessment Committee shall report the results of the thesis assessment to the Graduate
School Faculty Meeting, with an appended opinion on whether the thesis is worthy of conferment of adegree, in principle within a period of four weeks from the day on which the assessment was referred to
the Committee.
2. The report mentioned in the preceding paragraph shall be made using the documents listed below.
i. Report of Thesis Assessment Results and Final Examination Results (Appended Form No. 13)ii. Summary of Thesis Assessment Results (Appended Form No. 14)(Degree Conferment Adjudication Meeting)
Article 20. The Graduate School Faculty Meeting shall, when the report mentioned in the preceding Article
is received, organize a Degree Conferment Adjudication Meeting composed of professors responsible forthe Doctor Course.
2. The Degree Conferment Adjudication Meeting shall be convened by the Dean of the Graduate School, andthe Dean of the Graduate School shall serve as the chairperson. However, if the Dean of the Graduate
School is absent due to unavoidable circumstances, a person designated in advance by the Dean of the
Graduate School shall serve as a replacement.
3. The Degree Conferment Adjudication Meeting cannot commence proceedings unless a minimum of twothirds of the constituent members are in attendance.
4. Persons to whom any of the following is applicable shall not be included in the number of constituent
members calculated for the quorum in the preceding paragraph.
i. Persons on a business trip
ii. Persons who are absent to participate in a training programiii. Persons on sick leave for 30 days or more
iv. Persons on administrative leave
Article 21. The Degree Conferment Adjudication Meeting shall deliberate and decide whether the thesis isworthy of conferment of a degree, based on the report of the Assessment Committee.
2. The decision mentioned in the preceding paragraph shall be made by a majority of at least two-thirds ofthe attending members.
3. The Degree Conferment Adjudication Meeting may, when deemed particularly necessary by the Graduate
School Faculty Meeting, request that person(s) other than the professors stipulated in Paragraph 1 of thepreceding Article attend the Meeting and hear the opinion of the said person(s).
(Report)Article 22. The results of the deliberation of the Degree Conferment Adjudication Meeting shall be reported
to the Graduate School Faculty Meeting.
(Deliberation and Decision on Degree Conferment)
Article 23. The Graduate School Faculty Meeting shall deliberate and decide whether a degree should beconferred on the Applicant, based on the report of the Degree Conferment Adjudication Meeting.
2. The decision mentioned in the preceding paragraph shall be made by the agreement of at least two-thirdsof the attending members.
(Special Measures)
Article 24. If a person who has withdrawn from the Graduate School after being enrolled in the Doctor
Course for three years or more, who has earned the Prescribed Credits, and who has received the necessary
research guidance, submits a thesis within three years of withdrawal, the said person shall be treated as aperson who is eligible under Article 3, Paragraph 3 of the Degree Regulations. In such cases, the period of
application for preliminary assessment shall be either May or November.
Section 3: Thesis Doctorate(Eligibility to Apply for Degree Conferment by Thesis Submission)
Article 25. Persons who can apply for conferment of a doctoral degree by submission of a thesis (hereinafter,"Thesis Doctorate Applicants"), based on the provisions of Article 3, Paragraph 4 of the Degree
Regulations, shall be those who fall under any one of the following descriptions.
i. Persons who have withdrawn from a graduate school after being enrolled in a doctor course for theprescribed standard term of study or longer, who have earned the Prescribed Credits, and who havereceived the necessary research guidanceii. Persons who have completed a master’s course in a graduate school, and who have a research careerof four or more years
iii. Persons who have graduated from a university, and who have a research career of six or more years
iv. Persons other than those listed above, who have a research career of ten or more years(Supervisor)
Article 26. The Thesis Doctorate Applicant shall designate a supervisor from the research field with a close
to the contents of the thesis.
(Preliminary Assessment by Thesis Submission)
Article 27. Persons who wish to acquire a Thesis Doctorate must undergo a preliminary assessment of theirdoctoral thesis, prior to applying for assessment of the said thesis.
(Application Forms for Preliminary Assessment by Thesis Submission)
Article 28. Persons who apply for preliminary assessment of their thesis (hereinafter, "Thesis Preliminary
Assessment Applicants") shall submit each of the documents listed below to the Dean of the Graduate
School, after obtaining the approval of their research supervisor.
i. Doctoral Thesis Preliminary Assessment Application Form (Appended Form No. 15)
1 copyii. Doctoral Thesis Draft
3 copies
iii. Doctoral Thesis Abstract (Appended Form No. 16)
3 copies
iv. List of Publications (Appended Form No. 17)
3 copies
v. Related Publications
3 copies
vi. Curriculum Vitae (Appended Form No. 4)
1 copyvii. Certificate of Graduation from the last educational institute attended
1 copy(Application Period for Preliminary Assessment by Thesis Submission)
Article 29. The prescribed period of application for preliminary assessment by thesis submission shall, in
principle, be either November or May.

(Referral to Preliminary Assessment by Thesis Submission)
Article 30. When an application for preliminary assessment by thesis submission is made, the Dean of the
Graduate School shall organize a Thesis Preliminary Assessment Committee based on deliberation by the
Graduate School Faculty Meeting in order to decide whether the application is worthy of a doctoral thesis
assessment and shall refer the preliminary assessment to the said Committee.
(Thesis Preliminary Assessment Committee)
Article 31. The Thesis Preliminary Assessment Committee shall be composed of the following members, foreach Thesis Preliminary Assessment Applicant.
i. Three or more members from among the faculty members responsible for the Doctor Course,
including the Thesis Preliminary Assessment Applicant's research supervisor
ii. When necessary, a maximum of two faculty members responsible for other graduate schools of
Shimane University, or faculty members/researchers from other universities or research institutes
2. The members of the Thesis Preliminary Assessment Committee stipulated in the preceding paragraph(hereinafter, the "Thesis Preliminary Assessment Committee Members") shall be determined by the
Graduate School Faculty Meeting, using the List of Candidates for Thesis Preliminary Assessment
Committee (Appended Form No. 18). When adding a faculty member responsible for other graduate
schools, other universities and/or research institutes to the Committee in accordance with Item ii of thepreceding paragraph, the Short Curriculum Vitae (Appended Form No. 6) of the said Candidate, including
his/her research career, shall be appended to the said List.
3. The Thesis Preliminary Assessment Committee shall appoint a chairperson, who shall be selected from themembers of the Committee by the mutual election of the Thesis Preliminary Assessment Committee
Members stipulated in Item 1 of Paragraph 1. The chairperson shall coordinate the Thesis Preliminary
Assessment Committee.
4. The Thesis Preliminary Assessment Committee shall, in principle, decide whether the application is
worthy of a doctoral thesis assessment within a period of four weeks from the day on which thepreliminary assessment was referred to the Committee, and the chairperson shall promptly report theresults of the preliminary assessment to the Dean of the Graduate School using the Thesis Preliminary
Assessment Results Report (Appended Form No. 19).
(Notification of Results of Preliminary Assessment by Thesis Submission)
Article 32. The Dean of the Graduate School shall notify the Thesis Preliminary Assessment Applicant of theresults stipulated in Paragraph 4 of the preceding Article using the Thesis Preliminary Assessment Results
Notification (Appended Form No. 20), and additionally report the said results to the Graduate School
Faculty Meeting.
Article 33. Thesis Preliminary Assessment Applicants whose application was approved as a result of theThesis Preliminary Assessment shall apply for doctoral thesis assessment.
(Application Forms for Assessment by Thesis Submission)
Article 34. Thesis Doctorate Applicants shall submit each of the documents listed below to the President of
Shimane University via the Dean of the Graduate School, after obtaining the approval of their researchsupervisor, with an appended payment of the thesis assessment fee.
i. Degree Conferment Application Form (Appended Form No. 21)
1 copyii. Doctoral Thesis (1 volume)
5 copies
iii. Doctoral Thesis Abstract (Appended Form No. 16)
5 copies
iv. List of Publications (Appended Form No. 17)
5 copies
v. Related Publications
5 copies(Application Period for Assessment by Thesis Submission)
Article 35. The prescribed period of application for Thesis Doctorate Applicants shall, in principle, be either
January or July.
(Thesis Assessment Committee)
Article 36. The Dean of the Graduate School shall, when a doctoral thesis assessment is referred from the
President of Shimane University, organize a Thesis Assessment Committee composed of the following
members, for each Thesis Doctorate Applicant.
i. Three or more members from among the faculty members responsible for the Doctor Course. They
must include the Thesis Doctorate Applicant's research supervisor and three professors.
ii. When necessary, a maximum of two faculty members responsible for other graduate schools of
Shimane University, or faculty members/researchers from other universities or research institutes
2. The members of the Thesis Assessment Committee stipulated in the preceding paragraph (hereinafter, the"Thesis Assessment Committee Members") shall be determined by the Graduate School Faculty Meeting,using the List of Candidates for Thesis Assessment Committee (Appended Form No. 22). When adding afaculty member responsible for other graduate schools, other universities and/or research institutes to theCommittee in accordance with Item ii of the preceding paragraph, the Short Curriculum Vitae (Appended
Form No. 6) of the said Candidate, including his/her research career, shall be appended to the said List.
3. The Thesis Assessment Committee shall appoint a chief examiner (hereinafter, the "Chief Examiner"),
who shall be selected from the members of the Committee by the mutual election of the Thesis
Assessment Committee Members stipulated in Item 1 of Paragraph 1. The Chief Examiner shallcoordinate the Thesis Assessment Committee.
(Doctoral Thesis Defense by Thesis Submission)
Article 37. The Thesis Assessment Committee shall hold a doctoral thesis defense at the stage of the thesis
assessment.
2. The Chief Examiner shall notify the Thesis Doctorate Applicant of the details of the doctoral thesis
defense, in principle at least one week in advance of the date of the defense, using the Thesis Defense
Notification (Appended Form No. 11), and make a public announcement.
(Execution of Thesis Assessment by Thesis Submission)
Article 38. The Thesis Assessment Committee shall carry out the thesis assessment and verify the Thesis
Doctorate Applicant's scholarly ability.
2. The Chief Examiner shall notify the Thesis Doctorate Applicant of the necessary matters concerning theexecution of the verification of scholarly ability, using the Final Examination Notification (Appended
Form No. 12).
3. The verification of scholarly ability shall be executed either orally or as a written response, principally
regarding the contents of the thesis, as well as on related research fields and the Thesis Doctorate
Applicant's foreign language ability.
(Deliberation of Thesis Assessment by Thesis Submission Results)
Article 39. The Thesis Assessment Committee shall deliberate and decide whether the thesis is worthy ofconferment of a degree, based on the results of the thesis assessment and the verification of scholarly
ability.
2. The decision mentioned in the preceding paragraph shall be made by the agreement of at least two-thirdsof the members of the Thesis Assessment Committee.
3. The verdict of evaluation of the thesis assessment and the verification of scholarly ability shall be either
Pass or Fail.
(Report of Thesis Assessment by Thesis Submission Results)
Article 40. The Thesis Assessment Committee shall report the results of the thesis assessment to the
Graduate School Faculty Meeting, with an appended opinion on whether the thesis is worthy ofconferment of a degree, in principle within a period of four weeks from the day on which the assessment
was referred to the Committee.
2. The report mentioned in the preceding paragraph shall be made using the documents listed below.
i. Report of Thesis Assessment Results and Verification of Scholarly Ability Results (Appended Form
No. 23)ii. Summary of Thesis Assessment Results (Appended Form No. 24)(Degree Conferment Adjudication Meeting)
Article 20. The Graduate School Faculty Meeting shall, when the report mentioned in the preceding Article
is received, organize a Degree Conferment Adjudication Meeting composed of professors responsible forthe Doctor Course.
2. The Degree Conferment Adjudication Meeting shall be convened by the Dean of the Graduate School, andthe Dean of the Graduate School shall serve as the chairperson. However, in the event that the Dean of the
Graduate School is absent due to unavoidable circumstances, a person designated in advance by the Deanof the Graduate School shall serve as a replacement.
3. The Degree Conferment Adjudication Meeting cannot commence proceedings unless a minimum of twothirds of the constituent members are in attendance.
4. Persons to whom any of the following is applicable shall not be included in the number of constituent
members calculated for the quorum in the preceding paragraph.
i. Persons on a business trip
ii. Persons who are absent to participate in a training programiii. Persons on sick leave for 30 days or more
iv. Persons on administrative leaveArticle 42. The Degree Conferment Adjudication Meeting shall deliberate and decide whether the thesis isworthy of conferment of a degree, based on the report of the Thesis Assessment Committee.
2. The decision mentioned in the preceding paragraph shall be made by a majority of at least two-thirds ofthe attending members.
3. The Degree Conferment Adjudication Meeting may, when deemed particularly necessary by the Graduate
School Faculty Meeting, request that person(s) other than the professors stipulated in Paragraph 1 of thepreceding Article attend the Meeting, and hear the opinion of the said person(s).
(Report)Article 43. The results of the deliberation of the Degree Conferment Adjudication Meeting shall be reported
to the Graduate School Faculty Meeting.
(Deliberation and Decision on Degree Conferment by Thesis Submission)
Article 44. The Graduate School Faculty Meeting shall deliberate and decide whether a degree should beconferred on the Thesis Doctorate Applicant, based on the report of the Degree Conferment Adjudication
Meeting.
2. The decision mentioned in the preceding paragraph shall be made by the agreement of at least two-thirdsof the attending members.
Section 4: Miscellaneous Provisions(Report)Article 45. The Dean of the Graduate School shall promptly report the results of the deliberation mentioned
in Article 23 and the preceding Article to the President of Shimane University.
(Storage of Doctoral Theses)
Article 46. Doctoral theses shall be stored by the relevant department, and submitted Doctoral Thesis
Abstracts and Lists of Publications shall be stored by the Academic Affairs Division, Matsue Faculties
Administration Department.
2. The storage period for Doctoral theses, Doctoral Thesis Abstracts, and Lists of Publications stipulated in
the preceding paragraph shall be ten years.
(Miscellaneous Provisions)
Article 47. Other necessary matters related to the assessment of the doctoral thesis that are not stipulated inthese Detailed Regulations shall be stipulated separately by the Dean of the Graduate School.
Supplementary Provisions
These Detailed Regulations shall be enforced from April 1, 2020.
Supplementary Provisions (partially revised on December 23, 2020)
These Detailed Regulations shall be enforced from January 1, 2021.
Supplementary Provisions (partially revised on March 22, 2022)
These Detailed Regulations shall be enforced from April 1, 2022.