The definitive decision regarding which students will be allowed to continue in the third year will be communicated before June . Financial support to continuing third year students is provided by the department on a competitive basis. Only in exceptional cases, and if resources to provide financial support are available, the Doctoral Committee can reconsider the decision in case of students who were previously denied financial support in April. This will occur in September and in such a case the grades of the fourth semester courses will de taken into account. Students who are admitted to the third year are expected to complete their dissertation in a 2-3 year period.
Students can apply to choose a supervisor affiliated to any of the partner institutions.
As an exception, the Doctoral Committee can approve the election of a thesis director not affiliated to any university in the network provided that the student has a co-director affiliated to a university in the network. In all cases, students will fill out a form, with the supervisor's approval, which will be filed by the Programme Secretary. Students are expected to regularly attend and actively participate in the Department Seminar. Students who fail in obtaining approval for their dissertation proposal will have a second opportunity during the fourth year. Students are expected to make a presentation in a seminar session during the fourth year.