Complex Exam
Complex Exam
About the comprehensive exam
Based on Section 48 (1) of the university’s Doctoral Regulations: “The comprehensive examination is a comprehensive evaluation of the Student’s knowledge acquired in the training and research phase of the doctoral programme and the Student’s preparedness for the programme’s research and dissertation phase."
Students are required to take the comprehensive exam during their fourth active semester. It is important to note that the comprehensive exam cannot be postponed! It is also important to highlight that the complex (comprehensive) exam can only be retaken once in case of a fail with strict restrictions. In addition, the student status of the PhD student terminates if the complex exam is not passed after the end of their 4th active semester regardless the reasons of the fail.
To participate in the comprehensive exam, students must complete 84 course credits (12 courses, including 9 mandatory and 3 optional) and 24 research credits. There is no requirement to complete teaching credits for the comprehensive exam.
According to the decision of the Doctoral School Council made on 23 June 2022, in addition to the course credits and research credits, students will be required to have at least one accepted scientific publication (i.e. a statement that has successfully passed the peer-review process and is officially certified by the Editor-in-Chief as acceptable) by the time of the complex examination. The supervisor is required to confirm the existence of the publication in the "Supervisor's Declaration" document (see below), which the student must submit when applying for the comprehensive exam. The new regulation will be introduced in an ascending system and is expected to be binding for students admitted from September 2025. For students admitted before 2025, having a publication is recommended, but the exam can still be taken without it. However, in their case, we ask the supervisor to indicate whether or not the student has a publication in the supervisor's statement.
More information about publication requirements can be found here.
Guides and Forms
The Registrar's Office's information on the procedures for comprehensive exams can be accessed by clicking here.
The Content And Procedings Of The Complex Exam Conducted In The Doctoral School Of Education
Declaration of the PhD student’s admittance to the complex exam
Research Plan
The Content of the Research Plan
Evaluation of the Research Plan
THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION APPLIES ONLY TO THOSE WHOSE 2024/2025/II. SEMESTER IS THEIR FOURTH ACTIVE SEMESTER, OR THOSE WHO WISH TO TAKE THE COMPREHENSIVE EXAM IN THIS SEMESTER.
Dear Students,
We hope this email finds you all well.
At the end of the 4th active semester students shall be required to finish the Training and Research Phase by completing a Complex (Comprehensive) Examination. The Complex Exam is aimed to measure and assess progress made in study and research, the completion and it is a condition for the commencement of the Research and Dissertation Phase.
The Complex Exam has two prerequisites:
- Students need to complete the required modules, which means a total of 84 academic credits until the end of the 4th active semester. If 2024/2025 II. semester is your fourth active semester, please check if there are any academic courses missing but necessary to obtain for fulfilling the required modules.
- You need to acquire additional 24 research credits until the end of the 4th active semester.
You can check the completed academic and research credits in Neptun at the 'Studies'/'Gradebook' by selecting 'All Terms'. On the following link you find the Curriculum of the Doctoral School of Education, please, check the subject requirements: https://www.ppk.elte.hu/en/eduscience/curriculum-and-system-of-credits
Registration for the complex exam
You need to register for the Complex Exam in Neptun during the Course Registration Period with the code DEDU16-X from Monday, February 10, 2025, 17:00, to Thursday, February 20, 2025, 16:00. Please make sure to register for the comprehensive exam in Neptun by the end of the course registration period.
Registration for the comprehensive exam is also done through Neptun using a request form. Students will receive notification and must upload the mandatory documents to Neptun by March 31, 2025:
- Completion of the application form (Neptun > Administration/Requests)
- Research and work plan for the next 4 semesters (research and dissertation phase)
- Declaration and Assessment of the Supervisor(s).
- The Turnitin report of the research plan (please find the guide for the report attached)
The date and procedure of the exam
The comprehensive exam will take place during the examination period (May 19 2025 - July 05 2025), and the exact timing will be communicated at least 21 days in advance by the Registrar’s Office in Neptun.
Two opponents will review the final research plan before the exam, and their opinions will be made available to you and your supervisors.
The comprehensive exam is composed of two parts:
- the theoretical part assesses the examinee’s up-to-date theoretical and methodological knowledge together with his/her expertise in the literature of the relevant discipline, and
- in the dissertation part the examinee demonstrates his/her academic progress.
Draft version of the research plan
Like the practice of previous years, students also need to submit the first draft of their research plan by th of 28 Ferbruary 2025 via the following link: https://elteppk.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_b2Dcf0XZJQtion4 .
It will be accessible on a protected online user interface for the other doctoral students and the supervisors of the Doctoral School to receive feedback. The submission of the draft version is optional.
More information
For detailed information about the complex exam, please visit: https://www.ppk.elte.hu/en/eduscience/complex-exam.
You can find the guidelines of the Registrar’s Office here.
If you have any further questions regarding the above, please feel free to contact us.
Best regards,
Secretariat of the Doctoral Schools