The assessment committee is composed of three members (examiners), at least two of whom must be external members, and at least one of these must be a researcher from abroad. These rules apply unless it is considered academically inappropriate. The third committee member may be from the department or from another department at DTU, and this person is appointed chairman of the committee. The principal advisor is to send the proposal for the appointment to the Office for PhD and Continuing Education.
The members of the assessment committee must be professors, senior associate professors, associate professors, senior researchers or others with corresponding qualifications.
The proposal for examiners must contain information which enables the PhD committee to assess whether there is a reasonable correlation between the subject of the thesis and the professional background of the examiners. Such information (in CV form) must include academic qualifications, employer and other relevant information about the qualifications of the proposed examiners, along with an outline of relevant publications. Examiners must not have been co-authors with the PhD candidate of any published material within the candidate's subject of study.
The PhD student must be notified about the composition of the assessment committee before the proposal is submitted. If the PhD student has no objections to the list, then a statement to this effect is added to the end of the proposal which is then signed by the PhD student. On the other hand, if the PhD student has any objections, these must be submitted and will form part of the basis for the PhD committee’s decision.
The PhD committee (chairman) approves the composition of the assessment committee. This must take place no later than immediately after submission of the thesis.
Supervisors cannot be appointed members of the assessment committee, but the principal supervisor will participate in the work of the assessment committee without voting rights.
The principal supervisor/PhD school is in charge of the communication with the assessment committee, including handling of reimbursement for travel expenses and payment of fees to external examiners.