(This is a translation of the official version in Chinese 沪交研〔2021〕82 号. In case of any discrepancy, the Chinese version shall prevail.)

Chapter One: General Provisions

Article 1 To regulate the application and conferral of Master’s degrees and ensure the quality of Master’s degrees, these regulations are hereby formulated in accordance with Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Academic Degrees and Provisional Measures for the Implementation of the Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Academic Degrees.

Article 2 All Chinese Master students who support the leadership of the Communist Party of China, the socialist system, and abide by the Constitution and laws of China and SJTU rules and regulations, as well as international Master students who abide by the Constitution and laws of China and SJTU rules and regulations, may apply for the Master degrees in accordance with these regulations as long as they meet the basic requirements.

Chapter Two: Basic Requirements

Article 3 Master’s students should complete their training program within the prescribed period of study and pass the examinations of the required ideological and political theory courses, basic theory courses, and specialized courses and obtain the required credits. They should also complete scientific research or practical training, successfully defend their dissertations, abide by the academic norms, and have the ability to conduct scientific research.

Article 4 Dissertations serve as the main basis for degree evaluation. The requirements of dissertations in terms of topic selection, overview, normalization and innovation of results shall conform to the relevant regulations of Schools and disciplines.

Article 5 During their study, Master's students should engage in scientific research related to the training objectives of the School and the discipline, and achieve certain innovative results. The form and specific requirements of the achievements shall be in accordance with the regulations of the School.

Chapter Three: Dissertation Review

Article 6 Dissertation review shall be conducted one and a half months before the dissertation defense, and is carried out independently by each School in accordance with its own review method.

Article 7 When dissertations are submitted for evaluation, they will be randomly checked by the University at the same time. Those picked will be checked in accordance with the SJTU Interim Regulations on Random Quality Checks of Dissertations.

Article 8 Dissertation review shall be completed within one month (from the date the paper is dispatched for review). If dissertation has passed the review or has been submitted for double blind review but the result has yet to be delivered, the student is allowed to apply for dissertation defense.

Chapter Four: Dissertation Defense

Article 9 After the dissertation has been reviewed, revised and improved according to the comments/suggestions from the reviewers, and finalized after approval by the supervisor, the master students who have met the requirements for scientific studies as prescribed by the School may apply for the oral defense. He/she shall submit a defense application to the discipline, which should be approved by the supervisor, the discipline and the School. The dissertation defense should be completed within the year specified or approved by the University, and will not be accepted afterwards.

Article 10 The discipline shall designate a faculty member as the defense secretary, who will be responsible for preparation of the defense materials, coordination of the defense organization and the post-defense materials collection.

Article 11 The discipline shall invite 3 or 5 peer experts with intermediate professional titles or above (with the qualification of Master’s student training) to set up the dissertation defense committee (defense committee for degree applicants with same-level education background shall consist of 5 members, including 1 expert from other University /institution out of the applicant’s work unit). The defense committee must be assumed by a professor-level expert. The supervisor of the master student can not serve as a member of the committee.

Article 12 The dissertation defense shall follow the principles of “upholding the standards, ensuring the quality, and being just and reasonable”, support academic democracy and proceed in an open manner (the defense for confidential dissertations shall be organized in a closed meeting) with the following steps:

1) The author presents the main content of the dissertation (around 30 minutes);

2) The author reads out Statement of Originality;

3) The defense secretary reads out review results;

4) The defense committee members ask questions, and the author responds;

5) Adjourning. The defense committee holds an appraisal meeting to judge the academic level of the dissertation and the defense of the author, reach a defense conclusion by secret-ballot, draft and pass the defense resolution. The chairperson of the defense committee should sign on the defense resolution;

6) Resuming. The chairperson announces the resolution and conclusion of the defense committee;

7) The author of the dissertation signs the Copyright Authorization.

Article 13 The final conclusion of the dissertation defense shall be drawn from the secret ballot of the defense committee. If the number of affirmative votes exceeds 2/3 of the number of the committee members, the defense is seen as passed. The master student is recommended for the conferral of a Master’s degree, which shall be submitted to the Academic Degree Evaluation Committee of the School for approval.

Article 14 If the number of affirmative votes is less than 2/3 of the number of the committee members, the defense will be seen as failed. For those who fail the dissertation defense, he/she may revise the thesis within 1 year (not exceeding the maximum allowed study duration) and then apply for dissertation review and defense.

Article 15 The degree applicant should submit the following documents within 30 days from the date they pass the defense (applications not submitted within the deadline or with incomplete materials will not be processed):

1) Dissertation (electronic version, in case of any suggestions of revision from the defense committee, the author must revise the dissertation accordingly and submit the final version)

2) Degree Application Form (paper version)

3) Defense Resolution (paper version)

4) Dissertation Evaluation Form (paper version)

Article 16 Degree awarding is subject to three levels of review, namely, review of the Academic Degree Evaluation Committee of the School, faculty and University.

Article 17 The discipline and the Academic Degree Evaluation Committee of the School shall review the quality of the dissertation, the defense process and the academic publications of the degree applicant, and make a decision by secret ballot on whether or not to grant the student a Master’s degree. Applicants, who received affirmative votes from more than half of the Academic Degree Evaluation members of the School, will be reported to the Academic Degree Evaluation Committee of the faculty for further review. Applicants who received affirmative votes from less than half of the Academic Degree Evaluation Committee of the School shall be suspended from receiving a Master’s degree.

Article 18 The Academic Degree Evaluation Committee of the faculty shall review each master student that has been approved by the School committee. Those who pass the faculty review shall be submitted to the Degree Evaluation Committee of the University for review. Those who fail to pass the review will be suspended from receiving a Master’s degree.

Article 19 The Academic Degree Evaluation Committee of SJTU shall review the applications recommended by the Academic Degree Evaluation Committee of the faculty. Those approved by the SJTU committee shall be conferred a Master’s degree and awarded a Master’s degree certificate.

Article 20 Students whose degree applications are suspended after reviews of the Academic Degree Evaluation Committees should revise the dissertation according to the comments/suggestions and requirements of the Committees and can re-apply for the degree within one year from the degree suspension date. Late applications will not be accepted.

Chapter Five: Miscellaneous

Article 21 The Academic Degree Affairs Office of the University will occasionally sample the Master’s degree dissertations, with an emphasis on those that did not participate in the anonymous review and those with objections from the anonymous review, so as to assess the quality of the dissertations and adjust the relevant policies dynamically.

Article 22 For degrees that have been granted, in case of serious violations of the regulations, such as fraudulent practices, after affirmation by the Academic Degree Evaluation Committee, the degree can be revoked. Master students who have academic misconduct during their study or during the degree application process shall be dealt with according to the SJTU Academic Code of Conduct for Graduate Students.

Article 23 Regulations on the defense and other issues of Master’s dissertations and degree application in the School of Medicine should refer to related documents of the School.

Article 24 For detailed information on the storage and archiving of materials for degree application and conferral, please refer to the list of archived documents for Master’s degree application and conferral (see Appendix).

Article 25 These regulations are subject to interpretation by the Graduate School and take effect on September 1, 2021. In case of any discrepancy between this and previous version of the regulations, this version shall prevail.

Appendix: List of archived documents for Master’s degree application and conferral