- Prospective candidates shall apply for a Master degree program. The application shall include the proposed topic of the study. If accepted, the candidate will enrol for the Program.
- Each candidate will be supervised by at least one supervisor appointed by KIUST. If two supervisors are appointed, one of the supervisors will be designated as the Principal supervisor and the second will the Associate supervisor. Each supervisor must be appointed by KIUST and must report to KIUST.
- Excluding periods of deferment and leave of absence granted by the Doctorate Research Committee, candidates usually take between 1-4 years to complete the Master degree program. If after 4 years a candidate has not yet submitted his or her dissertation for examination, the candidate status as a student may be terminated unless there are good reasons for not meeting the submission deadline. If a Master degree candidate is transferring from another institution to KIUST, the number of years spent in the other institution prior to transferring to KIUST may reduce the number of years required for the submission of dissertation. However, candidates should bear in mind that KIUST is interested in the quality of the dissertation not the number of years spent on the dissertation.
- As soon as KIUST receives notice from a candidate of his or her intention to submit a dissertation, KIUST shall appoint two examiners.
- The dissertation examination process at KIUST is divided into the following two important parts.
Part 1: INTERNAL EXAMINATION OF THE DISSERTATION: When the dissertation is submitted to KIUST, KIUST will appoint 2 of its own professors to examine the dissertation and make recommendation as to whether or not the dissertation should:
Be accepted without modifications, or
Be accepted with some modifications, or
Be accepted with major modifications, or
Be rejected and classified as failed.
NOTE: If the result of the examinations is not satisfactory to the candidate, the candidate may request for the dissertation to be re-examined by another two internal examiners.
Part 2: EXTERNAL EXAMINATION OF THE DISSERTATION IN TERMS OF ITS SUITABILITY FOR PUBLICATION: If in Part A, the dissertation is accepted for the Master degree, the next final Stage in examining the worth of the Master degree study is to have at least one paper from the findings of the study accepted for publication in refereed conference proceedings, or refereed journals, or book chapters in refereed research books.
If the above requirement has not been met, the candidate will be advised to consult his or her supervisor and discuss when and how to fulfil this requirement. This means that qualifications will not be issued until this requirement in Part 2 of the Master degree dissertation examination has been met. This is absolutely essential because it will allow an external assessment of the worth of the dissertation in terms of its contribution to knowledge and will also enable some of the findings of study to be made available to the public.
If at least 2 refereed papers from the dissertation are accepted for publication in refereed conference proceedings, or refereed journals, or book chapters in refereed research books, the Master degree may be awarded with distinction. However, the publication must occur either during candidature and or within 12 months of submission of the dissertation for examination.
- As soon as the candidate fulfils the above examination requirements it shall be recommended by the Academic Board to the Senate Council that the candidate is qualified to be admitted to the degree that the dissertation was examined for. A copy of the recommendation shall be forwarded to the candidate.