Education / Postgraduate and Doctoral Studies Department
Postgraduate and Doctoral Studies Department
Education
During their postgraduate studies, a postgraduate student is required to:
- Fully implement their individual plan;
- Pass candidate's exams in Philosophy, Foreign Language, and their Special Discipline;
- Complete work on their dissertation and submit it to the department for a formal review.
Postgraduate Student Assessments
The educational process includes periodic reporting (assessment) by postgraduate students on their work, conducted semi-annually and annually on the anniversary of their enrollment.
The assessment for a given study period is conducted by the relevant department and approved by the Faculty Council. The schedule of Faculty Council meetings and assessment deadlines for each faculty should be clarified with the Vice-Deans for Research.
One month before the scheduled assessment, it is necessary to collect the postgraduate student's individual plan from the Postgraduate Department and subsequently return it with a note confirming the assessment.
Based on the results of the annual assessment, orders are prepared for transfer to the next year and for expulsion (for those who failed the assessment for the given period).
Candidate's Exams
Candidate's exams are a form of intermediate assessment within the research and teaching staff training programs in postgraduate studies.
The list of candidate's exams includes:
- History and Philosophy of Science;
- Foreign Language;
- Special Discipline corresponding to the topic of the candidate's dissertation.
Candidate's exams are held twice a year: during the spring session (May 15 to June 15) and the autumn session (November 15 to December 15).
Applications to take the candidate's exam in History and Philosophy of Science and Foreign Language (application forms are available at the respective departments), signed by the department heads, as well as the application to take the candidate's exam in the Special Discipline of the branch of science and scientific specialty (application forms are available at the Postgraduate Department), signed by the department head, must be submitted one month before the start of the session.
For postgraduate students wishing to attend preparatory classes for the candidate's exams, it is necessary to submit an application at the relevant departments (Philosophy and Foreign Languages) between September 1 and 20 of the current year.
History and Philosophy of Science. Exam Requirements
The course "History and Philosophy of Science" for postgraduate students consists of 3 blocks:
1. General Issues in the Philosophy of Science
2. Contemporary Philosophical Problems of Fields of Scientific Knowledge
3. History of Specific Branches of Science
In preparation for the exam, according to the curriculum recommended by the Educational-Methodological Association and the Higher Attestation Commission, the postgraduate student attends a lecture course and seminar sessions for Part I: "General Issues in the Philosophy of Science" (1st semester), and Part II: "Contemporary Philosophical Problems of Fields of Scientific Knowledge" (2nd semester). Part II helps the postgraduate student understand the philosophical problems relevant to their field of research.
Preparation for Part III, "History of the Branch of Science," is carried out by the postgraduate student independently. It involves writing an essay, the topic of which is coordinated with the scientific supervisor and approved by a university order.
The essay is dedicated to the history of a branch of science. The branch of science is determined according to the nomenclature of scientific specialties approved by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation. According to this nomenclature, each specialty has a six-digit code. The first two digits of the code denote the branch of science, e.g., 01.00.00 for Physical and Mathematical Sciences. Thus, the postgraduate student focuses on the first two digits of their specialty code.
The chosen or independently proposed topic, agreed upon with the scientific supervisor, is indicated in an application. This application is endorsed by the supervisor and submitted to the Department of Philosophy for approval by a rector's order before February 1 (for postgraduate students taking the exam in the spring session) and before September 25 (for those taking it in the autumn session).
The purpose of the essay is for the young researcher to identify and comprehend the place of their studied problem and their developments within the general history and structure of that branch of knowledge. In addition to a bibliographic review, the essay may include a formulation of the goal of the future research, a statement of tasks, development of the methodology for the theoretical part of the dissertation, and a list of planned scientific and practical results in preliminary form. The essay can be considered a draft of the first (review) chapter of the future dissertation.
Essay Requirements: The essay should be 22-25 printed pages, 1.5 line spacing, Times New Roman, size 14. The work must include: a title page, table of contents, introduction, main part (consisting of two or more chapters/paragraphs), conclusion, and references to literature [1, p.35]. A bibliography of 15-20 sources is mandatory. Selection of literature is done independently by the postgraduate student. Textbooks are not considered scientific sources!
Preparation of the essay is monitored by the scientific supervisor, who provides a primary expert evaluation. A brief expert evaluation (review) from the scientific supervisor must be attached to the work.
The essay must also contain a brief summary (resume) outlining the essay's logic, main conclusions, and the connection between the conducted historical analysis and the main dissertation research. The summary is handwritten by the postgraduate student on 1-2 A-4 pages and certified by the author's signature.
Essays must be submitted to the Department of Philosophy before April 1 (for the spring session) or before October 1 (for the autumn session). At the department, the work is checked by a specialist who has completed advanced training in "History and Philosophy of Science," who provides a brief review and assigns a grade of "Pass" or "Fail".
The exam is conducted in traditional form. The examination committee for the "History and Philosophy of Science" candidate's exam, headed by the head of the institution (or deputy head), includes specialists from the Department of Philosophy who teach this discipline (at least one Doctor of Philosophical Sciences).
The assessment of the postgraduate student's answer is composed of three parts:
1. Grade for answers to 2 questions on the Philosophy of Science (general part).
2. Grade for the answer on philosophical problems of the relevant field of knowledge.
3. Grade for the essay on the history of the branch of science.
The final grade is determined as the average of these three grades, provided all are positive.
Foreign Language. Exam Requirements
1. Reading aloud and written translation with a dictionary of an original text in the specialty (2000-2300 characters) within 45 minutes.
2. Skim-reading of an original text in the specialty (1200-1500 characters) within 3-5 minutes and conveying its content in the foreign language.
3. Oral translation of a dialogue on the topic "Scientific Business Trip" without preparation.
4. Oral conversation about the postgraduate student's (applicant's) scientific work.
To obtain permission to take the candidate's exam in a foreign language, it is necessary to prepare and submit:
1. Oral translation of scientific texts in the specialty (total volume 135,000 characters).
2. Written translation of a scientific article (volume 15,000 characters) published within the last 5 years, with at least one author affiliated with a university in a country where the target language is spoken.
3. Oral translation of 14 dialogues on the topic "Scientific Business Trip" from Russian into the foreign language.
4. A presentation about one's own scientific work in the foreign language.
5. A letter in the foreign language to a scientific conference committee, formatted according to business etiquette norms.
Special Discipline. Exam Requirements
The candidate's exam in the Special Discipline is taken according to a program consisting of two parts: a standard minimum program for the specialty and an additional program developed by the relevant department.
Necessary methodological materials for preparing for the specialty exam can be obtained from the respective departments.
- Sample Additional Program for the Candidate's Exam in a Specialty
- Sample Dissertation Review
Contact Information
- Main Address: 400131, Russia, Volgograd, Lenin Ave., 28, VSTU, Room 232
- Phone: +7 (8442) 24-81-02
- Fax: +7 (8442) 23-99-41
- E-mail: postgrad@vstu.ru
- Head of Postgraduate and Doctoral Studies: Cand. of Tech. Sci., Assoc. Prof. Alyavtina Anatolyevna Rayushkina.
- Document Specialist: Galina Gennadievna Safonova.
Institute of Architecture and Civil Engineering (IAC), VSTU:
- Address: 400074, Russia, Volgograd, Akademicheskaya St., 1, Room 2-412
- Phone: +7 (8442) 96-98-47
- E-mail: asp@vgasu.ru
- Leading Specialist: Marina Mikhailovna Petryankina.
