APPLICATION DATES: September 28, 2026 – October 6, 2026
HOW TO APPLY?
You must apply online by logging in to the e-enstitu.yildiz.edu.tr system with your username and password, then clicking the “Application” tab under the “Qualification Procedures” menu.
WHAT TO DO IF YOU ENCOUNTER A SYSTEM ERROR DURING APPLICATION?
According to Article 19 of the Senate Regulations, students who have fulfilled their course requirements but encounter an error while applying through the e-enstitu.yildiz.edu.tr system may log in to e-enstitu.yildiz.edu.tr using their username and password and send a message to the “e-Institute System Issues” category to have their situation reviewed.
EXAM FORMAT
Doctoral qualifying written and oral exams will be conducted in person between the 9th and 12th weeks of the relevant semester, at the times, dates, and locations determined by the Department Chairs, and will be announced on the departments’ websites. Those who pass the written exam will take the oral exam on dates to be determined by the departments. The departments will announce the dates, times, and other details regarding the doctoral qualifying exams on their websites.
Doctoral qualification processes will be conducted in accordance with Article 31 of the YTÜ Graduate Education and Teaching Regulations—Senate Principles:
- The qualification exam consists of two parts: a written exam and an oral exam.
- Qualifying Written Exam: This will be a single-stage exam covering the graduate-level courses defined for the program established within the department.
- A minimum score of 70/100 must be obtained on the written qualifying exam.
- A student who fails the written qualifying exam may not take the oral exam.
- A minimum score of 50/100 must be obtained on the oral qualifying exam.
- To pass, the arithmetic average of the written and oral qualifying exams must be at least 70/100.
Students who passed the written portion of the doctoral qualifying exam but failed the oral exam in the Spring 2025–2026 semester will be admitted only to the oral exam this semester, provided they apply through the online system (e-enstitu.yildiz.edu.tr).
WHO CAN APPLY?
Students in Semesters 1 Through 4: Doctoral students who have completed their coursework and fulfilled the course load requirements specified in Article 19 of the YTÜ Graduate Education and Teaching Regulations—Implementation Procedures and Principles—and who are in semesters prior to the 5th semester may also apply for the doctoral qualification exam.
Students in Their 5th Semester: All doctoral students enrolled for the Fall 2024–2025 semester who have not previously applied for the qualifying exam must apply for the Doctoral Qualifying Exam, as this semester will be their 5th semester, in accordance with the Senate Principles of the YTÜ Graduate Education and Teaching Regulations. For those who do not apply by the Fall 2026–2027 semester, or who apply but do not take the exam, or who fail the exam, this will count as their first failure.
Students in Their 6th Semester: Doctoral students who were enrolled in the Spring 2023–2024 semester and have not yet taken the qualification exam are considered to have failed, as they have completed their 5th semester this term. For these students, those who do not apply for the 2026–2027 Fall semester doctoral qualifying exams, who apply but do not take the exam, or who fail the exam will be considered to have their second failure, and their enrollment will be terminated!
APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS
To be eligible to apply for the doctoral qualifying exam, the course completion requirements listed below must be met.
- For students admitted with a thesis-based master’s degree: A minimum of 7 (seven) courses, totaling at least 21 (twenty-one) credits, consisting of a Seminar course, Research Methods, and Scientific Ethics.
- For students admitted to doctoral programs with a bachelor’s degree (integrated program): A minimum of 14 (fourteen) courses, including the Seminar course, Research Methods, and Scientific Ethics, totaling no fewer than 42 (forty-two) credits.
- For students admitted with a thesis-based master’s degree: Of the 7 (seven) courses—excluding the “Research Methods and Scientific Ethics” and “Seminar” courses, which must be taken within the first 4 semesters of graduate study—at least 4 (four) must be courses included in the curriculum of the student’s department. For doctoral students admitted with a bachelor’s degree (integrated program), of the 14 (fourteen) courses required within the first 6 semesters of graduate study—excluding the “Research Methods and Scientific Ethics” and “Seminar” courses—at least 8 (eight) of the 14 (fourteen) courses—excluding “Research Methods and Scientific Ethics” and “Seminar”—must be taken within the first 6 semesters of graduate study and must be included in the curriculum of the student’s department
- A maximum of 3 (three) graduate-level courses offered in other departments or at other higher education institutions—and a maximum of 6 (six) courses—may be counted toward the total course load the student is required to complete during their graduate studies.
Students who do not meet the above conditions must not apply for qualification and must complete their missing courses within the timeframe specified in the regulations. (Students who fail to complete their missing courses within the timeframe specified in the regulations will have their registrations canceled.) Qualification applications submitted by students who do not meet the relevant requirements will be deemed invalid!
Click here for the Implementation Procedures and Principles of the YTÜ Graduate Education and Teaching Regulations.