Doctorates are highly specialized, research oriented degrees. DIU cannot offer every possible specialization, so the subject studied will depend largely on the abilities of DIU professors to supervise studies in the area requested by the student. With its emphasis on quality, DIU’s doctoral programs are limited to those areas where its faculty members with doctorates have a high degree expertise and experience in supervising doctoral students.
Areas of Specialization include:
Education
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Development
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Educational Leadership
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Community Development
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Mathematics Education
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Social Work
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Educational Psychology
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Rural Development
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In order to apply for a doctoral program, a student must: Submit transcripts of both undergraduate work and master’s degree work, including an original certificate of the master’s degree itself. The master’s degree must be issued by an accredited university, either inside Cambodia or outside. Write a letter of intent, stating precisely what area of study the student wishes to pursue. Provide two letters of recommendation.
Once admitted to the doctoral program, the student will be assigned to a committee of three professors from DIU. The chairperson of the doctoral committee will be the student’s direct supervisor. The student will sit with the committee to map out a program of study. The committee will design the courses, readings, and activities necessary to fit the student’s area of study. These courses will include:
RES D1
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Advanced
Research Methodology
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RES D2
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Academic
Proposal and Thesis Writing
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MAT D1
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Advanced
Statistics
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RES D3
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Review of
the Literature in Student’s Specialization
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RES D9
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Continuing
Research. This course can be repeated up to six times, each time with
differing content as specified by the Supervisor, for example readings and
paper-writing in areas related to the area of specialization.
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At any time after the student has completed the first four of the above courses (usually at the end of 3 to 5 semesters), the committee will meet to allow the student to sit for a comprehensive candidacy examination. This may have both written and oral components. It may cover material studied in any of the courses completed under RES D9, and is designed to determine whether the student is ready to continue work on the dissertation. Upon successful completion of the examination, the student will be “admitted to candidacy” and will be given the title of “candidate for the doctoral degree.” The student will prepare a proposal for research and will submit the proposal to the committee. This proposal will serve as a road-map for the preparation of the dissertation.
The Dissertation
The Ph.D. degree is an international qualification. It must therefore meet international standards, and DIU graduates will be judged internationally by the quality of their dissertation. The dissertation is therefore the most important criterion for the evaluation of the Ph.D. degree at DIU.
When the dissertation has been completed to the satisfaction of the Supervisor, the student will defend the dissertation in front of the entire committee plus one JIU administrator and one other faculty member chosen by the committee. This defense may, at the discretion of the committee, be open to the public.
When the extended committee has given its final approval, the candidate will be responsible for printing and binding the dissertation, and for submitting copies to
- The supervisor
- The registrar of DIU
- The librarian of DIU
Note that the focus and culmination of the doctoral degree is the completion of the dissertation. However, for administrative purposes, the student must have registered for and completed 54 credits, including
RES D1
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Advanced
Research Methodology
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3 credits
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RES D2
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Academic
Proposal and Thesis Writing
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3 credits
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MAT D1
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Advanced
Statistics
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3 credits
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RES D3
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Review of
the Literature in Student’s Specialization
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3 credits
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RES D9
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Continuing
Research and Specialized courses
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18 credits
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RES D4
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Research
Proposal
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6 credits
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DIS D1
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Dissertation
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18 credits
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TOTAL
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54 credits
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