UTUGradu

The supervisor of a thesis adds the examiner(s) and approver of a thesis on the thesis form. If you have been added as an examiner, you receive an email from the UTUGradu system ( from the address noreply@utu.fi)  to your utu- email when the approval and publication process has progressed to the actual examination and evaluation phase. Below, you can find instructions for giving the evaluation statement and regarding the progress of the process.

1. You will find a link in the email to the UTUGradu thesis form (Chrome and Firefox browsers are recommended for filling in the form), where you will find the basic information about thesis filled in by the student(s) and you can download the thesis as a PDF file by scrolling down the page to the examiner's step. 

NB! The examiner(s) gives the evaluation statement always based on the thesis file attached in the form.

2. The actual evaluation statement will be entered on the thesis form. You do not have to fill in the form in one go, as you can and should save the information from the bottom of the form by clicking “Save and proceed to confirm” during the process (the fields marked with an asterisk must be filled with some information before saving). After this, you can close the form and return to it via the link in your email.

• On the form, you need to verify that you have evaluated the thesis and accept it. The evaluation is based on the joint evaluation categories and grade descriptions of the University. On the form, you are to verify that you have read the grade descriptions.

NB! Theses submitted to UTUGradu are finished versions. Changes are no longer supposed to be made to them due to the comments made by the examiner(s). 

• The evaluation can be entered on the form either in an open text field or in more specific assessment fields based on the grade descriptions by selecting the evaluation form that contains numeric and verbal assessments or the form with only a verbal assessment and an overall grade.
  • If you select the numeric and verbal assessments, it is not necessary to fill in all the sections. However, the overall assessment should be given also when using the more specific assessment statement. All the sections can be viewed in the annex below.
    • Main categories of the numeric and verbal assessments:
      • Research results, their evaluation, and the author’s independence
      • Presentation
      • Structure of the thesis and discussion on the research topic
      • Theoretical background and scientific literature
      • Research methods and data
      • The objectives and research topic of the thesis

It is good to agree on the departments/faculties joint evaluation statement practices regarding the evaluation form, meaning which evaluation form template is generally used.

• If the examiners wish to give the evaluation statement jointly, the statement should be planned outside the thesis form and the finished statement entered to the form later. In this case, it is recommended to use the open text field in the evaluation, since it is easier to copy and paste the statement from eg. from a Word document or email.
  • The examiner 1 can enter the jointly made evaluation statement to the form and examiner 2 and 3 can read it and choose "I have read the thesis and drafted the evaluation statement jointly with the other examiners and will suggest same grade for the thesis as the other examiners" (see fig.).
• The evaluation period is a maximum of 4 weeks from receiving the email, at the end of which the form must be forwarded to the student at the latest. June, July, August and December make an exception and the faculties decide on the time limit for these months.

3. When your evaluation statement is ready, click “Save and proceed to confirm”, after which a draft page opens and you can check the information you have added. If necessary, click “Edit” and go back to editing the statement. When you are finished, click “Verify and lock” on the draft page. At this point you can no longer make changes to your statement. You can close the form/browser.

As an examiner, your role in the UTUGradu process ends here.

► After the evaluation statements of all the examiners have been added and locked on the form, the student(s) get an email and get to view the statements on the form and make their possible appeal. After this, the UTUGradu system forwards the form to the approver (Head of Department or Dean) who decides on the final grade based on the examiners’ statements and the possible appeal by the student.