Section 5. PhD thesis appraisal process of the Cum Laude Committee

Article 3.19. Establishment of the Cum Laude Committee and appointment of members

1. If the Manuscript Committee has recommended the establishment of a Cum Laude Committee on the basis of Article 3.17, the dean will set up a Cum Laude Committee as soon as possible after receiving the advice and shall appoint the members.
2. A Cum Laude Committee consists of three members, including a chair.
3. When establishing the Cum Laude Committee and appointing its members, the dean will ensure that the Cum Laude Committee will be able to provide an objective and expert recommendation. The dean observes the following:
   a. The chair of the Manuscript Committee is also the chair of the Cum Laude Committee;
   b. The members of the Cum Laude Committee are all professors and experts in the field of science to which the thesis relates.
   c. The two members of the Cum Laude Committee still to be appointed are external members.
   d. The Cum Laude Committee has a balanced and, if possible, diverse composition.
   e. Members of the supervision team and, with the exception of the chair, members of the Manuscript Committee are not eligible for appointment.
4. During the composition of the Cum Laude Committee, the dean will verify, in light of the relationships and interests of the individual members, that all of the members of the Cum Laude Committee are individually capable to decide without undue pressure or influence. Persons who are co-authors of an article that forms part of the manuscript will not be appointed, unless, in the opinion of the dean, such an appointment is strictly necessary due to the expert composition of the committee.
5. If a member of the Cum Laude Committee resigns as a member in the interim, the dean will arrange his or her replacement. The chair of the Doctorate Board will be informed of the replacement, stating the reason for resignation.

Article 3.20. Forwarding thesis to the Cum Laude Committee

1. After the establishment of the Cum Laude Committee, the chair of the Manuscript Committee will ensure that all members of the established Cum Laude Committee receive a copy of the manuscript established by the Manuscript Committee in a timely fashion.
2. If the results of the thesis are partly based on research data, then the Cum Laude Committee will in principle be given access to the research data. In situations where, in the opinion of the PhD supervisor, it is not feasible to provide access for all of the Cum Laude Committee members, access will be provided at least to the chair of the Cum Laude Committee. At the request of the PhD supervisor, the chair of the Doctorate Board may, in very exceptional cases and only for compelling reasons, decide that the chair of the Manuscript Committee will not be granted access to the research data either.

Article 3.21. Decision-making process of the Cum Laude Committee

1. The Cum Laude Committee decides on the level of the thesis’ scientific quality no later than five weeks of receipt of the thesis.
2. The dissertation is of excellent scientific quality if at least one of the following assessment criteria is assessed as exceptionally high and the other two criteria as high:
   a. the quality of the research;
   b. the (potential) impact of the work;
   c. the originality of the work.
3. The Cum Laude Committee takes its decisions based on majority voting.
4. The chair of the Doctorate Board may supplement the assessment criteria referred to in paragraphs 2 and 3 if the dean considers it necessary to set these additional assessment criteria within the relevant discipline. In that case, the additional rules will be added as an appendix to these regulations.
5. Each member of the Cum Laude Committee shall use the assessment form in Appendix VI for the assessment.
6. The decision of the Cum Laude Committee includes a synthesis of the assessments by the committee members prepared by the chair of the Manuscript Committee.
7. The completed assessment forms are attached with the decision. Notwithstanding this, the chair of the Manuscript Committee may decide not to attach the completed assessment forms.
8. The chair of the Cum Laude Committee informs the dean in writing of the decision by the Cum Laude Committee. Upon receipt, the dean forwards the decision to the secretary of the Doctorate Board. The decision remains secret for the PhD candidate.