During the period of pandemic prevention and control, the University’s first online dissertation defense was staged on March 20, 2020 for Zhuang Xu, a doctoral candidate from the School of Information Science and Technology.

The whole process of this defense conforms to the General Requirements for Online Dissertation Defense of Southwest Jiaotong University During the Pandemic Prevention and Control Period, without compromising on the quality of defense. Before the defense, both the defense application and review were completed at the E-Service Hall of the University online. After a detailed online defense program was formulated, the defense secretary communicated with the candidate and the defense committee and they together rehearsed the whole procedures in an endeavour to make the debut successful.

ZOOM, a conference network platform, was engaged in this online defense, and participants joined in the meeting from different locations via network video.

The process was consistent with the traditional offline defense. At 9:30 a.m. on March 20, Zhuang Xu, the candidate, members of the dissertation defense committee and staff concerned entered the online conference room for the connection test. At 9:45, professor Li Tianrui, chairman of the defense committee, announced the commencement of defense after introducing the members. Then, Zhuang Xu gave a brief introduction to his thesis.

At 10:30, experts of the defense committee asked Zhuang Xu questions about the feasibility issues, experimental design, writing skills and other aspects of the thesis.

At 11:15, Zhuang Xu, as required by the committee, temporarily logged out from the online conference room after the Q & A session. Then, professor Peng Qiang, the candidate’s doctoral supervisor, reported on Zhuang’s studies to the defense committee and read out his suggestions and comments on the dissertation before he left the online conference room. After 40 minutes of online discussion, the defense committee voted anonymously to form a defense resolution.

At 12:00, Zhuang Xu and his supervisor Peng Qiang entered the conference room again at the invitation of the defense secretary. Professor Li Tianrui announced the comments and conclusions of the defense committee, “After discussion and voting by secret ballot, the defense committee unanimously approved Zhuang Xu’s defense of doctoral dissertation and proposed to award him the degree of Doctor of Engineering.” The defense came to an end as the applause broke out.

To ensure openness and authenticity of online defense, the whole defense was recorded.

As the first doctoral candidate in SWJTU to pass the defense online, Zhuang Xu shared his enjoy after the defense, “Many thanks to all the professors for their warm help and meticulous preparations. I have learned a lot from the suggestions of the committee members. Although the pandemic has affected our learning, it will never cut loose our attachment to the University’s motto of Diligence, Ambition, Tenacity and Loyalty.”