The doctoral program’s academic activities include researches and lectures that deliver students to the state of the art of their desired research area. The academic activities also provide various fundamental concepts of their research field and provide wide range of insight that should be possessed by a doctor.

The curriculum structure at the Doctoral Program of TMI is composed of lectures, preparation of research proposals, and researches and writing of dissertations. Lectures with a non-structured curriculum guide students more to the latest scientific developments in their fields, namely the Lecture of Advanced TMI Topic. Lecture of Advanced TMI Topics is coordinated by professors or senior lecturers at the laboratory/related research groups to ensure the student’s research topics is up to-date.

Evaluation by a course exam is held with a concept of student-centered approach in which the implementation is designed as close as possible to the needs and abilities of students. It enables positive interactions between education elements such as students, lecturers, facilities, and the study programs in the hope of fostering a conducive learning atmosphere so that lecturers and students can be encouraged to continue to develop and be creative.

At the Doctoral Program of TMI, this exam, called qualification exam, is structured as a separate course, with a course code of TI7090. This course is an open seminar exam to determine whether the students are qualified to become doctorate candidates. This Qualification Exam aims to evaluate academic activities in the first semester. The students are able to take the qualification exam twice and must pass the exam within no later than 2 years after the student is accepted at the Doctoral Program of TMI ITB.

For the purposes of this exam, students are required to write an initial proposal (pre-proposal) for a semester, which will then be presented in the qualification exam. The initial proposal should contain:

1. Background of research problems
2. The initial formulation of the research problem
3. Expected goals and research results
4. Preliminary description of research position (initial literature study)

This Initial Proposal is written by students in a semester with guidance from a minimum of 1 supervisor who will then become the student’s main supervisor. In some certain circumstances the supervisor can be assisted by an assistant supervisor.