By December 3 of the first year of registration, students are responsible for presenting the Registrar with a request for approval of their dissertation's topic. The request is made with the appropriate form available from the Registrar, and addressed to the Dean of the School. It will be screened by the Department.

Approval of a thesis topic is valid for five years, beginning with the date on which the student registered in the third cycle. An extension can be granted annually by the School's Management Committee.