Xu Xiaoqian, a PhD candidate of the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University, became the first in Jiangsu Province to successfully pass the oral defense of her thesis on February 20, through video conference amid the novel coronavirus outbreak.

As it’s impossible to complete the face-to-face oral examination as usual due to the outbreak, she applied for an online meeting and was approved by the university two days later.

The meeting was held through the video conference platform of China’s Internet giant Tencent. Attendants consisted of students, advisors and faculty thesis committee, who were at home or in office in Wuxi, Shenzhen and other cities.

The whole process of the dissertation defense, as well as the following secret ballot, have been recorded and saved. The doctoral degree application materials will also be submitted online to a management system of the university.

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