Defending a PhD thesis over the Internet: Challenges and obstacles

Organizing and completing the final oral defense of a Ph.D. thesis over the Internet as a videoconference session presented both a technical and legal challenge to participants in the process. In this paper we present the experience gained and some recommendations for future similar endeavors as a result of preparing and accomplishing the first Ph.D. defense held at the Universities of Bosnia Herzegovina, with the president of the defense committee guiding the event remotely from his office in the USA. The whole event took place at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering in Sarajevo.