Theses
Guidelines for Progress of Research
Evaluation of Postgraduate Students
Submission of Postgraduate Theses
Examiners
Publications
Seminars/Oral Presentations
Code
of practice - Research
Research Meetings
Postgraduate Open Day
Tutoring Demonstrating
Guidelines
for Progress of Research
These guidelines are set out as an approximate timetable
for the progress of postgraduate research students.
In an extended period of study it is difficult to know
just how much progress you should be making. At first,
the time allowed for completion seems sufficient.However
every committed research student eventually realises
that the allotted span is too short to achieve complete
knowledge of their research area. You will rely to
a great extent on your supervisor. These guidelines
are intended to supplement and advise your supervisory
arrangements, not to replace them. This is especially
true for the suggested schedules for progress presented
in Appendix 1 and Appendix 2. There is some flexibility
in the time scale and the order in which the tasks are
tackled. Nevertheless, these guidelines are firm recommendations
for your consideration and for gauging your performance.
Presentations are an essential part of any research
programme. The format of these presentations (eg. written
or spoken) can be discussed with your supervisor. All
postgraduate students undertaking research should give
a presentation of their work at least once each year.
In addition, postgraduates are also encouraged to attend
and participate at seminars offered by research groups
within the Faculty and by visiting scholars and engineers.
Students are reminded that the final forum for feedback
will be through publication in journals and conference
proceedings and they are encouraged to work towards
that end as early as possible.
Evaluation
of Postgraduate Students
Research students are subject to an annual review of
their work, which takes place in October each year.
The primary aim of the annual review is to monitor progress
in research work, as well as suggest ways of improving
future performance.
In the review each student is asked to provide a written
report of his/her progress, and to state his/her goals
for the following year. The supervisor rates the performance
of each student, and indicates what steps have been
taken to overcome any difficulties experienced. It
is expected that the supervisor discusses his/her comments
in detail with the student.
All reports are then passed onto the Director Postgraduate
(Research), who makes recommendations. For scholarship
recipients, the Coordinator also recommends whether
payment should continue. The report is then forwarded
to the Dean of Engineering, and is finally sent to the
Office of Research.
This annual review procedure is considered to be a constructive
means of reviewing a student's progress. However, any
poor performance that is revealed may call for serious
consideration at any time during the year. In extreme
cases the Dean of Faculty can recommend that the student
withdraw from his/her degree programme, or downgrade
to a lower degree
Submission
of Theses
You can obtain a booklet from Academic and Student Services
entitled "Guidelines for Higher Degree Candidates
on the Supervision of Theses." This booklet provides
information about writing of theses, requirements for
the award of the degree, rules governing submission,
procedure for the submission of theses, the examination
process, graduation, reference books and binding of
theses. It should be read in conjunction with Section
C3 of the attachments referred to in the "University
of Wollongong Course Rules" in the Postgraduate
Calendar (please refer to University of Wollongong Web
Pages).
Students are requested to give the Faculty Director
Postgraduate (Research) two months written notice of
intention to submit a thesis. This allows time for
the appointment of examiners and facilitates the processing
of the thesis when it is submitted. Three coil-bound
copies of the thesis must be submitted to the Office
of Research. The two coil-bound copies will be sent
to the examiners, who have the option to keep their
copies should they so wish. The remaining copy will
be held by Administration until the examiners' reports
have been received and approved by the University Research
Committee. It will then be returned to the student
for corrections to be made, if necessary. Once the
corrections have been completed, two copies must
be hard bound and returned to the Faculty Director Postgraduate
(Research) for submission to the Research Office. One
copy will be held in the University Library and the
other returned to the Faculty to be held in the Faculty
Thesis Collection.
The following documents must be submitted with the thesis:
- a submission of thesis form, signed by the candidate,
the supervisor and the Director Postgraduate (Research);
- a copyright declaration form for insertion in the
Library copy of the thesis;
- an abstract of 350 words for forwarding to University
Microfilms International for publication in "Dissertation
Abstracts International" (Doctorial degrees
only); and
- an agreement form for the publication of the abstract
by University Microfilms (Doctoral degrees only).
The above documents
are available from the Research
Office.
Please note that the examination process and recommendation
regarding award of the degree may take several
months following receipt of the thesis.
Examiners
Two examiners are used for both PhD Theses and
ME(Hons) by Research (48 CP) Theses. For PhD both examiners
must be external to the University and for ME (Hons)
at least one of the two examiners must be external.
Recommendation of examiners is made by the Director
Postgraduate (Research) in consultation with the supervisor,
based on a list of at least five potential examiners.
The list is discussed with the student to permit objections
to be raised concerning specific examiners who may be
considered to be prejudiced against the work. However,
the identities of the examiners’ selected by the supervisor
and endorsed by the Director Postgraduate (Research)
are not to be revealed to the student during the examination
process. The examiners can be made known to the
student following the consideration of the written
reports
if
the examiners give permission for their identities
to be revealed.
Publications
The external examiners’ reports specifically evaluate
the originality and publishability of the candidate’s
thesis work. Therefore, all research students are encouraged
to publish their important research findings with their
supervisors in reputed Journals and Conference Proceedings
during the course of their studies, prior to submission
of thesis for external examination. Although this
is not a mandatory requirement of the University,
past experience has shown that such practice is
highly desirable.
Seminars/Oral
Presentations
Research seminars are held on a regular basis in
the Faculty throughout the year. Students are expected
to attend the majority of seminars in order to increase
their overall knowledge of their specialised area of
research. Postgraduates are required to present seminars
on their own research projects. It is expected
that each PhD student will present at least two
seminars
on their work during their candidacy and ME(Hons)
students will present at least one seminar.
Research
Meetings
Students are expected to meet with their supervisors
on a regular basis to discuss research progress
and any related problems. The frequency of meetings
will generally be decided by mutual agreement between
student
and supervisor.
Postgraduate
Open Day
Postgraduate Open Day is the annual University
event where postgraduates are given the opportunity
to
present their work to a larger audience (across
Campus). Only
a small selected number of students make oral presentations
(due mainly to time restrictions). However, all students
are given the opportunity to present their work as a
poster display. Postgraduate Open Day is open to members
of the public as well as members of the University. It
is an important opportunity for communication which
increases the profile of postgraduate students
within the University.
It is in your best interest to support this event
and gain experience from a useful exercise in public
relations.
Monetary prizes and Conference participation prizes
are awarded for outstanding presentations. Our Faculty has
a history of good representation in this event
and this is a situation which we would like to
sustain
and
enhance.
Tutoring
and Demonstrating
Postgraduate students may be employed as part-time
tutors, demonstrators or markers for undergraduate
courses,
and will be paid for this work at casual rates.
Undergraduate tutoring, demonstrating and marking
are important and responsible activities. Therefore the
Faculty reserves the right to select and appoint postgraduates
for these duties based on their ability. Limits
are specified on the amount of work that an individual
postgraduate
student may undertake.
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