Cultural Studies PhD thesis submission
The PhD Handbook outlines the processes of submission and examination in detail. It includes instructions on the
- notice of intention to submit thesis (with 80-word summary)
- required format and binding
- reports and revisions
Intention to submit
Three months prior to the expected date of submission, you are required to submit an 80-word summary of your thesis-argument to the Melbourne School of Graduate Research. You will not be prompted to do this by any mail from MSGR. This declaration of your ‘Intention To Submit’ should be submitted via the on-line form at http://www.gradstudies.unimelb.edu.au/eforms/thesissubmission/
On receipt of your summary, the MSGR will send the Research Administrator a PhD Nomination of Examiners form and send you a ‘Submission of PhD Thesis: Statement by Candidate, Supervisor and Chairperson of Examiners’ form. Please bring the completed form with you when you submit your thesis.
Please provide a longer summary of the thesis (approx. 150 words), clearly indicating its scope, sources and main arguments, to the supervisor and research coordinator for the purposes of soliciting examiners. (Note: this summary will be an indication of the quality and style of the candidate’s prose as well as of thesis’s subject matter, so it is important that it be lucidly and engagingly written.)
Checking the thesis for ‘examinability’
When a thesis is submitted for examination, the supervisor is required to indicate on the submission form whether s/he considers the thesis ‘ready for examination’, and if not, whether s/he has advised the candidate accordingly. Judging a thesis ‘ready for examination’ is not the same as guaranteeing it will be passed by the examiners.
It is School policy that when a PhD candidate and the principal supervisor both consider the thesis has reached its optimal state and is ready for examination, the associate supervisor should read and comment on the full draft of the thesis before it is submitted.About the examiners
Two examiners will be appointed who are, or have recently been, associated with a university, an institution of higher learning or a research institution. Both examiners must be external and one must be based outside Australia. The supervisor is required to ask the candidate whether s/he wishes to name any person who might be considered unsuitable as an examiner.
Unsuitable examiners include anyone with whom the candidate has worked or collaborated in the past and anyone whose own work is criticised in the thesis in a way that might put into question their capacity for impartial, disinterested judgement as an examiner. Such requests should be made in writing through your Head of School when submitting your 80-word summary. However, the identity of the examiners must remain confidential until notification of the final result (and, even then, the examiners may ask for their names to be withheld).
Format of the thesis
Three copies of the thesis must normally be submitted in thermal binding and produced on International Standard Paper Size A4, printed on both sides of the paper, 1.5 spaced in 10-point or 12-point font. Two copies are sent to the examiners and the third copy is retained for the Chair of Examiner’s reference.
All three copies must contain:
- an abstract of 300-500 words in English; and
- a declaration that the thesis is less than 100 000 words in length, inclusive of footnotes but exclusive of tables, maps, bibliographies, appendices, unless special permission has been given to exceed this length.
In the case of creative arts disciplines the thesis may take the form of creative work plus dissertation. The creative work may take the form of performance, exhibition, writing (poetry, fiction, script or other written literary forms), design, film, video, multimedia, CD Rom or other New Media technologies and modes of presentation. Where appropriate to the study, the creative work must be comprehensively documented. Either the documentation or the creative work or both must be submitted with the dissertation.
Binding
Corrections requested by your examiners must be incorporated within the body of the thesis. Addenda of any length are not accepted. For this reason and because of the likely non-return of the thesis from the examiners, it is strongly recommended that you submit your thesis in temporary binding.
Thermal binding is the only method of temporary binding that will be accepted. This is to ensure your thesis travels intact. It is strongly recommended that you do not exceed 300 pages per volume when thermal binding your thesis. UMPA provides a temporary binding service. Check out UMPA's Publishing Centre and Print Room at www.umpa.unimelb.edu.au/gradcentre/printroom.html
Prior agreement
Examiners will not be requested to return their copy of the thesis unless a prior agreement is established by the candidate, and approved by the Melbourne School of Graduate Research. A request for the return of your thesis is made on the ‘Statement by Candidate, Supervisor and Chairperson of Examiners’ form. You may wish to request copies of your thesis returned when
- a confidentiality agreement has been established which covers material contained in the thesis; or
- original drawings, illustrations, or diagrams are not easily reproduced.
As an academic courtesy, it is hoped that candidates will allow examiners to keep their copy of the thesis.
Enrolment status
Submitting a PhD thesis alters your enrolment status from ‘confirmed’ or ‘lapsed’ to ‘registered’. This means that while your thesis is under examination you will not have to pay fees and you will not have access to university facilities.
To apply for restricted borrowing rights at the Baillieu and branch libraries, complete an ‘Approved Borrower Membership Fee Exemption Form’, available from the Baillieu Library or the Research Administrator, and submit it to the Research Administrator for approval.
Refund of fees
Student Administration is responsible for the refund of fees. To apply for a pro-rata refund of your service and amenities fee, complete a ‘Refund of Fees Form’ available from Student Administration or go to the Student Information System website at https://sis.unimelb.edu.au/
How long will it take?
The examination process varies for each thesis. You should expect a wait of at least four months before the Melbourne School of Graduate Research contacts you with a result.
Examiners are given eight weeks to examine a thesis. If the MSGR does not receive the report by the due date, an extension of two weeks is granted. If this is not met, the MSGR contacts the examiner and involves the Chair of Examiners when necessary.
Chair of Examiners role
The Chair of Examiners makes recommendations to the PhD Committee based on the reports submitted by the two external examiners, but does not have a vote in deciding the outcome of the examination.
The MSGR will inform you of the result of your examination, send you a copy of the examiners’ reports and advise you what to do next.