What is the function of the Postgraduate Research Office?
Who deals with financial issues?
On what grounds can I request an extension or intercalation/interruption to my period of study?
What is the University’s plagiarism policy?
I want to withdraw from my course, what happens now?
How do I submit my soft-bound thesis?
How do I submit my final hard copy thesis?
How is my thesis examined?
What is the role of my supervisory team?
How are my examiners selected?
If my contact details change, who do I need to inform?
I have lost my campus card, where do I get a replacement?
What training will I be expected to attend during my period of study?
How will my progress be assessed?
How do I transfer up?

What is the function of the Postgraduate Research Office?
The PGR Office (Elizabeth Fry Building, Room 2.30) will assist you with all administrative aspects of your degree throughout your registration period and also deal with the management of studentships.  All members of staff in the office have their own particular areas of responsibility but will be happy to help with your queries.

Please contact this office regarding the following:

• Registration Requests for intercalations (break from study due to illness/personal circumstances)
• Request for extensions to your period of study/period of registration
• Changes in full-time/part-time status
• Changes in address/contact details
• Funding enquiries, studentship status/payments, and payments from ESRC/RTSG funds
• Letters confirming registration for council tax, bank or visa purposes
• Fieldwork forms/ethics approval forms
• Annual Progress Review forms
• Transferring from Mphil to PhD queries and confirmations
• Filing supervisor meeting minutes
• Approval of thesis title/appointment of external examiners forms/research degree entry forms
• Submission of theses – documents required and regulations
• Viva arrangements

• Personal and Professional Development training information and advice

Who deals with financial issues?
If your query is about a studentship maintenance payment, an expense claim on your research training support grant, or any financial matter relating to studentships please contact the PGR Office (see above).  However, if the query is about invoices for tuition fees/accommodation, etc or if you have debts to the University, you must go to the Cashiers Office in the Registry reception.  Students experiencing financial difficulties are able to talk to the Dean of Students Office where staff are experienced in dealing with student problems of any kind.

On what grounds can I request an extension or intercalation/interruption to my period of study?

Extensions
In exceptional cases, the period of study may be extended by up to six months on the recommendation of the supervisors.  In such cases, you are required to pay tuition fees for the period of extension.  Applications must be made at least three months in advance on a form (copies available from the PGR Office), and be supported by your supervisors.

You can request an extension for medical, personal or other reasons, appropriate evidence will be required (e.g medical certificates etc).

Intercalation/Interruption* (*term used for an intercalation taken in the registration-only year)
A period of intercalation/interruption of not more than one year may be granted by the School on the recommendation of the supervisors but only if there are extenuating circumstances, for example, ill health of an ongoing nature or difficult home/family circumstances.

Intercalation/interruption is meant to be a ‘temporary measure’ to permit students to resolve short-term issues, not to address long-term health concerns.

Students who intercalate do not pay fees.  Applications should be made at least three months in advance (form available from the PGR Office), and be supported by your supervisors.  Further periods of intercalation/interruption have to be approved by the University’s Director of Research Degree Programmes.

Please note that for ESRC funded students, intercalations/interruptions will, under no circumstances, be granted retrospectively.

What is the University’s plagiarism policy?
The University takes very seriously all cases of plagiarism and collusion.  Students who deliberately plagiarise or collude threaten the values and beliefs that underpin academic work and devalue the integrity of the University’s awards.  Please ensure that you are familiar with the University’s policy.

I want to withdraw from my course, what happens now?
If, for any reason, students decide they need to withdraw from their research degree they should discuss the matter with their supervisors in the first instance.  It is essential that they write to the PGR office with a letter confirming their date of withdrawal since students will be liable for fees up to the date of withdrawal.

How do I submit my soft-bound thesis?
Submission of the soft-bound thesis means submission of the finished thesis to the PGR Office, and not, for instance, submission of a final draft to a supervisor for approval.  If a thesis is not submitted in time, or if in exceptional circumstances students have been granted an extension to the submission date, the student will become liable to pay Continuation Fees.

The University charges a suspended fee of £250 for the ‘registration only’ year if you do not submit your thesis by the end of that year.  Where subsequent extensions to the ‘registration-only’ period are approved (only given in light of unforeseen or extenuating circumstances), students will be liable for an increased continuation fee of £500 for the second or part-year in addition to the £250 suspended fee, and £1,000 for each of the third and subsequent years.

Further details on the presentation of the thesis can be found in the booklet Assuring the Quality of Research Degrees: A Code of Practice but students might like to note the following word limits apply:

*All these word limits include footnotes and bibliography but not appendices

How do I submit my final hard copy thesis?
Students will have the option of submitting the final copies of their thesis after examination either as:

•  Two hard bound copies
  OR

•  One hard bound copy and one electronic copy on a CD/DVD or memory stick.

Whichever option you choose you should continue to submit two soft bound copies at first for examination purposes. Further information on electronic submission of theses can be found at:
https://www.uea.ac.uk/is/etheses

How is my thesis examined?
The degrees of LLM by Research, MA by Research, EdD, MPhil and PhD are awarded on the basis of the thesis and an oral examination of the thesis conducted by at least two examiners, one of whom shall be external to the University.  For staff candidates both examiners will be external to the University.

The choice of examiners can be discussed informally between the student and supervisor, but the final approval is made by the School’s Director of Research and the Director of Research Degree Programmes.  Students should note that their supervisors cannot be one of the examiners. The procedures for the nomination and appointment of examiners are contained in the Code of Practice for the External Examiner System for Awards (Research) at UEA.

The title of the thesis must be submitted at least three months before the expected date of submission. Once the thesis is submitted the timing of the oral examination will depend on the availability of the examiners but should normally take place within three months.  Exceptions and extensions to this require approval by the Director of Research Degree Programmes.

What is the role of my supervisory team?
Research students are allocated a primary and secondary supervisor who, together, make up a student’s a supervisory team. Sometimes supervisors will assume equal responsibility, but the primary supervisor is responsible for administrative arrangements.

Initially, students will receive from their supervisors considerable guidance in locating a clearly defined research topic, and close supervision in developing the chosen field of study.  To ensure that a well-planned start is made to a research degree programme, first year students should arrange to meet regularly with their primary supervisor (e.g. about once a fortnight for full-time students or once a month for part-time students). You should be aware, however, that the supervisor’s role is to provide academic advice and not detailed instruction.  The thesis must represent in all respects (e.g. data collection and analysis, theoretical discussion, and conclusions) the original work of the student rather than simply reflect the ideas of the supervisor. The role of the supervisor is to give encouragement, read outlines and draft chapters and give advice on the general standard and direction of your work.

After the first year, students and supervisors might expect to meet less often.  You should expect to have at least two formal meetings with the supervisory team per year (part time) and three formal meetings per year (full time), although students/supervisors often meet much more frequently than this.

Supervisors are obliged, and students are encouraged, to keep a written record of all meetings, and the major targets set and accomplished over the period of research.  It is essential that copies of notes and minutes are provided to the PGR Office to be retained on the students’ records and recorded on the student IT system. This is for the benefit of the student and the UEA, as these meeting records may be checked in the event of a problem with a student’s progress at any point during their research programme.

If your supervisor is on study leave, a substitute will normally be provided, who will be chosen in consultation with you.

How are my examiners selected?
Recommendations for appointment of examiners should be made on the appropriate form provided by the PGR Office. This is the responsibility of your primary supervisor. The PGR office must receive the completed nomination form at least three months prior to your thesis submission date. Failure to keep to this timescale may result in a delay in your viva.

A student’s primary supervisor or other member of the supervisory team cannot be appointed as an internal examiner.

If my contact details change, who do I need to inform?
You can change your own address details online by clicking here. Please also inform the PGR Office.

I have lost my campus card, where do I get a replacement?
The Library issues replacement campus cards, on payment of a fee of £10. If your campus card has been stolen the replacement fee is waived if a police crime sheet number is shown.

Am I expected to attend any training during my period of Study?
All UEA PGR students registered for a PhD (full time or part time) are required to undertake both Subject Specific and Personal and Professional Development (PPD) training whilst working towards their PhD.

Subject Specific skills are those required to complete a PhD thesis successfully. These can be developed by availing the learning opportunities offered by the School where you are registered. This training usually comprises of advanced research methods training and core subject related seminars/workshops/lectures etc.  Students are informed of the availability and regulations of subject specific training within their School on registering with the university.

Personal and Professional Development skills are more generic, transferrable skills that should be of value to a researcher at all points in their career.  These include written and oral communication, research management, team working and leadership, personal effectiveness, project management and career management.   The UK Government requires universities to ensure that all full-time PhD students undertake a minimum of 10 credits of PPD training for every year of their period of study (5 credits per year of period of study for part-time students) where, generally speaking, 1 day of PPD training equates to 1 credit.

SSF PGR students are encouraged to avail the wide range of training courses offered by SSF, other Faculties and the University’s Centre for Staff and Educational Development (CSED). It is also possible to gain credits through experiential learning and training opportunities outside UEA.

Full details on PPD training regulations, and training provision can be found on the SSF PPD Training blackboard site, to which all SSF PGR students are signed up to on registration.

For further information, please visit our ‘Training’ pages.

How will my progress be assessed?
Schools are required to monitor student progress regularly throughout the programme and each year the supervisory team is required to report student progress.  Students and their supervisors will be asked to fill out an annual review form assessing their progress, as well as commenting on supervision and the facilities in the School and University.  The forms are distributed by the PGR office to students, who should meet face-to-face (unless they are on fieldwork) with their supervisory team to discuss progress and complete the form.  When returning the forms, students are also expected to submit a timetable for completion of their thesis.

The completed forms are then considered by the School’s Director of Research and the report returned to the PGR office which is then forwarded to the Faculty for consideration by the Faculty Learning and Teaching Quality Executive before a final report is made to the University’s Director of Research Degree Programmes.  It is important that annual report forms are completed on time, as their contents could assist with any concession request made by students.  It is also essential for students with ESRC or University studentships to return the forms in good time.  Failure to do so may mean not receiving your quarterly payments or the studentship being withheld.

How do I transfer up?
All doctoral research students are initially registered for the Master of Philosophy (MPhil) for 24 months (full-time) or 48 months (part-time). Students should discuss their submission for transferring with their supervisory team. Please see Transferring Up.