Information for research students

All of our research students need to enrol using our Online Welcome system. You will need to complete this each year on the anniversary of your start date. You will receive reminders from the Welcome system when it is time to do so. Our student information pages contain a guide to online enrolment.

For all research students apart from those on a Masters by Research (MRes), the first milestone in your research student journey is your Confirmation of Registration or CoR. MRes students do not have a CoR.

The aim of this is to ensure your project is suitable for the level of the degree award, you are able to deliver the project and all the facilities and support you will need are available to you.

Your CoR meeting will take place towards the end of your first year, and you will need to prepare a document detailing your proposed research.

Your document will be shared with the confirmation of registration panel before your meeting so they can review this and prepare questions for you. The panel will be made up of a chair and panel member - usually senior academics with expertise in your subject area and significant experience of supporting research students.

The meeting is very important; it will be the first formal opportunity to talk about your research, including your aims, methods and timeframes. While the panel will ask you questions, it is a supportive environment, and they will give you recommendations to support your progress.

This process is managed through SAM. Please refer to the SAM userser guide and the research student handbook for more information.

Your annual progression (AP) meetings are a very important milestone in your research degree journey. Their purpose is to make sure you have all the support you need to complete your degree successfully.

Your AP takes the form of a meeting with your panel - a chair and panel member who are usually senior academics with expertise in your subject area. Your supervisor is encouraged to attend the meeting with you. However, if they are unable to attend for any reason, the meeting will still go ahead. At the meeting, you will talk through your research and progress to date, where you are now and what you are doing to meet your submission date.

You will have an AP in every year after your first year of study. (In your first year, your CoR serves as your AP). The timing of your AP will depend on your school but you can use the following as a rough guide:

• For October starters, progression meetings usually take place June - September
• For February starters, progression meetings usually take place in December / January
• For June starters, progression meetings usually take place in April / May

Your Research Student administrator will organise your annual progression meetings in advance. Together with your supervisory team, you will be asked to submit a report before the meeting. This process is managed through SAM. Please refer to the SAM user guide  for further information.

The responsibility for making sure that your annual progression meeting goes ahead, and that your completed report is submitted on time, rests with you.

Please refer to the research student handbook for more information.

You may need to make changes to your registration at some point during your research degree. For some students, this can come as a result of experiencing difficulty or a change in personal circumstances. As a PGR student, you have access to all the University’s support, advice and guidance services. More details on the support available can be found here.

Any change to your registration must be discussed with your supervisory team and a request made to the university’s Research Degrees Sub-Committee (RDSC). Requests are made via SAM, and guidance on how to do this can be found in the SAM user guide.

Most requests are considered by the monthly RDSC Decision Panel. All outcomes will be communicated to you and your supervisory team via SAM within 10 working days of the panel.

Some requests are considered at school level. These are outlined in the Research Degrees Sub-Committee (RDSC) section of the research student handbook.

You should discuss all change requests with your supervisory team.

As you approach your final year of study, you can apply for writing-up status.

Your final year is normally year four if you are studying full-time and year seven if you are studying part-time. During the writing-up status stage, your fees for that year of study will be reduced.

If you wish to apply for writing-up status, you should have:

• Completed your data collection and data analysis
• Provided your supervisory team with a full first draft of your thesis

Every student's project is different and some will not need writing-up status.

To apply for writing-up status, you will need to submit a request to the university's Research Degrees Sub-Committee via SAM.

The writing-up status is for a maximum of one year and you will be charged a set fee.

As you approach your final year of study, your supervisory team should start putting an examination team together and submitting your examination arrangements to the RDSC via SAM.

At the end of your programme of study you will have written an extensive thesis which you will submit for examination.

Once you have submitted your thesis, you will be invited to defend your doctorate at a 'viva voce' (Latin for “by live voice”) - an oral examination. Your viva voce is a chance for you to:

• Demonstrate that your thesis is your own work
• Defend what you have written
• Show your understanding of the originality of the work and where it fits within the wider research field
• Respond to examiners’ questions and provide any clarification requested
• Establish whether your work is of a sufficiently high standard for the level of your award.

The examination team and independent chair

Your supervisors will put together an examination team based on the subject of your research and they will make a formal application to the Research Degrees Sub-Committee via SAM to approve the team.

• One external examiner – this will normally be an academic member of staff from another institution or a professional who has expertise in your area of work. University staff members who are also students will require two external examiners.
• One internal examiner – a member of academic staff at the university who is not one of your supervisors.
• An independent chair – the independent chair is not an examiner and will not take part in the examination process. Their role is to make sure that the examination abides by our university guidelines and that you are not under any undue pressure.

Your supervisory team should let you know who is in the examination team so you can familiarise yourself with their work, but you must not have any contact with them.

The viva voce itself

Your school’s research student administration team is responsible for arranging your viva voce examination and will co-ordinate this with all parties.

It can take up to three months to confirm a date. If you know of any dates that you will be unavailable, you can make us aware of them when you submit your thesis in SAM.

The viva voce examination will be held at either Headingley Campus or City Campus. When you receive your room confirmation, we recommend you make sure you know where it is and familiarise yourself with the surroundings.

On the day, the examination team will meet beforehand to discuss the nature and type of questions they will ask you. While all examinations are different, the key to the viva voce is to establish whether your work is at the standard expected for the level of award and that your thesis demonstrates an original contribution to knowledge in its field of study.

You will hear the outcome of your viva immediately after your viva voce, and you will receive a formal confirmation via SAM.

Progression reports

You will be required to submit a progression report via SAM before your annual progression meeting. You should aim to submit this at least two weeks before your progression meeting. Progression report deadlines are normally:

• For October starters, progression meetings usually take place June - September
• For February starters, progression meetings usually take place in December / January
• For June starters, progression meetings usually take place in April / May

Research Degrees Sub-Committee (RDSC) meetings

The university’s RDSC meets each month (with the exception of August), and you should aim to submit any change requests to them by the last day of the preceding month. For example, submit your request by 30 September so that it can be considered at the October meeting.

You can find the exact dates of the RDSC Panel meetings in the committees section of SAM, under upcoming meetings.

Graduation deadlines

In order to be eligible to attend a graduation ceremony in the summer, you need to have had your thesis examined, any amendments completed, and to have received your formal conferment of award letter. This usually needs to have happened by early June, but your research student administrator will work closely with you and your team if your deadlines fall at that time of year.