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Advisory Team Policy Document |
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The Advisory Team for Research Higher Degree Candidates
An effective working relationship between candidates and their advisors is crucial to the successful outcome of every research higher degree candidature, which is the timely completion of a quality thesis. Advisors must be available to: ...
The Roles of the Advisory Team
Every research higher degree student will have at least one principal advisor. If the responsibility for principal advising is shared equally between two or more advisors, they may be appointed as joint principal advisors. In this case, one of ...
Principal Advisors
Principal Advisors: guide and facilitate the research work of the candidate; provide the principal intellectual engagement with the candidate's research topic and its development; monitor the quality ...
Associate Advisors
Normally, the school appoints an associate advisor (or advisors) when recommending a candidate for admission to candidature. Where it is not appropriate to recommend such an appointment immediately (if, for example, the precise direction o...
The Four Criteria for Appointment
A person appointed as an advisor must: have research and/or professional expertise appropriate to the candidate's research topic; and have access to sufficient time and resources to be an effective advisor for the c...
Availability and Workloads
It is crucial for the candidate and the advisor that the second criterion for appointment - access to sufficient time and resources to be an effective advisor for the candidate - is given full and realistic consideration when the appointment or...
Academic Suitability
Principal Advisor: To be considered academically suitable to lead the advisory team, a principal advisor must hold: EITHER a degree of a level at least equivalent to the one the candidate ...
Absence of Principal Advisor
When a coordinating (or sole) principal advisor is unable to fulfill the requirements of the role: for any period of time, appropriate and acceptable alternative arrangements must be discussed with the candidate; if ...
Responsibilities of Advisors
Advisors of research higher degree candidates are nominated by the School Postgraduate Coordinator (as the delegate of the Head of School) and appointed by the Dean of the Graduate School to advise the candidate for the school on behalf of the Unive...
Advisory Responsibilities for Part-Time and Remote Candidates
It is particularly important to plan for an ensure the provision of continuity of appropriate advice for the likely duration of part-time candidature. With periods of interruption, which are more common for part-time candidates, it may take up...
Mentoring
A key role for all advisors, but particularly for the principal advisor, is to be a supportive intellectual guide for the candidate, sharing their professional insights as a researcher - to be a mentor. The mentoring role includes:
Before Candidature: Academic and Administrative
One of the potential advisor's first tasks is to assess the suitability of a short written research proposal provided by the applicant. In many cases, the acceptability of a proposal will depend upon the availability of resources and for that reason...
During Candidature: Academic and Administrative
Academic: An advisor's primary responsibility in the early stages of candidature is to assist the candidate to develop, plan, and structure a realistic program of study and research. While, in some cases, the advisor may initiate the resea...
Towards the End of Candidature: Academic and Administrative Requirements
Academic: As a thesis is being prepared, advisors must ensure it is not unnecessarily long: the thesis must not exceed 80,000 words for a PhD thesis, or 40,000 words for an MPhil thesis, without the express written permission of the D...