Frequently asked questions

During your candidature you may have some queries and need to contact us or your enrolling School for more information.  The questions below are received by the Graduate School on a regular basis and may assist you.

Can I have a hard copy letter from the Graduate School to say that my thesis is under examination?

Letters for employers and/or sponsors are provided by the UQ Student Centre.  St Lucia Student Centre can be contacted on +61 7 3365 2600.

Have you received my examiner's report yet?

The Graduate School has a formal procedure for following up on overdue examiner's reports.  The examiner receives a reminder email before the report is due, and two reminder emails, one week apart, if the report is overdue.  If the thesis is not receive after this time, the Graduate School follows up with a phone call.

The Graduate School is dedicated to ensuring your thesis is examined in a reasonable time in order to ensure you can make any required corrections and be conferred.

How do I get a new student card or extend my student card?

Your student card expiry date is based on your expected graduation term, which you can update yourself on your MySi-net page.  You'll find it by navigating through the links on the left-hand side of the page.  Start with 'Program' then 'Graduation Semester'.  Update the semester and then select save.  The system refreshes overnight so the following day you should be able to go and get a new student card from Unicard, Level 2, Duhig Building.

How do I know when the thesis has been sent to the examiners and my reports have been received?

When a thesis has been sent to your examiners, the date will appear in mySI-net in the 'Research' section on the 'Thesis Details' page.

How strict is the word limit for the thesis and does it include the appendices and bibliography?

The word limit includes all footnotes and appendices but not the bibliography, therefore as long as the PhD thesis does not exceed 80,000 words (40,000 for an MPhil), then the word limit is considered to not be imposed.  If a thesis is greater than 80,000 words (40,000 for an MPhil), then permission needs to be obtained from the Graduate School Examinations Team in order to submit.

I'm a full-time student on a scholarship, can I retain my scholarship if I change to part-time?

Scholarships can only be held on a part-time basis for carer commitments or due to a medical condition.  Work commitments are not a suitable reason for changing to part-time whilst holding a scholarship.

I've just checked my enrolment on Si-net and I'm not enrolled for next year

UQ undertakes mass enrolments in mid-December and ensures that all students are enrolled for the following year.  If mid-December passes and you notice that you are still not enrolled, contact the Graduate School Candidature Team on candidature@gradschool@uq.edu.au for assistance.

When can I be called a "Dr"?

If you are a PhD candidate you are able to use "Dr" once your degree has been conferred by UQ.  The conferral process generally occurs within 10 days of receiving notification from the Graduate School that you have met degree requirements.

When can I see the examiner's report so that I can start to address corrections?

Reports are not provided to candidates until they have received from both examiners.  This allows the Graduate School to evaluate the reports in their entirety prior to providing feedback on the corrections required.

Where can I get a letter confirming my RHD enrolment at UQ?

A letter confirming your enrolment in an RHD can be issued by the UQ Student Centre.

Do my tuition fees change during candidature?

Guidance on tuition fees for international RHD students

Census dates are important for international RHD students' tuition fees

The timing of commencement, interruption and thesis submission affects fees calculated for international RHD students each research quarter.

Census dates for 2012:

Research Quarter Start date of Quarter Due date for payment of charges Census date / final date to cancel without financial penalty End date of Quarter
RQ1 1 Jan 15 Jan 1 Feb 31 Mar
RQ2 1 Apr 15 Apr 1 May 30 Jun
RQ3 1 Jul 15 Jul 1 Aug 30 Sep
RQ4 1 Oct 15 Oct 1 Nov 31 Dec

 
Returning from Interruption?
If you are an international student returning from interruption, then you will be fee liable as per the above rules.

Students who are not externally sponsored and on a third party contract or in receipt of a tuition fee waiver scholarship, will have two days to pay any outstanding tuition fees following the re-activation of their enrolment by the Graduate School. If fees are not paid within this time, students will incur a $100 late payment fee.
 
Submitting a thesis for examination
RHD students are not able to submit their thesis while under interruption and are to provide the required form to the Candidature Team to re-activate their enrolment prior to submission. If you return from interruption then you will be fee liable as per the above rules.

After the fees due date, students with outstanding fees will be charged a $100 late payment fee. If the thesis is submitted prior to the census date, however, the tuition fee liability incurred in the research quarter will be removed.

If the thesis is submitted after the census date or not considered by the Graduate School as submitted until after the census date, the student will remain fee liable (see note below).

It is extremely important to note that the thesis is not considered submitted until the thesis, the abstract and the Thesis Submission form (fully endorsed) have all been uploaded to the UQ eSpace and that the thesis meets UQ requirements. We recommend that international students submit their thesis 7 days prior to the census date to ensure any submission problems can be rectified prior to the census date to avoid incurring fees.

For further information, please refer to the 2011/12 Fee Rules or telephone Student Fees on 33652328.
 

 

 

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