Faculty of Medicine Progress Review Guidelines

Before reading the guidelines outlined on this page, ensure you have reviewed all the information about Progress Reviews, including the criteria for each review, and the Higher Degree by Research Candidature Progression Procedure.

How to organise a Progress Review

The following guidelines outline the management and conduct of HDR Progress Reviews in the Faculty of Medicine*. These guidelines should be used in combination with the Higher Degree by Research Candidature Policy and the Higher Degree by Research Candidature Procedure. Further instructions to help you to arrange your upcoming review are available here.

Progress Reviews Snapshot

Progress review requirements
	Confirmation of Candidature (R1)	Review 2 (R2)	Review 3 (R3)
Candidature Documents	Candidate statement Individual Development Plan (IDP) Portfolio of Activity	Candidate statement Individual Development Plan (IDP) Portfolio of Activity	Candidate statement Individual Development Plan (IDP) Portfolio of Activity
Project Documents	Literature review and research outline, ethics approvals iThenticate report	Summary of completed work/ draft chapter/paper, plan for completion iThenticate report	Thesis preliminary pages with expanded outline of thesis, thesis draft (at least 1 completed chapter other than the literature review), plan for completion and submission iThenticate report
Oral Presentation	20 minutes presentation, 10 minutes question time	20 minutes presentation, 10 minutes question time	30-45 minutes presentation, 10-15 minutes question time
Review meeting	Approximately 60 minutes	Approximately 60 minutes	Approximately 60 minutes

Note: Documents should be submitted by the census date of the research quarter in which your review is due.

Panel Composition

Your Progress Review Panel (PRP) in the Faculty of Medicine will consist of a Chair and two Reviewers. The Chair must be a UQ academic staff member, with sufficient discipline knowledge related to the HDR topic and experience with HDR Supervision and chairing Progress Reviews. Where possible, the Chair should not have a strong conflict of interest (COI) with your advisory team. A list of recommended PRP Chairs across the Faculty of Medicine is available online.

Reviewers should have a good knowledge of your area of research but should not: be working on the same project, report to (or supervise) a member of your advisory team or be a member of your advisory team.  It is important that Reviewers are recognised as being independent and can give un-conflicted advice to both you and your advisory team.

Please complete the promoting your review form to advertise your Progress Review.

Confirmation of Candidature Review (R1)

Your Confirmation of Candidature Review will include the submission of your review documents, a 20 minute oral presentation, and a meeting with the review panel (typically of 1 hour duration).

The document (maximum of 40 pages for PhD or 20 pages for MPhil, excluding references and appendices, using 1.5 line spacing) should review prior work in the area under study, including a full citation of the directly relevant literature. It should establish the research objectives and pose the formal hypotheses if these are relevant. The proposal will also concisely and clearly describe the proposed research methodology and scheme of analysis, and briefly describe work already completed.

As a guide, the following elements are usually included in this document:

Title page (name of candidate, title of project, names of advisors and their signatures to indicate that they have read the document).
Brief summary/introduction to define the key concepts of the project and the rationale for the project (i.e., why are you doing this study?).
Literature review: Critical up-to-date review, which should demonstrate a good knowledge of the field and identify knowledge gaps.
Hypothesis development and Aims of the project: This should be related to issues identified in the literature review.
Research methodology, including a clear statement of the methods to be used, resource requirements (are all pieces of equipment and funds to complete the study available to you, or do you need to look for collaborators who can provide these?), data analysis methodology to be used, ethics requirements and approvals etc.
Preliminary data (if any; max. 5 pages).
Timeline for undertaking the proposed work and completing your thesis.
Reference list.
Appendices (only if applicable).

Your reviewers will provide you with written feedback. Your chair will also prepare a written report detailing the recommendations of the Progress Review Panel to the Dean, UQ Graduate School.

Progress Review 2 (R2)

Your second Progress Review will include the submission of your review documents, a 20 minute oral, and a meeting with the review panel (typically of 1 hour duration).

The document (maximum of 25 pages, excluding draft chapter/journal article, using 1.5 line spacing) should include:

Summary of completed work – this can be in the format of a draft results chapter or a journal article to which you have contributed substantially – including a statement of progress made since Review 1.
Detailed plan/outline for completing the thesis, including a timeline.
Plans for disseminating your work, e.g., plans for conference attendance, papers to be written etc.

Your reviewers will provide you with written feedback. Your chair will also prepare a written report detailing the recommendations of the Progress Review Panel to the Dean, UQ Graduate School.

Progress Review 3 (R3)

Your third Progress Review will include the submission of your review documents, a 30-45 minute oral presentation, and a meeting with the review panel (typically of 1 hour duration).

The document should include:

Thesis preliminary pages (using the UQ template) with expanded contents/outline of thesis.
Draft of the thesis (with at least 1 completed chapter other than the literature review).
Outline of any publications that will arise from the HDR research.
A detailed plan and timeline for completing the thesis.

Your reviewers will provide you with written feedback. Your chair will also prepare a written report detailing the recommendations of the Progress Review Panel to the Dean, UQ Graduate School.

Information for Panel Members and Advisory Team

For the Principal Advisor and advisory team

Discuss the progress review requirements with the candidate.
Do this at least 8 weeks before the progress review due date.
You can find the due date of your student’s next progress review through the Academic Portal. Log into the portal and navigate to > Profile > RHD Advising (Under Teaching and Supervision on the left-hand menu).
Endorse their progress review request and complete the Principal Advisor Statement embedded in the request
Progress review documents.

Understand what is required during a higher degree by research (HDR) progress review.

View information about the Chair’s role

Learn how to run a progress review

Read about the Chair’s report