Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation 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 QAAFI. These guidelines should be used in combination with the policy and procedures documents in 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/summary of development activities and attendance at seminars	Candidate statement Individual Development Plan (IDP) Portfolio/summary of development activities and attendance at seminars	Candidate statement Individual Development Plan (IDP) Portfolio/summary of development activities and attendance at seminars
Project Documents	Confirmation report (see details in the text below). iThenticate report	Summary of completed work since R1 (see details in text below). Appendices: 1 manuscript or drafted Chapter completed.	Updated thesis draft including a summary of completed work since R2 (see details in text below)
Review Meeting	60 minutes	60 minutes	60 minutes
Oral Presentation	Open 20 to 30 minutes + 10 minutes	Closed 15 minutes	Open 45 minutes + 15 minutes

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

Panel Composition

The Progress Review Panel (PRP) in QAAFI will consist of a chair and at least one (maximum 2) additional reviewer(s). The advisory team is encouraged to avoid potential conflicts of interest when proposing the PRP. CIs showing a high degree of common research activities/collaborations with the advisory team, should not be considered as part of the PRP.

Confirmation of Candidature Review (R1)

The confirmation of candidature review will include the submission of your review documents, an open 20 to 30 minute oral presentation, and an interview with the review panel (the duration of the interview will typically be around 60 minutes left at the Chair’s discretion).

The Candidature Documents required by the Graduate School will need to be submitted by the census date for the research quarter in which the review is due including candidate statement, Individual Development Plan (IDP) and Portfolio of Activity. In addition, the Project Documents specified by QAAFI include a Confirmation Report and an iThenticate report and should be submitted at least two weeks prior to the review meeting.

The Confirmation Report will include a comprehensive review of approximately 25-30,000 words for a PhD or 20-25,000 words for a MPhil, excluding references and appendices. The reference format will be Times New Roman font 12 (or equivalent) and single line spacing. Format presented with 1.5 line spacing are also acceptable adapting the length accordingly.

As a guide the following elements are usually included in the Confirmation Report:

Title page (name of candidate, title of project, names of advisors and their signatures to indicate that they have read the document).
Abstract (≤1 page, or around 300-500 words)
Brief introduction to define the key concepts of the project and the rationale for the project (i.e. what is the problem being addressed or why is the candidate choosing this theme to do the research?)
Literature review (around 25-30,000 words for a PhD, or 20-25,000 words for a MPhil). An in-depth critical literature review relevant to the area under study, including a full citation reference list of up-to-date peer-reviewed scientific publications identifying and stating the gaps of knowledge relevant to the thesis proposal. The review is suggested to have a minimum of 10,000 words. In doubt, the candidate should get advice from the Principal Advisor.
Aims, objectives and hypotheses of the project. This should be related to the gaps of knowledge identified in the literature review.
Thesis structure proposed (research chapters) including brief descriptions of research methodology, 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?), statistical/data analysis, ethics requirements, etc.
Original preliminary results as part of the first research chapter of the thesis. These results will be assessed by the Confirmation Review Panel as a proof-of-concept of the feasibility of the thesis proposal.
Timeline for undertaking the research chapters and completing the thesis in a timely manner.
Proposed publication plan including a list of publications and journals, and a tentative timeline.
List of conferences attended since the previous review and proposed conferences for the coming year.
Reference List (note only peer-reviewed scientific publications or reliable scholar sources should be used for references).
Appendices (only if applicable).

Written feedback will be provided by the Chair of the Progress Review Panel after the review meeting. 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)

The second progress review will include the submission of your review documents, an open 15 to 20-minute oral presentation focusing on the results from the PhD, and an interview with the review panel (the duration of the interview will typically be around 60 minutes left at the Chair’s discretion).

The document will consist of approximately 10 pages (not including bibliography, copies of publications or appendices), using Time New Roman font size 12 (or equivalent) and single spacing or equivalent as a reference. This narrative report should point to appendices including longer-format items such as completed chapters/manuscripts and/or more detailed results when available. As a guide the following elements are usually included in the R2 report:

Title of thesis and authors/advisory team.
Updated abstract (300-500 words)
Summary of completed work detailing the project’s progress and summarising the results so far. The candidate will be expected to clearly state in this report the progress made since R1, and his/her contribution in case the PhD is part of a team research project.
Thesis structure (updated). Detailed plan/outline for future work and description of the research chapters remaining or in progress including methodology. This plan should include a detailed timeline to completion of the thesis.
Achievements/deliverables since R1.
Expected outcomes and plans for disseminating your work, e.g., plans for conference attendance, manuscripts in preparation or anticipated and target journals, etc.
Appendices: one manuscript completed (submitted or ready to be submitted). This can be in the format of a draft results chapter or a journal article to which the candidate has been the main (1st) author. The manuscript (or draft chapter) should be added in appendices and not as part of the ≤10-page main report.

Progress Review 3 (R3)

The third progress review (R3) includes the submission of your review documents, an open 40 to 50-minute oral presentation (and an additional question time of around 15 minutes), and an interview with the review panel (the duration of the interview is typically around 60 minutes left at the Chair’s discretion).

The document consists of an updated draft of the thesis including a brief summary of progress since R2. As a guide the following elements are usually included in the R3 report:

Title of thesis and authors/advisory team.
Updated abstract (300-500 words).
Summary of progress since R2. The candidate will be expected to clearly state in this report the progress made since R2.
Contribution of the candidate in case the PhD is part of a team research project.
Overall introduction to the thesis.
Literature review.
Gaps of knowledge, objectives, hypothesis.
Final thesis structure. Detailed description of the research chapters including a plan/timeline to submission of the thesis in context of deadlines.
Two or more research chapters/manuscripts completed. This can be in the format of original research chapters or as journal articles to which the candidate has been the main (1st) author.
Achieved and expected outcomes and plans for disseminating the work, e.g. conference attendance, manuscripts published, in preparation or anticipated and target journals, etc.