Your confirmation of candidature review will include the submission of your Candidature and Project Documents, a 60 minute meeting with the review panel, and an open 20 minute oral presentation (with an additional 10 minute question time). Meetings will typically be scheduled to occur on Fridays.
Prior to your R1 meeting it is highly recommended you complete the school’s Advanced Research Methods course.
At least one month before the R1 date your documents should be submitted as follows:
Candidature Documents for R1
- Candidate Statement
- Your statement should give a concise snapshot of your progress.
- Individual Development Plan (IDP): Your development plan will comprise two elements:
- Development Needs Analysis: completed by you prior to a meeting with your principal advisor.
- Individual Development Plan: created by you in consultation with your principal advisor.
- Communication and Arts HDR Student Academic CV and Portfolio
- The Portfolio records your research and teaching activities at UQ and includes an Academic CV. At each review you will provide an updated version of your Portfolio, including a realistic schedule of research.
Project Documents for R1
The Thesis Prospectus, a research planning document that includes:
- A succinct, informative statement of the research question and argument;
- Well-defined key concepts and a critical review of the relevant academic literature;
- A rationale for the thesis, its significance, and its contribution to the field;
- A research approach or methodology;
- Chapter outlines (1 paragraph each) or an overview of the thesis components;
- An assessment of the resources and skills required to complete the project;
- A statement of fulfilment or progress of ethical clearance requirements;
- Possible avenues for publication;
- A Bibliography, References, or Works Consulted, as appropriate for your discipline.
For MPhil students the prospectus should be 3,000 words and for PhD students its length should be no more than 4,000 words, in both cases excluding the bibliography.
Creative Writing candidates should outline both the critical and creative components of their projects in the prospectus, ensuring that it contains a detailed chapter outline for the critical essay.
Candidates for the PhD in Art History by Exhibition should include an exhibition plan of approximately 4,000 words which includes an exhibition rationale, installation and display rationale, list of artworks, artist biographies, draft introductory wall didactic, sample wall label, exhibition catalogue essay synopsis, and venue and budget support documentation.
Thesis Sample
Doctoral candidates must submit a thesis chapter, ideally one of the first chapters of the thesis. Chapter lengths vary so there is no set word count but approximately 10,000 words is customary.
PhD in Creative Writing candidates should provide one of the following (in addition to the prospectus with detailed chapter outlines for the critical essay):
- Fiction/Non Fiction: 8,000-10,000 word creative sample OR up to 10,000 words combined creative/critical work.
- Poetry: 20-30 manuscript pages of poetry OR 15 manuscript pages and 4000 words critical essay.
- Film and/or Play Scripts: 20-30 manuscript pages of script OR 15 manuscript pages and 4000 words critical essay.
Candidates for the PhD in Art History by Exhibition are required to submit a sample chapter of 6,000 words minimum.
For candidates in Communication where extensive fieldwork is required but has not yet been undertaken, the sample chapter may be a polished literature review and/or methodology chapter of 6000 words minimum. The sample should not duplicate material from the thesis prospectus such as the literature review or the key terms but in fields such as Creative Writing and Communication these can be the basis of a more developed and polished piece of critical writing.
The written documents should be free from grammatical and typographical errors and demonstrate:
- A viable research plan with a focused research topic, an appropriate methodological framework, and a sound argument;
- Writing skills and research at a level of sophistication, scholarly depth, and originality appropriate to this stage of higher degree research in the discipline.
Written feedback will be provided by your reviewers two weeks before the review meeting and you will be required to prepare a written response to this feedback prior to the session or a verbal response in-session. Your chair will also prepare a written report detailing the recommendations of the Progress Review Panel to the Dean, UQ Graduate School.
