School of the Environment 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 School of the Environment. 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) Summary of development activities and Academic CV (DOCX, 39 KB)	Candidate statement Individual Development Plan (IDP) Summary of development activities and Academic CV (DOCX, 39 KB)	Candidate statement Individual Development Plan (IDP) Summary of development activities and Academic CV (DOCX, 39 KB)
Project Documents	Confirmation proposal (approx. 8,000 words) Ethics application, if relevant iThenticate report	Progress Report (PR2) iThenticate report	Progress Report (PR3) iThenticate report
Review Meeting	120 minutes	120 minutes	120 minutes
Oral Presentation	Open 20–30-minute presentation + 10 minutes questions	Open 20–30-minute presentation + 10 minutes questions	Open 20–30-minute presentation + 10 minutes questions

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

Panel composition and meeting format

Your Progress Review Panel (PRP) in the School of the Environment will consist of:

a chair
an additional reader with relevant discipline expertise.
your advisory team

Your principal advisor will help you identify an appropriate panel. The Chair of the panel must be an academic from within the School of the Environment. The reader may be affiliated with the School or an external organisational unit but must have appropriate experience. Less-experienced staff (e.g. post-doctoral fellows) can be involved as secondary readers. If possible, you will have the same panel for all three reviews.

The candidate organises the Progress Review meeting to take place during the research quarter in which it is due. It will begin with a 20–30-minute oral presentation, followed by 10 minutes of question time. The oral presentation is open to the School and it is followed by a closed 60–90-minute meeting with the review panel, this consists of four stages:

Questions and discussion with the Panel and Advisors,
Panel discussion with the advisors (without the candidate),
Panel discussion with the candidate (without the advisors), and
Discussion between the Chair and the candidate only (if necessary)

Your Chair and the rest of your panel will provide verbal feedback on your oral presentation during your meeting. Your Chair will also prepare a written report detailing the recommendations of the Progress Review Panel, which will be available through my.UQ. You may be required to make amendments to the progress report (based on the feedback from the panel). Details of any further actions required, including required amendments to the progress report will be included in the Chair’s written report.

Confirmation of Candidature Review (R1)

The Candidature documents and Confirmation Proposal document must be submitted through my.UQ by the census date of the research quarter.

The Confirmation Proposal document

The Confirmation Proposal document
The important elements of a Confirmation Proposal document include:

an introduction to the research topic and project, including the aim of the research and research question(s)/hypotheses,
a literature review demonstrating knowledge of the research area and providing a background to the project,
an outline of the intended approach and research methods,
a brief discussion of the expected outcomes or preliminary results,
a detailed plan and timeline for project implementation (Gantt chart), including details of how any skill gaps will be filled and a tentative plan for the final structure of the thesis,
reference list.

The report should be approximately 8000 words (25 - 30 pages) long and it should be fully referenced. It should have a logical structure that addresses the above criteria but there is no prescribed format.

If substantial results are already available, the confirmation document could be built around the introduction and literature review, a draft of a single scientific paper/ chapter and a summary of plans for the remaining chapters.

Progress Review 2 (R2)

The Progress Review 2 Report, and other required Candidature documents, for PR2 must be submitted through my.UQ by the census date of the research quarter in which the progress review is due.

The important elements of the Progress Review 2 Progress Report are:

a 1 to 2 page thesis abstract,
a succinct update on progress, including lists of achievements and any problems encountered,
an updated outline of the planned thesis, including estimates of the percentage (%) of the work that has been completed for each planned chapter,
drafts of thesis chapters or draft/published paper/s (it is expected that the Progress Review 2 Report will include at least one substantive results chapter or draft paper),
a Gantt chart detailing the planned timeline for project completion.

Progress Review 3 (R3)

The Progress Review 3 Report, and other required Candidature documents, for PR3 must be submitted through my.UQ by the census date of the research quarter in which the progress review is due.

The important elements of the Progress Review 3 Report are:

a 1 to 2 page thesis abstract,
a succinct update on progress, including lists of achievements and any problems encountered,
an updated outline of the planned thesis, including estimates of the percentage (%) of the work that has been completed for each planned chapter,
drafts of thesis chapters or draft/published paper/s (it is expected that the Progress Review 3 Report will include at least two substantive results chapters or draft/published papers),
a Gantt chart detailing the planned timeline for project completion.