School of Music 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

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/Academic CV	Candidate statement Individual Development Plan (IDP) Portfolio/summary of development activities/Academic CV	Candidate statement Individual Development Plan (IDP) Portfolio/summary of development activities/Academic CV
Project Documents	Updated research proposal Statement of progress since commencement Updated research plan iThenticate report	Example of written work Example of artistic work (if applicable) Statement of progress since R1 Updated research plan iThenticate report	Full draft of thesis Full draft of folio of artistic work (if applicable) Statement of progress since R2 Updated research plan iThenticate report
Review Meeting	60 minutes	60 minutes	60 minutes
Oral Presentation	Open presentation about research project (20 minutes presentation + 10 minutes questions)	Closed presentation about research project (10 minutes presentation + 20 minutes questions)	Open presentation about final research findings (30 minutes 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

Your Progress Review Panel (PRP) in the School of Music will consist of a Chair, a Reviewer and all your advisors. Your Chair will usually be the Director of HDR, unless they are a part of your advisory team, in which case an alternative Chair will be found by your advisory team.

Where possible, the same person will be the reviewer for your Progress Review and the Chair of Examiners when you proceed to Oral Examination. Reviewers should have experience supervising HDR students at your level (so MPhil students must have a reviewer who can supervise MPhil students, and PhD students must have a reviewer who can supervise PhD students), have a good knowledge of your area of research, and have completed the requirements to chair an examination. Reviewers must be recognised as independent and able to give unconflicted advice to both you and the advisory team.

Reviewers for students in the School of Music can come from within the School or the wider University where appropriate. Please discuss with your advisory team who might be suitable as your panel members. Your advisory team will approach the potential panel members. Once confirmed, you need to enter their names in your my.UQ Progress Review request.

Scheduling your review

Book a room for your progress review. Alternately, the School of Music has a standing two-hour booking for staff meetings that HDR candidates can use for progress review meetings: the standing booking is from 10am to 12pm on Tuesday in Semester 1, 2024, and from 10am to 12pm on Wednesday in Semester 2, 2024. To request permission to use this standing booking for your progress review, please contact the School of Music Executive Assistant via musicexecassist@uq.edu.au.

Advertising your review

To promote your progress review presentation in the School of Music research seminar series, please contact the School of Music Concerts and Engagement Officer via concerts@uq.edu.au at least 2 weeks in advance and provide the following details:

The date, start and finish time, and location for your presentation
Your thesis title and abstract
Your photo and biography

Confirmation of Candidature Review (R1)

Your confirmation of candidature review will include the submission of your candidature and project documents, an open 20 minute oral presentation about your research project, with 10 minutes of question time, and a follow-up meeting with the review panel.

The project documents required by the School for this review are:

An updated research proposal that demonstrates how the proposed research relates to existing knowledge in the field, that it will be an original contribution to knowledge, and that it hasn’t already been done elsewhere. The maximum length should be 10,000 words (for standard PhD format), or 6,000 words (for standard MPhil or alternate PhD formats), or 4,000 words (for alternate MPhil format).
A 1-page statement of progress since commencement of candidature, including the status of any human ethics application required for the project.
An updated research plan (1 to 2 pages) that demonstrates the remaining work for the research project can be done in the time expected for completing the degree and with the available resources.

Written feedback will be provided by your reviewer before the interview. Your chair will also prepare a written report and will provide a recommendation to the Dean, UQ Graduate School about attainment of the review.

Progress Review 2 (R2)

Your second progress review will include the submission of your candidature and project documents, a closed 10 minute oral presentation to the review panel about the development of your research project, with 20 minutes of question time, and a follow-up meeting with the review panel for up to one hour.

The project documents required by the School for this review are:

An example of written work (such as a draft thesis chapter, a substantial piece of academic writing, an article submitted for publication to a refereed journal, or a full conference paper) that demonstrates the development of the research project in relation to the field of knowledge, methods, and analysis/commentary. The maximum length should be 10,000 words (for standard PhD format), or 6,000 words (for standard MPhil or alternate PhD formats), or 4,000 words (for alternate MPhil format).
An example of artistic work (such as a draft composition or a recorded performance) that demonstrates the development of the artistic research, if applicable.
A 1-page statement of progress since R1, including consideration given to the feedback received at R1 as well as the status of any human ethics application required for the project.
An updated research plan (1 to 2 pages) that demonstrates the remaining work for the research project can be done in the time expected for completing the degree and with the available resources.

Progress Review 3 (R3)

Your third progress review will include the submission of your candidature and project documents, an open 30 minute oral presentation about your final research findings, with 10 minutes of question time, and a follow-up meeting with the review panel.

The project documents required by the School for this review are:

A full draft of the thesis.
A full draft of the folio of artistic work, if applicable.
A 1-page statement of progress since R2, including consideration given to the feedback received at R2.
An updated research plan (1 to 2 pages) that demonstrates the remaining work for the submission of the thesis for examination can be done in the time expected for completing the degree and with the available resources.

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
Review their 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

Please download and complete the School of Music Progress Reviewer report template (DOCX, 39.8 KB).