Annual Progress Review (and how to prepare for it)

John Kirby Graduate School

Faculty of Medical Sciences

Newcastle University

How well are you doing?

A thesis should be a piece of work which a capable, well qualified and diligent student who is properly supported and supervised can produce in n-years of full-time study

No one has done your research before.

How do you know if you are on track?

Common questions

– Why do we review your progress?– When are you reviewed?– What form does review take?– What are the possible outcomes of the

review?

Information

Progress Review• Why?

– To help you work out what your project is about!– To encourage you to think of your research aims

(and what you have achieved to date).– To focus you on the timeline for completion of

your work.– To help you to decide if you are sufficiently

diligent…– To identify problems at an early stage and to

suggest strategies to fix these.

Review

• When?

Assessment

• What is assessed?– First assessment

The 1st assessment report• Often students have relatively few completed sets of

data by 9 months• The literature review is most important

– Often the focused reading you do for this “sets the scene” for your entire project and clarifies your aims.

• How much input can you expect from your supervisors?– It is your progress that is being assessed (not your

supervisor(s) knowledge)

First assessment – what else is needed?

• Annual report forms completed by the:– Student – Supervisor(s)

• Lab books

• Record of PG skills training events you have attended.

Subsequent Assessment(s)

• What is needed?

– Final assessment to include a detailed thesis plan (“table of contents”)

The future is electronic…

The assessment interview

• You should arrange this and provide documents to the assessors in good time (potentially as e-documents)

• There is no fixed duration for the interview

• The interview is based on the formal oral exam you will have on completion of your PhD/MD thesis (or may have on completion of your MPhil thesis).

• The assessors will be hoping for a lively 2-way exchange of knowledge.

• You may well find you know better than your assessors the literature in your area.

• Be prepared to highlight achievements you are particularly proud of.

• Don’t be worried if the assessors suggest additional work – you still have time for this.– Make notes so any useful points you discuss

are not forgotten

Phew – its all over• But, you have just written a wonderful literature

review– Will it now simply collect dust?

• NO!– The review (and its bibliography) will be useful when

you write your thesis

– Maybe the literature review can be converted with little extra effort into a published review

• Talk to your supervisors about this.

The big one!

Purpose of an examination

• For the University– To assess and maintain quality– To mark ‘completion’ of the degree programme

• For the Student– Potentially leads to award of a degree– Is an important and memorable life event

• can be a real emotional roller coaster (for everyone involved)

Who needs an oral examination?

• All PhD and MD candidates– Students and full-time JRAs need one internal and

one external examiner– Staff candidates require two external examiners

• Not all MPhil candidates– Same criteria for examiners as above– Oral examination held at examiners request

• Not only for weak students • With a good candidate can be fun for everyone!

Appointment of examiners• See nomination forms on Graduate

School www-site. • Examiners must:

– be cognisant of standards– have subject knowledge (need CV)– command authority– not have played a role in the research– (if external) not have been a member of

Newcastle staff for at least 3 years– be able and willing to examine

Internal examiners

• Liaise with supervisor, student (and sometimes external) to arrange examination

• Ensure the examination complies with Newcastle University protocol

• Ensure appropriate report forms are completed and submitted in a timely manner

• Provide balance, fairness and ensure good examination conduct

• Potentially play a role during any appeals process

External examiners

• Usually is the scientific specialist

• Maintains inter-university quality– Report provides important feedback to

Graduate School

• May not be completely ‘up to speed’ with local regulations!

The Preliminary Report

• Regulations vary between institutions • Many institutions require examiners to

independently produce reports before the examination.– Newcastle does this– These can flag up potential problems before the

examination

• You won’t see this and should not expect contact with your examiners before the exam.

What will happen on the big dayPhD oral (or Progress Review)!

• Arrive in good time• Bring your lab books

– You may need to show these (rare but possible)

• Bring your thesis– Stick in post-it notes to allow you to find the

good bits very easily

• Bring any publications or abstracts• Bring paper and pencils

– You might be asked to illustrate your answer

What your examiners will have done before you arrive

• Read your thesis in very great detail• Taken a day away from a busy schedule• Suffered a long train journey/flight

– Maybe stayed overnight in a (cheap) hotel

• Arranged the examination room– Pencils and paper to draw on, water, food

• Stuck lots of post-it notes in your thesis to highlight areas to discuss

• Agreed a plan with the co-examiner• Will be aware that:

– Oral examination of a good candidate can/should be one of the most pleasurable academic experiences for all involved

– Examination of a poor thesis/candidate can be very draining for all concerned!

• Will have devised different strategies for both situations

• Will try to put a nervous student at his or her ease with general questions

Outcome : The options at Newcastle(a)(i)

That the candidate be admitted immediately to the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.

(a)(ii)

That the candidate be admitted to the degree of Doctor of Philosophy subject to minor corrections of the text made to the satisfaction of the internal examiner, normally within a period of one month of receiving formal notification of the corrections to be made..

(a)(iii)

That the candidate be admitted to the degree of Doctor of Philosophy subject to minor revisions being made to the satisfaction of the internal examiner, normally within a period of six months of receiving formal notification of the revisions to be made.

(b)(i)

That the candidate’s thesis be deemed to be of a satisfactory standard, but that the candidate be adjudged to have failed to satisfy the examiners in the oral examination and that the candidate therefore be required to attend within six months either for a second oral examination or for a written examination, as the examiners shall determine in their written report.

(b)(ii)

That the candidate be adjudged to have failed to satisfy the examiners and the candidate be permitted to revise and re-submit the thesis within twelve months without a further oral examination.

(b)(iii)

That the candidate be adjudged to have failed to satisfy the examiners and the candidate be permitted to revise and re-submit the thesis within twelve months and be re-examined orally.

 

(c)(i)

That the candidate has reached the standard required for the appropriate Master’s Degree and should immediately be awarded that degree instead.

Examination Results

PhD results (06-08)

A1 A2 A3 B1 B2 B30

25

50

75

100

Examiners score

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Corrections

• Make whatever corrections are necessary as soon as you can– One of your examinersd will need to approve any changes

• Resubmit 2 copies of the revised thesis to the Graduate School– 1 is returned to the supervisor– 1 is held in the library

• You may wish to make additional copies for yourself (and your family)

Can examiners do more to recognise excellence?

• In many countries, 1st rate PhD students can be defined. – the French system allows PhDs to be awarded as

"honourable (not very good)", "very honourable" (average) and "very honourable with felicitations" (top 5%).

– there is no similar recognition in the UK.

• In Newcastle we ask examiners (on a separate report sheet) to indicate whether they consider the thesis to be in the top 10% of theses they have examined.– A committee will consider this recommendation and

prizes will be awarded.• We hope this will be good for the student’s CV.