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UCD RegistryClárlann UCD
eThesis Exam System
student guide
Table of Contents
UCD RegistryClárlann UCD
Introduction
Useful Policies, Guidelines and Weblinks
Useful contacts
Glossary of Terms
Overview of the eThesis process
Countdown to submission
Preparing for submission
Student uploading the thesis
Thesis examination outcomes
Managing thesis corrections
ACCE Approval
Thesis transfer to UCD Library
eThesis – Introduction
What is the eThesis process Exam System?The eThesis Exam System is UCD’s secure online system through which research students can submit their research thesis for examination. Through the system, you will be able to submit your thesis electronically, verify authorship and programme compliance, and track progress through all stages of the examination process.
What’s stays the same?• Compliance with your programme’s academic standards and
requirements, and with University Regulations, is still required.
• The University’s fee deadline remains the same.• The viva voce, if required, will take place, as normal, offline.• A hardbound copy of the thesis is still required for the Library.
What’s new?• All steps of thesis examination processing will occur online. This
includes checking programme compliance, permission by your supervisor to upload thesis, thesis submission for examination, examination and Academic Council Committee for Examinations (ACCE) sign-off on examination outcome.
• There is no longer a requirement to submit soft bound examination copies of your thesis, unless requested by your School.
• All required information is captured by you once at the start of the process e.g. abstract, keywords, your details.
• The system is accessed via SISWeb. Emails will be sent to you at every decision point which will help you track your thesis’s progress through the examination process.
• If your degree is awarded, your thesis will be automatically sent to UCD’s open access repository Research Repository UCD (RRU) in UCD Library for publication.
Please note it is important that when you submit your thesis via the eThesis system that this has been discussed and agreed with your supervisor.
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Useful Policies, Guidelines and Weblinks
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The below are policies, guidelines, and weblinks that you may find useful:
Policies, Guidelines, Weblinks Weblink
UCD Academic Regulations http://www.ucd.ie/students/documents/AcRegs_2019.2020_v1.pdf
UCD Policy on Thesis in Graduate Research Programmes
https://sisweb.ucd.ie/usis/!W_HU_REPORTING.P_DISPLAY_QUERY?p_query=GD110-5&q=Theses+in+Graduate+Research+Programmes+Policy
UCD Graduate Studies Handbook https://www.ucd.ie/graduatestudies/t4media/Graduate%20Student%20Handbook%202019-20.pdf
Academic Council Committee for Examinations • General Information • Terms of Reference• Committee Meeting Dates
http://www.ucd.ie/registry/assessment/
https://www.ucd.ie/governance/governanceandmanagementcommittees/academiccouncil/accommitteeonexaminations/
SISWeb login https://sisweb.ucd.ie/usis/W_HU_MENU.P_DISPLAY_MENU?p_menu=SI-HOME
Thesis Submission Fee Deadlines http://www.ucd.ie/students/fees/thesis.html
ORCID Registration Information https://orcid.org/register
Information on how to merge documents into one file
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/office/troubleshoot/word/merge-word-documents
Online Transcripts https://www.ucd.ie/students/studentdesk/transcripts.html
UCD Library Open Access Repository https://libguides.ucd.ie/RRU/start
UCD Conferring Unit http://www.ucd.ie/confer/
UCD Appeals http://www.ucd.ie/secca/assessmentappeals/
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Useful Contacts
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The below provides a list of key contacts that you may find useful:
Useful Contacts Contact Details
Assessment, UCD Registry [email protected]
UCD Student Desk http://www.ucd.ie/students/studentdesk/contact.html
Academic Council Committee for Examinations
IT Helpdesk [email protected]
College of Arts & Humanities http://www.ucd.ie/artshumanities/contact/
College of Social Sciences & Law http://www.ucd.ie/socscilaw/contact/
College of Health and Agricultural Sciences
http://www.ucd.ie/chas/contact/
College of Engineering and Architecture
http://www.ucd.ie/eacollege/contact/
College of Science http://www.ucd.ie/science/contact/
http://www.ucd.ie/science/study/collegeofsciencegraduate
school/
College of Business https://www.smurfitschool.ie/getintouch/
School Contact Information http://www.ucd.ie/collegesandschools/
UCD Staff Directory https://sisweb.ucd.ie/usis/W_HU_MENU.P_PUBLISH?p_t
ag=DIRECTORY
UCD Library https://www.ucd.ie/library/contact/
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Glossary of Terms
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The below provides a glossary of terms that you may find useful to understand the submission process:
Term Details
Academic Regulations
These are the regulations by which all academic programmes of the university are governed. The purpose of which is to assure and enhance the quality of education and training of research degrees, and to create a framework that guides and supports the student and their supervisor(s).
Academic Council Committee on Examinations (ACCE)
The Academic Council Committee on Examinations (ACCE) acts, on behalf of the University, as an Examination Board for all doctoral and research degrees (PhDs, Professional Doctorates, Research Masters and MDs) and award, on behalf of the University, all research degrees.
Thesis Is the final document, containing the context, nature, methodology and the outcomes of the research, that is submitted by a student to the university for examination in support of their candidature for a doctoral or masters degree. A research masters thesis must demonstrate the attainment of skills and competencies in research. A PhD thesis must contain material of a publishable/peer reviewed standard.
eThesisexamination system
The eThesis Examination System is a secure electronic university system through which students are required to submit their thesis for examination. The system facilitates compliance with university regulations, electronic submission, verification of authorship, and dissemination of theses to the relevant Examination Committee. It also captures the final examination report, which contains the outcome and recommendation in relation to the thesis examination. All reports are passed on to the Academic Council Committee on Examinations, who in their capacity as the Examination Board and awarder of research degrees for the university, determine the outcome of the examination and whether a research degree can be awarded.
Viva Voce Is typically an oral examination which can be used as a key component in the examination of research activity.
Thesis Embargo A thesis embargo will delay the release of a thesis for a specific period of time in the university’s library. Once embargoed, only the title and abstract details of a thesis will appear in the university’s research repository, the full text of the thesis will only become available when the embargo period expires.
Governing Board Each programme is managed and governed by a Governing Board. The responsibilities of a Governing Board are outlined in section 1 of the university’s Academic Regulations.
Programme Compliance
A graduate research student must comply with their programme requirements prior to submission of their thesis. This could include for example: completion of required educational and training elements of the programme; completion of Research and Professional Development Plan; completion of Stage Transfer Assessment; completion of minimum 30 taught credits; and completion Research Integrity Training. These requirements may vary by research programme. Programme Compliance is approved by the relevant Governing Board and each student must be deemed compliant prior to submission.
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eThesis Process Overview
Step Action? What is this? Who is responsible for this?
1 Programme Compliance check
Refers to the necessary completion of any taught credits or other programme requirements, or embargo approval. This must be checked and completed prior to submission
Your Governing Board
2 Supervisor permits upload of thesis
Once agreed with your supervisor, you will be permitted to upload your thesis in PDF format (one combined document incl. appendices). Your supervisor will confirm this in the system and you will receive an email inviting you to submit your thesis
Your Supervisor
3 Fees and Registration check
The system will undertake a fees and registration check before you are permitted to upload your thesis. If you are unable to upload your thesis due to a fee query, contact the Student Desk
eThesis system / Student Desk, UCD Registry
4 Thesis upload Once ready to submit and in receipt of your email inviting you to upload your thesis, access the 'My Thesis and Supervisors’ screen on SISWeb
You
5 Thesis sign-off for examination
Once uploaded, the thesis is then available for your supervisor to sign-off on for examination
Your Supervisor
6 Thesis is sent to Examination Committee
Upon sign-off, the thesis is then sent to the Examination Committee for pre-Viva review
Examination Committee
7 Viva Voce Viva voce takes place (this process occurs offline) and Examination Committee makes recommendation on outcome of the examination
Examination Committee and You
8 Corrections Corrections may be required depending on the outcome of the viva voce. Corrected thesis uploaded, with outline of corrections
You
9 Corrections approval
Corrected thesis approved by a designated member of your Examination Committee
Designated member of Examination Committee
10 Final report with recommendation on examination outcome
The final examination report from the Examination Committee containing the outcome recommendation is sent to Academic Council Committee on Examinations (ACCE)
Examination Committee
11 Submission of hardbound Thesis
A hardbound copy of your final thesis (with approved corrections where applicable) must be submitted to the Student Desk
You
12 Decision in relation your examination outcome
ACCE will make a decision on your award based on the recommendation received from the Examination Committee
ACCE
13 Issue of Award Letter
The Registrar issues a letter containing final outcome Registrar
14 Electronic thesis copy deposited to Library
UCD’s Open Access Repository (RRU), unless a Thesis Embargo has been sanctioned
eThesis system
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Countdown to Submission
Three months before submission
❑ Determine with your supervisor whether your are going to use the eThesis system for submission.
❑ Ensure to have read the relevant regulations and polices (see the useful links on page 4).
❑ Ensure you have completed all necessary modules and programme requirements (where appropriate). Talk to your supervisor in relation to this.
❑ Lodge embargo request with your Governing Board, if required. Contact your School/Supervisor for details.
❑ Check that your fees and registration up to date. Click into SISWeb to check if you are.
❑ Ensure you have made all the necessary preparations as agreed with your supervisor and to discuss any copyright requirements in the thesis (permission to use images, etc.).
One month before submission
❑ Work closely with your supervisor to get the thesis ready for submission.
❑ Ensure to check submission dates for fees and allow good time for both you and your supervisor to finalise checks on your thesis.
The week of submission
❑ Ensure your supervisor is happy for you to submit your thesis and knows when you are going to do so. Your supervisor will need to open the system for you to submit.
❑ Remember any outstanding fees or issues with registration must be rectified before uploading your thesis. Contact the Student Desk or your School if you need assistance.
❑ Make sure you submit the final version of your thesis as agreed with your supervisor.
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The below provides guidance on tasks you should be undertaking prior to your thesis submission. The timelines and tasks outlined are for guidance purposes only, and may vary depending on your programme.
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Preparing for Submission
1) To upload your thesis, you need to combine all documents into a single PDF document. This document must include all title pages, tables of content, appendices and other elements which make up your thesis.
If you are using Microsoft Word, you can use it to merge different chapters/documents into a single file.
Remember to put page or section breaks at the end of each file before merging and keep an eye on the formatting! This can take time, so don’t leave it until the last minute. Finally, save as pdf.
2) Two steps must be completed by others before you can upload your thesis:
• programme compliance check, and
• supervisor sign-off to submit your thesis.
When these steps are complete, you will get an email inviting you to upload your thesis. You must have current registration to your Programme and Research Activity module. You must have no outstanding Fees.
3) Log onto SISWeb and go to ‘My Thesis and Supervisors’.
4) If you see either of the following messages, contact your Supervisor to let them know and seek further guidance.
Awaiting Governing Board programme compliance approval for examination
Awaiting Supervisor sign-off before thesis may be submitted
5) If you see a message saying that you owe fees, contact the Student Desk to discuss this further. See below example:
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Student Thesis Upload
1) When your supervisor permits you to submit your thesis, you will receive an email inviting you to submit your thesis in SISWeb:
• Your supervisor has confirmed that you can submit your research thesis for examination.
• To submit your thesis, log in to ‘My Thesis and Supervisors’…
2) In SISWeb in the ‘My Thesis and Supervisors’ section, you will now see the following screen and a button will be available for you to submit your thesis:
3) It is important to check that your name and address details are correct, you can do so by clicking on ‘Check Address’. Your final degree parchment will contain your name as it is captured in SISWeb, and your award letter will be sent to the home address listed there. If either of these are incorrect, you should amend them prior to submission.
4) When you click on ‘Submit Thesis’ button, you will be able to edit your thesis title if necessary.
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Student Thesis Upload
1) Upon clicking on the ‘Continue’ button, you will see the following screen:
2) You will be required to enter a brief abstract of a maximum of 4,000 characters.
3) Enter up to a maximum of four keywords.
4) Add your ORCID. If you do not have one set up, further information can be found at this website: https://orcid.org/register.
5) Browse your files to find your finalised thesis PDF and upload your thesis.
6) Ensure that you upload the correct thesis file.
7) You can only upload your thesis only once, even if there is time left before the deadline. This must be the final version as agreed with your supervisor, and this is the version that will be examined.
8) It is important to read the declaration on the screen before submitting your thesis.
9) Once your thesis has been submitted and accepted by your supervisor, it cannot be withdrawn from the examination process.
Troubleshooting - Common issues:
Cannot complete the upload – error message:Your abstract may be too long, only 4,000 characters are permitted. Some punctuation or symbols may take up more characters than expected, for example characters such as ! = 3 characters, € = 5 characters.
You have submitted an incorrect file:Contact your supervisor, as they can reject your submission
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Student Thesis Upload
1) When your thesis has been uploaded, it will be sent to your supervisor, whose responsibility it is to check over the thesis you have submitted.
2) When your supervisor has satisfied themselves that you have submitted the agreed version of your thesis, they will sign off on it, and then submit it to your Examination Committee for examination.
3) You will receive an email to confirm when your thesis has been submitted for examination and the status of it will change in SISWeb to reflect this.
4) Your supervisor and/or Chair of your Examination Committee will then confirm the arrangements for the examination – Viva Voce, where necessary.
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Thesis Examination Outcomes
The examination of your thesis happens offline, the outcomes of which are outlined in the University’s Academic Regulations.
There are five possible outcomes of a research thesis examination depending on the examiners’ opinion of the work:
Award Degree - No corrections requiredThis is used where there are absolutely no changes required to the format or content of the thesis.
Award Degree – revisions requiredThis is used where there are changes required to the thesis, but where the examiners do not consider a new examination to be necessary. Revisions are typically carried out within three months.
Revise thesis and submit for re-examinationThis is used there the examiners feel that the scope and nature of the changes are such that the student’s work should go through the full examination process again.
Do not award Degree - Recommendation that the candidate transfer to an appropriate graduate programmeThis is used where the examiners do not consider the work to be worthy of the award for which it was presented, but recommend that the student transfer to a suitable, alternative graduate programme.
Do not award DegreeThis is used where the examiners do not consider the work to be worthy of any award, or where there are major concerns about the originality of the work or the conduct of the research.
It is the responsibility of the Chair of the Exam Committee to inform you and your supervisor of the outcome of your examination.
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Managing Thesis Corrections
The extent and nature of the corrections, as well as the timeframe for completing the corrections, will be communicated to you by the Examination Committee. There should also be scope to clarify the corrections, if necessary.
1) Where the outcome is ‘Award Degree - revisions required’, the Chair will nominate one of the examiner from the Examination Committee to assume responsibility for checking and signing off on the corrections.
2) Corrections are submitted through SISWeb, in ‘My Thesis & Supervisors’, see below screenshot of the relevant submission screen:
3) A brief Summary of Corrections is required, a maximum of 1,000 is permitted.
4) If necessary, the Abstract and Keywords can be amended at this stage.
5) The corrected thesis can then be uploaded and submitted. As previously, only one combined PDF file is required. In particular, attention should be paid formatting compliance as the final corrected thesis will be transferred automatically to the UCD Repository (RRU) upon completion of the examination process.
6) The thesis is then sent to the appointed examiner for approval and final sign-off.
7) Once the appointed examiner has approved the submission, the final report containing the recommendation of the Examination Committee will be sent to the Academic Council Committee for Examinations (ACCE) for approval.
8) You are then required to submit a hardbound copy of your thesis to the UCD Student Desk. You will not be permitted to graduate until this is submitted.
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Submission of Final Recommendation to ACCE
When the examination is complete, if all examiners are in agreement, the Chair of the Examination Committee, shall compile a joint Degree report – on behalf of all examiners – on the academic standard of the thesis and if relevant the candidate’s performance in the viva voce examination. The Degree Report, which contains the Examinations Committees recommendation on the examination outcome, is then submitted to the ACCE for approval.
The ACCE functions as the University’s examination board for Research Degrees. Its duties includes:
• On behalf of the University, function as an Examination Board for all doctoral and research degrees (PhDs, Professional Doctorates, Research Masters and MDs).
• Award, on behalf of the University, all research degrees.
• Determine cases where there is disagreement among examiners in relation to the award of a research degree.
The ACCE meets once a month to review all submissions. See ACCE website for meeting dates.
1) Where the outcome is unanimous, the ACCE is responsible for approving the recommendation and awarding the degree on behalf of the University.
2) Where the outcome is not unanimous, the ACCE shall request the examiners to submit separate reports, and on the basis of the submitted reports and, where necessary, clarification or correspondence with the examiners, will determine which outcome is appropriate.
3) You will be entitled to a copy of the examiners’ degree report following the authorisation or otherwise of the award of the degree by the ACCE.
4) You will receive a letter from the Registrar confirming the outcome of your examination and you will then be able to access your transcript online.
5) Your thesis will be deposited automatically in the University’s Open Access Repository (RRU).
6) Your details will be passed on to the Conferring Unit for conferring, who will then contact you directly with regard to your conferring date.
7) Appeals on the outcome of your examination can be lodged with the Appeals Office, see UCD Appeals for more information on this.
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Thesis deposited in UCD Library Repository
When your thesis has been approved by ACCE, your thesis will automatically be transferred from the eThesis system to the UCD Library. It will then be hosted on the UCD’s Open Access Repository (RRU), unless a Thesis Embargo has previously been sanctioned by your Governing Board.
1) If an embargo has been placed on your thesis, only brief bibliographical details of the thesis will appear on the Repository, until the Embargo expires.
2) It is therefore crucial to ensure that your thesis in the eThesis system is the FINAL THESIS for the Open Access Repository. It should not contain highlighting or other means of identifying corrections.
3) You are also required to submit a hardbound copy of your approved thesis the Student Desk. This will be also submitted to the UCD Library.
4) If the approved hardbound copy of the thesis is not submitted, a Graduation Hold (GH) will be placed on your student record until it is submitted and you will not be able to graduate.
5) As per the University’s Academic Regulations, all theses remain the property of University College Dublin. All issues relating to intellectual property will be subject to the University’s practices and policies.
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UCD Registry
Clárlann UCD
