Conditions for the Award of the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

1. The degree of Doctor of Philosophy may be awarded by the Council on the recommendation of the Higher Degree Committee of the appropriate faculty or board (hereinafter referred to as the Committee) to a candidate who has made an original and significant contribution to knowledge.

Qualifications

2. (1) A candidate for the degree shall have been awarded an appropriate degree of Bachelor with Honours from the University of New South Wales or a qualification considered equivalent from another university or tertiary institution at a level acceptable to the Committee.

(2) In exceptional cases an applicant who submits evidence of such other academic and professional qualifications as may be approved by the Committee may be permitted to enrol for the degree.

(3) If the Committee is not satisfied with the qualifications submitted by an applicant the Committee may require the applicant to undergo such assessment or carry out such work as the Committee may prescribe, before permitting enrolment as a candidate for the degree.

Enrolment

3. (1) An application to enrol as a candidate for the degree shall be lodged with the Registrar at least one month prior to the date at which enrolment is to begin.

(2) In every case before making the offer of a place the Committee shall be satisfied that initial agreement has been reached between the Department is used here and elsewhere in these conditions to mean any teaching unit authorised to enrol research students and includes a department where that department is not within a Department, a centre given approval by the
Academic Board to enrol students, and an interdisciplinary unit within a faculty and under the control of the Dean of the Faculty. Enrolment is permitted in more than one such teaching unit. and the applicant on the topic area, supervision arrangements, provision of adequate facilities and any coursework to be prescribed and that these are in accordance with the provisions of the guidelines for promoting postgraduate study within the University.

(3) The candidate shall be enrolled either as a full-time or a part-time student.

(4) A full-time candidate will present the thesis for examination no earlier than three years and no later than five years from the date of enrolment and a part-time candidate will present the thesis for examination no earlier than four years and no later than six years from the date of enrolment, except with the approval of the Committee.

(5) The candidate may undertake the research as an internal student i.e. at a campus, teaching hospital, or other research facility with which the University is associated, or as an external student not in attendance at the University except for periods as may be prescribed by the Committee.

(6) An internal candidate will normally carry out the research on a campus or at a teaching or research facility of the University except that the Committee may permit a candidate to spend a period in the field, within another institution or elsewhere away from the University provided that the work can be supervised in a manner satisfactory to the Committee. In such instances the Committee shall be satisfied that the location and period of time away from the University are necessary to the research program.

(7) The research shall be supervised by a supervisor and where possible a co-supervisor who are members of the academic staff of the Department or under other appropriate supervision arrangements approved by the Committee. Normally an external candidate within another organisation or institution will have a co-supervisor at that institution.

Progression

4. The progress of the candidate shall be considered by the Committee following report from the Department in accordance with the procedures established within the Department and previously noted by the Committee.

(i) The research proposal will be reviewed as soon as feasible after enrolment. For a full-time student this will normally be during the first year of study, or immediately following a period of prescribed coursework. This review will focus on the viability of the research proposal.

(ii) Progress in the course will be reviewed within twelve months of the first review. As a result of either review the Committee may cancel enrolment or take such other action as it considers appropriate. Thereafter, the progress of the candidate will be reviewed annually.

Thesis

5. (1) On completing the program of study a candidate shall submit a thesis embodying the results of the investigation.

(2) The candidate shall give in writing to the Registrar two months notice of intention to submit the thesis.

(3) The thesis shall comply with the following requirements:

(a) it must be an original and significant contribution to knowledge of the subject;

(b) the greater proportion of the work described must have been completed subsequent to enrolment for the degree;

(c) it must be written in English except that a candidate in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences may be required by the Committee to write a thesis in an appropriate foreign language;

(d) it must reach a satisfactory standard of expression and presentation;

(e) it must consist of an account of the candidate's own research but in special cases work done conjointly with other persons may be accepted provided the Committee is satisfied about the extent of the candidate's part in the joint research.

(4) The candidate may not submit as the main content of the thesis any work or material which has previously been submitted for a university degree or other similar award but may submit any work previously published whether or not such work is related to the thesis.

(5) Four copies of the thesis shall be presented in a form which complies with the requirements of the University for the preparation and submission of theses for higher degrees.

(6) It shall be understood that the University retains the four copies of the thesis submitted for examination and is free to allow the thesis to be consulted or borrowed. Subject to the provisions of the Copyright Act, 1968, the University may issue the thesis in whole or in part, in photostat or microfilm or other copying medium.

Examination

6. (1) There shall be not fewer than three examiners of the thesis, appointed by the Committee, at least two of whom shall be external to the University.

(2) At the conclusion of the examination each examiner shall submit to the Committee a concise report on the thesis and shall recommend to the Committee that one of the following:

(a) The thesis merits the award of the degree.

(b) The thesis merits the award of the degree subject to minor corrections as listed being made to the satisfaction of the head of Department.

(c) The thesis requires further work on matters detailed in my report. Should performance in this further work be to the satisfaction of the higher degree Committee, the thesis would merit the award of the degree.

(d) The thesis does not merit the award of the degree in its present form and further work as described in my report is required. The revised thesis should be subject to re-examination.

(e) The thesis does not merit the award of the degree and does not demonstrate that resubmission would be likely to achieve that merit.

(3) If the performance in the further work recommended under (2)(c) above is not to the satisfaction of the Committee, the Committee may permit the candidate to submit the thesis for re-examination as determined by the Committee within a period determined by it but not exceeding eighteen months.

(4) After consideration of the examiners' reports and the results of any further examination of the thesis, the Committee may require the candidate to submit to written or oral examination before recommending whether or not the candidate be awarded the degree. If it is decided that the candidate be not awarded the degree, the Committee shall determine whether or not the
candidate be permitted to resubmit the thesis after a further period of study and/or research.

Fees

7. A candidate shall pay such fees as may be determined from time to time by the Council.

Preparation and Submission of Project Reports and Theses for Higher
Degrees

1. (1) Every candidate for the degree of Master or Doctor in which a report on a project or a thesis is required shall submit the required copies of the project report or thesis in accordance with the Schedule below.

(2) All copies shall contain:

(a) an abstract which shall indicate:
the problem investigated;
the procedures followed;
the general results obtained;
the major conclusions reached;
but shall not contain any illustrative matter, such as tables, graphs or charts.

(b) the following statement signed by the candidate:

'I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and that, to the best of my knowledge and belief, it contains no material previously published or written by another person nor material which to a substantial extent has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma of the university or other institute of higher learning, except where due acknowledgement is made in the text.'

(c) a data sheet containing a declaration relating to the disposition of the project report or thesis in accordance with the University's Policy with respect to the Use of Project Reports and Higher Degree Theses (see below) and a short abstract of not more than 350 words for provision to Dissertations Abstract International and other relevant databases. The data sheet is
to be glued to the inside front cover of the thesis. Candidates are encouraged to provide a further 3 copies of the data sheet loosely inserted in the thesis. This will speed Library processing of the abstract for inclusion in Dissertation Abstracts International and other databases.

2. (1) All copies shall be in either 1 or double-spaced typescript. Type size shall be not less than 12-point (and 10-point for footnotes) in a legible, preferably sanserif font. The paper used shall be of good quality and sufficiently opaque for normal reading and microfilming/microfiching purposes. Acid free permanent paper which will ensure preservation of the thesis for a minimum of 300 years is recommended although not obligatory.

(2) The size of the paper shall be approximate International Standards Organisation paper size A4 (297 mm x 210mm) or the size commonly called quarto except for illustrative material such as drawings, maps and printouts, which must comply with (7) below.

(3) The margins on each sheet shall be not less than 40 mm on the left-hand side, 20mm on the right-hand, 30 mm at the top and 20 mm at the bottom.

(4) There shall be a title sheet showing the title, author's name, degree and year of submission.

(5) Pages or leaves shall be numbered consecutively.

(6) Unless otherwise specifically permitted by the supervisor, diagrams, charts, etc shall be included, where possible with the text, otherwise they must be clearly referred to in the text, numbered and folded for insertion in a pocket on the back cover of the thesis binding. All loose material and any video tape, audio tape or computer disks shall be inserted in a pocket in the
back inside cover of the volume binding or bound into a dummy volume of the same dimensions as the text volume and with the same lettering on the spine (see 3(3) below) and shall be marked with the candidate's name, initials and degree for which the work is submitted in such a way that it can readily be linked with the Project Report or thesis. Folded diagrams or charts included in the text shall be arranged so as to open out to the top and left. Photographic prints shall be securely fixed. They shall either be printed on single weight printing paper, preferably not glazed, or mounted on cartridge paper for binding.

(7) Where permission has been obtained for the separate binding of drawings they shall be of International Standards Organisation paper size A1 (841 mm x 594 mm) and shall have a margin of at least 40 mm on the left-hand side to permit binding. Graphics printed by computer shall be of International Standards Organisation paper size A4 (297 mm x 210mm) or if sheets of a greater length are required, must be a multiple of A4 ie A4 x 3 (297mm x 630 mm) or A4 x 4 (297 mm x
841mm) or A4 x 5 (297mm x 1051mm). They shall be bound together by a row of clips on the left-hand side and shall have a clear sheet of drawing paper on top and underneath. On the top sheet shall be printed the words 'The University of New South Wales.. .. . . . . ...of....Degree' and a description of the project or thesis, and underneath that, the year of submission.
On the bottom right-hand corner shall be printed the name of the candidate. Drawings and graphics may be origninals on cartridge paper or black and white prints. Where they are computer generated they must be printed using a new ribbon and must be clear and sharp. They should be suitably coloured where appropriate and extra work may be added in ink to original drawings.

(8) Where the work consists primarily of artefacts such as slides, films, sculpture, painting, or consists wholly of artefacts which will be returned to the candidate, three volumes containing a full visual documentary record of the work shall be submitted. Each copy of the volume shall contain a summary of not more than 350 words of the work undertaken. An additional three copies of the summary shall be submitted with the volumes.

Catalogues and similar material shall be bound in the volume unless the supervisor approves otherwise.

Any material which exceeds A4 size shall be either: folded so as to read as a right-hand page when opened; or numbered and folded for insertion in a pocket in the back inside cover of the volume binding. A full visual documentary record of the work may be presented in either: 35 mm slides, video tape, film or other formats as approved by the supervisor. Slides will be inserted in slide sheets and bound into the volume. Further visual records may be presented in forms such as photographs, illustrations, drawings, original art work, photocopies or prints. All slides and other visual material will be clearly marked with the artist's name, work title, size, date and the material or media used. All the work which is to be presented in the exhibition of work will be fully catalogued. Such visual documents shall include slides of work in progress, overall views of the final
presentation and of each individual piece showing the entire work. For three-dimensional work slides of several views shall be required. Slides showing details shall be provided in the case of major works.

(9) Any variation to the requirements in (1-8) shall be approved by the supervisor in consultation with the Registrar and the University Librarian, or in the case of the College of Fine Arts be approved by the supervisor in consultation with the Higher Degree Committee of the College of Fine Arts and the College of Fine Arts Librarian.

3. (1) One copy of every project report or thesis submitted to the Registrar is for deposit in the University Library. The Library deposit copy shall be presented in a permanent and legible original typescript, printed copy, laser printed copy, computer printed copy of letter quality using a new carbon ribbon or good quality photocopy of one of these. Faded, dirty or faint copies are not acceptable. At the discretion of the Librarian an additional copy on floppy disc may be submitted.

(2) The copies shall either be bound in accordance with (3) below or, subject to faculty rule, in such a manner as will allow their transmission to examiners without the possibility of their disarrangement.

(3) Prior to the award of the degree the candidate shall ensure that the Library deposit copy is bound in boards, covered with buckram. The bound volume shall be lettered on the spine as follows:

(a) at the bottom and across - UNSW; or if the volume is too thin for this:
U
NSW

(b) 70 mm from the bottom and across, with the degree and year of submission of the thesis, for example - MSc 1987

(c) evenly spaced between the statement of the degree and year and the top of the spine the name of the candidate, initials first and then the surname, reading upwards in one line.

No further lettering or any decoration is required on the spine or anywhere on the binding. In the binding of project reports or theses which include mounted photographs, folded graphs, etc. leaves at the spine shall be packed to ensure even thickness of the volume. The Library copy shall be bound by one of a panel of approved bookbinders, each of whom is aware of the University's requirements. Names of approved bookbinders may be secured from the Postgraduate Section.

Disclosure of Potential Conflict of Interest

Disclosure of any potential conflict of interest is essential for the responsible conduct of research. Disclosure of a research worker's affiliation with, or financial involvement in any organisation or entity with a direct interest in the subject matter, or the provision of materials for the research, must be disclosed to the relevant Head or Director as soon as the researcher becomes aware of the potential conflict with the disclosure being kept by the Head or Director in a confidential file. Where the researcher is a Head or Director, the disclosure should be made to the Dean of the Faculty.

Potential conflicts of interest would include benefits in kind such as the provision of materials or facilities for the research and the support of individuals through the provision of benefits (eg., travel and accommodation expenses to attend conferences).

Potential conflicts of interest must be disclosed wherever appropriate, such as to editors of journals to which papers are submitted and to bodies from which funds are sought. These disclosures should be made at the time of submission or application.