Transfer from MPhil to PhD

All new students who register for doctoral study within the College of Humanities are required to register initially as MPhil students, with an expectation that they will be transferred to PhD registration subject to meeting certain requirements and making satisfactory academic progress. 

The purpose of the transfer (or upgrade) process is to assess your progress and ability to complete your PhD programme within a reasonable time frame. The upgrade panel will establish whether you have produced work of sufficient quantity and quality to suggest that you can achieve the standard required for a PhD. In particular they will consider if you

a)             understand the research question(s)

b)             have an appropriate understanding of the relevant scholarly literature

c)              have demonstrated capability to conduct the research

d)             have a realistic research plan and schedule and

e)             can deliver work at PhD level. 

The transfer process is intended to be a ‘formative’ process for you. That is, the transfer panel should aim to use the process to help you develop and improve your thesis and professional skills, rather than simply to sit in judgment. The viva voce is in particular an opportunity for you to experience speaking about and defending your work in front of an academic panel, in preparation for your final viva voce.

Funded Students

Doctoral students in receipt of funding for their studies, either from the College of Humanities or from a Research Council, are required to have upgraded to PhD before they enter their final year of funding or their funding will be withdrawn.

Entrants Registering Before the 2019-20 Academic Year

Time-frames for transfer of registration should normally take place not later than after 18 months of full-time registration, or 36 months of part-time registration. Applications to transfer registration should take place within a timeframe that allows a decision about changes to registration status to be made within this timeframe.

Entrants Registering from the 2019-20 Academic Year Onwards

Transfer of registration should normally take place not later than after 12 months of full-time registration, or the pro-rata equivalent for part-time registration.

In exceptional circumstances beyond the student’s control applications for deferral of the deadline for transfer from MPhil to PhD may be made.  Details about the circumstances in which a deferral of the deadline for transfer may be considered can be found online in the Code of Good Practice: Periods of registration and changes to registration status for graduate research students. 

Time-frames for Application

An application for deferral should normally be made 6 weeks before the expected submission deadline for upgrade. In exceptional cases, i.e. when serious and unexpected circumstances occur closer to the deadline, an application can be made later, provided that it is prior to the College Upgrade Committee’s scheduled meeting. If serious and unexpected circumstances arise after the student’s first attempt at upgrade these may also be considered.

Process

Please contact the PGR Support Team to obtain a copy of the form to request a deferral of upgrade deadline. 

An application for deferral must be supported by:

1. verifiable and/or independent evidence
2. a statement by a supervisor, and, where appropriate, pastoral tutor;
3. a work-plan with a proposed date by which the work will be submitted. 

The evidence provided must give a clear indication of the length of time by which progress was delayed: if deciding to accept the application for deferral this will inform the College’s decision about what period of deferral might be considered reasonable, which shall not exceed a period of three months. 

Where an application for deferral is made on the basis of especially sensitive information this should be treated confidentially. If a student prefers the reasons for the application may be considered by their pastoral tutor, with whom the student may have discussed their circumstances, who will report to the College Director of Postgraduate Research, without sharing the detail of the evidence provided to them. 

Applications for deferral will be granted by the College Director of Postgraduate Research, in collaboration with the relevant discipline DPGR and the PGR Support team. 

Where a period of deferral to the deadline for transfer is approved:

1. This will be added to the student’s record, however, it will not lead to an extension to the thesis submission deadline. It is expected that the time elapsed by the point at which thesis submission would take place would normally mean that a student would have had sufficient opportunity to get back on track with their studies.
2. No further deferral of the transfer deadline will be permitted without further agreement. Without agreement, any failure to transfer by the deadline given will normally result in action being initiated or progressed under the relevant unsatisfactory student progress procedures, unless the College has concerns that a student’s health, wellbeing and/or behaviour is significantly impacting their ability to successfully complete the upgrade process by the deadline – in these cases it should then be determined whether it is appropriate to take alternative action under the procedures for health, wellbeing and support for study.
3. Depending on the nature of a student’s funding, it may be necessary to report any delay in successfully upgrading within the first year (pro-rata) of study to a student’s sponsor.

If an application for deferral is unsuccessful failure to transfer by the deadline given will normally result in action being initiated or progressed under the relevant procedures for unsatisfactory student progress and unless the College has concerns that a student’s health, wellbeing and/or behaviour is significantly impacting their ability to successfully complete the upgrade process by the deadline, where it should then be determined whether it is appropriate to take alternative action under the ‘Health Wellbeing and Support for Study Procedures’. 

If a student has not applied for deferral, failure to transfer by the deadline given will normally result in action being initiated or progressed under the 'Unsatisfactory Student Progress and Engagement: Code of Good Practice’ unless the College has concerns that a student’s health, wellbeing and/or behaviour is significantly impacting their ability to successfully complete the upgrade process by the deadline, where it should then be determined whether it is appropriate to take alternative action under the ‘Health Wellbeing and Support for Study Procedures’.

All students requesting an upgrade from MPhil to PhD will be assessed viva voce (more commonly known as a ‘viva’) by at least two members of the University’s academic staff, one of whom will normally be the Discipline Director of Postgraduate Research, although it is expected that the discipline DPGR will delegate this role to another member of academic staff when a large number of students in that discipline will be going through upgrade. One member of the upgrade panel will be designated as lead, and they will be responsible for organising the upgrade meeting. The panel must be independent of your supervisory team but your lead supervisor should attend the meeting as an observer. To allow you to make any comments to the upgrade panel without your supervisor being present, you shall always be invited to talk with the panel after your supervisor is asked to leave. 

In advance of the viva the he panel will read the written work submitted by you, as well as a progress report submitted by your lead supervisor. 

Please note that sitting on your upgrade panel does not normally preclude an academic member of staff from going on to act as your internal examiner.

Timing of Transfers

Requests to transfer from MPhil to PhD are normally considered on the recommendation of your first supervisor, although the PGR Support Team will prompt you and your supervisor at the appropriate time. Normally all requests to transfer should be made during the first term of the second year (the 4th term) of full-time study or the third year (the 7^th term) of part-time study. Those who start at other times of the year will have their transfers scheduled as appropriate. 

Students are allowed two possible attempts at transfer to PhD, the period between the first and second attempt should normally be no more than 3 months. A second attempt at the transfer must have taken place by the end of the second year of full-time study or the fourth year of part-time study.

Submission requirements

Standard Upgrade

Students are required to submit the following for consideration by the interview panel: 

In total, 15-20,000 words should be submitted. This should comprise: 

1. A draft abstract of the thesis (up to 300 words).  This should describe your research in terms that can be understood by a non-specialist. 

1. An extended proposal (5,000 words or above). This should cover the following areas: 

a)     Research questions
What are the main issues that your thesis will address? What are the hypotheses that you wish to test? (NB: At this stage you will not necessarily know the answers to all your research questions. Part of the purpose of this exercise is to identify issues thrown up by your research that will need to be addressed in the completed thesis.) 

b)     Research context
Which scholars have written on these issues before? What are the strengths and weaknesses of the existing literature? Does it contain errors or omissions (or both)? What opportunities are there for your thesis to correct these? 

c)      Methodology.
What resources and/or evidence are you using in your research (eg archival material, web-based material, databases, interviews)? How will these materials help you to address your research questions? Are there any novel aspects to your methods, and is there any particular guidance that you require? Are there any ethical issues arising from your research that still need to be addressed? 

1. Chapter-by-chapter outline of the thesis. This may be in continuous prose, bullet-points, or a combination of the two. 

1. Timetable for completion of the thesis (including any corrections to be made post-viva) within four years from the date of initial registration (seven years part time). 

1. One substantive chapter of Ph.D. standard material (10,000 words or above). 

Archaeology Upgrade Requirements

In total, 15-20,000 words should be submitted. This should comprise: 

• A draft abstract of the thesis (up to 300 words)
• Thesis contents page as a working document
• Substantial parts of contextual chapters (such as the introduction and history of previous research), complete with figures and tables, and with accompanying bibliography
• Methodology chapter complete with figures and tables, and with accompanying bibliography
• Some evidence of primary data gathering and analysis as a case study or work in progress (students can submit or bring for discussion their maps, databases, photomicrographs etc).
• Chapter-by-chapter outline of the thesis. This may be in continuous prose, or in bullet-points, or it may be a combination of the two.
• Timetable for completion of the thesis (including any corrections to be made post-viva) within four years from the date of initial registration (or seven years for part-time students). 

By Practice Upgrade Requirements 

Performance Practice – The discipline DPGR will confirm the nature of the artefact to be submitted by no later than the end of the first year of study. This may involve submission of evidence of the first piece of practice where this has been undertaken, or both visual and written evidence of the work undertaken on the first piece of practice to date.  Candidates delivering a workshop or a teaching programme will be expected to produce a workshop or teaching programme that is a minimum of 20 minutes long.  Performance Practice candidates will also be expected to submit 8,000-10,000 words of critical commentary.
Area	Artefact	Critical Commentary
Film	12-15 mins	Plus 4,500 - 6,000 words of critical commentary
Installations	As agreed with discipline DPGR by end of term 3 of first year.
Poetry	15-20 pages
Prose/life writing	12,000 words
Screenplay/script	30 pages
Where specific submission criteria are not specified above the discipline DPGR will provide confirmation as to what and how much work should be submitted  by no later than the end of the first year of study.

You will upload these documents to MyPGR as prompted by the PGR Support Team, at least two weeks before the transfer interview.  These documents will then be forwarded on to your panel by the PGR Support Team. The PGR Support Team will also request a report on your work from your lead supervisor and they will send this on to your panel in advance of your transfer viva. The lead panel member will contact you within one week of receipt of your upgrade documents to agree a date for the review meeting. The panel meeting will normally take place within one month of the panel receiving the documents.

Outcome of Upgrade Interview

Following the upgrade interview, the panel will complete a transfer report form stating their recommendations and submit this to the PGR Support team. The three possible outcomes at the first attempt are that the candidate be:

a) Allowed to transfer their registration to PhD
b) Be allowed to transfer their registration to PhD subject to the completion of the identified corrections and/or amendments by the following date___________* (to be within two months)
c) Allowed a second attempt at upgrade (to be within three months). 

If the outcome is a second attempt (c), the form must indicate the conditions to be assessed by the re-sit transfer process and whether a second viva is required. An upgrade viva would not normally be required for a second attempt at upgrade, however the panel may wish to hold one at their discretion. A second upgrade viva must be held however if the panel are inclined to recommend that you must remain at MPhil level.  

The PGR Support Team will inform you by email of the outcome of your upgrade interview.  Your lead supervisor will be copied in on this correspondence. 

If the recommendation is that you pass unconditionally the PGR Support Team will inform you by email of your official transfer to PhD and your lead supervisor will be copied in on this correspondence. Your official student record will also be updated. 

Where a second attempt is required, the PGR Support Team will inform you by email and a copy will also be sent to your lead supervisor. 

The three possible outcomes at a second attempt are that the candidate be:

a) Allowed to transfer their registration to PhD

b) Be allowed to transfer their registration to PhD, subject to the completion of the identified corrections and/or amendments by a specified date (to be within two months)

c) Required to remain registered as an MPhil student.

You will be informed via email, by the PGR Support team, of the outcome of your transfer interview.  Your supervisor will be copied in on this correspondence.

Students who began their doctoral studies after August 2019 are required to upgrade within the first 12 months of their programme (pro-rata for part time students).  The submission date for all students, regardless of your discipline, will be shown on your MyPGR record.  You mustupload your documents onto MyPGR by this date 

Please note that there are three different types of upgrade requirements, dependent on your programme of study:

• By Practice programmes (except for Creative Writing);
• Creative Writing; and
• Standard (for all other programmes). 

Please ensure you follow the correct requirements for your programme of study.

In addition to your uploaded documents, your first supervisor will also be asked to provide a detailed report which will forwarded to the upgrade panel.

Submission Requirements

Students on By Practice Programmes

In total, 7,500-9,000 words (exclusive of footnotes) should be submitted. This should comprise:

• A draft abstract of the thesis (up to 300 words).  This should describe your research and practice in terms that can be understood by a non-specialist. 

• An extended research proposal (maximum 3,000 words). You are asked to demonstrate clear awareness of how the proposed research will address a bigger question or problem. This should cover the following areas: 

a)        Research questions.
What are your research aims? What are the main issues that your thesis will address? What are the hypotheses that you wish to test? What is the originality and contribution of your thesis? (NB: At this stage you will not necessarily know the answers to all your research questions. Part of the purpose of this exercise is to identify issues thrown up by your research that will need to be addressed in the completed thesis.) 

b)        Research context.
Which scholars have written on these issues before? What are the strengths and weaknesses of the existing literature? Does it contain errors, omissions (or both)? What opportunities are there for your thesis to correct these? How does your research fit into and develop these literatures? 

c)         Methodology.
What sources/evidence are you using in your research (e.g. archival material, web-based material, databases, interviews)? How will these materials help you to address your research questions? Are there any novel aspects to your methods, and is there any particular guidance that you require? What methodologies and critical frameworks will you use? Are there any ethical issues arising from your research that need to be addressed? 

• A contents outline of the thesis (one page). This may be in continuous prose, bullet-points, or a combination of the two; this document is to show the structure and organisation of the thesis. 

• Draft timetable (one page) for submission of the thesis within the candidate’s planned submission period (within a maximum of four years for full-time students from the date of initial registration; eight years for those who are part-time students who are studying at 0.5 FTE). This should show the student’s work plan for the remaining period of study and highlight any areas where problems might arise. It is intended that this draft timetable will be regularly reviewed and updated at the regular progress review meetings which take place each year. 

Performance Practice –  This may involve submission of evidence of the first piece of practice where this has been undertaken, or both visual and written evidence of the work undertaken on the first piece of practice to date.  Candidates delivering a workshop or a teaching programme will be expected to produce a performance workshop that is 10 minutes long (for a solo piece) or a teaching programme that is 15-20 minutes long.  For students not ready to undertake practice they should submit written evidence (4-5,000 words) of critical commentary regarding your preparation for practice.

Film by Practice –  This will involve submission of either:  8-10 minutes of film , or:  For students not ready to undertake practice they should submit written evidence (4-5,000 words) of critical commentary regarding your preparation for practice.

Where specific submission criteria are not specified above the discipline DPGR will provide confirmation as to what and how much work should be submitted  by no later than the end of the first term of study.

 Students studying Creative Writing

Prior to upgrade, and no later than the end of the second term of full-time study (pro-rata for part-time study), Creative Writing students are required to submit to their supervisors the following to fulfil the requirements of study for their first year: 

1) A draft abstract of your thesis (up to 300 words). This should describe your research and practice in terms that can be understood by a non-specialist. 

2) An extended research proposal (maximum of 3,000 words) clarifying

• your research questions;
• aims, objectives and research context;
• methodology;
• chapter-by-chapter outline;
• and proposed timetable for completion. 

3) A literature review summarising all the current texts (both creative and critical) that represent the field in which you are writing. This must contain full bibliographic details and short annotated paragraphs summarising the main content of each text and how you will be using it in your thesis. 

4) Sample Creative Writing, discussed with your supervisors in meetings. 

5) Sample Critical Writing, discussed with your supervisors in meetings.

This work will form the basis of your supervisors’ reports to the upgrade panel. 

Submission Requirements for the Upgrade Panel:

Students must submit the following to the upgrade panel. In total, 9-10,000 words (exclusive of footnotes) (or equivalent, as below) which will comprise two main elements: 

1)             Creative Work

Prose Fiction/Life Writing: 7,000 words

Poetry: 24 pages (c. 350 lines)

Screenplay/Script: 20 pages 

2)              Critical Work

For all disciplines of Creative Writing: 3,000 words of contextual literary-critical commentary.

Standard Upgrade Requirements

In total, 7,500-9,000 words (exclusive of footnotes) should be submitted. This should comprise:

1. A draft abstract of the thesis (up to 300 words).  This should describe your research in terms that can be understood by a non-specialist.
2. A further developed proposal (max 1,500 words). You are asked to demonstrate clear awareness of how the proposed research will address a bigger question or problem. This should cover the following areas: 

a)        Research questions.
What are your research aims? What are the main issues that your thesis will address? What are the hypotheses that you wish to test? What is the originality and contribution of your thesis? (NB: At this stage you will not necessarily know the answers to all your research questions. Part of the purpose of this exercise is to identify issues thrown up by your research that will need to be addressed in the completed thesis.) 

b)        Research context.
Which scholars have written on these issues before? What are the strengths and weaknesses of the existing literature? Does it contain errors, omissions, or both? What opportunities are there for your thesis to correct these? How does your research fit into and develop these literatures? 

c)         Methodology.
What sources/evidence are you using in your research? (For example: archival material, web-based material, databases, interviews). How will these materials help you to address your research questions? Are there any novel aspects to your methods, and is there any particular guidance that you require? What methodologies and critical frameworks will you use? Are there any ethical issues arising from your research that need to be addressed? 

1. A contents outline of the thesis (1 page). This may be in continuous prose, or bullet-points (or a combination of the two); this document is to show the structure and organisation of the thesis. 
2. Draft timetable (1 page) for submission of the thesis within the candidate’s planned submission period (within a maximum of four years for full-time study from the date of initial registration; pro-rata for part-time study). This should show the student’s work plan for the remaining period of study and highlight any areas where problems might arise. It is intended that this draft timetable will be regularly reviewed and updated at the regular progress review meetings which take place each year. 
3. One or more substantive pieces of a writing sample at PhD standard in good presentational order (approx. 5,000-6,000 words, which is the length of a short article). This should include original work on the substance and methodology of the thesis such as the collation, analysis or new interpretation of evidence or data; in the writing sample the candidate will have to show their ability to write clear and effective extended prose, to construct an argument, and to analyse source materials.
   
   These pieces could be:

• Either a sample chapter, which can include a basic literature review;
• Or ethics application and fieldwork plan with literature review.

You will upload these documents to MyPGR, as prompted by the PGR Support Team, at least two weeks before the upgrade interview.  These will then be forwarded on to your panel by the PGR Support Team. The PGR Support Team will also request a report on your work from your lead supervisor, and they will send this on to your panel in advance of your upgrade viva. The lead panel member will contact you within one week of receipt of your upgrade documents, to agree a date for the review meeting. The panel meeting will normally take place within one month of the panel receiving the documents.

Outcome of Transfer Interview

Following the transfer interview, the panel will complete a transfer report form stating their recommendations and submit this to the PGR Support Team. The three possible outcomes at the first attempt are that the candidate be:

a) Allowed to transfer their registration to PhD

b) Be allowed to transfer their registration to PhD subject to the completion of the identified corrections and/or amendments by a specified date (to be within two months)

c) That a second attempt at upgrade be allowed (to be within three months). 

If the outcome is a second attempt (c), the form must indicate the conditions to be assessed by the re-sit upgrade process and whether a second viva is required. An upgrade viva would not normally be required for a second attempt at upgrade, however the panel may wish to hold one at their discretion. A second upgrade viva must be held, however, if the panel are inclined to recommend that you must remain at MPhil level. 

The PGR Support Team will inform you by email of the outcome of your upgrade interview.  Your supervisor will be copied in on this correspondence. 

If the recommendation is that you pass unconditionally, you will be notified via email of your official transfer to PhD and your lead supervisor will be copied in on this correspondence. Your official student record will also be updated. 

Where a second attempt is required, the PGR Support Team will inform you by email and a copy will also be sent to your lead supervisor. 

The three possible outcomes at a second attempt are that the candidate be:

a)Allowed to transfer their registration to PhD

b) Required to remain registered as an MPhil student, where they have provided satisfactory evidence of their ability to submit work of MPhil quality within the appropriate time frame for an MPhil

c) Required to remain registered as an MPhil student, normally with a recommendation of initiation or progression of a case under Unsatisfactory Progress procedures.

The PGR Support team will inform you by email of the outcome of your transfer interview.  Your supervisor will be copied in on this correspondence.