Confirmation of candidature

While confirmation of candidature processes vary by faculty, all follow a similar procedure.

A general timeline is:

• Development of your thesis proposal (within the first 6–8 months for full-time students and the first 8-10 months for part-time students). Supervisor approves proposal for review.
• Supervisor(s) arrange for proposal review by a panel of reviewers consisting of the supervisory team, departmental Research Training Director or designate, and at least one expert external to the department.
• A date is set for oral presentation of the proposal to the panel of reviewers. The panel needs to have received the proposal at least one full week before the oral presentation date.
• You present what you consider to be the key issues of your intended research project. The review panel will seek clarification from you on these and related issues.
• The review panel discusses the proposal and the principal supervisor develops the report with comments and recommendations about the proposal and other aspects supporting PhD completion – This includes a final decision about the confirmation of candidacy.
• You will receive a formal letter with the results of the review process. The letter will confirm candidature and/or will recommend conditions before candidature can be confirmed. The letter will include a time frame with conditions. In extreme cases, candidature will be terminated.
• If candidature was deemed to be conditional, you respond to the conditions. You (with your supervisor) report to the review panel chair in writing to confirm you have addressed the conditions.
• You will receive a formal letter confirming candidature. The report and final confirmation are attached to your official university file.
• Appeals: Students who have concerns about the outcome or any aspect of the review process should contact the department Research Training Director.

As stated, exact details of the Confirmation of Candidature will vary by faculty and discipline. You must develop your thesis proposal with your principal supervisor and they must sign it before being forwarded to the review panel. Usually, a thesis proposal includes the following sections:

• title of thesis
• summary of the project
• theoretical orientation
• a critical review of the literature and/or discussion of the literature
• aims, significance and expected outcomes
• research question(s) (macro) and sub-questions
• research design including data collection, data analysis strategies
• ethical considerations (may include completed Ethics Application as Appendix)
• bibliography to date
• the anticipated time frame for completion (including publishing schedule if appropriate)
• funding and other support needs

You may wish to refer to practical guides and information briefs (available at the Library). Books are available which address the doctoral research experience including designing and formatting thesis-based research. The Library also has handouts related to proposal development.

All researchers (including but not limited to Graduate Research students and their supervisors) are responsible for adhering to the principles of academic and research integrity. Roles and responsibilities of researchers in maintaining and managing academic and research integrity are specified in the Academic Integrity Policy, the Macquarie University Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research (Macquarie University Research Code) and its accompanying standards.

To enable training in research integrity, you are required to submit your research proposal to your Principal Supervisor for submission to iThenticate. This tool will generate an originality report and will determine a similarity percentage based on the proportion of the proposal that is matched to internal or external sources.

Your supervisor must assess the similarity percentage and the originality report generated in iThenticate and use their academic judgement to determine whether the text-matches indicate a problem with originality that needs to be addressed.

There are no standard or ideal maximum or minimum similarity percentages applicable across all research outputs and disciplines. Even a document with a low overall similarity percentage could contain plagiarised text that needs to be further scrutinised or addressed.

When the similarity percentage and the originality report indicates instances of text-matching for the proposal submitted for the CoC, or equivalent, your supervisor must discuss the extent and nature of the matches with you and specify the next stages of dealing with the matter.

For further information, view the HDR iThenticate Procedure.

Faculty of Arts PhD and MPhil students undertake Confirmation of Candidature at 6 months (full-time equivalent) and are required to demonstrate that they have oriented themselves well in their research area, planned their project adequately, have made a strong start in thesis writing, and are capable of explaining their research to a general audience.

The Faculty of Arts Confirmation of Candidature process has recently been revised. To meet Confirmation requirements, Faculty of Arts students who enrolled on or after 1 Feb 2023 are required to:

• Complete the Faculty of Arts Confirmation of Candidature Form, which confirms that students have met all compulsory induction requirements, allows students to reflect on their progress thus far, and to provide evidence that they have a robust plan in place for the completion of their thesis.
• Provide an updated research proposal and a sample of written work for review by supervisors and an expert reader.
• Provide a detailed research budget and (if required) an application for a Faculty of Arts Graduate Research Essential Funding Scholarship.
• Deliver a 10-minute research presentation to their Department or School.

Students who meet these requirements satisfactorily will have their candidature confirmed by the Faculty Associate Dean of Research Training and Performance.

More detailed information about the Faculty of Arts Confirmation of Candidature can be found on the Confirmation of Candidature Process for PhD and MPhil Students fact sheet.

If you have any further questions about Confirmation of Candidature in the Faculty of Arts, please email <arts.associatedean.rtp@mq.edu.au>.

Research planning

You and your supervisor should develop a research plan over your first semester (or part-time equivalent).

The research plan should include:

• provision for the development of the research proposal
• literature reviews
• review of theories and/or methodologies
• identification of tasks and milestones
• a thesis completion timetable
• a draft expenditure plan.

You should submit the Research Plan to your department’s Research Training Director within six months (or part-time equivalent) from the date of enrolment. Contact your department’s Research Training Director for information on departmental requirements and deadlines.

As part of the Confirmation of Candidature process, PhD/MPhil students in the Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences (FMHHS) are required to complete a series of small tasks within 6 months (or part-time equivalent) of commencement. The tasks include:

• Attendance at the University induction session (i.e. PVC Welcome session)
• Completing the University's Commencement Program
• Completing the Faculty Commencement Program
• Completing the Academic Integrity Module
• Submission of thesis proposal and presentation of a short talk to their Department. The thesis proposal and presentation are not formally assessed but will be used by your Supervisor(s) to provide constructive feedback in the first few months of your candidature.
• Completing Research Data Management (RDMOnline) training. This is mandatory for PhD/MPhil students commencing from 2022.  Students enrolled prior to 2022 are encouraged to complete this (especially for research that requires Human Ethics approval).
• Lodging Data Management Plan. This is mandatory for PhD/MPhil students commencing from 2022.  Students enrolled prior to 2022 are encouraged to complete this (especially for research that requires Human Ethics approval).  If you need assistance, please contact the Digitally Enabled Research team at eResearch@mq.edu.au.
• Fill out the Faculty Commencement Report, which can be found on your Faculty iLearn page.

Please refer to your Faculty iLearn page for more information or contact the faculty at adrtp.fmhhs@mq.edu.au.

Within 6 months of your candidature (or part-time equivalent) after enrolling in a PhD, you will be required to present a research proposal to an assessment panel. This should contain a plan of research, budget, and substantial piece of writing.

The Assessment Panel normally consists of the Department Research Training Director (Chair), the Head of Department (or nominee), and up to 3 academic staff members with knowledge in the cognate discipline.

For further information about the Confirmation of Candidature Procedure, please refer to the School iLearn site for PhD students.