Note: The Code of Practice for Research Degree Candidature and Supervision [referred to from here on as the “Code”] applies to all research students regardless of year of entry.
Research students who first enrolled on their studies before 1 August 2016 will follow the progression monitoring timings and procedures that applied to their year of entry and as determined by their Faculty (including those for upgrade/transfer from Master of Philosophy to Doctor of Philosophy). A summary of the applicable timings, depending on year of entry, is set out in section 18 of this Code (Progression Monitoring and Reviews: Progression reviews – timings) and students should refer to their Faculty for further information. However, note that all upgrade/transfer and confirmation panels must consist of at least two Independent Assessors regardless of the research student’s year of entry.
Students who first enrolled on their research degree on or after 1 August 2020 will not be confirmed in doctoral candidature by the Faculty following the Second Progression Review (Confirmation) should any mandatory training requirements remain unsatisfactorily completed.
Research students who first enrolled on their studies prior to 1 August 2020 will follow the nominal registration procedures as set out in the Regulations for Research Degrees 2019/20 (paragraphs 37 to 41 (Nominal Registration)) and as set out in the Code of Practice for Research Degree Candidature and Supervision 2019/20 (paragraphs 79 to 80 (Transfer to Nominal Registration)).
Note: the term ‘Student visa’ refers to both the Tier 4 (General) visa and the new Student visa which replaced the Tier 4 (General) visa on 5 October 2020.
You can download a full version of the Code in accessible format.
Contents
- Introduction
- Introduction to the Research Environment
- The Higher Degrees of Master of Philosophy (MPhil) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
- The Difference between Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) and Master of Philosophy (MPhil)
- Doctoral Degrees with a Substantial Taught Element
- Selection and Admission of Research Students
- Research Training and Transferable Skills Training
- Ethical Considerations
- Candidature
- Supervision
- Responsibilities of the Research Student
- Responsibilities of the Faculty
- Teaching and Demonstrating Duties
- Publications
- Health and Safety
- Equal Opportunities
- Holidays and Absence Due to Ill Health
- Progression Monitoring and Reviews
- Transfer from PhD to MPhil Candidature
- Transfer to Nominal Registration
- Production and Submission of the Thesis
- Examination
- Access to the Thesis
- Complaints and Appeals
1. Introduction
1.1 The University of Southampton1 undertakes to make satisfactory arrangements for the admission, candidature, supervision and examination of research students. The Code sets out University-level policy and guidelines for candidature for Master of Philosophy, Doctor of Philosophy and other doctoral degrees (including integrated doctoral programmes and professional doctorates) in the University. The Code is intended to amplify and complement the General Academic Regulations for Research Students and provide a framework for all supervisory relationships. It is supplemented by policies and guidance published in the Quality Handbook or by Faculties, which are consistent with this Code but which specify more detailed procedures operating at local level.
1.2 The Code is intended to promote good practice in research candidature and supervision and ensure a degree of comparability in the experience of research students. It is essential that a good working relationship is established between the supervisors and the research student, and that responsibilities on both sides are clearly defined and understood. It is intended to cover the many different types of research student candidature and to recognise the diversity of experiences, needs, interests and styles. In considering how best to support research students with disabilities, Faculties may find it helpful to review the practical advice and information accessible via the Vitae website and from Student Disability & Wellbeing.
1.3 To ensure compliance with the Code, the University will monitor research degree provision against internal and external indicators and targets. In particular, in order to evaluate the success of our postgraduate research degrees, the University may collect and review:
- submission and completion times and rates, with account taken of any variations (for example relating to individual research students' circumstances, part-time programmes and the requirements of research councils, funders or other relevant bodies);
- pass, resubmission, referral (for taught doctorates), and fail rates;
- withdrawal rates;
- the number of appeals and complaints, the reasons for them, and how many are upheld;
- analysis of comments from examiners;
- recruitment profiles;
- data on equality and diversity.
1.4 The University will also monitor and review information on subsequent employment destinations and career paths of research students who have achieved the qualification.
2. Introduction to the Research Environment
2.1 The research environment should be regarded as both a place of learning and of research productivity. The environment allows for research students' changing needs and requirements as their programmes develop, including providing an adequate amount of academic and, if relevant, work or practice-based supervision of an appropriate quality. To satisfy these aims, there should be a clear commitment to research in the Faculty in which research students are to be supervised, as well as commitment to encouraging the integration of research students into the research activity of the Faculty or School/Institute. Factors that can be used to indicate excellence in research would normally include:
- demonstrable research achievement as recognised either through peer assessment as internationally excellent or above, or consistently recognised by the award of grants in open competition;
- at least five research-active staff and six research students;
- knowledge exchange and applications (including knowledge transfer partnerships), with an emphasis on the practical impact of research outcomes and demonstrable ability to attract external funding.
2.2 An appropriate environment in which to undertake and develop research skills would normally include:
- exposure to researchers working at the highest level in the research student's chosen field and in cognate and related disciplines;
- the expectation that research students' proposed topics of research will typically relate substantially to the Faculty’s research programme to enable research students to relate current research and issues arising from it to their own research (e.g. through debate with professional researchers);
- opportunities and encouragement for research students to work and exchange ideas with people and organisations using research outcomes for their own purposes and with colleagues in the wider research environment;
- access to academic and other colleagues able to give advice and support;
- adequate learning and research tools, including access to IT equipment, library and electronic publications;
- opportunities for research students to develop peer support networks where issues or problems can be discussed informally;
- supervision (see also section 10 of this Code (Supervision) that encourages the development and successful pursuit of a programme of research;
- guidance on the ethical pursuit of research and the avoidance of research misconduct, including plagiarism and breaches of intellectual property rights;
- support in developing research-related skills, and access to a range of development opportunities (which includes the mandatory training as detailed by the Doctoral College) that contribute to the research student's ability to complete the programme successfully (including, where appropriate, understanding issues of funding and of commercial exploitation);
- access to and support for a range of development opportunities (which includes the mandatory training as detailed by the Doctoral College) that contribute to the research student's ability to develop personal, professional and, where pertinent, employment-related skills;
- availability of relevant advice on career development.
2.3 An environment supportive of research achievement may include:
- a collegial community of academic staff and postgraduates conducting excellent research in cognate areas;
- supervisors with the necessary skills and knowledge to support research students in working towards the successful completion of their research programmes;
- access to welfare and support facilities that recognise the distinctive nature of research degree study;
- the opportunity for research students to raise complaints or appeal mechanisms for addressing research students' feedback both as individuals and collectively;
- sufficient implementation and monitoring mechanisms to ensure that where a project is undertaken in collaboration with another organisation, the standards of both organisations are maintained.
3. The Higher Degrees of Master of Philosophy (MPhil) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
3.1 The MPhil and PhD are higher degrees involving a programme of research training and supervision and leading to the production of a thesis or, in the case of research students in the disciplines listed in section 21 of this Code (Production and Submission of the Thesis: Alternative formats of thesis submission), the production of a body of work as appropriate to the discipline completed in conjunction with a critical written component. The MPhil and PhD are two separate, distinct awards with the MPhil differing from the PhD in terms of the scope of study required and the extent of the original personal contribution to knowledge. Section 4 of this Code (The Difference between Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) and Master of Philosophy (MPhil)) provides more details on the levels of attainment required for the MPhil and for the PhD.