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Surrey Space Centre

Guidelines for the PhD Confirmation Report (formally referred to as a Transfer Report)

The Report should be concise and have a maximum of 40 pages in length. Appendices may be added if additional information is needed, but these should not be necessary to understand what research is being proposed or how it will be performed. The Report needs to address the following issues:

  • A half page abstract clearly setting out the objectives of the research, emphasising the novelty of the work and identifying milestones by which progress can be judged.
  • A clear review of the literature in the proposed research area, logically presented with the advantages and disadvantages of the various approaches identified.
  • A discussion showing precisely how the proposed research fits within the context of the work that has been done in the field.
  • A technical section on the work which has been done to date. This may be in terms of equipment built, simulations, feasibility studies or similar. The level of this discussion needs to be suitable for a non-expert to follow what has been done and why. The material should be sufficiently self-contained to be able to understand results which are to be presented.
  • Results of the work done to date should be presented along with descriptions of the testing that was performed. Your examiner is likely to be much more sceptical of your results than you are, so this is an area you should concentrate on being able to defend. Descriptions of the testing are as important as the results you have obtained.
  • A clear presentation of how the work will progress from here. This needs to match your milestones previously identified, a plan of testing and development and whenever your plan is dependent upon outside factors (e.g. data being provided) a contingency plan needs to be outlined.
  • In close connection to the above, you should provide a project plan as a series of objective titles and a plan of the remaining months and when the work on each stage will be performed.
  • Finally, you need to present some conclusions of your study so far, and what is likely to be achieved and described in your PhD thesis. This section must describe clearly the expected contribution to advancing the state of the art.

It is very important to keep your supervisor(s) informed of what appears in the Report.

Guidelines for the Oral

The main point to remember on entering the oral, is that this is not an examination. When you complete your PhD you will present a thesis (that is an argued and well-reasoned claim) and you will then be asked to defend it. The PhD oral will look through in close detail all that you have said and done, and you will be invited to defend it.

In contrast, the End of Probationary period oral is less formal, and provides you with an opportunity to get feedback on your proposed research before you get too involved in it. The main things that you will need to demonstrate at the oral are:

  1. The plan you have does extend the knowledge in the chosen field contributing to the state of the art.
  2. It can be achieved in the remaining time.
  3. There are clear objectives that can be used to determine how successful your research programme has been.
  4. You understand the field and how this work relates to it.
  5. You are capable of independent thought and can both carry out the research and defend the work done at the end.

The format of the oral varies depending upon the Board selected. However, as a guideline the oral should proceed roughly as follows:

After being introduced to all members of the Board you will be invited to make a short presentation of your work as described in your Report. This presentation may use overhead slides, a powerpoint presentation or other materials, as long as they have been requested in advance. The presentation needs to be concise, lasting no longer than 15 minutes maximum.

You will then be asked searching questions by the Board regarding your planned research. Your presentation should not cover material that has not been provided in the Report itself. It is the Report that provides the basis of the Boards decision, and you will only be asked questions about the material covered by the Report. The questioning may last between 20 minutes to 1 hour and its purpose is to establish the validity of the points listed above.

Once the questions of the Board have been answered you will be asked to wait outside while the Board discuss the plan and reach their decision. The choices facing the Board are: (i) Confirmed on PhD registration; (ii) is not confirmed on PhD registration but is permitted to resubmit confirmation Report by 3 months from date of confirmation review and/or undertake a further oral examination by (3 months from date of confirmation review).

The vast majority of students are either confirmed first time or are asked to clarify some points in a resubmission with no second oral required. Occasionally a second brief oral may be needed to confirm your research proposal and plan. However, should you fail the oral, then this is an indication that you are very likely to fail the final PhD viva voce, for one of the reasons given above. It is in your interest not to proceed if this is so, as it saves a lot of time and hard work on your part, as well as that of your supervisor, if it is unlikely to achieve the result. The Space Centre does its best to support all PhD students during their research, and members of the Board will only issue a ‘not confirmed’ when there are clear matters of concern about the student or the project which cannot be resolved.

Finally, please note that the format of the Confirmation of PhD is essentially similar to that of the viva voce examination held at the culmination of MPhil and PhD programmes. The Interview is therefore an excellent practice for the viva and it is often very useful if students discuss with their supervisors the strengths and weaknesses of their Confirmation performance as part of their preparation for the later viva.

It should be noted that the Confirmation of PhD does not imply that the Report meets the requirements of the award of MPhil. Hence it should not be inferred that an MPhil will be awarded if the PhD degree is not completed.

Contact points within SSC:

Dr. Mini Saaj

SSC PGR Director

Email:

Mrs. Karen Collar

SSC Senior Administrator

Email:

Last updated on 22nd March 20161