Regulations for the Degree of Doctor of Medicine (MD) and Associated Rules and Guidelines

The degree of MD is awarded after successful completion of an approved programme of research and related studies and submission of a thesis to the satisfaction of the examiners.

2.1 Candidates who have held a medical qualification registerable with the General Medical Council for at least three years are eligible for admission.

2.2 Decisions relating to admission will be made by either the Board of the Faculty (for normal admissions) or by the Doctoral College Board on the recommendation of the Board of the Faculty (for exceptional admissions) on behalf of the Senate. The programme of work to be undertaken shall be approved and a supervisor or supervisors appointed in accordance with the guidelines in advance of registration. An additional supervisor working in a clinical environment may be appointed where this is necessary for the conduct of the programme of work.

2.3 The programme of work approved for applicants shall be such that they shall be enabled to acquire competence in the methods of research and scholarship and to display originality and sustained independent effort.

2.4 An applicant who wishes to undertake a programme of work leading to the presentation of a thesis accompanied by material in other than written form shall seek the prior approval of the Senate.

3.1 Initial enrolment shall take effect from the first day of the particular month in any year. Candidates shall enrol annually thereafter.

3.2 The University may refuse candidates permission to enrol if they are registered for another award of the University or with another academic or professional institution.

3.3 Once enrolled for the degree of MD, a candidate may not register for another award of the University or with another academic or professional institution without prior approval of the Senate.

3.4 Continued enrolment shall be subject to annual confirmation of satisfactory performance as assessed by a written report and an oral presentation to senior staff appointed by the Board of the Faculty.

4.1 A candidate for the degree of MD shall normally be required to complete a period of full-time study not exceeding three years or a period of part-time study not exceeding five years, by the end of which time the thesis shall have been submitted, subject to 4.2 below.

4.2 A reduction of the periods specified above or, in exceptional circumstances, an extension may be granted. 1

4.3 Where a candidate is registered as a full-time student and during the period of study wishes to change the registration to that of a part-time student, or vice versa, the remaining period of study shall be determined by the Senate.

5.1 Supervisors shall approve the plan of work of their candidates and shall monitor their progress in line with the requirements of the faculty in which the student is registered. A candidate who wishes to modify the programme of work from that agreed at the time of admission shall seek the approval of the Board of the Faculty.

5.2 Within three months of initial registration all candidates and supervisors will consider the need for ethical approval and make a formal application if necessary. Where an application for ethical approval is not deemed necessary at this stage, a review of the project shall be completed on a regular basis, with a view to making an application if necessary.

5.3 Candidates and supervisors shall submit separate annual progress reports on or before 1 May each year. These reports will be considered by the Board of the Faculty where decisions on each candidate’s progression to the next year will be made.

5.4 A candidate who fails to submit a progress report, or whose progress is deemed unsatisfactory, may be required to discontinue their studies.

5.5 The Board of the Faculty may grant a candidate leave of absence for a specified period.

6.1 A candidate may be permitted to carry out part of their study away from the University provided that the arrangements are acceptable to their supervisor or supervisors. A period of absence of more than three months, except where the work is being carried out in an approved collaborating establishment, shall require the prior approval of the Board of the Faculty.

7.1 A candidate for the degree of MD shall, normally during the three months preceding the end of the period of study, submit a thesis embodying the results of their work. The thesis must deal with the field of research originally approved or such other field of research as may have been subsequently approved.

7.2 A candidate shall give the Doctoral College Board three months' notice in writing of submission of the thesis and shall at the same time provide the exact title of the thesis.

7.3 Theses, and supporting material if applicable, shall be presented in accordance with rules approved by the Senate. These rules may be found in the Notes of Guidance for the Presentation of Theses for Research Degrees.

8.1 The Doctoral College Board under delegated authority from the Senate shall appoint one or more internal examiners and nominate, for approval by Council, one or more external examiners except as provided for in Section 9.5.

8.2 The candidate’s supervisor shall not be appointed as an examiner.

8.3 One supervisor may attend the oral examination at the consent of the candidate who shall select a named supervisor of their choice from the supervisory team. The supervisor shall not contribute to discussions at the oral examination unless specifically asked to do so by the Chairperson. The candidate shall not ask the supervisor to speak; and neither the candidate nor the named supervisor shall be present when any discussions with regard to the decision to award the degree, or otherwise, are taking place.

8.4 Where a candidate is not a member of staff of the University, there shall be one internal and one external examiner, except in exceptional circumstances and subject to the case being approved by the Doctoral College Board.

8.5 Where the candidate has been a full time member of staff of the University for a period exceeding two years the Senate may appoint one internal examiner and shall nominate, for approval by Council, two external examiners.

8.6 An external examiner must not have published with any of the candidate’s supervisors in the preceding three years.

8.7 The examiners shall adjudicate on the thesis and, save in exceptional circumstances, shall examine the candidate orally on their programme of work and on the field of study in which the performance lies.

8.8 Where an oral examination is to be held the Senate shall appoint a senior member of academic staff to act as Chairperson of the Board of Examiners. The Chairperson shall not be an examiner.

9.1 Candidates for the degree of MD are required to have undertaken successfully an investigation and evaluation or a critical study of their approved topic, to have presented a satisfactory thesis, to have demonstrated their understanding of the context and significance of the work, and to have completed successfully a programme of work which results in a significant contribution to knowledge.

9.2 Following receipt of the thesis the examiners shall present independent written reports to the Doctoral College prior to the oral examination. These reports shall not be made available to the other examiner(s) until all reports have been received by the Doctoral College. They shall not be available to the candidate or the supervisor. 9.3 The examiners may, exceptionally, recommend to the Senate in their reports that the requirement to hold an oral examination should be waived. Where no oral examination is to be held the Board of Examiners shall meet to agree its joint report and recommendation in accordance with 9.4 and 9.6.

9.4 Following the adjudication of the thesis and the oral examination, the members of the Board of Examiners shall, where they are in agreement, present a joint report and recommendation for the award or otherwise of the degree. Where the examiners are not in agreement separate reports and recommendations shall be made.

9.5 Where the recommendation of the Board of Examiners is not unanimous, the Senate may: a) accept the recommendation of the external examiner(s); or 3 b) require the appointment of a new Board of Examiners and convene a further oral examination.

9.6 For a submission for the degree of MD the report of the Board of Examiners shall recommend: a) that the degree should be awarded; b) that the degree should be awarded subject to minor corrections to the thesis being made, or to clarifications and/or enhancements being completed, to the satisfaction of the internal examiner within three months of the oral examination in accordance with the definition of ‘minor corrections’ as detailed in the Handbook for Examiners; c) that the degree should be awarded subject to corrections to the thesis being made to the satisfaction of the internal examiner within six months of the oral examination in accordance with the definition of ‘corrections’ as detailed in the Handbook for Examiners; d) that the candidate should revise and resubmit the thesis for the degree of MD; or e) that the degree should not be awarded and no resubmission permitted.

9.7 One resubmission may be permitted, subject to the following: a) a candidate shall submit for re-examination within the period of one year from the date on which permission for re-examination was granted; b) the examiners shall give the candidate guidance on the deficiencies of the first submission; c) the appointment of an additional external examiner may be required for the reexamination; d) the examiners may exempt the candidate from repeating any part of the original examination which was deemed to be satisfactory.

9.8 Where the examiners' recommendation is that the degree should not be awarded and no further submission should be accepted, an indication of the deficiencies of the work shall be given.

A candidate whose studies have been discontinued under section 5, or who is deemed under section 9 not to be eligible for the award of a degree, may ask for their case to be reviewed. Provided that the candidate lodges a request in writing to the Doctoral College within one month of the approval of the recommendation of the Faculty or of the Board of Examiners in accordance with procedures laid down by Senate, the case shall be reviewed and the initial decision confirmed or amended.

A full-time candidate for a degree of MD shall not undertake or continue any remunerative employment unless:

a) the work consists of demonstrating within the University or teaching or other forms of work directly related to the candidate's programme of work; and

b) the total demand on the candidate's time, including preparation and travelling, does not exceed six hours a week unless they have obtained the prior approval of the Senate.

Members of the full-time staff of the University may undertake postgraduate study leading to a degree of MD on a part-time basis only.

As a precondition of registration for the degree of MD all students will be required, prior to or at the time of enrolment, to sign agreements which will, or will oblige them in the future to assign to the University their rights in any intellectual property (IP) arising from their studies. Where research by a student registered for an MD results in an invention and/or creative work, whether by the candidate working on their own or as a member of a team, exploitation of the invention and/or creative work shall be subject to the University’s Intellectual Property Policy and Procedures, which provide, amongst other things, incentive and reward schemes should the IP be successfully exploited.

If the University does not wish to exploit the IP, provisions are available for the re-assignment of such IP back to the candidate by the end of their studies, subject to any obligations of confidentiality assumed by the University and/or the candidate in relation to the IP. The copyright of the candidate’s thesis will be held by the University, but will, subject to the University’s Intellectual Property Policy and Procedures, be returned to the candidate at the end of their studies.

Should the copyright in the thesis relate to any IP which has been disclosed to the University’s IP Manager by the candidate and/or their supervisor during or at the end of the study, and should the University wish to exploit such IP, a Student Declaration of Confidentiality may be applied to the thesis for a prescribed period to provide sufficient time for the implementation of appropriate intellectual property protection measures.

The candidate will at all times retain copyright as an author in any papers written in relation to their thesis for publication purposes. This is subject to the candidate at all times complying with their obligation not to submit any such papers for publication which may contain potentially exploitable IP without the prior approval of the University’s IP Manager. The University reserves the right to retain a copy of the thesis, in written or digital format, in the University Library.

The University reserves the right to be granted a non-exclusive royalty-free perpetual licence by the candidate for use of their thesis for non-profit academic purposes such as teaching, research and general internal use if deemed appropriate, subject always to the University’s obligation to respect the moral rights of the candidate in relation to such copyright material.

It is a requirement that all assessment material, including the final thesis, be presented as one electronic file in order to facilitate the use by examiners of software designed to detect plagiarism. For this purpose, candidates should use industry standard software in the production of theses and should submit an electronic file on easily readable material.

In accordance with the requirements of the University Code of Practice for Professional Integrity in the Conduct of Research each candidate must deposit all raw data and samples with their supervisor prior to final presentation of the thesis. A statement confirming that the supervisor is content that all appropriate materials have been deposited must be presented to the Doctoral College at the time of submission.

1. The candidate shall be supervised by two or more supervisors working as a team and shall be appointed by the Senate on the recommendation of the Faculty. This Supervisory Team shall include a chair, who in addition to providing a supervisory role in relation to the candidate’s research shall deal with all administrative matters relating to the degree programme, take responsibility for all formal reporting and setting up the oral examination.

2. The Team shall also include at least one supervisor who has successfully supervised to completion at doctoral level and at least one supervisor who is a current Research Institute member or who has a track record of achievement in research consistent with inclusion in the REF.

3. Other team members can include academic and research staff with specialist knowledge in the research area or who have extensive experience in research supervision. All team members shall have the ability to demonstrate expertise in the project area.

4. All team members shall hold a doctoral level qualification or in exceptional circumstances, the Team can include one member who is able to demonstrate considerable equivalent experience. Supervisors who have not supervised to successful completion shall receive training in supervision prior to appointment or as soon as possible thereafter.

5. The Supervisory Team shall normally comprise two or three supervisors only.

6. A person who is registered for a research degree shall not normally be permitted to take on duties as a supervisor for a research student.

7. Should it be necessary, either on academic or other grounds, for a supervisor to be changed, approval of the Senate must be sought.

8. Where a supervisor cannot be appointed in accordance with the requirements of this section the Senate may make special arrangements for supervision.