Content
This assessment comprises a written and oral element and is held approximately 3-4 months post-registration at the earliest for full-time Doctoral Researchers and approximately 8-10 months post-registration for part-time Doctoral Researchers. It must be organised in close co-operation with the project supervisors, and is concerned with a precise description of the proposed programme of work.
Part 1: Written Submission
1. You are required to provide an electronic version of the written report (Research Plan). The report should not exceed four A4 pages and include:
- Project background
- Overall aim of the investigation
- Objectives to be achieved within the first 8-9 months (full-time) or 20 months (part- time) and the activities that will achieve those objectives, as well as the research methodology
- Training needs
- Risk Assessment (if applicable)
2. Gantt Chart
3. Any relevant additional information contained in appendices (you may want to discuss with your supervisor whether this is appropriate).
Part 2: Presentation
(To be prepared for the Initial Assessment meeting, held three weeks after the written documentation is submitted)
The oral element of the assessment must be illustrated with appropriate presentation materials, e.g. PowerPoint / PDF and will be presented to the panel and should be 10 minutes in duration. The meeting will be approximately 45 minutes, starting with the presentation, 15 mins discussion with researcher, 5 mins private discussion with supervisors, 10 mins completing report with chair & internal reviewer, 5 mins to communicate outcome.
Begin your preparations for your Initial Assessment by consulting the ‘Guides’ on PhD Manager. This will take you through the process and begin the workflow for your supervisors.
Assessment
Examining staff will pay particular attention to the following:
- Is the project clearly defined?
- Are the objectives realistic and achievable in the time available?
- Will there be adequate research training for the Researcher to at least MPhil level?
- Is the programme of work likely to provide a sufficient foundation for PhD study?
- Does the research show evidence of at least a basic understanding of the problem, the nature of the approach being taken to investigate it and the relationship of the work to other research in the field?
- Are the supervisory arrangements satisfactory?
Note: You must complete the Research Integrity Course prior to completing your Initial Assessment application
Procedure
The School will be responsible for making the necessary arrangements for the assessment. If the assessment meeting takes place on campus, the room and data projection equipment will be booked by the School, but the student and/or supervisors should arrange any other additional equipment required and check that everything in the room is satisfactory shortly before the assessment. If the assessment meeting is to be online, Elaine will set up MS Teams and issue invites.
In advance of the meeting the researcher will be responsible for initiating the Initial Assessment form through PhD Manager. Once submitted the system will route the documentation to the PhD Administrator, Elaine McCoubrey. This will enable Elaine to confirm the meeting details. You will be able to track the progress of your application via the Initial Assessment button on your main project dashboard.
The system will then notify the Supervisor to create their report for the Assessment Panel. Once the Supervisor has completed their report the system will notify the Chair of the Assessment Panel (This tends to be the Post Graduate Tutor or the Research Director). Once the meeting has been held, the Chair will complete the assessment report through PhD Manager. This is finally signed off by the Research Director.
For the Assessment meeting (Presentation date), an Assessment Panel will be assembled, comprised of an internal reviewer (suggestions are requested from the supervisors) and an appointed chairperson. The other individuals present at the assessment will be the researcher, at least one supervisor and, possibly, an adviser, if one has been appointed.
The Assessment Panel will provide a report on the student’s progress through PhD Manager and make recommendations concerning his/her advancement and suitability for confirmation of registration status.
The internal reviewer will be attempting to answer six basic questions:
- Is the project clearly defined?
- Are the objectives realistic and achievable in the time available?
- Will the project provide adequate research training for the student to at least MPhil level?
- Is the programme of work likely to provide a sufficient foundation for PhD study?
- Does the researcher show evidence of at least a basic understanding of the problem, the nature of the approach being taken to investigate it and the relationship of the work to other research in the field?
- Are the supervisory arrangements satisfactory?
All PhD and MPhil researchers will undergo a formal assessment of progress, known as the Confirmation Assessment, usually towards the end of your first year (8-10months) for full time researchers or before the end of the second year (20-24 months) for part time researchers. The assessment includes a written submission along with a presentation. You will not normally be permitted to re-enrol into your second year (for full time, funded PhD Researchers) until the Doctoral College has received notification from the Faculty of successful completion of your Confirmation, so you should take this into account as it may impact on progression and payment of your stipend.
Content
Purpose
Within the first year of study, at approximately month 8-10 for full-time researchers and month 20 for part-time researchers (assuming there are no exceptional circumstances), researchers shall apply to Senate for confirmation of their registration status. As a result of this assessment the researcher will either have their PhD registration status confirmed or will be invited to transfer registration and continue studying for the degree of MPhil.
This assessment is comprised of a written and an oral element and forms the basis for the confirmation of registration status.
Written Element
The written element comprises: a Literature Review (including project plan, in the form of a Gantt chart, and thesis outline) as a substantial piece of writing relevant to the research topic. The Literature Review must be presented using double spaced type, with any relevant additional information contained in appendices. This body of work should be approximately 10,000 words in duration. The main document should be submitted to Turnitin for a plagiarism check.
Oral element
The oral element of the assessment must be illustrated with appropriate presentation materials, e.g. PowerPoint, and must include information on:
- The project background
- The overall aim of the investigation/detailed research objectives
- The research methodology proposed
- Data obtained to date
- Conferences/journal publications/presentations/exhibitions to date or in hand (as annex)
- Proposed programme for future PhD work
- Proposed programme to complete practical and written work within the following 12 month period.
A maximum of 75 minutes is set aside for each confirmation assessment meeting. The presentation will normally last 15 minutes, followed by (up to) 30-40 minutes for questions & discussion with the researcher and supervisor (s). This is followed by a short private discussion between the Panel and the supervisor(s). The researcher & supervisors will return to the meeting to hear the outcome.
Application for Confirmation of Registration Status
In advance of the Confirmation the researcher will be responsible for initiating the completion of the Confirmation Assessment stages on PhD Manager; see the relevant section to start the process.
See ‘Guides’ on PhD Manager for a step by step guide through the process.
Assessment Panel
The presentation is given to designated senior academic staff (the Assessment Panel). The panel are required to complete a written report (in PhD Manager) on the researcher’s progress and make recommendations concerning their advancement to date and suitability for confirmation of registration status.
The Assessment Panel will be responsible for completing the necessary paperwork. The Assessment Panel consists of the supervisor/s, the Chair and a reviewer from the Faculty.
The Panel may make recommendations concerning the direction of the work and are empowered to recommend re-assessment after an agreed period, or exit with or without MPhil if progress is deemed unsatisfactory.
Examining staff should pay particular attention to the following:
- Have the objectives of the first 9-12 (20-24) month period of work been achieved?
- Is the proposed programme of work a logical extension of the completed studies?
- Is the research methodology satisfactory and appropriate?
- Are the defined objectives likely to be achieved with the available resources?
- Is the work likely to produce adequate research to doctorate level by the researcher?
- Is the work sufficiently well-defined to (potentially) provide publishable work within a 12-18 (24-36) month period?
- Can the practical studies be completed within an 18 (24) month period?
- Does the researcher show evidence of ability to critically evaluate the work and place it within the context of related studies?
- Are the supervisors satisfied with the researcher’s progress to date?
- Is the researcher satisfied with the current supervisory arrangements?
- Should the researcher be permitted to confirm registration status of PhD?
- Which further research training does the researcher require?
Procedure
The School will be responsible for making the necessary arrangements for the assessment. The room and data projection equipment will be booked by the School, but the student and/or supervisors should arrange any other additional equipment required and check that everything in the room is satisfactory before the assessment.
However, The Assessment meeting may well take place via MS Teams, if necessary.
In advance of the Assessment the researcher will be responsible for initiating the Confirmation Assessment form through PhD Manager. Once submitted the system will route the documentation to the PhD Administrator within the School Office. This will enable them to organise the assessment meeting. You will be able to track the progress of your application via the Confirmation Assessment button on your main project dashboard.
The system will then notify the Supervisor(s) to create their report for the Assessment Panel. Once the Supervisor(s) have completed their report the system will notify the Chair of the Assessment Panel. Once the meeting has been held the Chair will complete the assessment report through PhD Manager. This is finally signed off by the Research Director.
For the Assessment, an Assessment Panel, comprising a reviewer (suggestions are requested from the supervisors) and an appointed chairperson. The other individuals present at the assessment will be the researcher, at least one supervisor and, possibly, an adviser, if one has been appointed.
The Assessment Panel will provide a report on the researcher’s progress through PhD Manager and make recommendations concerning his/her advancement and suitability for confirmation of registration status. The Panel may make recommendations concerning the direction of the work and are empowered to recommend re-assessment after an agreed period, if the case for confirmation of registration status has not yet been established.
The Assessment Panel will consider the following questions:
- Have the objectives of the first 10 (20-24) months’ period of work been achieved?
- Was the presentation clear and informative?
- Is the written report appropriate to the expected standard?
- Is a provisional timeline for completion of the project in place?
- Is completion of the project likely in three to four years, in light of early review and/or refinement of the original proposal?
- Is the methodology appropriate and clearly explained?
- Has the researcher demonstrated adequate development of problem solving and organisational skills?
- Has the researcher attended relevant training and has the Training Needs been updated? Has essential training e.g. Research Integrity Course and project related training been either completed or scheduled?
- Is the practice component(s) where appropriate adequately developed or planned?
- Are all permissions in preparation or granted to authorise the PhD researcher to carry out the project (e.g. ethical approval(s), Access NI check, risk assessment)?
- Does the supervisory arrangement remain appropriate?
To help prepare for the final submission of your thesis and the examination, the final assessment of progress will take place within thirty months (full-time) and sixty months (part- time) of initial registration.
Please note at this point, the work to date is formatively considered. This means the panel (comprised of supervisors and PGT) will evaluate the progress of your work during your project, monitor the learning process, help improve the researcher’s learning and ensure the rigour of the research, thus preparing them for the ‘writing up’ phase of PhD.
For their final assessment researchers can choose between the following:
- a 15-minute presentation + 15 minutes Q&A in the 1st semester of 3rd year. This will be presented as part of the seminar series with an audience of peers & supervisors. An abstract, should be sent to your supervisors one week prior to your presentation.
- an article on an aspect of your PhD research, to be published in the Faculty’s postgraduate journal, Intersections. This should be sent to your supervisors in advance for feedback.
- A public form of dissemination; that could include an exhibition, a conference paper, a talk/lecture, an article.
The former option should detail the nuts & bolts of your PhD, while the latter options are the PhD scholarship applied and disseminated.
Content and Procedure
The following describes the content and procedure for the Final Assessment within the Belfast School of Art.
- You should begin the Final Assessment process through PhD Manager. This will allow for the assessment to be made by your supervisors. For the presentation option, you should consider the inclusion of:
- A review of the original research plan outlined in Confirmation Assessment. Including a discussion on whether this has been completed, to what extent and why this is the case
- A thesis structure - highlighting key headings and knowledge contributions for each section
- A submission timeline- planning what work still needs to be completed when you will begin
- writing of your thesis, when your supervisors will receive a first draft and when you should receive feedback. This should also include a realistic submission date for the final thesis
- We encourage those researchers with a practice-based project to bring (where practicable) art/design work to the presentation
For the latter options, you should consider:
- In discussion with supervisors, the approach and content to the article
- The article could review your whole project or a focused aspect of your research
- The article should be sent in advance to supervisors for feedback before submission to the journal
- Researchers should aim to submit an abstract to your supervisors, (for those doing the presentation: at least one week in advance of your presentation).
- Following the assessment of these materials, the Supervisor will provide some comments/ feedback through PhD Manager. This should include:
- A description on the current state of the writing-up. Comment on how far is the student from completion and if the current plan/timetable is feasible?
- Are there any developments that are cause for concern?
- Is any particular action needed to ensure a timely completion?
- Any other comments, on student or supervision?
These comments will normally be shown to the student and discussed with the student by the supervisor.
- Once submitted by the supervisor, this assessment will be passed to the Research Director for final approval through PhD Manager.
Any questions regarding this assessment should be discussed with your supervisors or the Postgraduate Tutor. See ‘Guides’ on PhD Manager for a step by step guide through the process.
