Postgraduate

Research Examination

This advice is for both research students and their supervisors. It mainly applies to PhD and MD thesis, although there is some relevant information for MSc by Research theses also.

Notice of Intention to Submit

Two to three months before you expect to submit your completed thesis for examination you must inform the Postgraduate College Office that you are intending to submit. You will be required to complete the following paperwork to initiate the nomination of examiners and the examination process.

Notice of Intention to Present a Thesis for Examination
Access to a Thesis and Publication of Abstract
Six copies of the Abstract of Thesis

These forms are available from the Postgraduate College Office or downloadable from the following link:

Postgraduate forms

The completed forms should be submitted to the College Postgraduate Office at Little France.

Nomination of Examiners

The principal supervisor will be asked to nominate examiners after the student has submitted the 'Notice of Intention to Submit' forms. Nominations are subject to the approval of both the School Postgraduate Director and the College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine.

Normally one external and one internal examiner should be appointed. However if the candidate is, or has been, a staff member of the University of any category, two external examiners and one internal must normally be appointed.

The University of Edinburgh places great emphasis on maintaining the academic integrity of the examination procedures. For this reason:

In the interests of the integrity of the examination procedures all nominations of examiners should take into account the ability of the nominees to provide an impartial assessment of the submitted work. Potential professional or personal conflicts of interest must be considered.
Students may volunteer names of possible examiners, and should inform the principal supervisor if any special problems are likely to arise if particular examiners are appointed. However, students have no right to play any part in the final choice, and therefore no right to veto any particular appointment.
Where the internal examiner who is being nominated has no previous experience of examining at this level, the head of school must ensure that this examiner receives guidance on the duties of an internal examiner and must appoint an experienced examiner as the non-examining chair of the examining process.
In exceptional circumstances (e.g. in the case of an interdisciplinary topic) a second external examiner must be appointed.
The external examiner should be of recognised eminence in the subject matter of the thesis. A person who has been directly involved in the candidate’s work towards the thesis may not be appointed.
No external examiner may be appointed who has been a member of staff, held an honorary or part-time appointment or been a student of the University at any time during the previous three years.

Other regulations or restrictions may also apply and guidance should be sought from the Postgraduate Office if the appointment of any examiner is likely to give rise to any issues affecting the examination process.

Submission of Thesis for examination

Students must submit two copies of the thesis, three if a second external examiner has been appointed. Submission must be made directly to the Postgraduate College Office, and the thesis must conform to the current regulatory standards (Sections 2 and 3 of the postgraduate assessment regulations for research degrees:

Postgraduate assessment regulations for research degrees

Examiners will normally be expected to read the thesis within three months of receiving it; but candidates should allow for examiners' other commitments.

Oral Examination

The oral examination is a key part of the examination process. The internal examiner is responsible for ensuring that the details of the oral examination, including the date, place and the names of all those participating or attending is provided in advance and with due notice, to all those who are to be present (i.e. the candidate, all examiners and any observer).

The internal examiner, or non-examining chair if one has been appointed, will also introduce and chair the oral examination.

The oral examination may be used to establish a candidate’s general knowledge of the field of his or her research, to establish the extent of any collaboration, to ascertain that the candidate can work independently and lead the work of others, and to confirm that the work is indeed the candidate’s own.

The examiners may tell the candidate what their views are at the end of or after the oral but they must make clear that their view is a recommendation to the College committee with responsibility for postgraduate research matters and not a final decision. The committee has the power to modify or, exceptionally, to overturn the examiners' recommendation.

Once the examiners recommendation is approved by College the Postgraduate Office will write to the student. This may take a few weeks after the viva to be processed. If corrections are required the student must complete these within the timescale provided by college

The revised thesis is then examined by the internal examiner(s) and also by the external examiner if requested.

External Examiner Expenses

A maximum of £350 is available to cover travel, accommodation and subsistence for the examiner to attend the oral examination. College provide a claim form to the Examiner when they are appointed. It is not possible for the Postgraduate Office to pay any costs exceeding this limit and so supervisors should only nominate examiners whose transport, subsistence and accommodation expenses will be within the this limit. Schools or Divisions will have to pay expenses over and above this amount.

The Postgraduate Office may only refund personal expenses of the external examiner and so can only refund that proportion of any hospitality costs that are attributable to the examiner. For example if a group of staff take the examiner to lunch Postgraduate Office can only refund that share for which the examiner would have been responsible.

How to submit the Final Version of your PhD Thesis

Once your examiner approves your amended thesis you should then submit your final thesis.

Candidates who began study on or after 1 September 2005 are obliged to submit their final version in electronic form in addition to one hardbound copy.

One hardbound version of the thesis conforming to the Regulatory Standards for the Format and Binding of Theses and Portfolios of Musical Compositions
One completed ‘Access to Thesis’ form
An electronic version on CD (or DVD) which includes:

A PDF version (for uploading to the Edinburgh Research Archive).
The original word processor files, where possible, for digital preservation purposes.
Any supplementary data required for assessment. Datasets should be supported by good accompanying documentation which is appropriate to your subject discipline. The UK Data Archive (UKDA) offers some specialist advice in this area.
A completed thesis CD cover sleeve on which you should note whether or not you wish to take up the option of restricting access to the electronic version of your thesis for a limited one year period. This can be found on the Postgraduate Forms page.

How to submit the Final Version of your MD and Masters by Research Thesis