Your first year: an overview

We hope you found your Doctoral College induction programme useful and feel equipped to start your research degree. This is an overview of what you need to do in your first few months, and the requirements after induction through to the end of your first year.  

The first month 

Within the first month of your studies you should have: 

• Fully registered, by completing online registration and the ID check 

• Completed the Doctoral College Induction programme 

• Familiarised yourself with your local school or faculty resources, and attended any required training or inductions (including health and safety) 

• Scheduled and attended your first supervisor meeting and completed the notes of the supervision meeting in your GRAD record 

• Started the PGR-Supervisor agreement 

• Started your training plan 

• Completed the IT induction 

You might find it useful to go through the Induction checklist again, now that you are more familiar with the expectations of your first year. Please also remember that Induction resources are available to revisit on the Doctoral College SharePoint. If there is anything that you are unsure about, please contact your Graduate School. 

After your first month – key progression requirements

You can help your research degree to run smoothly by keeping on top of your progression requirements: 

• Keep your supervision meeting records up to date. If you are having any problems, it is important to record them in your meeting notes.  

• Complete the PGR Academic Integrity Essentials training; this should be done in your first six months and is part of your training plan.  You should also start to discuss your plan for ethics review with your supervisor. 

• Complete the Research integrity and research ethics online training.  

• Complete the PGR Academic Integrity Advanced training; this should be done before the transfer stage (for Doctoral degrees) or by examination entry (for Masters by Research degrees).  

• Review and update your training plan; take time to find and attend the training that will help you to progress in your research.  For doctoral candidates, your progress against your training plan will be reviewed at transfer. For more information on how to access training, please see the Postgraduate training and skills page of the For Students website. 

• Your Data management plan should be in place by Transfer for doctoral candidates, or equivalent milestone for other candidates. The Library also offers training and a template. 

•  Remember that the University does not permit PGRs to study on a remote basis (unless stated in the Programme of Study or approved by the school in a Change of Study Location) 

• You should also refer to the information about support and guidance available within your school or faculty in the Graduate School SharePoint area. 

After the first month we hope that you will start to feel more settled and to make progress in your project. However, it can take time and there are always people to help if you are having any difficulties; please see the Postgraduate researcher support and wellbeing page of the For Students website. Where there are circumstances that are impacting your engagement, attendance, or progression you should raise any concerns with your Graduate School, supervisory team or your Director of Postgraduate Research Studies who will be able to discuss your options with you. 

The Doctoral College runs  Meet & Greet sessions for both new and existing PGRs. These sessions are a chance for you to meet Doctoral College staff, staff from other support services (such as Counselling and Wellbeing services, the Careers Service, International Student Office and Leeds University Union) and academic staff, as well as other PGRs.  

All Meet & Greet dates, as well as news, events and opportunities, are advertised on the PGR Teams space and the Doctoral College Events calendar. 

The first six months 

Your First formal progress review will normally be due around halfway through your first year (or by nine months for part time PGRs). The deadline for this might be slightly different dependent on your candidature. You will receive further details about this from your Graduate School. 

Progress reviews are different to supervision meetings and enable you to take stock of where you are in your research plan, your progress so far, and what remains to be completed.  You will have an opportunity to comment on any issues which may have adversely affected your progress.  Your supervisor will then provide an assessment of the overall progress, progress against the training plan and comment on English language written and communication skills. You can find more information about the requirements on the First Formal Progress Review page of the For Students website. 

In addition to the review it is important that you keep up to date with key progression requirements.   

The first year 

Transfer 

Your Transfer Report will normally be due towards the end of your first year for a full-time PGR (by 24 months for a part-time PGR). The deadline for this might be slightly different dependent on your candidature. You will receive further details about this from your Graduate School.  

The transfer assessment will identify whether you and your project have the potential for research at doctoral level and whether completing the thesis within the standard period of study is a reasonable expectation. 

You can re-visit our video resources on the Doctoral College SharePoint for more information about what to expect during the transfer process.  

Guidance on the viva, including video streamed vivas, is available in the Viva collection section in LinkedIn Learning. Simply use your usual University details to log in.  You can experience a short mock viva by participating in a Your Viva workshop. Information about the workshop and how to book is available via ODPL’s Postgraduate Research Professional Development opportunities web page. If you are unable to attend the workshop, or you particularly want to experience answering viva questions in a video streamed environment, you can request a mock viva by emailing researcherdev@leeds.ac.uk. You are also entitled to ask your supervisor to do a mock viva with you; support from OD&PL is offered in addition to any support from your supervisor. 

By the time you submit for transfer, you should have completed your academic integrity, research ethics and research integrity training. 

You will be required to complete a statement of academic integrity in GRAD when you submit your transfer for assessment. This statement confirms that the transfer report is your own work, that you have not presented anyone else’s work as your own, that you have read and understood the University’s published rules on plagiarism, and consent for screening of the transfer report to verify the absence of plagiarised material (all transfer reports will be submitted to Turnitin). The Turnitin Originality Report will be provided to your transfer panel with your transfer report. You will receive a copy of the Turnitin Report at the end of the transfer process (after the viva and once the outcome has been confirmed) as an additional training/learning tool, allowing the report to be discussed with your supervisors and any advice or training around academic writing considered. This will be uploaded to the Project Files area in your GRAD record. Please allow three weeks from the outcome of transfer notification for the report to be uploaded.       

If you are considering submitting your thesis as an alternative style of doctoral thesis including published material, you should familiarise yourself with the guidance and speak to your supervisor.  

Candidates approaching the transfer stage should also note that following successful transfer, it is not possible for PGRs to change to a practice-led research degree. 
 
In addition to the review, it is important that you are up to date with key progression requirements. 
 
If you are a disabled PGR you may want to consider any reasonable adjustments ahead of your transfer viva. Please see the policy on reasonable adjustments and support for PGR-level examination and assessment. 

Masters by Research – thesis submission 

You should submit your examination entry form at least three months before you plan to submit your thesis. Masters by Research do not have a transfer assessment.

You should familiarise yourself with the requirements of the examination process, as outlined on the Thesis Submission and the Viva pages of the For Students website and in the Guide to the thesis examination process (PDF). 

If you are a disabled PGR, you may want to consider any reasonable adjustments ahead of your final viva. Please see the policy on reasonable adjustments and support for PGR-level examination and assessment.