During your research

What you need to do during your research

You need to: 

• record your supervision meetings in GRAD and add any issues you are having in your meeting notes 
• complete your training as part of your training plan agreed with your supervisor including: 
  • academic integrity (Minerva). Complete 'Essentials' and 'Advanced' 
  • research integrity and research ethics (OD&PL Training Catalogue) 
  • progress with your research and if you are keeping to your work plan.

How often you should meet your supervisor to discuss your research 

You should meet your supervisor at least: 

• 10 times a year if you are full time 
• 6 times a year if you are part-time or split-site 
• 8 times a year if you are 0.75 part-time.

These meetings should be take place at least every: 

• 8 weeks if you are full time 
• 12 weeks if you are part-time 
• 10 weeks if you are 0.75 part-time.

Your graduate school will check GRAD records to make sure you have regular meetings with your supervisor. 

These meetings are throughout your research degree and during overtime and between submission of the thesis and your viva. This meetings are to help monitor your attendance and to ensure you are meeting your student visa requirments. 

Meet in person with your supervisor

You or your supervisor must: 

• meet in person unless either of you are away from the university 
• meet online if you can't meet in person to avoid missing regular meetings 

Email is not an acceptable format for a supervisor meeting unless you have fieldwork with limited access. 

Make notes of you supverision meetings in GRAD

You or your supervisor must: 

• create a meeting record for all official supervision meetings 
• both agree with what is recorded 
• make sure you record any problems you have with your research so it can be used later if needed 

Review your postgraduate supervisor agreement 

You should review your postgraduate supervisor agreement with your supervisor: 

• as part of your first formal progress review 
• when you transfer 
• as part of your annual progress review. It should also be uploaded as a file for the report 

Meet with your Director of Postgraduate Research Studies (DPGRS)

You can meet with the DPGRS in your school at any time. You should be offered 1 meeting with them per year without your supervisor. This lets you give feedback on the supervision you are getting from your supervisor and raise any issues if needed. 

What to do if your supervisor changes 

If you get a new supervisor you will need to review and update your postgraduate supervisor agreement with them. 

If your supervisor is absent or on long term sick leave for longer than two months your school will discuss what to do with you. 

Contact your Graduate School (LINK) if you have any questions. 

First formal progress review (FFPR) 

A chance for you to assess your progress. 

PhD students have a FFPR before the transfer assessment and then every year until you submit your thesis, this is known as an APR. 

Postgraduate researchers doing a masters by research will have a FFPR to help them before thesis submission. 

After you have submitted your FFPR through GRAD

What the annual progress review (APR) is

The APR is a meeting to let you plan and reflect on your research.

What you need to do before the annual review 

Depending on your school or faculty you will need to submit: 

• your reflection on your progress including any issues which has impacted it 
• when you plan to complete your thesis. This might include a timetable or Gantt chart 
• any written work that your faculty or supervisors have asked for 
• your Data Management Plan 

Resources 

• PGR Proof-reading policy and guidance (Link to pgr policy and procedures page)
• Guide to the thesis examination process (Link to submitting your thesis for examination page)