1. The degrees of Doctor of Education [EdD], Master of Philosophy (Research Methodology) [MPhil (Res Meth)], Doctor of Clinical Psychology [DClinPsych], Doctor of Educational Psychology [DEdPsych], Doctor of Clinical Practice [DClinP] and the Engineering Doctorate [EngD] may be awarded by the Senate to postgraduate students who have successfully pursued a programme of study to the satisfaction of the relevant Faculty Programmes Committee and as prescribed in the relevant specific programme regulations (Academic Regulations, Sections VI to XIII of the University Calendar).
   
   
2. For the purposes of these regulations the University shall be deemed to include any institutions where the Faculty Programmes Committee can arrange proper supervision of clinical practice and research.
   

3. The requirement for entry to each programme shall normally be, as specified in Academic Regulations, a good degree from an approved University in a relevant discipline or whatever award/range of experience, including industrial experience, which might be deemed equivalent by the Faculty Programmes Committee using agreed University AP[E/C]L guidelines where appropriate for the particular programme and as set out in Paragraph 13 of the University's Code of Practice for Research Candidature and Supervision. Applications from candidates with non-standard qualifications must be approved by the appropriate Faculty Programmes Committee on a case by case basis.
   

4. Each programme shall contain some combination of taught compulsory and/or elective units/modules, individual and/or group projects and a written thesis as specified in Academic Regulations; and shall be pursued in the University except where Academic Regulations provide for research to be carried out with proper supervision in an appropriate setting elsewhere.
   
   Paragraph 12 of the University's Code of Practice for Research Candidature and Supervision refers to the structure and levels for taught/professional doctorates, together with the QAA’s underpinning ‘Framework for higher education qualifications in England, Wales and Northern Ireland (FHEQ), August 2008’.

5. The scheme of study for each programme shall be undertaken over a period of not less than three years of full-time study, except in the case of the Engineering Doctorate where the minimum period of study is four years. The maximum period permitted for part-time study is seven years unless an extension for extenuating circumstances has been approved by the Faculty Programmes Committee. A candidate who fails to complete coursework or examination requirements, the dissertation for a programme or any other programme requirements by the date specified by the Faculty Programmes Committee, or within the maximum period allowed for that programme, will, subject to appeal, be deemed by the relevant Faculty Programmes Committee to have failed the programme.
   

6. The Faculty Graduate School directorate may allow transfer to nominal registration for both full and part-time candidates for a period not exceeding 12 months in the first instance. Where this is permitted for the programme, the supervisor(s) must confirm that the minimum period of candidature has been completed, all taught modules have been successfully completed, any other progression criteria have been satisfied, research is substantially complete as determined by the Faculty Graduate School directorate and the thesis is being written up. A candidate returning from suspension may not transfer to nominal registration until at least two months after his/her return from suspension. If a candidate is on nominal registration for longer than six months a fee becomes payable (see Section IV of the University Calendar). In cases of illness, family crisis or exceptional or unforeseeable circumstances beyond the candidate's control, the Faculty Graduate School directorate may permit a candidate to suspend when in nominal registration.

7. Candidates will normally be assigned appropriate tutor(s), as relevant to the particular programme, during the coursework phase of the programme. In the case of the Engineering Doctorate, the tutor will normally be part of the research supervisory team as detailed in paragraph 8.
   
   
8. Every candidate shall be allocated to a research supervisory team by the Faculty Graduate School directorate, on the recommendation of the Director of the Faculty Graduate School. The supervisory team shall consist of at least two supervisors, one of whom will be the 'main supervisor'. The supervisory team shall also include a named 'co-ordinating supervisor', who will normally also undertake the role of ‘main supervisor' and should be a permanent academic member of University of Southampton staff.
   
   Senior members of honorary clinical staff in the Faculty of Medicine and the Faculty of Health Sciences, members of staff employed by the Natural Environmental Research Council at the National Oceanography Centre, or visiting academics, may be appointed to the supervisory team as main supervisors (but may not take the role of co-ordinating supervisor). Members of academically-related staff, an academic member of staff on probation, or a professor emeritus may not be appointed as main or co-ordinating supervisor. In the case of the Engineering Doctorate, the supervisory team will include an industrial supervisor nominated by the sponsoring company.
   
   The main supervisor has responsibility for the supervision of the design and progress of the candidate's research project and for providing academic advice to the candidate. The co-ordinating supervisor has responsibility for ensuring that the administrative processes for the research student are completed in a timely manner throughout a student's candidature. The supervisory team may contain additional supervisors, who may be external to the University, and shall report on the candidate's work and progress when requested to do so by the Faculty Graduate School directorate. The Code of Practice for Research Candidature and Supervision sets out the responsibilities of the supervisory team.
   
   
9. A Faculty Graduate School directorate, or Examination Board on behalf of the Faculty Programmes Committee, may at any time review the progress of an individual candidate. If this is unsatisfactory and, after due warning, there is insufficient improvement, the Faculty Programmes Committee may recommend termination of candidature to Senate. The candidate may appeal against the decision by using the procedure set out in the University's General Regulations (Section IV: Regulations Governing Academic Appeals by Students).
   

10. The regulations for each programme shall prescribe as appropriate the number and/or subjects of taught modules to be taken and the range and length of coursework assignments and/or project work to be completed and shall provide for their examination.
    
    
11. As determined by the regulations for each programme, the results of taught modules and/or coursework may contribute towards the final programme award, or may qualify the candidate for an intermediate exit award.
    

12. A candidate who is about to submit a thesis shall give at least two months' prior notice in writing (using the Intention to Submit form) to the Faculty Student Office, or a particular member of staff as specified by the Faculty, which shall include the full title of the thesis.
    
    
13. With the exception of restrictions on access as defined in the following paragraph, research work submitted as a thesis for a higher degree shall be openly available and subject neither to security classification nor to restriction on access. Candidates may publish the whole or part of their work prior to its submission as a thesis provided that, in the published work, it is nowhere stated that it is in consideration for a higher degree.
    
    
14. In exceptional circumstances access to a thesis may be restricted by the relevant Faculty Programmes Committee on behalf of the Senate where such restriction is regarded as desirable on commercial grounds or pending patent applications, or as necessary to maintain confidentiality. The period of restriction shall be determined by the relevant Faculty Programmes Committee but shall normally not exceed three years from the date of the examination. After three years the period of restriction may be subject to review in some circumstances. Each instance of Faculty Programmes Committee approval of restriction of access to a thesis should be reported to the University Library who will maintain a master list to be presented annually to the Researcher Development & Graduate Centre Advisory Group (RDGC).
    
    
15. On submission of a thesis a candidate shall be required to sign two documents:
    
    
    1. a form of consent that the thesis, if successful, will be made available electronically through the University of Southampton Research Repository from a date stipulated (subject to the law of copyright)
       
       
    2. a declaration, bound into the thesis, stating: that the thesis is the result of work done wholly or mainly while the candidate was in registered candidature; that where the thesis is based on work done by the candidate jointly with others, a substantial part is the original work of the candidate; the extent to which the thesis incorporates material already submitted for another degree.
       
       
16. A thesis may not exceed the length stipulated by Academic Regulations for the programme unless prior permission to exceed this length has been given by the Faculty Graduate School directorate on the recommendation of the supervisor. Resubmission arrangements are specified in Academic Regulations.
    
    
17. Examiners will be appointed as appropriate in accordance with Academic Regulations. In programmes where prescribed examiners are appointed specifically to examine each candidate's thesis and other research material indicated in the regulations, normally one internal and one external examiner shall act. In exceptional cases, one additional external examiner may be appointed. No member of the supervisory team may be appointed as an internal examiner; nor may they take part in the judgement of the thesis under consideration in any other way. In addition, other researchers who have had any co-authoring or collaborative involvement in the candidate's work, or whose own work is the focus of the research project such that there would be a conflict of interest or a potential lack of objectivity, may not be appointed as internal or external examiners. Members of staff who have had pastoral involvement with the candidate such that objectivity would potentially be affected may also not be appointed to the examining team.
    
    
18. Candidates for the award of degree of Research with a Major Taught Component will be required to attend an oral examination. In conducting the oral examination arrangements will be made, where necessary, to accommodate the requirements of candidates with special communication needs.
    
    
19. Having taken into account the criteria for the award of PhD as set out in Paragraph 5 of the University's Code of Practice for Research Candidature and Supervision, as well as paragraphs 11 and 12 in the Code entitled ‘Doctoral Degrees with a Taught Element’, the examiners for each thesis will recommend one of the following courses of action.
    
    
    1. That the degree for which the candidate has submitted a thesis be awarded subject to the satisfactory completion of the taught element of the programme.
       
       
    2. That the degree for which the candidate has submitted a thesis be awarded subject if necessary to minor amendments to the thesis being made by a date specified; (minor amendments include: minor errors/omissions of substance, typographical errors, occasional stylistic or grammatical flaws, corrections to references, addition/modification to one or two figures and minor changes to layout, and require no new research. These changes need only be certified by the internal examiner.) The date specified for the submission of such minor amendments should normally be no later than a month after the formal notification to the candidate. The award is also subject to the satisfactory completion of the taught element of the programme.
       
       
    3. That the degree for which the candidate has submitted a thesis be awarded subject to the correction of modest errors/omissions of substance being made by a date specified (the procedure for certification of the amendments should be clearly specified in the report). Such amendments may require limited further analysis but will not affect the originality of the central thesis. They will be of a scale to require certification by both the internal and external examiners, though normally not so extensive that an oral is required. The date specified for the submission of such intermediate amendments should normally be no later than six months after the formal notification to the candidate. The award is also subject to the satisfactory completion of the taught element of the programme.
       
       
    4. That the candidate be required to attend for a further oral examination.
       
       
    5. That the candidate be permitted to submit by a date specified a revised thesis for the same degree for re-examination on one subsequent occasion. The date specified for submission of the revised thesis should normally be no later than twelve months after the formal notification to the candidate. As a fee is payable, the Fees Office should be informed when a candidate has been asked to submit a revised thesis. The award is also subject to the satisfactory completion of the taught element of the programme.
       
       
    6. That, in the case of a candidate who has failed to satisfy the examiners, permission be given to the candidate to apply within a specified time for the award of a diploma or master's degree as appropriate and if there is an approved exit qualification for the programme. Submission may be allowed without re-examination subject to any minor amendment of the thesis which may be required by the examiners. Or, at the request of the examiners, submission of a revised thesis may be subject to re-examination, including a viva voce.
       
       
    7. That the degree be not awarded and that resubmission of the thesis be not permitted.
       
       
    It should be noted that where the recommendation of the examiners is for re-examination at a later date as set out in paragraph e. above, options d. and e. are not available as outcomes at the later re-examination.
    
    
20. A candidate who fails to submit corrected or revised coursework or thesis by the date set by the examiners shall normally be regarded as having failed the examination and the recommendations of the examiners shall lapse. In exceptional circumstances a revised date for submitting corrections may be approved by the Faculty Graduate School directorate.
    
    
21. Where the examiners recommend that the degree be not awarded and that submission of a revised thesis be not permitted, the candidate may ask for the case to be reviewed in accordance with the procedures laid down by the Senate. A copy of the Regulations Governing Academic Appeals by Students may be obtained from Section IV of the University Calendar.
    

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Last reviewed: 20-Jul-2015
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