
Students are advised to contact their Programme / School Office for additional and programme - specific information.
Information regarding the submission deadlines for graduate research degree theses (and the associated fees) is available on the Fees and Grants section of the Registry website – http://www.ucd.ie/registry/adminservices/fees/index.html
Students on graduate research programmes are normally expected to submit their thesis by the submission deadline for their programme and within the prescribed period of registration* as outlined in the regulations.
* Prescribed period of registration: this refers to the period of time during which a research degree student is normally expected to be registered to their programme of study as laid down in the relevant Academic Regulations.
Programme type |
Minimum registration period | Maximum registration period |
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Full-time |
Part-time |
Full-time |
Part-time |
|
Research Masters Degree(Regulation 8.6) |
1 calendar year |
2 calendar years |
2 calendar years |
4 calendar years |
PhD Degree (post-2006)** (Regulation 16.6) |
3 calendar years |
5 calendar years |
4 calendar years |
6 calendar years |
PhD Degree (pre-2006) |
|
|
6 calendar years |
|
MD Degree (Regulation 24.4) |
2 years |
4 years |
2 years |
4 years |
DN/DM Degree (Regulation 32.3) |
3 years |
6 years |
3 years |
6 years |
* Information on applying for an extension or permission to continue in the programme can be found in the Policy on Theses in Graduate Research Programmes (http://www.ucd.ie/registry/academicsecretariat/pol.htm#g).
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Graduate research thesis
The appropriate number of copies of the thesis (based on the number of members of the Examination Committee) must be submitted to the Student Desk, UCD Registry. Students should check with their School to confirm the number of copies required.
Additional important information, including that the thesis submitted for examination must be in soft-bound format and accompanied by a completed Research Degree Examination Form, can be found in Section 5 of the Policy on Theses in Graduate Research Programmes (http://www.ucd.ie/registry/academicsecretariat/pol.htm#g).
Yes. A candidate for a graduate research degree award must be a fully registered student and fees compliant at the time when the thesis is submitted for examination. Students can check their fees status on their UCD Student Information System (SIS) account (to log in please go to https://sisweb.ucd.ie/usis/twbkwbis.P_WWWLogin).
Once a student on a graduate research degree programme has submitted their thesis they will continue to be registered as a student until such time that the examination has been completed and the award is sanctioned by the Academic Council Committee on Examinations. Their registration status shall be 'For Assessment' (FA). Students shall not be liable for tuition fees, but their student card shall be extended and they will have access to University facilities in order to prepare for the viva voce examination (where relevant) and to complete papers for publication, normally until the end of term.
It is the policy of the University that every PhD candidate must be examined through a viva voce examination. On the request of a Head of School, or at the behest of the examiners, a viva voce examination of a Research Masters Degree candidate may be arranged.
Where the examiners agree that a thesis is satisfactory for examination, the Examination Committee shall conduct a viva voce examination of the candidate, which will normally be held within two months of submission of the thesis.
• The objectives of the viva voce examination are to provide an opportunity for the examiners to clarify any issues of fact which may have arisen in the course of the preliminary reading of the thesis, to test the candidate's knowledge of the thesis topic and related areas of research and, as far as possible, to establish the originality of the candidate's work and ideas.
• The viva voce examination also provides an opportunity for the candidate to elaborate on aspects of the research which may not have been included in the thesis and to defend the arguments presented and the ideas developed in the thesis.
Further information on how the viva voce examination is conducted can be found in the Policy on Theses in Graduate Research Programmes (http://www.ucd.ie/registry/academicsecretariat/pol.htm#g).
The Examination Committee shall consist of both internal and extern examiner(s). The members of the Examination Committee should be appointed and approved at least three months prior to submission by the candidate of the graduate research degree thesis.
The table below outlines the specific requirements for the constitution of the examination committee for each degree programme.
TABLE A: Appointment of the Examination Committee
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Doctor of Medicine (MD) |
1 |
1 minimum, second where candidate is FT academic staff(2) of UCD or other College of NUI |
Head of the School of Medicine and Medical Science (or nominee) and is not an examiner, and is an additional member of Exam Committee |
Cannot be internal examiner, can attend viva voce (where applicable) in a silent capacity, with consent of candidate and Chair |
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|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Doctor of Nursing/ Midwifery (DN/DM) |
1 or 2 |
1 minimum, second where candidate is FT academic staff(5) of UCD or other College of NUI (in which case, 2nd extern is additional and does not replace an internal examiner) |
Head of the School of Nursing, Midwifery and Health Systems (or nominee) and is not an examiner, and is an additional member of Exam Committee |
Cannot be internal examiner, cannot be Chair, can attend viva voce in a silent capacity, with consent of candidate and Chair |
(1) See Academic Regulation 14.1.4
(2) See Academic Regulation 30.1.4
(3) See Academic Council Regulation 4, 5.3
(4) See Academic Regulation 22.1.4. A second extern examiner should also be appointed for other PhD candidates where the Graduate School Board considers a potential conflict of interest may arise.
(5)See Academic Regulation 38.1.4. A second extern examiner should also be appointed for other DN/DM candidates where the Graduate School Board considers a potential conflict of interest may arise.
The possible recommendations that the Examination Committee can make to the Academic Council Committee on Examinations (ACCE) are listed below. For further information please refer to Section 6 of the Policy on Thesis in Graduate Research Programmes. .
• Examiners unanimously recommend awarding a graduate research degree: no corrections.
• Examiners unanimously recommend awarding a graduate research degree: corrections required.
• Examiners unanimously recommend that the graduate research degree not be awarded, which may also include a recommendation to the candidate to substantially revise and re-submit the thesis.
• No unanimous recommendation.
In all cases, the Chair of the Examination Committee shall inform the candidate and the Principal Supervisor of the recommendation made to ACCE. All candidates are entitled to a copy of the examiners' degree report(s) following the authorisation or otherwise of the award of the degree by the Academic Council Committee on Examinations.
In addition, a candidate may appeal a decision of the Academic Council Committee on Examinations on not to award of the degree to the Academic Council Committee on Assessment Appeals.
A hard-bound copy of the thesis, incorporating any corrections required by the examiners – together with the Thesis Corrections Sign-Off Form (available at https://intranet.ucd.ie/registry/assessment/acce.html) – must be lodged by the candidate with the Student Desk, UCD Registry before the Academic Council Committee on Examinations will consider the award of the degree.
The candidate shall normally also present a hard-bound copy of the thesis to the Principal Supervisor and/or the Head of School.
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