Higher Degree Research (HDR) student monitoring

PhD student progress is monitored twice a year. The reasons for monitoring progress are:

• Students have regular occasions at which to review and assess their progress.
• Students have an opportunity to present their work to an audience. Furthermore, newer students can learn from the presentations of more experienced students.

• Regular peer feedback can be provided to supervisors on the quality of their supervision and on the progress of their students.

• Staff and students in Computer Science have an opportunity to hear about the research interests of others in the group.

Monitoring itself is done within research groups and each research group leader is responsible for organising PhD monitoring in that group. Monitoring takes place twice a year. There will be an eligible one- to two-week period from which a day per research group is chosen for both the first and second half of the year.

The monitoring process, involving a program of presentations and a meeting of the staff in each research group, proceeds as follows:

• One week prior to the presentations, each student shall provide a title and abstract for their presentation.
• One week prior to the presentations, each student shall give a copy of their overheads for the presentation to their supervisor so that the student and supervisor can discuss the details of the presentation and make whatever improvements seem appropriate. Practice presentations are also encouraged
• Each student shall give a 20-minute presentation on the progress of his/her research. The talk should be at a level that is comprehensible for the majority of the audience but should also clearly indicate the substance of the research. There then follows a 10-minute period during which members of the audience, both staff and students, can provide more general feedback about the talk, for example, the content of the overheads, the presentation style, the general thrust of the research, and so on. All staff and students in a research group are expected to attend all student presentations of that group. They are encouraged to attend the presentations of other groups. The supervisory panel members outside the School are invited to attend. Anyone else wishing to attend is encouraged to do so. At a suitable time during the program of presentations, there shall be provision of a pizza feast for all participants.
• Soon after the presentations, all staff members in a research group (and members of supervisory panels, if possible) shall meet and review the progress of all students in that research group. They shall also discuss the quality of the supervision of each student and provide constructive feedback to the supervisors and/or supervisory panels as is considered appropriate. Each student in the research group shall also meet with the staff members. The purpose of this meeting is for the staff to provide the student with constructive feedback on his/her progress. This is also an opportunity for the student to raise whatever issues the student feels are relevant to the progress of their research. Later on, further feedback from the monitoring process may also be provided to students by their supervisor. Any major problem highlighted by this meeting, or any other part of the monitoring process, shall be brought to the attention of the Head of School or, in case the Head of School is directly involved, the Associate Director (HDR).
• For beginning students (that is, less than three months), monitoring is more an introduction of themselves to the research group.
• Students who have completed their third year may be exempted from monitoring if this is likely to distract them from writing up. Such examption will be given only if also supported by the supervisor.