Requirements on CISA PhD students

This document describes the requirements which CISA places on its PhD students. Our aim is to leave you with a high degree of academic freedom while also making sure that your research keeps on track. If you are intending to do a PhD in unusual circumstances (such as studying part time) then the details of deadlines, etc. may be altered with the consent of your supervisor and the Director of CISA, but the overall requirements remain the same.

Requirements in Your First Year

If you join CISA with the aim of obtaining a PhD you will be required to do the following things during your first year:

• Attend appropriate coursework modules, seminars and tutorials.
• Prepare a thesis proposal which meets the required standard. It will be assessed by the student's thesis committee.
• Give an oral presentation of the thesis proposal.

Details of the procedures for these appear below.

Coursework, Seminars and Tutorials

When considering whether to recommend accepting you, your supervisor should have considered whether you need to demonstrate expertise in areas necessary for your research. If so, the supervisor may stipulate that you should take (and pass at a relevant grade) relevant modules from our MSc courses as a prerequisite to progressing from the first year to further years of the PhD. These will be listed by the Graduate School in the letter of acceptance you receive. Occasionally we may have to change the list of required modules when you arrive (for instance if we don't happen to teach a required module in the year you arrive) in which case your supervisor will adjust the required modules.

In addition to those modules you are required to take, you may decide to attend other modules, informally without taking exams, to broaden your education. You should verify such decisions with your supervisor. We strongly recommend that you attend the Research Methodologies module.

There is no set number of course modules you should take but a balance must be made between taking coursework modules and pursuing original research. Note that 4 modules per term is a full-time coursework load for a MSc student and thus more than we would expect you to do in addition to your PhD research.

In addition, you are expected to participate in the seminars and tutorial sessions run by CISA. These raise awareness of hot research areas and provide training in specific skills not covered in more general modules.

Thesis Committee

Your supervisor should put together a thesis committee to provide feedback on your thesis proposal and its oral presentation, as outlined below. The thesis committee should consist of the supervisor, the second supervisor and two other members of University staff. Their job is to improve and approve your thesis proposal.

Thesis proposal

During the first year, you must write a thesis proposal. This has two main purposes: to convince us that your research is viable and to help you focus your attention on a topic. The deadline for this is 9 months after entry (i.e. 30th June for a 1st October start). If there is doubt about meeting this deadline then you should make sure that you (or your supervisor acting on your behalf) raise the matter with the CISA Director as soon as possible.

Your proposal should contain (not necessarily in this order or with these section titles):

• Introduction. (about 1 page)
  An overview of the problem, in general terms, almost like an abstract. This should be comprehensible to researchers in CISA (and preferably beyond) and need not go into detail.
• Review of Existing Literature (about 5 pages)
  A succinct summary of existing work, highlighting aspects relevant to the student's work. This is not an exhaustive statement of everything done in the field, and need not explain it to the non-specialist reader. The aim is to allow the informed reader to grasp the intellectual background that led to the student's proposed direction of research.
• Description of central idea(s). (about 10 pages)
  A statement of what your thesis is going to be about, and why it is going to be worthwhile.
• Work so far. (about 2 pages)
  A summary of work so far. It is not expected that this will contain polished results but it should convey the factual outline of what you have done and what you have concluded from it (including any negative conclusions).
• Future targets (about 3 pages).
  A summary of what you intend to do in the rest of the project. You should include: a list of the main tasks you must undertake (each with its approximate start and end dates); a description of the dependencies between tasks; and a list of the milestones which you would have to reach on the way to the conclusion of your research. Note that milestones are measures of progress (e.g. obtaining a key result or answering a specific empirical question), not simply the end points of tasks.
• Likely outcome (about 1 page).
  A brief statement of what you expect the outcome of your project will be and how you will assess the success of the research.
• Bibliography.
  Detailed citations of the work that is mentioned in the main document.

Oral Presentation

You should give an oral presentation of the thesis proposal soon after it is completed. This should be a substantial presentation (e.g. 45 minutes plus time for questions), to be attended by at least your thesis committee and open to others.

The thesis committee should then provide feedback and comments on both the written document and the oral presentation.

Requirements in Your Second Year

To keep others aware of your work during its second year we require you to give a summary of progress. By 30th June in your second year you should have prepared a poster advertising your research and/or given a seminar on the current directions of your research. You also are required to attend the Faculty thesis workshop which gives you advice on writing a thesis and preparing for your viva.

Requirements in Your Third Year

By the start of the third year of your PhD you should have a clear view of what your research will demonstrate and have significant amounts of evidence to support the claims you will make in your theses. With the aim of sharpening your arguments and focusing the final stages of your research, you are required to prepare a thesis outline and give a seminar on your thesis work sometime during the first three months of the third year.

Your thesis outline should consist of: a 1-page abstract of the dissertation; a near-final draft of a core chapter; and an outline of the structure of the full thesis. This should be ready before you give your seminar. Your seminar should describe your current results; the research contribution your thesis will make; and the remaining work needed to secure that contribution.

Your supervisor will recruit two members of University staff who will provide constructive suggestions on your current research and its future progress. Along with your supervisor (and second supervisor) they will attend your seminar and discuss afterwards with you and your supervisor any points which they feel you should address, having also read your thesis outline. It is recommended, though not obligatory, that the group recruited to give you comments should condense these into an agreed, written recommendation from the group.