University of Tasmania, Australia

There are three major goals in the first year of the candidature.

1. Research Plan
2. Confirmation of candidature, and
3. Complete appropriate number of Graduate Certificate in Research units.

On successful completion of the three goals the candidates would have demonstrated a clear understanding of the aims, scope, processes and time frame of their planned research. The School of Computing and Information Systems views these activities as essential in the first year of candidature.

The School of Computing and Information Systems requires candidates to present a research plan for the proposed research to the Graduate Research Coordinator within 6 months of commencing their candidature.

The research plan consists of the research problem, literature providing background and justification to the research problem. The plan must also include significant milestones for the next three years. A timeline is also required in the form of a gant chart. Candidates and supervisors must complete the Research Proposal checklist prior to submitting the research plan.

Additional help can be provided by reviewing the additional checklists for Confirmation of Candidature, 2nd year annual review and 3rd year annual review. The checklists will provide insight into the schools’ expectations relating to a candidates progress (see relevant sections for those checklists).

The confirmation of candidature is a quality assurance exercise essential for evaluating the possible successful completion of a research candidature. To this goal, the School of Computing and Information Systems will establish a specific and independent expert committee for each candidature. The following procedures have been agreed in the school to meet these obligations. The membership of the confirmation committee will be:

• At least one supervisor. If there are multiple supervisors one will assume the role of the coordinator.
  • The GRU guidelines suggest that all supervisors should participate - but for practical reasons there may be situations where some supervisors cannot participate during the confirmation process.
• Non-supervisory members to be suggested by the supervisors, but appointed by the Head of School
  • Each nomination would be made by providing a short description of the person's professional standing including their contributions to the candidate's area of research.
  • A committee will have 3 or more members and supervisors will be in minority.
  • The number of non-supervisory members will be at least one more than the number of supervisors on the committee. (eg 2 supervisors, 3 non-supervisory members)
  • The school will respect the right of the candidates to have one non-participating observer nominated by the candidate attend all confirmation events
• Supervisors are required to ensure that the named members accept the role and responsibilities and are also available to attend the candidate's seminar(s) and meetings.
• It is desired that the decisions and recommendations of this committee are unanimous. However, where the views of some members differ from the majority decision, this will be noted separately.

The school's procedure for confirmation of candidature is a three stage processes involving:

1. A public (open) research seminar within the school. The seminar will be chaired by the coordinator of the confirmation committee.
2. A private meeting of the confirmation committee with the candidate to seek clarifications and suggest changes. This meeting can last an hour or more and may include private discussions among the confirmation committee members as needed.
3. The confirmation committee meeting would occur after the candidate has delivered a successful school seminar to demonstrate preparedness for research in the proposed domain. The seminar will be attended by all members of the confirmation committee. The confirmation committee may suggest re-drafting of the research proposal including repeating any or both approval activities.
4. Once the confirmation committee is satisfied that the research proposal is meritorious, technically feasible, within the resources and budget available to the candidate, and can be completed in appropriate time-frame GRC would recommend the GRU/School Head for confirmation of the candidature as per the approved and documented research plan and time-frame.

On successful completion of the candidature confirmation the candidate must complete all documentation. These documents will baseline the yearly annual review procedures. The first annual review would occur annually after the confirmation of the candidature.

The school has created a confirmation checklist to assist with the task of confirmation. This checklist is to be complete one month prior to confirmation by both the candidate and the supervisor/s.

Candidates will normally complete the full Graduate Certificate in Research. The Graduate Certificate in Research requires the completion of four standard units. Candidates should complete the two core units before their confirmation of candidature and must complete all of the Graduate Certificate within two years of full time (or equivalent) candidature. Further information can be found at the Graduate Research Office website

A typical research candidate progresses through the following four stages of interaction with the School of Computing and Information Systems.

1. Seeking admission
2. Establishing candidature
3. Building research accomplishments
4. Examination

This document describes the School of Computing and Information Systems procedures related to the first stage. Procedures for other stages are listed in separate documents as they involve specific provisions that requires more intimate knowledge of the school and its environ.