University of Tasmania, Australia

Examination

At the end of your degree program you will submit a thesis (or an exegesis with a creative, visual or professional practice component) for examination by independent experts in your field.

NOTE: IT IS IMPORTANT THAT YOU SUBMIT YOUR THESIS /EXEGISIS ON OR PRIOR TO THE MAXIMUM EXPIRY DATE OF YOUR CANDIDATURE.
The examination process/ timeline:

STEP 1:

Abstract:

8 weeks prior to thesis / exegesis submission

After consultation with your School and supervisors,

• submit your abstract to the Graduate Research Office (via email to graduate.research@utas.edu.au). We do not require a form to be completed when you submit your abstract.

On receipt of your abstract, the Graduate Research Office will:

• contact your Head of School and Graduate Research Coordinator and request that they nominate examiners for your thesis / exegesis. The Nomination of Examiners form is here.

Of course this process will take place confidentially. You are permitted to provide your School with names of examiners that you do not want to examine your work (and accompanying reasons), but that is the extent to which you can be involved in the process of examiner selection. These examiners will know nothing about the way your research project was conducted other than what is contained in the thesis/exegesis that you present for examination. In addition to your research outcomes, it is important that the thesis is self-contained and that it clearly conveys your research, how it relates to the field as a whole, how the project was pursued, what techniques/methodologies were used and how successful they were.. All this must be presented in an integrated, coherent form which demonstrates that a significant and innovative contribution to knowledge has been made.

The Head of School returns the Nomination form to the Graduate Research Office, who formally invite the nominated experts to examine your thesis/ exegesis.

STEP 2:

Submission of thesis/ exegesis:

You need to submit:

• three soft-bound copies of your thesis / exegesis, and 
• one PDF copy of your thesis / exegesis, to the Graduate Research Office.

These should be accompanied by the:

• “Submission of Graduate Research Thesis” form, on which your Head of School indicates that the thesis / exegesis is suitable for submission. The form is available here.

More detailed guidelines about what is required to be present in a UTAS thesis / exegesis are available here. Details about formatting, length, and referencing will of course be dependent on the discipline in which you have conducted your research. You should talk with your supervisory team about these details.

If you are in receipt of a scholarship, your payments will cease when you submit your thesis / exegesis.

You are able to track your examination process via the “examination” tab in iGrad. This will inform you when your examiners are nominated, when thesis / exegesis copies were sent, and when examiners’ reports are expected.

 

STEP 3:

Reports:

Examiners are requested to return their reports on the written thesis within six weeks. The Graduate Research Office advises that examination timelines normally fall between three and six months.

Once all of your examiners’ reports are returned, they are:

• sent to your Head of School for their recommendation and comments.
• The Dean of Graduate Research considers the examiners’ reports and the School’s recommendation and will then inform you of the outcome of your examination.
• You will be sent an email with this outcome, your examiners’ reports, and information about any corrections or revisions that may be required. (Note: you will not be sent a copy of your reports until they have been reviewed by the Head of School and approved by the Dean of Graduate Research.)

When you have completed any required corrections or revisions, your Head of School will inform the Graduate Research Office. We will then advise you of the identity of your examiners and invite you to submit final copies.

STEP 4:

Final copies:

You need to submit:

• two final hard-bound copies
• one final electronic copy of your thesis / exegesis.
• the “electronic thesis access” form (100KB). Please refer to the Checklist for Submission of Final Thesis Copies (33KB).
• provide an abstract of your thesis / exegesis to the Graduate Research Office for the Australian Higher Education Graduation Statement (AHEGS).
• If you are a PhD candidate that is planning to attend a graduation ceremony you will also need to supply a 40 word summary of your research, which will be read out at the ceremony. Please see the Guidelines for Graduation 40 word Summary (107KB).

Once you have fulfilled all of the requirements the Graduate Research Office will request Academic Senate approval to award the degree. Following this approval you will be listed as "eligible to graduate."

STEP 5:

Graduation:

Graduation ceremonies occur each year in August and December. If all of the above steps are completed, the Graduation Office will contact you with ceremony information in the lead up to these dates. This will be via email to your UTAS address.

If you would like your degree to be conferred outside of the scheduled graduation ceremonies, you may apply for special permission to graduate in absentia at a meeting of the University Council. To do this, send an email making this request to the Graduations Office at graduation@utas.edu.au.

More information about Graduation can be obtained from the Graduation Office.