Completion Seminar Guidelines for PhD Students
Overview
All PhD candidates are required to make a public presentation of their research findings at the University in the 3-6 months prior to submitting their thesis for examination. The public presentation is regarded as an important part of PhD candidature. The Seminar should present the objectives, methods, findings and significance of the candidate's PhD thesis research.
Benefits
Includes constructive feedback from informed and experienced researchers, that is timed to enable the student to refine the dissertation and, if necessary, to further develop the personal skills needed to present the candidate's arguments effectively, will be a positive contribution to student learning.
For the University, it provides the opportunity to verify that the candidate owns and understands the research that they are presenting; illustrates that candidates have the oral presentation and other research attributes expected of PhD graduates from this university; and ensures equity among PhD candidates in procedures for reporting on their research at the university.
Format of the seminar
The seminar will normally be no less than an hour (including time for questions and feedback from the panel and general members of the audience). The Panel may require the candidate to remain in closed session for further discussion as necessary. The candidate should present a thesis summary and chapter outline to members of the Panel at least one week in advance of the presentation. The materials should not exceed 2,000 words and should provide a brief overview of the aims and scope of the thesis and of the main results. In addition the candidate should provide a brief abstract of no more than 100 words to facilitate publicity of the seminar and provide a hard copy of the presentation to the panel for departmental records.
Attendance at the seminar
The time, title and candidate details should be advertised in the School Bulletin and to relevant regional organizations and campuses to encourage attendance by interested persons.
Membership and the role of the Panel
A panel which consists of a minimum of three members including the thesis supervisor(s) and the Head of Department or nominee must be present. Supervisors should nominate a panel chair to the Research Chair (currently Louise Hitchcock lahi@unimelb.edu.au) for approval.
While many panels may be wholly internal in membership, external membership of the Panel is also appropriate, and members may be drawn from any suitable tertiary institution/research organisation. Where the candidate has an established advisory committee then this Committee should act as the Panel (but may include additional members).
Panel members should be at least broadly knowledgeable about the field of study, and might be expert in some aspect of the research topic. However, they are not required to be expert in the same sense as the thesis examiners, to be familiar with the written work of the candidate, or to have read a full draft of the thesis in preparation for the Seminar. Rather, their role is to provide general feedback on the material as presented to them in the seminar. The Panel chair should be a member other than the supervisor. The Panel members are expected to complete a report, which notes the strengths and weaknesses of the work as presented and may identify to the candidate how particular aspects of the thesis might be enhanced.