Implementation of Monitoring and Milestones in ILCC

PhD Administration in ILCC.

Information for current students and Supervisors

This section describes the additional requirements which ILCC places on its PhD students to the Informatics' guidelines: Year timelines  Year timelines for postgraduate research study. Our aim is to leave you with a high degree of academic freedom while also making sure that your research keeps on track.

Requirements in your first year

Thesis proposal and First year review: A PhD student should submit a thesis proposal in month 9, followed by a talk and a review, which should take place in month 10. This is the same event described in the Informatics' guidelines (Year 1 timeline for postgraduate research study). The following describes the actual implementation of this event in ILCC.

  • Supervisor(s) selects the members of committee, i.e. the student's 1st supervisor, 2nd supervisor/co-supervisor, and at least one other member of staff (Grade 8 or above). NB: this implies 2nd supervisor/co-supervisor should be fixed before the thesis proposal.

  • The 1st supervisor should arrange the talk (e.g. date, venue) and announce the event to the mailing list in advance.
  • The student should submit the copies of the thesis proposal to the committee members at least two weeks before the date of the talk.

  • The review will begin with an oral presentation (of around half an hour) by the student, followed by questions and discussion, and finally a private discussion among the committee members.

  • A report on the outcome of the meeting should be submitted ONLINE by the principal supervisor, after consultation with the other committee members, with a copy to the ILCC PhD Selector.

Requirements in your second year

Progress report and presentation: Each second and subsequent year student  should submit a written report in month 9 to a panel consisting of supervisory team and at least one other independent member, followed by a presentation in month 10. Written feedback must be given to the student. Please see Year 2 timeline for details.

Requirements in your third year

Dissertation Draft Defense: ILCC students are required to give a Dissertation Draft Defense (DDD) at least six months before the expected date of thesis submission for full-time students. This is an opportunity for them to get feedback on the shape of their dissertation, the scope of their dissertation, and their progress towards achieving an appropriately shaped and scoped dissertation in the time remaining.

DDD is a separate event from the Informatics "draft thesis and progress report" and "third year review". However, the first supervisor may arrange those Informatics events to take place with the same schedule with that of DDD only if the Informatics events take place earlier than the normally scheduled timings and the supervisor decides it is reasonable to merge the events.

  • Research Committee: The committee will usually consist of a chairman and at least one member (both from within ILCC and should be Grade 8 or above), student's supervisors, with additional members from outwith ILCC if, given the subject matter, their contributions would help the student's timely completion of a worthwhile dissertation. Committees will be nominated by the supervisors in consultation with the student, and must be approved by the ILCC PhD Selector. The responsibility for ensuring the defense happens in a timely fashion remains with the supervisor.

  • The first supervisor should arrange DDD talk and review, and announce the event in advance. 

  • The student should ensure that his/her draft thesis documentation gets to his/her supervisor(s) and the other member of the committee at least four weeks before the set date of his/her meeting. Please consult the guidelines on the draft thesis documentation. If the document is not with the members of the Committee two days before the set date, the meeting will be postponed.

  • Having read the draft thesis documentation and heard the student's oral presentation at the defense, committee members may respond with questions about the claim, the evidence already accumulated, the role(s) of further evidence, etc. The committee should then confer with the student's supervisor(s) and present the student and his/her supervisor(s) with a list of collectively agreed-upon suggestions regarding shape and scope of the work to be done, and realistic plans for completing a convincing, correct and interesting dissertation. 

    A copy of this document should also be sent direct to the ILCC PhD Selector and ILCC directors. The sole responsibility of the committee chair is to put together this list of suggestions: there is no supervision involved. Both the student and his/her supervisor(s) will benefit from this opportunity to get supportive feedback on the argument the student is putting forth and an assessment of what can realistically be done in the student's remaining time to further strengthen the student's thesis.

Thesis submission and Viva

Please visit:

Information for Supervisors

Supervisors, please read the Informatics' guidelines, Monitoring and Milestones for postgraduate research study and the above section, Information for current students, and arrange necessary procedures so that the events, e.g. thesis proposal and DDD, should take place in a timely fashion.

Any changes regarding administration of the students under your supervision should be informed to the ILCC PhD Selector.

Annual Review Meeting: ILCC has an annual review meeting in June to review the progress of all PhD students in the institute. This meeting corresponds to the annual review meeting described in the Informatics web page described above.

  • The people present include the institute PhD Selector and director, all PhD supervisors, and the Head of the Graduate School.

  • The papers for this meeting include all reports on reviews since the previous meeting.

  • Each PhD student is discussed at least briefly. Minutes of this meeting record the situation including any action. The director of ILCC is responsible for ensuring that these actions happen.

Guidelines and Regulations

Useful information

General

Scholarships

Contact address

Person Role Office Telephone Email
Henry Thompson

ILCC PhD Selector

Informatic Forum - 4.03 50 4440 ht(at)inf(dot)ed(dot)ac(dot)uk