Annual Progress Reports

Annual Progress Report

All continuing candidates must complete a Research Higher Degree Annual Progress Report 2009 (Word, 175Kb). First year candidates do not complete an annual progress report.

Annual Progress Reports are due by 30 June 2009.

Candidates may now submit their report electronically by email via their Principal Supervisor, or directly to the Office of Research Services. The form is a fillable form i.e type directly into the form, or you may complete it in hardcopy before emailing it to the Office of Research Services. Instructions about how to complete and submit the report appear at the end of the form.

Annual progress reports are a good mechanism for reflecting on your achievements and revisiting your completion plan. The report is a direct signal to the college and Research Studies Committee that there may be problems, of any nature, and it is a means of recording your successes, such as publications and conference presentations.

Annual reports may initiate your college recommending specific actions where progress is not satisfactory. This may include setting you a series of tasks with due dates and a period of review. The college may in rare circumstances request termination of a candidature as a result of the annual report process.

The Research Studies Committee reviews all reports and makes resource and policy decisions using summative information and there may be direct intervention in individual candidatures. Annual reports are checked when candidates apply for leave or an extension and when the candidate or panel question aspects of the candidature, particularly in relation to satisfactory progress. Failure to complete and return your report will jeopardise your enrolment.

Australian Postgraduate Awards - Industry (APA/I) candidates must also complete an Australian Research Council (ARC) Report. The Office of Research Services will contact you if an ARC report is required.

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Candidate's Report and Supervisor's Report

Students and supervisors are strongly encouraged to meet to discuss the annual report.

The report must contain:

• a summary of work undertaken in the last 12 months, or since commencement,
• a timeline for the next year, 
• comment on progress in relation to expected completion, 
• comments by the supervisor (principal or preferably the whole panel).

If the candidate and the panel/principal supervisor cannot meet together, the candidate should complete their section and email or mail it their principal supervisor.

Problems

The completion of the Annual Report Form should not be the first point at which a supervisor and candidate discover there is a problem. If problems do arise, it would be expected that both parties would take active steps to rectify them within the college in the first instance.

However, the Annual Report provides a medium for documenting problems and failure to do so could be to the disadvantage of candidate and supervisor.

The critical thing to remember is that problems within a research candidature are not uncommon and there are resources available that can be called upon to assist, so please use them.

Unsatisfactory Progress

If, as a result of this process, a college is of the opinion that the standard of a candidate's work is unsatisfactory, the Associate Dean, Research shall report this to the Research Studies Committee and make a recommendation for immediate action, which may involve conditional continued enrolment.

In extreme cases a candidature may be terminated. If such action is taken, the candidate may appeal to the Academic Senate, which may determine the matter as it thinks fit.

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Confirmation of Candidature

The Confirmation of Candidature is a compulsory requirement for all first year research students, usually completed within the first six months of candidature, but no later than 12 months.

Please review the Confirmation of Candidature Guidelines (PDF, 137Kb) and use the required Cover Sheet (PDF, 25Kb).

UWS offers an online workshop called 'Developing Your Thesis Proposal' which may assist the Confirmation of Candidature process. The site is set up in WebCT and you will need to login using Login ID: 'uwshdr_research' and Password: 'research'.