The Higher Degree by Research - Preparation, Submission and Examinations Procedure sets out the steps involved at the end of the HDR candidature and includes the presentation requirements of the thesis
| When | Activity | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Three months before submission | The candidate must submit an HDR - Intention to Submit form to the Office of Research & Innovation copied to the Principal Supervisor. On the Intention to Submit form, students may list examiners, disciplines, or groups that they do not wish to examine their thesis. | ||||||||||
| No later than one month after the Intention to submit form (approx. two months prior to submission) | The Principal Supervisor must submit the HDR - Recommendation of Examiners Form to the Faculty or Institute in which the candidate is enrolled (the Home Faculty), which must be endorsed by the Faculty/ Menzies and the Dean of Graduate Studies. NOTE: Students are not permitted to nominate or know the examiners of their thesis. | ||||||||||
Prior to submission of thesis
| Thesis including publications? The candidate must submit a HDR - Co-Authorship Approvals for HDR Thesis for Examinations, one form per publication. Completed forms are to be uploaded along with the thesis submission. | ||||||||||
| iThenticate Similarity Report | All current candidates and principal supervisors should have access to iThenticate. Students are sent their login details to their student email account (sxxxxxx@students.cdu.edu.au). The candidate must run a similarity report in iThenticate on the draft thesis to check for potential plagiarism. The supervisor and candidate must check each instance of similarity in the report to ensure all work is correctly attributed and edit the thesis if required to avoid potential plagiarism. The candidate then generates a similarity report on the FINAL version of the thesis through iThenticate and uploads the thesis and report with the Thesis Submission Declaration & Approval Form - see below for more details. A guide to the iThenticate system can be found here: iThenticate user guides (turnitin.com) Having difficulty accessing IThenticate?
Additionally, check your junk mail for the reset email. For further assistance, contact hdrexams@cdu.edu.au. | ||||||||||
| Submission of thesis | Research candidates submits the HDR - Theses Submission Declaration & Approval Form and upload their thesis in PDF format unless otherwise required by the nature of the thesis. The candidate is also to upload each co-authorship form, if applicable, and the final version of the iThenticate similarity report with the Thesis Submission Declaration & Approval Form. Please email research.degrees@cdu.edu.au if you need a record of the Research Enhancement Program workshops you completed during the candidature to include in the declaration. | ||||||||||
| Thesis sent to examiners | Once it is signed off and ready to go out to the examiners, the Office of Research and Innovation will provide both examiners with a copy of the thesis. | ||||||||||
| About 8 weeks after submission | The examiners have eight weeks to return their report. | ||||||||||
| Once both examiner reports are received | The reports will be evaluated, and an outcome will be determined. The candidate will be notified of the outcome. The result may be:
| ||||||||||
| If the outcome is 2,3 or 4 - The candidate is given 3 months to amend and revise their thesis | The candidate is to submit HDR - Revision to HDR Thesis - Table of Amendments and upload the revised Thesis. | ||||||||||
| Completion | If the outcome is that no amendments are needed (outcome 1 above) or if the table of amendments is signed off by the Supervisor, Faculty, and Dean of Graduate Studies following outcomes 2 or 3, and all other requirements of the degree have been met, the student will be sent a completion letter and details about graduation. All CDU Graduation dates are listed on this webpage once known: Graduations | Charles Darwin University (cdu.edu.au) | ||||||||||
| Lodgment of Thesis | After completing the degree, the candidate must complete the HDR32 - Thesis deposit agreement (snapforms.com.au) and upload a final electronic copy of the thesis. |
After completion.....
To show your gratitude towards supervisors or other collaborators, you are welcome to purchase gifts. However, as implied by the CDU Gifts and Benefits Policy, these gifts should not exceed $100 in value—primarily to prevent either actual or perceived conflicts of interest.
After they complete their research degree, some graduates are aware of their career aspirations as well as how to pursue these aspirations. Other graduates of research degrees are uncertain how to proceed. Should they
- seek a role in academia
- pursue a research career in other industries, such as government or health
- utilise their skills in roles that are not related to research, such as policy or consulting?
To help you answer these questions, you could:
- undertake some of the activities in the online Careers Centre, available from the portal
- discuss career opportunities with your supervisor and the CDU Careers Centre
Everything you need to know about graduating at CDU
Stay connected after graduation
