Confirmation of Candidature

To receive Confirmation of Candidature, candidates must  successfully complete:

a. Supervision Agreement

b. Written Research Proposal & Supervisor Evaluation Form

c. Oral Defence Presentation

Candidates are provided a milestone document by email upon commencement to confirm actual dates.

For extensions to CoC milestones, please submit HDR50 – Milestone Extension Request Form prior to the due dates.

The Supervision Agreement helps candidates and their supervisors define the boundaries of their working relationship and outlines the roles and expectations of the candidate, the principal supervisor, and the associate supervisors. For suggested clauses to be inserted in the Supervision Agreement please refer here

Submission of HDR14 Supervisor Agreement Form

The HDR14 – Supervision Agreement Form– should be submitted to the College or School HDR Administration office to organise the Dean’s or Delegate’s approval within three (3) months of the candidate’s commencement.

The College or School HDR Administration office will then submit to Office of Research and Innovation Office research.degrees@cdu.edu.au 

The Research Proposal and HDR13 – Research Proposal & HDR35 - Supervisor Evaluation Form is due within 6 months of commencement for Doctor of Philosophy and within 5 months of commencement for Master by Research Students (Full Time equivalent)

Submission of Research Proposal

The Research Proposal along with HDR13 – Research Proposal & HDR35 Supervisor Evaluation Form – should be submitted to the College or School HDR Administration office to organise the Dean’s or Delegate’s approval on or before due date.

The College or School HDR Administration office will then submit to Office of Research and Innovation Office research.degrees@cdu.edu.au

For more information on how to write your Research Proposal, please refer to documents located here

Form HDR16 – College Assessment of Research Proposal and Oral Defence (HDR Assessment Panel Chair to complete) HDR candidates please refer to HDR 16 for assessment criteria.

The last stage of the confirmation of candidature is to complete an Oral Defence of their Research Proposal to a group of disciplinary peers and other colleagues on the detailed Research Proposal. The Research Proposal and its Oral Defence are assessed by an HDR Panel formed by the relevant College.

As a guide for Oral presentations, we recommend the following:

• Doctor of Philosophy candidates aim to talk for 30 - 45 mins plus question time
• Masters by research candidates aim to talk for 20 - 30 mins plus question time
• Topics should include an Introduction, literature review, methods, timeline, and risks as well as other sections depending on the purpose of your presentation

For more information on presenting, please refer to documents located here

Preparing for your Oral Defence Presentation

The Oral Presentation should be organised at a time suitable for the candidate and the Confirmation of Candidature Panel.

Please follow the steps below to prepare for your CoC Presentation:

Step 1: Your supervisor must nominate 3 panel members to assess your Oral Defence

Step 2: Nominate a day, time and venue.  Your College /School HDR Admin staff can assist with booking venue and online meetings

Step 3: Send a brief biography, abstract, and photo to your principal supervisor

Step 3: Ensure your Research Proposal has been approved by the Dean of College/ School or delegate

Step 4: Your Principal Supervisor must submit all paperwork, including forms, Research Proposal, Candidate biography, abstract and photo to ORI research.degrees@cdu.edu.au at least 2 weeks before the presentation

Step 5: ORI will invite panel members, college staff, and students. These invitations can then be forwarded to other CDU staff with research interests in related disciplines

Step 6: Read through the assessment criteria on form HDR16 to understand how the presentation will be assessed.

a. Submission of Research Proposal – Due: 6 months PhD FTE or 5 months Masters by Research FTE

The Principal Supervisor must endorse and submit (HDR-13) Research Proposal Cover Sheet & complete (HDR-35) Supervisors evaluation Form to the College or School HDR Administration office for endorsement by the College Dean or Delegate.

The Research Proposal must be endorsed by the College Dean or Delegate prior to the Oral Defence Presentation

b. Oral Defence Presentation – Due 2 -4 weeks following the submission of Research Proposal

Oral Defence HDR Assessment Panel

The Principal Supervisor will need to organise the Oral Defence HDR Panel:

• The HDR Panel will comprise at least three members, all of whom have accrued experience in the discipline and have acquired qualifications or experience at least equivalent to that of the degree program.
• A maximum of one supervisor may be on the CoC Panel.
• The Chair for the Supervisory Panel will be nominated by the Principal Supervisor but cannot be a supervisor

To prepare for the Oral Defence, the members of the CoC Panel will have read the Candidate’s written Research Proposal.  This proposal will be distributed to all members of the HDR Panel at least 2 weeks before the Oral Defence.

Once the Dean or Delegate has approved the research Proposal and CoC panel, the Principal Supervisor will need to liaise with the Candidate and HDR Panel to arrange a suitable date and time for the Confirmation of Candidature Oral Defence Presentation.  They will also need to ask their candidate to provide a photo, a proposal presentation paragraph of the Candidate’s research and the candidate’s biography, such as past degrees or research experience

Principal Supervisor to send to the Office of Research and Innovation (ORI):

• The Candidate’s Written proposal;
• The completed (HDR-13) - Research Proposal Cover Sheet;
• The completes (HDR-35) - Supervisor Evaluation of Research Proposal;
• The completed (HDR-14) – Supervision Agreement;
• Proposal presentation paragraph of the Candidate’s research/ Abstract;
• Candidate’s Biography;
• Photo of Candidate;
• Assessment HDR panel members list (including identifying the Chair)
• Date and Time
• The venue will usually be booked an hour before and after the presentation and an hour after the presentation to facilitate preparation and evaluation respectively. The HDR College or School Administrators team should be able to assist with booking the venue.

Invitation 1:

ORI will send an email to the HDR Assessment Panel Members informing them of the Oral Defence Date, Time and Room Number and include a copy of candidate research proposal and Blank copy of (HDR-16) – College Assessment of Research Proposal and Oral Defence Form

Invitation 2 & 3:

ORI will then distribute an invitation to all of the College Staff Members and HDR students inviting them to attend the Confirmation of Candidature

Invitations can then be forwarded to other interested people