Research proposal and confirmation of candidature
Your research proposal is due six months (FTE*) after your first enrolment.
Successful completion of this milestone leads to confirmation of candidature.
You need to submit your proposal, your completed Statement of Agreement and your Research Induction Plan.
The following resources will help you meet the requirements of this milestone.
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Your research proposal will be loosely based on the research outline you prepared for admission to your degree, but will provide a more comprehensive guide to the literature, method, methodology, structure and timeframe of your research.
The research proposal is used to assess your performance so far, and the feasibility of your research program. It is:
- an action plan for candidature and a major reference point for the Reviews of Progress
- aligned with the Statement of Agreement, explaining how you will develop the Research Degree Graduate Qualities.
It is extremely important that your supervisors provide input into the development of your research proposal.
- Provisional enrolment and confirmation of candidature
- Preparing your research proposal
- Submission and review of your research proposal
Your enrolment is provisional until your candidature is confirmed.
Your research proposal and Statement of Agreement must be approved by the Division or Institute Research Management Committee for confirmation of candidature to occur. This has to happen before you can proceed with your research.
The length of your provisional candidacy is counted as part of the total time to undertake your degree:
- Doctoral students have a maximum of 4 years (FTE) to complete but should aim to complete their degree within a maximum of 3 years (FTE)
- Masters by research students have a total of 2 years (FTE) candidacy to complete their degree.
For students in research professional doctorate programs, confirmation of candidature requires the completion of 18 units of the coursework component, approved by the Program Director, within six months (FTE) of commencement.
Australian and New Zealand citizens and permanent residents of Australia (domestic) students, please note that if you exceed your 4-year time limit you are required to pay tuition fees to the University.
See the academic regulations for your degree for more details.
The Confirmation of candidature form - RTF (for pcs) and Word (for Macs) - is to be completed by the Chair of the Research Proposal Confirmation Panel (or equivalent) and forwarded to the Graduate Research Centre when finalised.
Research proposals are normally 10 to 20 pages long, and should contain the following sections:
- Statement of the research topic and rationale for the research
- Research methodology
- Trial table of contents
- Brief bibliography
See Appendix 3 of the academic regulations for research degrees for guidelines on preparing your research proposal.
University guidelines stipulate that a PhD will make 'a significant original contribution to knowledge and/or the application of knowledge within the field of study' and a Masters by research will make 'a contribution to knowledge and/or the application of knowledge within the field of study'.
The University recognises that each research degree student may require specific equipment, e-research infrastructure, laboratory or studio space and funds adequate for the completion of the research program. Expenses may include travel arising from field work, experiments and data collection and the cost of consumables.
You and your supervisor will need to identify these project-specific costs when preparing your research proposal. Where your project is a subset of your supervisor's funded research project, these costs could be allocated from the project's budget. Costs must be presented and negotiated with the head of school/institute director prior to confirmation of candidacy, and included in the Statement of Agreement which is submitted with the research proposal.
See the Statement of minimum resources for higher degree by research students for more details.
A collection of existing UniSA Research Degree proposals can be found in the UniSA Research Archive (URA). These proposals can also help you to identify current and former UniSA students with similar research interests.
For more information on how to browse and refine your search, and to access the full text of proposals, see Finding Research Proposals.
Once you receive confirmation from the Graduate Research Centre that your thesis proposal has been approved, you can submit it to the Library using the Research Degree eProposal deposit form (username and password required). Once you are logged on, choose the New Deposit tab.
The procedure for approving research proposals varies according to the division, institute, school or centre. Consult the academic regulations, your supervisor or your Research Degree Coordinator / Research Education Portfolio Leader for details.
The following steps are typically involved in research proposal development and review:
Step 1 - development
Work with your supervisors to complete a Research Induction Plan (usually at the end of the first 2 weeks), outlining the negotiated timeframe for getting the research proposal approved, including lodgement of drafts and return of comments by the supervisor.
Complete your Statement of Agreement (usually at the end of the first month), and work on the proposal itself.
Step 2 - submission
Following approval by your supervisors, submit copies of your written research proposal, your Research Induction Plan and your Statement of Agreement to the Research Degree Coordinator / Research Education Portfolio Leader.
If a timely research proposal cannot be lodged you must request permission to extend the timeframe - at least one month in advance and normally for a maximum of three months.
Step 3 - assessment
A panel reviews your proposal and makes a determination that either:
- the proposal is accepted and the Statement of Agreement is appropriate for supporting the research project and timelines OR
- amendments are required for the proposal and/or Statement of Agreement to be accepted and candidature to be confirmed OR
- the research proposal and/or Statement of Agreement should not be approved and the research degree student may be suspended OR
- the research proposal and/or Statement of Agreement should not be approved and the research degree student should be transferred to another program.
Step 4 - notification
The research proposal, Research Induction Plan and Statement of Agreement, along with a recommendation from the review panel regarding confirmation of your candidature, goes to the Dean of Graduate Studies. You are advised of the outcome via your student email.
- If the research proposal is accepted, date of confirmation of candidacy is reported to the Graduate Research Centre.
- If the research proposal is not considered acceptable, it is returned to you with written information indicating why it was not acceptable. You will have to make revisions in conjunction with your supervisor and re-lodge the proposal for further consideration in a given timeframe. You may need to submit an extension to lodge research proposal form: RTF (for pcs) and Word (for Macs).
If you do not have your research proposal approved within the maximum time allowed, your candidature will be suspended, but you may apply for readmission. Refer to the academic regulations for details.
FTE = Full Time Equivalence
If you are doing a Doctor of Philosophy (by Portfolio of Publications), you will submit a research statement. Enrolment and re-enrolment conditions still apply. See the academic regulations