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1. Admission to Candidature
1.1. An applicant for admission to candidature shall be a graduate or have fulfilled all the requirements for admission to a degree of the University of New England or of another institution recognised by the faculty for this purpose, provided that the candidate:
(a) shall have passed the Bachelor of Music with Honours degree of this University at First or Second Class Honours in an area appropriate to the course requirements shown in Rule 2.; or
(b) shall have passed the Master of Music Preliminary course or such other course as the faculty deems equivalent.

1.2. The faculty may admit to candidature for the degree an applicant who holds other qualifications approved by the faculty as equivalent to those specified in Rule 1.1.(a).

1.3. Admission to candidature shall be determined by the faculty on the recommendation of the Head of Music.

2. Course Requirements
The candidate shall:
(a) pursue a course of study in Music research approved by the Head of Music for a period of either: (i) not less than one year and not more than two years of full-time study or (ii) not less than two years and not more than four years of part time study;
(b) each Master of Music with Honours candidate shall spend periods in face-to-face consultation with his or her supervisor(s). The nature and extent of such consultation will be determined by the supervisors and Head of Music after consultation with the candidate prior to commencement of each year of candidature.

3. Conditions of Candidature
3.1. The faculty shall appoint one or more supervisor(s) for each candidate on the recommendation of the Head of Music. Where two or more supervisors are appointed, one shall be nominated as the principal supervisor.

3.2. The supervisor(s) shall report annually to the Higher Degree Research Committee on the progress of the candidate's research. Where progress is considered unsatisfactory the candidate shall be informed of the circumstances and may be required to show cause why he or she should not be withdrawn from candidature.

3.3. The candidate shall report annually to the Higher Degree Research Committee on his or her progress.

3.4. Without the special permission of the Higher Degree Research Committee a candidate may not be enrolled concurrently for another postgraduate degree or qualification at this University or at another institution.

3.5. (a) A candidate may withdraw before the due date for the submission of the required work.
(b) If a candidate does not submit the required work by the due date, the candidature shall be deemed to have lapsed.
(c) A candidate may be deemed to have failed only as a result of the examination of the submitted work.

4. Examination
4.1. Candidates in Composition shall be examined on:
(a) a folio of compositions comprising two-thirds of all the work for the degree and deemed by the faculty on the recommendation of the Head of Music to be of sufficient length and scale; and
(b) a dissertation comprising the remaining work for the degree on an aspect of Music related to the candidate's own work in composition.

4.2. Candidates in Performance research shall be examined on:
(a) a thesis, comprising two thirds of all the work for the degree, on a topic related to the performances prescribed in Rule 4.2.(b) and approved by the faculty on the recommendation of the Head of Music; and
(b) two performances, comprising the remaining work for the degree and related to the thesis. The performances shall have different programs, each of a minimum period of 40 minutes, and be given in consecutive semesters.

4.3.(a) Three copies of the folio of compositions and three copies of the dissertation or three copies of the thesis, shall be submitted to the Higher Degree Research Committee, together with a statement from the candidate's principal supervisor certifying that the academic style and manner of presentation of the work submitted is appropriate to the discipline.
(b) Two copies of the work submitted shall be bound; the other shall be unbound. The original manuscript of the compositions must be submitted unbound; the other two bound copies may be accepted in reliable photographic form. On the award of the degree, the unbound copy of the candidate's submitted work shall be deposited in the Dixson Library.

4.4. The candidate shall state generally in the preface of the dissertation or the thesis and specifically through references or other documentation the sources from which the information is derived, the extent to which the candidate has availed himself or herself of the work of others and the portion of the work the candidate claims as original.
The candidate may not present as the dissertation any work that has been the basis of the award of a degree at this or another university, but will not be precluded from incorporating such in the dissertation provided that, in presenting the dissertation, the candidate indicates the part of the work which has been so incorporated.
The candidate may not submit any composition that has been written, publicly performed or published prior to the date of admission to candidature.

4.5. The candidate shall give three months' notice to the supervisor of intention to submit his or her dissertation and folio of compositions or submit the thesis and give the performances for examination purposes. The principal supervisor shall subsequently inform the Higher Degree Research Committee. Except as may be approved by the Head of Music, the performances shall precede the submission of the thesis by not more than six months, provided that such approval is consistent with the maximum period of candidature specified in Rule 2.(a).

4.6. On the recommendation of the Head of Music, the Higher Degree Research Committee shall appoint three examiners of whom one may be within the University and the others must be external to the University. The folio of compositions and the dissertation or the thesis, shall be sent to two of the examiners who shall report on the merits of the work. The remaining examiner, who must be external, shall be held in reserve.
(a) The folio of compositions and the dissertation or the thesis, shall be sent to two of the examiners who shall report on the merits of the work.
(b) The performances shall be heard by two examiners who shall report on the quality of the performances and their relationship to the topic of the thesis.

4.7. (a) Each examiner shall make a separate written report to the Higher Degree Research Committee.
(b) The examiners' reports shall be sent to the candidate's supervisor(s) who may, if they wish, submit comments to the Higher Degree Research Committee. The Higher Degree Research Committee may request comments from the supervisor(s).

4.8. (a) In the event of a disagreement between the examiners, they normally will be asked to consult and report to the Higher Degree Research Committee. If the examiners are unable to reach an agreement, following their consultation, the Higher Degree Research Committee on the recommendation of the Head of Music shall refer the reports to an examining committee appointed by the Higher Degree Research Committee for a recommendation.

4.9. (a) After considering the examiners' reports and any comments from the supervisor(s) and any recommendation from the examining committee, the Higher Degree Research Committee may:
(i) recommend the award of the degree with honours; or
(ii) recommend the award of the degree with amendments to the satisfaction of the supervisor(s) and/or Head of Music; or
(iii) refer the folio and dissertation or thesis to an additional examiner or examiners who may be or include the reserve examiner; or
(iv) require the candidate to sit for such written, oral or practical examinations as the Higher Degree Research Committee may prescribe; or
(v) allow the candidate to revise the presented work for re-examination if, in the opinion of the Higher Degree Research Committee, the work is of sufficient merit to warrant this concession; or
(vi) fail the candidate.
(b) The candidate, the candidate's supervisor(s) and the examiners shall be informed of the decision and, in addition, the candidate shall be provided with copies of the examiners' reports.
(c) A candidate who has revised any of the presented work in terms of paragraph (iv) and who fails the re-examination shall not be eligible for any further examination. Any repeated performances shall require the presence of the reserve examiner and the internal examiner.

5. Re-enrolment
5.1. A candidate who withdraws from candidature shall be eligible to apply for re-admission to candidature, provided that:
(a) the proposed dissertation topic is unrelated to that of the original candidature and the compositions submitted are of a different type and for a different medium; and
(b) one year has elapsed since withdrawal from candidature.

5.2. A candidate who has failed in a previous candidature or whose candidature was deemed to have lapsed shall be eligible to apply for re-admission to candidature, provided that:
(a) the proposed dissertation topic is unrelated to that of the original candidature and the compositions submitted are of a different type and for a different medium; and
(b) three years have elapsed since the submission of the earlier dissertation and folio of compositions, or the date on which the candidature was deemed to have lapsed.

6. Preliminary Course
Candidates must complete a course of study sufficient to enable them to meet the normal requirements for entry to the course. The program for any preliminary course shall be determined by the faculty on the recommendation of the Head of Music. The general rules of the faculty shall apply to the preliminary program.