Confirmation of Candidature - Milestone 1

The purpose of the Confirmation of Candidature (Milestone 1) is to:

assess whether the HDR Candidate has a viable research project that is achievable and appropriate for the program in which they are enrolled;
confirm the HDR Candidate feels supported and equipped to complete the program within the required time frames; and
ensure the HDR Candidate receives independent written feedback about any issues that need to be addressed.
provide feedback on the HDR Candidate's overall performance, including reviewing, where applicable, the HDR Candidate's completion of the compulsory inductions, training activities or coursework units, while also ensuring that the candidate's research direction is sound, their methodologies are appropriate and the standard of their comprehension and writing is in accordance with the requirements of their degree.
confirm, where relevant, that appropriate ethics and Intellectual Property (IP) arrangements are in place, ensuring that a plan of action is agreed to where there are issues;
confirm that the HDR Candidate demonstrates understanding of, and the capacity to adhere to, the University's applicable policies and procedures as they relate to research and academic integrity matters, including the Graduate Research roles and responsibilities;
ensure that the resources available to the HDR Candidate, including supervision and facilities, are adequate for the purpose of the research project by their thesis submission date;
provide HDR Candidates with the opportunity to receive peer review feedback on their research and oral presentation and development of presentation/communication skills from experienced researchers; and
enable a formal recommendation to be made that the HDR Candidate has either met or is yet to demonstrate satisfactory progress.

Required Documents

You should refer to the document requirements as listed in the Milestone Required Documents section. Documents are to be received by the Milestone Review Panel twenty (20) working days prior to the panel meeting.

Research Proposal

The Research Proposal is a research planning document that includes:

A succinct, informative statement of the research question and argument;
Well-defined key concepts and a critical review of the relevant academic literature;
A rationale for the thesis, its significance, and its contribution to the field;
A research approach or methodology;
Chapter outlines (one paragraph each) or an overview of the thesis components;
An assessment of the resources and skills required to complete the project including a budget and a timeline for completion;
A statement of fulfilment of ethical clearance requirements;
A bibliography/reference list.

For masters students the Research Proposal should be approx. 3,000 words and for PhD students its length should be no more than 5,000 words, excluding the bibliography/ reference list.

Creative Practice candidates should outline both the critical and creative components of their projects.
PhD Innovation candidates should plan the academic research component and the innovation portfolio.
Thesis by Publication candidates should outline planned journal articles.

Candidates must also submit a thesis chapter or writing sample, drawn from the introductory section of the thesis (e.g., developed literature review or methodology). Chapter lengths vary so there is no set word count. For Creative Practice candidates, this includes a sample of creative work and a piece of scholarly writing of about equal length from the critical project. The writing sample should not duplicate material from the research proposal.

The written documents should be free from grammatical and typographical errors and should demonstrate:

A viable research plan with a focused research topic, an appropriate methodological framework, and a sound argument;
Writing skills and research at a level of sophistication, scholarly depth, and originality appropriate to this stage of higher degree research in the discipline.

Oral Presentation

The oral presentation provides the candidate with an opportunity to deliver a well-rehearsed, high-quality presentation, supported by carefully prepared and informative audio-visual aids and/or notes.

The oral presentation is a formal seminar open to the enrolling unit/School that is scheduled to occur approximately one month after the written submission is made and immediately prior to the confirmation meeting.

The presentation should provide a clear, concise, and logical account of the research project, progress to date, and future research objectives. The seminar should be well timed, engaging, clearly expressed for a non-specialist peer audience, and delivered with effective communication skills.

The chair of the milestone panel facilitates this session.

The presentation should take the form of a 20-minute oral presentation that outlines the research project, plus 10 minutes for audience members to ask questions of you and make suggestions.

Audience Questions and Expectations

Following the presentation, you should be responsive and articulate when dealing with questions. Often the Milestone Review Panel members will offer feedback and make suggestions - for example, about questions you might like to follow up, studies or papers to read, a technique you might like to try.

You must demonstrate that you have the ability to respond to questions and engage in a considered discussion about your research project that:

Explains the topic, rationale, and position in the field;
Outlines key concepts and theoretical issues;
Demonstrates knowledge of relevant research methods and literature, and
Provides an overview of planned chapters, thesis structure, or innovation portfolio.

Important Notes for PhD Innovation

Requirements

PhD.I candidates are required to have:

Presented a detailed Innovation project Portfolio research Proposal for formal approval;
Completed, as part of the Innovation project Portfolio Proposal, a contextual analysis of the proposed innovation(s), including links to relevant literature, and contexts for implementation/evaluation;
Displayed awareness of and planning for meeting UNE ethical approval obligations;
Where appropriate, displayed awareness of and planning for negotiating appropriate intellectual property and commercialisation arrangements;
Passed a safety course where required;
Completed other requisite research and development activities as identified by the Principal Supervisor– e.g. activities in quantitative or qualitative data analysis, academic writing, intellectual property and electronic literacy including use of electronic databases;
Presented their Innovation project Portfolio Proposal in a formal seminar; and
Presented their research progress to date at an interview with the Milestone Review Panel.

Milestone Review Panel

In additional to the Milestone Review Panel above, innovation candidates must also have their Profession/Industry Supervisor where possible.

General Structure of the Proposal

The Proposal for the Innovation project Portfolio shares a lot in common with the traditional doctorate proposal, but with some important differences. The typical doctoral research proposal commences with an identification of the problem context and a short focused review of the relevant literature, culminating in the statement of the research problem and questions/hypotheses, justification/discussion of the significance of the research (what it will contribute), a discussion of the proposed methods and procedures (including anticipated approaches to data analysis), a brief discussion of the resources required to complete the research, and a proposed timeline for the research with, where relevant, key milestones for the project (linked to specific chapters of the thesis/dissertation). The proposal is always developed in conjunction with the candidate’s supervisors.

In addition, a draft of the ethics approval form (expedited or full, as appropriate for the project) that will ultimately be submitted before commencing any data gathering, is usually also required as an Appendix as are drafts of key data gathering instruments and protocols (if any).

For the purposes of the Innovation project Portfolio Proposal, this broad structure will also be used, but with important variations and elaborations as befits an innovation-focused professions/industry-based project. The outline shown in Table 1 provides the broad heading structure and content signals that should be used for the Innovation project Portfolio Proposal. It is intended that the PhD.I Research Learning Program learning as well as the candidate’s professional and contextual knowledge should be drawn upon to help flesh out his/her Portfolio Proposal.

It is useful to think about your Innovation project Portfolio Proposal as an argument – one designed to convince a relevant reader that the candidate has:

Planned an Innovation and a Portfolio research project surrounding that Innovation that is worth pursuing;
Planned an Innovation that is implementable and a Portfolio research project that is doable; and
The capability to carry the project through with a high probability of successful completion at the doctorate level

In preparation for your Confirmation you need to submit a Portfolio Proposal that includes your research proposal, to your Principal Academic Supervisor with enough time to receive feedback and make any required changes before your confirmation.

Your Innovation is the core of this submission and the Proposal should be written as far as possible in non-specialist language that could be understood by an intelligent and educated reader who is not familiar with the research area.

The written submission, not counting the annotated bibliography, should be 3- 5 pages long, double space and at a maximum ten (10) pages long.

A presentation of your Portfolio Proposal is expected within the interview, allow twenty minutes for this.

Innovation Project Portfolio Proposal Outline

Heading structure and content signals for the Innovation project Portfolio Proposal.

Section	Heading and Content
1	Planned Innovation Sketch of the planned Innovation, its development process and the problem(s) it is intended to solve or issue(s) it is intended to address.
2	Innovation Context(s) Brief description of the relevant Innovation context(s) and identification of key stakeholders.
3	Review of Relevant Literature Review of immediately relevant literature to help set the stage for your Innovation and provide any theoretical, methodological or other background against which to position your Innovation and research.
4	Positioning Sketch of your positioning as a researcher vis-a-vis your Innovation context(s), including a statement about the guiding assumptions you will rely upon for your research.
5	Research Methods Plan for gathering data and evidence (developmental evaluation and other evaluations, such as impact evaluation, as relevant). This section has four required sub-sections: Intended sampling process(es) – focusing on selecting participants, organisations, groups, documents, occasions, events, as appropriate, for data gathering purposes Data gathering methods – focusing on the specific methods to be employed, in their proper sequencing; including methods for seeking feedback/input from stakeholders as well as adopters/potential adopters/customers/clients relevant to your Innovation Procedures – focusing, for example, on procedures to be employed for gaining access to desired organisations/participants, any instruments to be created or adopted, procedures for collecting data (e.g., focus groups, interviews or surveys), etc. Approach(es) to data analysis – highlighting basic tactics for dealing with quantitative and/or qualitative data as appropriate, including intended use of software support systems Remember that in developmental evaluation as well as in mixed methods designs, your research may have more than one data gathering stage, each of which should be spelled out, at least in broad detail, in the Portfolio Proposal.
6	Proposed Timeline & Milestones This section should be closely negotiated with your supervisors and carefully planned in full knowledge of the other demands on your time and your emotional, mental and physical resources. A planned timeline will also help your supervisors to organise their time and provision of feedback. You should realise that this is only a draft timeline and will undoubtedly have to evolve as the need for flexibility and adaptability arise.
7	Anticipated Resources Required Here, you briefly detail the specific resources you think you will need to complete the project (may include financial, time, competencies, software requirements, required institutional and workplace support).
8	Disseminating & Learning from the Outcomes Sketch out an Innovation learning and adoption plan that you would follow, as a consequence of your developmental evaluation research, to facilitate personal and organisational learning about the Innovation and for communicating with/seeking further feedback from key stakeholders: (i) organisational/institutional leaders; (ii) potential adopters; (iii) potential consumers.
9	Appendix The minimum appendix to include is a draft completed ethics approval form, consistent with UNE requirements. Where relevant and desirable, you may wish to include draft versions of questionnaires or interview protocols and or topical landscapes, depending upon the degree of structure to be imposed, as additional appendices.