Thesis Submission and Examination
When preparing to submit a HDR thesis for examination, please refer to the information below.
Preparing for Submission
For assistance with the formatting of a thesis, please refer to the Higher Degree by Research Thesis Format Guidelines. Please note that all candidates should refer to the information on pages 1 to 4 and the templates in Appendix A, pages 7 to 8. Important Reminder - Any candidate in receipt of an RTP Scholarship either as a tuition offset or stipend payments, you must acknowledge the government in your thesis and at any time during or after completion of your degree. For more information about this requirement, please refer to Section 1.6.55 of the Commonwealth Scholarships Guidelines (Research) 2017. For an example of how to do this in your thesis, please refer to the word template below. Please see below the thesis templates that you may choose to use to assist with formatting. UNE recommends that HDR candidates who are seeking the services of an editor obtain services through the Institute of Professional Editors (IPEd) or The NSW Society of Editors. This way candidates can be sure of getting expert assistance from trained professionals. UNE also recommends that HDR candidates refer to the Theses Editing Guidelines from the Institute of Professional Editors so that they are aware of what editing entails. The Institute of Professional Editors (IPEd) also has an Editors Directory which is a national list of freelance editors, who are professional members of IPEd. The Editors Directory can be found in the IPEd website, on the Find an Editor listing. Thesis Submission Workshops are for any candidate who is nearing their thesis submission and would like to learn more about how to submit as well as information on submitting research data and copyright implications. Workshops are held periodically throughout the year as indicated in the table below. Sessions are co-presented with the Research UNE team and the Copyright Coordinator, Loretta S. Khanna. All workshops are recorded with the recording and slides uploaded to the HDR RAP myLearn Page for all to access following the workshops. Access to previous workshop recordings and slides continue to be available. Registration is required for attending the live workshop sessions. Dates for 2024 Thesis Submission Workshops are yet to be confirmed. You may access the thesis preparation and writing resources found within the Student Online Learning: Advanced Research SOL:AR website at any time. The University of New England’s Academic Skills Office (ASO), provides assistance to all enrolled students to help them succeed in their studies and to become independent and confident learners. The Academic Writing site has been written as a self-managed training program that can also be used as a resource for a specific learning need. There are a number of referencing styles in use at UNE, each Faculty/School and Discipline has one or more preferred styles. Please consult your supervisor and/or the HDR Coordinator on the method to use in your thesis. For more information about referencing styles at UNE, please refer to the Referencing webpage.
Ethics
If you've been granted ethics clearance for your project, speak with your supervisor as to what would be required to include in your thesis.Templates
Thesis Template (Word Document)
Thesis Template (LaTex version via HDR RAP myLearn)
For formatting specific to your discipline, please consult your Principal Supervisor and/or the HDR Coordinator.
Institute of Professor Editors
Institute of Professional Editors Limited (IPEd) Theses Editing Guidelines
SOL:AR
Academic Skills Office (ASO)
Academic Writing
References
Thesis Submission
Submitting your thesis for examination includes submitting a digital thesis, approved forms and your research data. It is important to remember that your thesis and all associated forms must be approved prior to submission to the Graduate Research School. For information on how to submit your thesis and forms for approval, please refer to the section below titled "Thesis and Form Approval". All theses must be submitted as an Adobe PDF (.pdf) format as one document. It is recommended that you reduce the file size of your thesis which can be done within Adobe PDF. Submission of a dissertation in two (2) volumes labelled I and II (Roman capital numerals) may be appropriate in exceptional circumstances. For more information refer to 1.3.3 in the Resource for General Thesis Formatting. In addition to the digital thesis, each candidate must submit the following forms with your thesis for examination: *Please note: the Thesis Submission Form must be approved by the Head of School/HDR Coordinator prior to sending to the Graduate Research School via email to hdrexam@une.edu.au. If unsigned/unapproved forms are sent, they will not be processed. For the correct email address to use to send the thesis and items for approval, please see the "Thesis and Form Approval" subsection below.If you require a form with screen reader capability, please email hdrexam@une.edu.au All Thesis by Publication candidates must include the following two forms at the end of each chapter which contains a publication. If an examiner requires a printed copy of the thesis, the staff in the Graduate Research School will contact the candidate directly to request that a printed thesis be prepared. If more than one examiner requested a printed thesis, this information will be included in the request. Please note: it is the responsibility of UNE candidates to prepare the printed thesis. Printing and binding of a thesis can be organised by UNE’s Fuji Film by email or by phone (02) 6771 2420. A thesis can be printed double-sided which can be either spiral/comb or soft bound. Once printed, the thesis must be brought to the staff in the Graduate Research School Office, second floor of the TC Lamble building, who will then send the thesis to the examiner(s). To obtain approval of your thesis and associated forms, your thesis and forms are to be submitted to the School/Faculty HDR Support Officer who will then organise final approval. In cases where there is no HDR Support Officer in the School/Faculty; submission can be made direct to the School HDR Coordinator/Head of School using the following email address according to the School you are in. In most cases the School/Faculty staff will then arrange for the thesis and items to be sent to the Graduate Research School. Please allow at least five working days for review and sign off. In some instances approval can take longer, please email the HDR Coordinator/Head of School for the most current advice on approval duration.Digital Thesis
Submission Forms
Forms Specific for a Thesis by Publication
School Email Address School of Humanities Arts & Social Sciences (HASS) hdr-hass@une.edu.au School of Education educhdr@une.edu.au School of Environmental and Rural Science (ERS) ers-hdr@une.edu.au School of Science and Technology (S&T) st-hdr@une.edu.au UNE Business School (UNEB) business-hdr@une.edu.au School of Law hdr-law@une.edu.au Animal Genetics and Breeding Unit (AGBU) agbuhdr@une.edu.au School of Rural Medicine rlmedhdr@une.edu.au School of Health hdr-health@une.edu.au School of Psychology psych-hdr@une.edu.au
Research Data Submission
All Research Data is to be submitted to the University repository, RUNE. All original data or primary research materials relevant to your research must be lodged with the University repository, RUNE. This is required by the Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research and the Management and Storage of Research Data and Materials Policy. In extenuating circumstances, the DVCR may grant approval for data or primary materials to not be registered and archived to RUNE. Should you have any questions in relation to your dataset or the data/information to be included, please contact the RUNE team. Physical samples and other supplementary material that cannot be digitised should be included with your RUNE data submission as a metadata file. Consult with your supervisor for information about where the material will be physically stored, this information can then be included in the metadata submission. For more information, please seek assistance from the RUNE team.Other Supplementary Material
Thesis Examination
The final selection of examiners is a confidential process between the supervisors, HDR Coordinator/Head of School, the Graduate Research School and the Graduate Research Examinations Board (GREB). Three examiners are selected for all Doctorate degrees and two examiners are selected for all Master degrees. A reserve examiner is nominated for all candidates. To assist supervisors in their search for potential examiners, the Examiner Invite Template has been prepared. There is no requirement to use the template when approaching examiners. Examiners are each paid an honorarium with the amount dependent on the type of degree being examined, for Doctoral candidates the amount is $390 and for Masters it is $221. It is important to note that all examiners must be: In preparing the Recommendation of Examiners, the Supervisors should be aware of any perceived or actual conflicts of interest of the supervisors and candidate and ensure that these are declared on the Recommendation of Examiners Form (ROE). GREB have provided additional information for supervisors when completing the ROE form, this information can be viewed on the webpage Helpful Information - Recommendation of Examiner Form. If a thesis has been submitted prior to the ROE form being approved, sending the thesis to the examiners will be delayed until approval is granted. The Australian Council of Graduate Research (ACGR) has developed the ACGR Conflict of Interest in Examination Guidelines around conflicts of interest in the appointment of examiner. The following UNE policies relating to Conflicts of Interest are listed below. When the thesis is sent to the examiners, each examiner is given six (6) weeks to examine the thesis. It is not uncommon for examiners to request more time. Requests of an additional four weeks or more by an examiner will need to be approved by your supervisor who can then advise you of the delay in examination. The possible examination outcomes that you may receive are as per the course rules/handbook from degree commencement and are generally as follows: A doctoral candidate may be awarded the Chancellor's Doctoral Research Medal in cases where at least two examiners have recommended the award of the Medal, and the Academic Board Higher Degree Research Examination Subcommittee has approved the award of the Medal. The Medals will be given for doctoral research that is of exceptional merit and at the forefront of the field. If you have received an outcome of “revise your thesis for re-examination” this will involve enrolling into a research unit for a further period of study and submitting a revised thesis for re-examination. Within the outcome email you will be asked to confirm an enrolment date, please note that fees will be charged from the enrolment date. *If this form has not changed from original submission, please advise the HDR Support Officer. Please note: thesis submissions and the applicable forms need to be approved by the Head of School/HDR Coordinator prior to sending to Graduate Research School. If unsigned forms are sent, they will not be processed. For information on how to submit your thesis and forms for approval, please refer to the section above titled "Thesis and Form Approval". List of Amendments/Changes This list is typically in a tabular form using either Microsoft Word or Excel. It is very important that you clearly state what has been changed. This means your list must be easy to understand with connections to the changes in your thesis clear to identify. You may consult with your supervisor and/or the HDR Coordinator/Head of School for specific questions about the format. The List of Amendments Excel file can be used as a format reference. Thesis by Publication A reminder for candidates submitting a Thesis by Publication, you must also include the following two forms at the end of each chapter which contains a publication:Invite Template
Payment
Important Notes
Preparation of the ROE
The Recommendation of Examiners Form (ROE) must be approved by the HDR Coordinator/Head of School prior to sending to the Graduate Research School via email to hdrexam@une.edu.au. For the correct email address to use for your school, please reference the "Thesis and Form Approval" section above. If unsigned forms are sent, they will not be processed. The form will then be reviewed and if accepted, approved by the Graduate Research Examinations Board (GREB).Submission Without Examiners Approved
Conflict of Interest
Each examiner is provided the thesis and all relevant course information as well as the relevant Guidelines for Examiners document.
Once all examiner reports are received they will be reviewed at the next available Graduate Research Examinations Board meeting. Examination outcomes including the examiner reports and any annotated theses will be sent to each candidate within three business days following the meeting.
No amendments required, may still make editorial changes
3 months to make amendments
6 months to make amendments
9 months for revisions
- Required to be formally re-enrolled - fees will be charged.
When submitting your revised thesis you will need to have your revised thesis approved and submit new forms/items as listed below. You will also need to submit any research data that is additional, changed or has been re-anaylsed to RUNE following the steps listed in the above Research Data Submission section.
For any examiner recommendations that you are not addressing, you must include these items in your list along with an extensive explanation of why you have chosen not to make the requested change/amendment.
Final Thesis Submission
Submitting your final thesis is the first step in the process of getting your degree conferred and be eligible for graduation. It is important to remember that if you have any research data that is additional, changed or has been re-analyzed as part of your amendments, this must be submitted to RUNE following the steps listed in above in the Research Data Submission section. When submitting a final/amended thesis, the following items must be received by the Graduate Research School by the date indicated in the outcome email. The thesis and the Completion of Amendment Form need to be approved by the HDR Coordinator/Head of School prior to sending to the Graduate Research School. For information about who to send your thesis and the following items to, consult the "Thesis and Form Approval" section above. If unsigned/unapproved items are sent to the Graduate Research School, they will not be processed. If you require a form with screen reader capability, please email hdrexam@une.edu.au List of Amendments/Changes Home and Mailing Addresses Data Submission You will also need to submit any research data that is additional, changed or has been re-analyzed to RUNE following the steps listed in the above "Research Data Submission" section.
This list is typically in a tabular form using either Microsoft Word or Excel. It is very important that you clearly state what has been changed. This means your list must be easy to understand with connections to the changes in your thesis clear to identify. You may consult with the HDR Coordinator/Head of School for specific questions about the format. The List of Amendments Excel file can be used as a format reference.
For any examiner recommendations that you are not addressing, you must include these items in your list along with an extensive explanation of why you have chosen not to make the requested change/amendment.
To be eligible for degree conferral, your home and mailing addresses within myUNE must be up to date. Your Mailing Address may be in Australia or overseas, and it can be the same as your Home Address if appropriate. For information on how to update your address, please see the following steps:
Degree Conferral and Graduation
Once a candidate has submitted their approved final thesis to the Graduate Research School and all required forms/items, they have formally satisfied the requirements of the degree. It should be noted, that the degree is not yet complete and candidates are not deemed graduates until the University has conferred their degree. To be eligible to graduate all outstanding fees must be paid, your data has been submitted to RUNE and all other items as part of the thesis submission list have been received. The Graduate Research School will process the degree conferral to be endorsed by the Graduate Research Examinations Board and approved by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) (DVCR) to enable candidates to graduate in absentia. The date on which the DVCR gives final approval will be the date of degree conferral. An email to confirm degree conferral will be sent to each candidate. After you have received a formal notification from the Graduate Research School with your conferral details, a survey link to ask you how you would like to receive your documents and if you would like to attend a ceremony will be emailed to your UNE email address from the Graduation Team. Further information on Graduation can be found at: http://www.une.edu.au/current-candidates/graduation/your-graduation The Graduation Team can be contacted through AskUNE: http://askune.custhelp.com/ Following approval by the DVCR, the Graduation Team will prepare the Testamur and Australian Higher Education Graduation Statement (AHEGS). Preparation of these documents can take up to three weeks. These documents can either be collected from UNE's library, posted to you or held for the next ceremony. The Graduation Team will request document delivery/collection method following notification of degree conferral. Please note that documents are now prepared digitally via My eQuals, more information about these digital formats can be obtained from the My eQuals Information page. To order a Academic Transcript, you will need to complete the Academic Record Purchase form.
For information on how to check your fee account, visit the fees webpage and follow the steps under "Accessing your Invoice". You will also find on this website steps on how to pay your invoice. If you have any questions regarding fees, please contact the staff in Student Services via the contact details on their webpage.
Important Note on Abstracts and Titles
With the implementation of digital documentation through My eQuals, My eQuals is unable to produce the following in the thesis title and abstract: