Research Programmes Administration Guide

The expectation is that full-time PGR students should meet with their supervisor(s) every month and part-time students every other month.   

These meetings should be organised between the student and the supervisor(s). The meeting will ideally be face-to-face but may be by video-call, telephone, or substantial email communication. It is very important that these meetings are recorded promptly on KentVision as these will be monitored. Meeting records are closed after 60 days as it will then be assumed a meeting hasn’t taken place in that month. Over the summer, it is acceptable that either July or August is missed.  

Please refer to the central Using KentVision - My PGR (Postgraduate Research students) guidance for full details on how to record Monthly Supervision Meetings in KentVision. 

Although full supervision will cease during the Continuation/Discretionary Writing-up Period, students are required to maintain monthly contact with their supervisor during this time and a record of these meetings should also be added to KentVision to demonstrate their continued engagement with their studies.  

Following the Viva Examination, if Minor Corrections are required, supervisors will be available for email communication with students. If Revisions or a Re-submission are required, monthly supervision will continue during this period, and these meetings should be logged on KentVision.  

The End of Minimum Period of Registration Review is a progression review that takes place three months prior to the end of the Minimum Period of Registration (MPR) for PhD students, and two months (full-time) or three months (part-time) prior to the end of registration for MA/MSc-R students. It will be chaired by the School Director of Graduate Research Studies and will include you and your supervisors. 

The main purpose of this meeting will be to ensure that your research project is on track and that you have all the necessary support and resources in place to successfully complete it. It is also an opportunity to discuss any extension requirements, and to agree a timeframe for the submission of your thesis. The meeting will also provide the opportunity to consider and discuss suitable examiners for your thesis.    

In preparation for your End of MPR Review meeting you will be asked to provide the following documents:

• An electronic copy of your entire thesis in its current form. Please note that there is no expectation for this to be complete but is required to allow the panel to consider the progress made to date.
• Any other documents requested by your School.

You should also ensure that your supervision meetings are completed on KentVision and that they have been reviewed and signed off by your supervisor.

At the End of Minimum Period of Registration Review meeting, the review panel will consider your progress and make one of the following recommendations:  

• That you will be ready to submit at the end of the Minimum Period of Registration (MPR) for PhDs or the end of registration period for Master's by Research courses
• That you have made sufficient progress to proceed to the Writing-Up phase of the Continuation Year (or PhDs only)
• That you have made sufficient progress and are in receipt of funding that extends your eligibility for full supervision
• That you are making insufficient progress to proceed to the Writing-Up phase but should have your period of supervised research extended
• That you transfer to the award of MPhil (for PhDs only)
• That you transfer to the award of MA/MSc/LLM
• That you should withdraw from the University. 

Please refer to the PGR Examination Guide.

Please note we do not require hardcopies of your thesis.

If you have any further queries regarding this, please contact your Research Programmes Administration Team.

Your thesis should be uploaded via the PGR Student Portal Moodle site where you will also see further guidance and information outlining the process for submitting.      

The Research Programmes Administration Team will acknowledge safe receipt of your thesis and confirm the next steps with you via email.  

An oral examination (viva voce) is compulsory for doctoral degrees. If you are registered for a Master's by Research degree, (e.g. an MPhil, MA-R, MSc-R, or LLM) an oral examination may be held at the discretion of the examiners. 

The oral examination provides you with an opportunity to defend your thesis and it assists the examiners in deciding whether or not you have met the requirements for the degree for which you are registered. Reading the thesis is one way of doing this, but the oral examination allows the examiners to:

• examine the general field within which the thesis lies
• discuss the thesis in detail
• explore the ideas and the theories proposed in the thesis
• clarify any points of ambiguity
• satisfy themselves that the thesis is your own work.

The viva is an important part of the examination process, and you should prepare carefully, enlisting some help from your supervisor. You will need to be prepared for general discussion and detailed explanation, as well as for the examiners to have a different starting point and/or laying emphasis on different aspects of the thesis from your own. You will be given the opportunity to defend your thesis in every respect. 

You can take notes into your viva but are advised that they can be a distraction as well as an aid. 

The Graduate and Researcher College offers a range of support and advice for doctoral researchers who are preparing for examination.

If you have an Inclusive Learning Plan (ILP) and you wish to request a reasonable adjustment for your viva, you are advised to discuss this with your supervisor who will liaise with the Research Programmes Administration Team.

For further details, please refer to the PGR Examination Guide.

Vivas can be conducted either in-person or online. If the external examiner is based overseas, then the viva will normally be online, though it is possible for a hybrid approach of the student and internal examiner meeting in-person, with the external examiner joining online. 

The mode of the viva (e.g. whether in person, hybrid or fully online) is to be discussed with the student at the End of MPR Review and any preference noted on the Review outcome report. 

Agreement from the external examiner as to the method to be used must be obtained during the appointment process. 

It is the responsibility of the internal examiner or the chairperson of the viva (if no internal examiner and two external examiners have been appointed) to make all the arrangements for the oral examination in consultation with the Research Programmes Administration Team.

They will contact you by email to suggest a date for your viva and ask you to confirm your availability before the date is confirmed. You will normally be given at least two week's notice of the date, time, venue, and the names of those attending.

You must be present, together with the internal and external examiners, and the chairperson (if required).

Supervisors are expected to be available at the time of the viva, and can attend if preferred by the student, however they cannot participate in the viva. Supervisors cannot be appointed as the chairperson.   

There are no rules concerning the length of time a viva will take. Examiners have discretion to make it as long or as short as they think necessary. Each combination of thesis, student and examiners is unique, though typically they will last one to two hours. 

The examiners will usually tell you the outcome verbally at the end of the viva. They will then write up their final joint report and send this to the Research Programmes Administration Team. This can typically take up to a week to be received but it will be sent on to you immediately on receipt with confirmation of your result and instructions about the next steps.