Mid-Candidature Review

At this milestone, the candidate’s progression towards completing the project is monitored and the candidate, Advisory team and School are reassured that completion of the project is on track within the expected candidature duration, and that the candidate’s research and other professional skills are developing appropriately.

1. 3-Minute Thesis Competition

Students must present their 'Three Minute Thesis' at the School to complete Mid-Candidature review. The TMT refines students' ability to describe their project concisely and clearly in plain language to a knowledgeable non-specialist audience. It enhances skills useful for networking at conferences and other venues where you interact with scholars outside the School.
The Three Minute Thesis Showcase will be held in the School once every semester - June and November.
Please take care to consider the following rules:
  • a single PowerPoint slide is permitted (no slide transitions, animations or 'movement' of any description are permitted)
  • no additional electronic media (e.g. sound and video files) are permitted
  • no additional props (e.g. costumes, instruments [musical, laboratory etc]) are permitted
  • presentations are limited to 3 minutes maximum. Competitors exceeding 3 minutes will be disqualified
The judging criteria are as follows
  • Communication style: was the thesis topic and its significance communicated in language appropriate to an intelligent but non-specialist audience?
  • Comprehension: did the presentation help the audience understand the research?
  • Engagement: did the oration make the audience want to know more
You will be contacted about participating in the competition nearest your mid-candidature review due date, with details of the competition. If you require any further information or wish to be included in the next round to complete this component of your mid-candidature review, please contact the postgraduate administrative officer (postgrad.slccs@uq.edu.au). 

2. The Seminar

 The oral presentation is a formal seminar presentation to the School. It should
  • be 30 minutes long including 10 minutes for question time
  • be clear, concise and free of jargon, appropriate for the audience
  • overview the project
  • explain the project in brief,
  • outline key concepts and findings of the thesis in chapters
  • outline the planned chapter structure
Note: The candidate can choose to present their work at any School seminar or conference presentation. This can be a special topic derived from their research or an overview of their project and findings to date. The supervisory team must be able to verify the student's performance in the oral presentation if it is presented outside the school eg at a national conference. 

3. Written Work

 The mid-candidature review milestone document is submitted by the candidate on the Tuesday following their seminar presentation. It consists of a 2,000 word summary of progress since confirmation outlining: 

  • a statement of progress outlining what is done and what remains to be done
  • timeline for completion of work
  • the planned chapter structure

The document should demonstrate: intellectual engagement with the topic and scholarship in the field, a cogent thesis plan, evidence that data collection is largely complete and acceptable academic prose

4.  Document Submission by Candidate

Prior to submitting it to the committee, candidates should revise their milestone document in the light of feedback given at the seminar. By the Tuesday following the seminar, the milestone document should be submitted by the candidate to all committee members (including the Postgraduate Co-ordinator, reader and advisory team) and cced to postgrad.slccs@uq.edu.au  (The simplest way to do this is to "Reply All" to the e-mail sent by the Postgraduate Administrative Officer to the committee and student outlining the timeline for the milestone.) If the candidate is not giving a School seminar because they have recently presented their project at another forum, the document should be submitted two weeks prior to the interview.

5. Written Feedback from Committee Members

Written feedback from every committee member should then be sent to all committee members and the student, and cced to postgrad.slccs@uq.edu.au by the Wednesday prior to the interview. (The simplest way to do this is to "Reply All" to the e-mail sent by the Postgraduate Administrative Officer to the committee and student outlining the timeline for the milestone.) The SLCCS Mid-Candidature Report Form should be used for this purpose. The candidate should use these reports (in consultation with his/her Advisors) to prepare oral responses for the interview.    

6. The Interview

Generally, the interview takes place 3 weeks after the oral presentation. However, the interview may be booked at a later date due to staff availability or other circumstances. Please ensure the seminar and interview dates are only booked with the postgraduate administrative officer after the candidate, advisory team and reader have all agreed to the dates and times. The interview may also be delayed if significant revision is required to the milestone document in view of seminar feedback.

The interview should

  • be 30-45 minutes in length
  • involve a discussion of committee members' feedback by participants to ensure the project is on track and viable
  • include a checking of resource implications

During the interview, the candidate and advisory team will also be interviewed separately to give feedback on the functioning of the Advisory team and to identify any issues that may need to be addressed. 

7. Recommendation to the Dean of the Graduate School  

The committee makes one of the following recommendations:

  • the candidature has attained the milestone
  • the due date should be extended so that the milestone may attempted again at a later date
  • candidature should be terminated

The recommendation is made on the basis of the milestone document, oral presentation, interview, completion of ethical clearance and completion of seminar attendance requirements of LCCS and the Faculty of Arts.

 

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