Melbourne School of Graduate Research

Structure and requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy (MPhil)

 

Definition of a Master of Philosophy (MPhil)

The MPhil is an internationally recognised masters (by research) degree. It is designed for students to develop advanced skills in carrying out independent and sustained research. The thesis should demonstrate a critical application of specialist knowledge and make an independent contribution to existing scholarship in the area of research.

On completion of the course students should be able to:

 

Entry criteria

Minimum standards for entry to the MPhil

MPhil applicants will be assessed using the criteria described below. The measures include an assessment of a candidate's knowledge of the discipline and evidence of their ability to complete a rigorous research project. Applicants are required to meet the minimum standards described for each of the 6 measures.

In exceptional circumstances, the RHD Committee may consider for admission a person who does not have qualifications equivalent to a four-year honours degree, if it is satisfied that the person's experience in research and the results of that experience are so outstanding that the person is likely to have the ability to pursue the course successfully. In such cases, or where other minimum standards as specified below are not all met, the department may present an evidence-based case for admittance to the Chair Research Higher Degrees Committee.

Normally, the evidence of research equivalence would take the form of a research publication record and/or additional significant research experience that would be equivalent to a fourth year. In the case of a three-year honours degree from the United Kingdom the sponsoring Department may also provide evidence about the quality of the institution and the quality of the degree, compared with a four-year honours degree.

 

Criteria for assessing applicants eligibility for MPhil candidature

Criteria

Description

1. Minimum qualifications

Applicants are normally required to have completed at least a four-year honours degree at H2A standard from an Australian university, or a qualification or combination of qualifications considered by the RHD Committee to be equivalent.

2. Minimum level of academic achievement

Applicants should have achieved an overall H1 (80-100%) or H2A (75-79%) grade in the relevant honours or Masters degree.
Applicants who have completed certain professional degrees such as MBBS, BVetSci, LLB, JD, BPhysio, BProp&Const, BUrbPl, BArch and BLArch will be assessed individually.

3. Relevance of the Degree

The completed degree must be in an area that is relevant to the intended MPhil, including sufficient specialisation such that the applicant will have already developed an understanding and appreciation of a body of knowledge relevant to the intended MPhil. Professional experience in the area of the intended MPhil may be deemed equivalent.

4. Evidence of research ability

Applicants are normally required to have completed a research project/component that accounts for at least 25% of their year's work at 4 th year or at Masters level.

Graduates of certain professional degrees, including MBBS, BVetSci, LLB, JD, BPhysio, BEng, BProp&Const, BUrbPl, BArch and BLArch are deemed to have met this requirement.
In the absence of the final year research component, other evidence may be provided as to a student's ability to undertake research.

5. Currency of applicant's knowledge of the discipline

The applicant's degree/s and/or professional experience must demonstrate that their knowledge of the discipline in which they plan to undertake their research higher degree is current. It is therefore expected that an applicant will have completed their tertiary studies and/or any relevant professional experience in the 10 years immediately prior to their intended entry to the MPhil.

6. Assessment of level of commitment

Based on interview or other communication, an assessment should be made of the level of understanding, motivation and time commitment of the student for the proposed program of study. For example, a full-time student would be expected to devote at least 40 hours a week and a part-time student about half of this.

 

Structure of MPhil

All candidates for the MPhil will be examined on the basis of their thesis. A candidate will have appropriately experienced supervisor/s and an Advisory Committee who in consultation with the candidate, arranges a course of supervised research designed to suit the individual requirements and interests of the candidate. A candidate may be required to supplement their research program by attendance at, or enrolment in, additional subjects if considered necessary by the supervisor(s).

 

Residency requirements

All MPhil candidates are required to complete the equivalent of at least 6 months full-time (12 months part-time) advanced study and research at the University (unless studying at an approved outside institution).

 

Duration

Duration of candidature is 18 months. An extension of up to 6 months may be allowed. RTS is available for a maximum of 2 years.

 

Advisory committee

Supervisory arrangements and Advisory Committees will need to be established for MPhil students based on the Advisory Committee structure for PhD students. See details in the PhD Handbook.

 

Word limit

Candidates should aim to write a thesis of approximately 30,000-40,000 words. Candidates should consult their department to determine the appropriate length within this range for a thesis in their discipline. The word limit is exclusive of words in tables, maps, bibliographies and appendices. Footnotes are included as part of the word limit. Appendices must be limited to supporting material genuinely subsidiary to the main argument of the thesis. Candidates may write up to 50,000 words without seeking special permission from the RHD Committee. In exceptional circumstances, application can be made to the RHD Committee to submit theses longer than 50,000 words. The application must be made prior to submission of the thesis. It must include the justification for the request, the expected length of the thesis and be supported by the supervisor and head of department, who must also certify that the proposed examiners do not object to examining a longer thesis.

 

Progress reports at six month intervals

MPhil candidates are required to submit six monthly progress reports. Completion of progress reports is required for the continuation of enrolment and any scholarship held. The first six month progress report is a major hurdle for the MPhil in which candidates will also be required to give a 15 minute presentation of their work.

 

Conversion to PhD

Students who have completed 6 months or more of the MPhil degree and who are qualified for admission to the PhD program may apply for conversion to confirmed PhD candidature. Converting candidates are required to undertake the same confirmation process as probationary PhD candidates. An unfinished Masters degree or other doctorate normally cannot contribute to meeting the eligibility requirements for admission into the PhD.

 

Creative component

In the case of creative arts disciplines where the thesis may take the form of creative works and a dissertation, the integrated thesis should normally represent the equivalent of 30,000-35,000 words. The creative work component will be determined between the candidate and supervisor and be relevant to the proportion of the thesis submitted as creative work. The length of the dissertation will also depend on what proportion of the thesis it constitutes, but will normally be at least 50% of the integrated thesis, between 15,000-20,000 words.

 

Completion seminar

All MPhil candidates will be required to make a public presentation of their research findings at the University 3 months prior to submitting their thesis for examination. The Seminar should present the objectives, methods, findings and significance of the candidate's MPhil thesis research. 

 

Nomination of examiners

Two examiners, together with a reserve name for use should a third or replacement examiner be required, are appointed. The examiners shall be external to the University and must not have any formal association with the University within the last 5 years. Formal association is normally interpreted as meaning employment at the University in teaching and/or research as either a full-time, part-time or sessional staff member, or in an honorary capacity or through direct involvement with the candidate's research project (including reading drafts or discussing the research). Examiners must be of international standing in an area of research relevant to the thesis. All examiners must be from different institutions. Normally no more than one examiner may be from Victoria. Examiners should be or have been a member of a university or research institution within the last 5 years.

 

Examiner's report

Examiners will consider the development of critical argument in the reading of the literature, the approach to the research investigation and the logic of the evaluation of the study.


Examiners are requested to submit a written report on the thesis and to award a result from the following scale from 1 to 5. The 5 recommendations available to examiners when submitting a first report are:

  1. Be awarded the degree without further examination or amendment required by me.
  2. Be awarded the degree without further examination, subject to inserting in the thesis the minor corrections and/or additions as I have specified to the satisfaction of the Chairperson of Examiners, without further reference to me.
  3. Be awarded the degree subject to revising part or parts of the thesis as I have specified to either (a) the satisfaction of the Chairperson of Examiners, without further reference to me, or (b) my satisfaction.
  4. Not yet be awarded the degree, but be permitted to resubmit the thesis in a revised form for re-examination. Areas requiring major amendment are identified in my attached report.
  5. Not be awarded the degree and not be permitted to submit for re-examination.

 

Expected requirements of a MPhil

The format and style of MPhil theses can differ as it is expected that a thesis be written to the convention of that field. Examiners are asked to consider, where appropriate, the following questions:

 

Marking requirements for examiners

The thesis will be assessed and given a mark out of 100. The following scale is provided for guidance to the examiners.

 

Outstanding (H1) 90-100%
The candidate has demonstrated a very high level of competence with respect to the questions listed above AND there is clear evidence of considerable original work of high quality, including analysis or other evaluation, and the research, implementation or experimentation phases of the discovery have also been substantially completed, with an expectation that the thesis would be worthy of publication with only a small amount of revision and/or editing required.


Excellent (H1) 85-89%
The candidate has demonstrated a high level of competence with respect to the questions listed above AND there is clear evidence of considerable original work, including analysis or other evaluation, and the implementation and experimentation phases of the discovery have also been substantially completed, with an expectation that with a small amount of further research and/or analysis the thesis would be worthy of publication.


Very Good (H1) 80-84%
The candidate has demonstrated more than adequate level of competence with respect to the questions listed above AND the thesis provides evidence of the candidate’s ability to synthesise and organise existing information in a useful and critical manner and is well-written and free of error OR there is evidence of original work, including analysis or other evaluation, and the implementation and experimentation phases of the discovery have also been substantially completed, with an expectation that with a small amount of further research and/or analysis the thesis would be worthy of publication.


Good (H2A) 75-79%
The candidate has demonstrated a minimum level of competence with respect to the questions listed above AND the thesis provides evidence of the candidate’s ability to synthesise and organise existing information in a useful and critical manner and is well-written and largely free of error OR there is evidence of original work, including analysis or other evaluation, and some amount of research, with an expectation that with research and/or analysis the thesis might be worthy of publication.


Satisfactory (H2B) 70-74%
The candidate has demonstrated a minimum level of competence with respect to the questions listed above AND the thesis is judged to be more than adequate in at least one of the questions listed above OR there is evidence of original work, including some analysis or other evaluation of the proposal, even if not fully implemented or tested.


Adequate (H3) 65-69%
The candidate has demonstrated a minimum level of competence with respect to the questions listed above.


Inadequate
The thesis is so deficient with respect to one or more of the questions listed above AND resubmission of the thesis in a revised form for re-examination is required.


Failed
The thesis is so deficient with respect to one or more of the questions listed above that revision and resubmission cannot be considered as an option.

 

Grade requirement

A MPhil candidate must receive an average grade of at least H3 (65%) or better to be eligible for the award of the degree.

 

Assignment of a mark for an MPhil

The determination of whether or not a thesis is passed is handled by the usual rules, and may include an assessment by a third examiner as part of the first examination. A third examiner may also be assigned in cases where the two initial examiners agree that the thesis should be passed, but differ widely in the mark they have recommended.

A mark is only calculated for a thesis once it is passed. In the case of an examiner who selects Recommendations 1, 2, 3a, or 3b as the result of their first examination of the thesis, the mark supplied by this examiner will be combined with the mark(s) given by the other examiner(s) to obtain a final mark for the thesis.

In the case of an examiner who selects Recommendations 4 or 5 as the result of their first examination of the thesis, no mark is recorded. If the thesis is subsequently passed, this examiner will be deemed to have awarded a mark of 65. This mark will be combined with the mark(s) given by the other examiner(s) to obtain a final mark for the thesis.

If the overall outcome of the first examination of the thesis is that it be revised and resubmitted for examination, no marks are recorded in connection with the second examination, and the examiners will be requested to assign a “pass” or “fail” outcome. The mark assigned to a resubmitted thesis that is passed as a result of the second examination will be the mark calculated by combining the marks that arose as a result of the first examination, with the proviso that examiners who selected Recommendation 4 or Recommendation 5 in their first examination of the thesis will be deemed to have supplied a mark of 65.

 

MPhil Submission of Collection of papers

Eligibility

Candidates submitting a collection of papers must be either Bachelor (or equivalent) graduates of the University of Melbourne with a minimum of four years since graduating from their bachelor degree and/or applicants who have a substantial connection with the University of Melbourne and can provide documented evidence such as research publications while an employee of the University of Melbourne.

 

Structure

Candidates submitting a collection of papers (either published or unpublished), need to include a general introduction, a literature survey, a general discussion, and a summary.

 

Course fee

Candidates submitting a collection of papers are not covered by the research training scheme and must pay a course fee of $2,500.

 

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