PhD Degree

A PhD degree is taken in three years as a full-time student or in six years as a part-time student. The degree is awarded following the successful completion of a period of research which includes the submission of a thesis, and its subsequent oral examination, together with a series of Departmental reports and seminars. The thesis must contain an original element that makes a publishable contribution to knowledge or understanding.

The PhD degree involves five formally required assessments which are timetabled as follows:

Literature Review Seminar - after 3 months
Qualifying Dissertation - after 9 months
Thesis Proposal - after 18 months
Thesis Audit - after 27 months
Thesis Seminar - by Year 3/July
Thesis - after 36 months and no later than 48 months

A PhD degree could also be studied part-time.

In the following, each assessment is discussed in turn. Please note that the statements on this page are for guidance only and do not fully accurately reflect the University's and the Department's examination rules.

Please note also that all students aiming for a PhD degree are at first registered provisionally for an MPhil. This is the procedure in all cases regardless of students' previous experience or qualifications. At the end of the first year, registration is confirmed if a satisfactory qualifying dissertation has been submitted. At the end of the second year, if a satisfactory PhD thesis proposal has been submitted, registration is upgraded accordingly and the student proceeds to a third year.

Literature Review Seminar

For all research students the first assessment is a literature review seminar given at a short Departmental conference about three months into the registration period. This seminar should be based on a fresh study of the Computer Science literature, carried out since the speaker's registration as a research student at York. The emphasis throughout should be on critical exposition of a clearly identified set of references.

Qualifying Dissertation

The first written assessment is a qualifying dissertation later in the first year. Each dissertation is independently examined by both the student's supervisor and the assigned assessor, who also jointly conduct the oral examination. The oral examination is also an occasion for more general discussion of the student's progress, and his or her work so far. Some revision of the dissertation may be required. If the final version is satisfactory, registration for a second year is confirmed.

Thesis Proposal

The formal written assessment of the second year is a thesis proposal. The proposal should include an outline of a proposed thesis containing details of each proposed chapter and a possible abstract for the thesis. It should make clear how much of the necessary research work has already been completed, and state plans for the work still outstanding. An oral examination is again conducted by the supervisor and assessor. Following this examination, and associated discussions with the student, the student may be upgraded to a PhD registration.

Thesis Audit

The audit is another means of checking that appropriate progress is being made. The student completes a short form summarising the state of his or her work towards a thesis. After discussion with the supervisor and assessor, plans are revised if necessary to ensure that a successful thesis can be submitted on time.

Thesis Seminar

The thesis seminar is given at a further short Departmental conference. The purpose of this seminar is for the student to present the central ideas and results of his or her thesis to supervisor, assessor and colleagues. The goal is to ensure that by this stage in their study, students have a clear understanding of how they intend to present the results of their research in a concise form. In many respects a third year seminar should take the same form as would a presentation of the student's thesis at an international conference in their field of study. The seminar will be assessed by both the supervisor and assessor.

PhD Thesis and Examination

By the end of the third year of registration a PhD student must submit either a thesis, or a detailed outline of a thesis chapter by chapter with a timetable for completion. The completed thesis must be submitted by the end of the fourth year at the latest. Candidates for the PhD degree are examined orally on the material of their thesis and also on their knowledge of Computer Science in general. This examination is carried out by at least two examiners, at least one of whom is not a member of the University.

Part-time PhD

The normal period of registration for part-time PhD students is six years. The literature review seminar is preferably given after three months. The qualifying dissertation is due after 18 months and the thesis proposal after three years. The PhD thesis audit takes place after four and a half years. The thesis seminar is normally given in the sixth year.