You are viewing: 2024/25 version

Doctoral Training Programmes in MPLS

1. Programmes covered by these regulations
- (a) The regulations in cl. 2 to 6 shall apply to all research students registered on the following doctoral training programmes, irrespective of the division or department they are based within for their research project:
  - (i) Centres for Doctoral Training in: Autonomous Intelligent Machines and Systems; Biomedical Imaging; Chemical Synthesis for a Healthy Planet; Cyber Security; Engineering Biology; Fusion Power; Health Data Science; Industrially Focused Mathematical Modelling; Inorganic Chemistry for Future Manufacturing; Inorganic Materials for Advanced Manufacturing; Materials 4.0; Mathematics of Random Systems: Analysis, Models and Algorithms; Modern Statistics and Statistical Machine Learning; Partial Differential Equations: Analysis and Applications; Renewable Energy Marine Structures; Science and Technology of Fusion Energy; Statistical Science; Statistics and Machine Learning; Superconductivity: Enabling Transformative Technologies; Sustainable Approaches to Biomedical Science; Synthesis for Biology and Medicine; Synthetic Biology; Systems Approaches to Biomedical Science; and Wind and Marine Energy Systems and Structures;
  - (ii) Centres for Doctoral Training in: Intelligent Earth (AI for the Environment); and EcoWild;
  - (iii) Doctoral Training Centres in Systems Biology;
  - (iv) Doctoral Training Partnership in Environmental Research;
  - (v) Doctoral Training Partnership in Interdisciplinary Bioscience.
The programmes listed in (i) and (iii) shall be under the supervision of the Board of the Mathematical, Physical, and Life Sciences Division.
The programmes listed in ((ii) and (iv) shall be under the joint supervision of the Boards of the Mathematical, Physical, and Life Sciences Division, and the Social Sciences Division. They shall appoint a Management Board to run the programme.
The programme listed in (v) shall be under the joint supervision of the Boards of the Mathematical, Physical, and Life Sciences Division, and the Medical Sciences Division. They shall appoint a Management Board to run the programme.
- (b) The regulations in cl. 2 to 4 shall not apply to the doctoral training programmes listed below. The regulations in cl. 5 and 6 will apply. Students shall be registered for the first year of their programme as follows:
  - (i) Centre for Doctoral Training in Gas Turbine Aerodynamics and Future Propulsion and Power: students shall be registered for the first year of this programme at the University of Cambridge,
    
    (ii) Centre for Doctoral Training in Diamond Science and Technology: students shall be registered for the first year of this programme at the University of Warwick,
    
    (iii) Centre for Doctoral Training in Theory and Modelling in Chemical Sciences shall be registered for the first year of this programme on the MSc in Theoretical and Computational Chemistry.

These programmes shall be under the supervision of the Board of the Mathematical, Physical, and Life Sciences Division.

Students on the programmes listed in b (i) and (ii) must pass the postgraduate taught course that they are registered on for the first year in order to be admitted to the status of Probationer Research Student. Students on the programme listed in b (iii) must meet the conditions specified in the regulations for the MSc in Theoretical and Computational Chemistry in order to be admitted to the status of Probationer Research Student. Students listed in b (i) to (iii) who are admitted to the status of Probationer Research Student may hold that status for up to four terms (eight for a part-time student). The General Regulations Governing Research Degrees, the General Regulations for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy and the regulations for Research Degrees in Physical Sciences shall then apply.

2. Probationer Research Student Status
All research students will be admitted to the status of Probationer Research Student in the first instance. Candidates should discuss with their supervisors the most appropriate time at which to apply for transfer of status.

For Transfer of Status requirements, the regulations for the department that the student is hosted in will also be applied.
(a) Students admitted to the doctoral programmes listed in (1) (a), with the exception of Mathematics of Random Systems: Analysis, Models and Algorithms, EcoWild and Superconductivity: Enabling Transformative Technologies, shall hold the status of Probationer Research Student for a maximum of six terms (twelve for a part-time student). Students admitted to Mathematics of Random Systems: Analysis, Models and Algorithms, EcoWild and Superconductivity: Enabling Transformative Technologies shall hold the status of Probationer Research Student for a maximum of four terms (eight for a part-time student).
(b) Students admitted by The University of Warwick to the Centre for Doctoral Training in Statistical Science, and students admitted by the University of Bristol or the University of Warwick to the Centre for Doctoral Training in Synthetic Biology, and students admitted by the University of Nottingham to the Centre for Doctoral Training in Biomedical Imaging shall be matriculated and hold the status of Probationer Research Student Status at the University of Oxford for the first three terms of their doctoral training programme.
(c) A Probationer Research Student on a doctoral training programme listed in (1) (a) shall apply for admission to D.Phil. status normally before the end of the fifth term (tenth term for a part-time student), and no later than the eighth week of the sixth term (twelfth term for a part-time student), with the exception of Mathematics of Random Systems: Analysis, Models and Algorithms, EcoWild and Superconductivity: Enabling Transformative Technologies where the General Regulations Governing Research Degrees apply,
(d) A Probationer Research Student registered on the Centre for Doctoral Training in Renewable Energy Marine Structures or Wind and Marine Energy Systems and Structures programmes may choose to apply for admission to either the degree of Doctor of Engineering or the degree of Doctoral of Philosophy. A Student must choose which degree to apply for no later than the end of the third full-term. The Regulations below apply to students seeking to apply for and supplicate for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. For students seeking to apply for the degree of Doctor of Engineering, the Regulations for the Doctor of Engineering shall apply.
(e) A candidate whose first application for transfer to D.Phil. status is not approved shall be permitted to make one further application, following the procedures laid down in the General Regulations Governing Research Degrees §4, clauses 1-4, and shall be granted an extension of time for one term (two terms for a part-time student) if this is necessary for the purposes of making the application.

(f) Subject to the approval of the divisional board, and for good cause, a student may be permitted to hold the status of PRS prior to the first application for transfer of status for a further one or two terms (or one to four terms for a part-time student), on the condition that the first application for transfer of status is submitted and assessed within eight terms (sixteen for a part-time student) of the student being admitted to PRS status. Any application outside this limit (other than in clause 2(e) above) must be approved by or on behalf of Education Committee.
(g) A Probationer Research Student on a doctoral training programme shall cease to hold such status in accordance with General Regulations Governing Research Degrees §4.10 (i)–(iii).
(h) The board may grant a student suspension from the Register of those admitted to the status of Probationer Research Student or deprive a student of their status; and in such cases it shall at all times follow procedures determined by the Education Committee by regulation.
(i) It shall be open to a candidate whose name has been removed from the Register to apply to the board for reinstatement to the Register as a Probationer Research Student. The application should have the support of their society and supervisor, and such reinstatement fee as may from time to time be prescribed by Council should be paid. Permission for reinstatement to the Register of Students may be granted by the board provided that:
- (i) no more than twenty-four months have passed since the student’s name was removed from the Register; and
- (ii) the number of terms the candidate spent with the status of a Probationer Research Student did not exceed eight terms (sixteen terms for a part-time student) in the case of a Student on a doctoral training programme listed in (1) (a), with the exception of Mathematics of Random Systems: Analysis, Models and Algorithms, EcoWild, and Superconductivity: Enabling Transformative Technologies, and for students registered on Future Propulsion and Power where it did not exceed six terms (twelve terms for a part-time student).
For exceptional reinstatement to the Graduate Register, for candidates unable to make an application under the provisions above, please refer to cl 3 of the General Regulations Governing Research Degrees.
3. Confirmation of Status as a Student for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy
For the requirements of Confirmation of Status, the regulations for the department that the student is hosted in will also be applied.

A candidate on a doctoral training programme listed in (1) (a) with the exception of Mathematics of Random Systems: Analysis, Models and Algorithms, EcoWild and Superconductivity: Enabling Transformative Technologies, who has been admitted to the status of Student for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy must apply to the board for confirmation of his or her status as a D.Phil. student no later than the eighth week of the tenth term (twentieth term for a part-time student) after admission as a research student; and not normally earlier than the ninth term (eighteenth term for a part-time student) after that in which he or she was initially admitted to the status of a Probationer Research Student or to the status of a student for another higher degree of the University. For students registered on the Mathematics of Random Systems: Analysis, Models and Algorithms, EcoWild, and Superconductivity: Enabling Transformative Technologies programme the General Regulations for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy shall apply.

A Student for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy on a doctoral training programme listed in (1) (a) shall cease to hold such status unless it has been confirmed within ten terms of his or her admission to Probationer Research Student status, or nine terms for students registered on the Mathematics of Random Systems: Analysis, Models and Algorithms, EcoWild, Superconductivity: Enabling Transformative Technologies.
4. Other requirements for students for the Degree of Philosophy following a doctoral training programme

A full-time Student for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy following a doctoral training programme may hold the status of a registered research student for a maximum of twelve terms (twenty-four for a part-time student) excluding extensions and suspensions. If such a student has been prevented by exceptional circumstances from completing their thesis by that time, the Board shall have power to grant an extension of time for a period or periods, not exceeding six terms (three terms for a part-time students) in all, to be determined by the Board. Applications for such extension of time shall be made through the Registrar not later than the term in which the student is due to apply for permission to supplicate.
5. Theses

For thesis requirements, the regulations for the department that the student is hosted in will be applied. For integrated thesis regulations students should refer to the Research Degrees in the Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences Division regulations, cl 2.

6. Special provisions for part-time students

Part-time students shall not be required to keep statutory residence. Part-time research students are normally required to attend for a minimum of thirty days, or the minimum set by their programme, whichever is greater, of university-based work each year, to be arranged with the agreement of their supervisor, for the period that their names remain on the Register of Graduate Students unless individually dispensed by the Board. During a candidate’s probationary period the attendance arrangements must take account of relevant induction and training events scheduled by the Board.

Part-time students holding the status of Probationer Research Student shall in each case be required to pursue their course of study for a minimum of four terms, and a maximum of eight terms, prior to an application for transfer of status. No student may apply to the relevant board or other body for the appointment of examiners unless their supervisor has certified that the student has fulfilled the requirements for part-time students laid down by the board or other relevant body.