General Regulations Governing Research Degrees: Part 2 Admission of Candidates as Probationer Research Students

1. The board to which a prospective student's branch of study belongs may admit any person as a Probationer Research Student provided that the board is satisfied:

• (1) that the candidate is well-fitted and well-qualified to conduct work for a research degree,

• (2) that the branch of study proposed by the candidate is one which may profitably be pursued under the superintendence of the board,

• (3) that supervision will be available, and

• (4) that the faculty board or department under whose aegis the research is to be conducted has adequate facilities to enable the research to be undertaken.

2. Applications for admission shall be forwarded to the Registrar, according to such timetables as the Education Committee shall determine. The Registrar shall be responsible for transmitting the candidate's application to the faculty board or department concerned, together with a statement of the branch of study which the candidate intends to pursue, and such evidence of their fitness to undertake the proposed study as may be required by the board or department.

3. No person shall be admitted as a Probationer Research Student unless they are also a member of a college, and unless the application for admission as a Probationer Research Student has the approval of their college. The Registrar shall forward the application to the candidate's college or to the college to which the candidate wishes to apply for membership, as appropriate; and admission by the board shall be conditional upon admission by an approved society.

4. It shall be the duty of the Registrar to notify candidates of the decision of the board as soon as may be and to inform a candidate whose application has been approved by the board of the term from which their admission as a Probationer Research Student is to be reckoned.

5. It shall be the duty of the Registrar to keep a Register of those admitted to the status of Probationer Research Student.

6. A board may grant a student suspension from the Register 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.

7. Exceptionally, it shall be open to a candidate whose name has been removed from the Register of Students 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 five terms in the case of a full-time student, or ten terms in the case of a part-time student.

8. In exceptional circumstances, a candidate who is not able to apply for reinstatement within the provisions above may make an application to Council’s Education Committee for reinstatement to the Register of Students as a Probationer Research Student. Such candidates must meet the requirements for reinstatement by the Board and in addition must provide a statement explaining why it is reasonable for Education Committee to permit their reinstatement and outlining the circumstances that have prevented earlier submission. For such applications, Education Committee will consider the length of time since the candidate’s name was on the Register of Students, the seriousness of the causes for the delay, and the views of the student’s department/faculty, supervisor and college.