Submission: Notice to submit

The PhD researcher should decide if necessary following advice from the supervisory team, when he or she should submit the thesis. The notice to submit must be submitted through PhD Manger a minimum of three months prior to the chosen submission date.

This enables Doctoral College and the Faculty to begin making examination
arrangements.

Prior to submission, researchers should consult the Notes of Guidance for the Presentation of Theses for Research Degrees available on the Doctoral College Website.

Two copies of a thesis (three for members of academic staff or for other students who for exceptional reasons require two External Examiners) and an electronic version are required. However, due to Covid-19, processes have been adapted and presently PhD researchers are not required to lodge hard copies of their theses but instead submit an e-copy of their full thesis in PDF format.

The supervisor team should ensure, as far as possible, that the thesis is ready for submission and examination and should be prepared to offer any advice required by the PhD researcher.

Prior to submission, PhD researchers should ensure completion, via PhD Manager, of the student consent form stating which supervisor, if any, they wish to attend the oral examination. Only one supervisor is permitted to attend the oral examination with consent. Please see https://www.ulster.ac.uk/doctoralcollege/current-phdresearchers/submitting-your-thesis for further information.

On receipt of the doctoral thesis, Doctoral College will organise a final assessment (also known as the PhD viva). This will take the form of an oral examination, at which the PhD researcher will be examined by external and internal examiners. On the completion of the viva, the decision will be communicated to the PhD candidate by the board of examiners.