Information can be found in Recruitment and Admissions.

To ensure appropriate student experience and timely completion, regular attendance and engagement is expected of all full and part-time PGRs. Supervisors should refer to the attendance and engagement expectations in the handbook as well as the Supervision Policy for PGR Degrees which expects supervisory meeting to take place at least monthly.

Additionally for PGRs whose UK visa is sponsored by the University of Manchester, their attendance responsibility is set out in the Student Visa Responsibilities webpage.

Main supervisors are responsible for completing eProg attendance and engagement milestones. Where there are attendance or engagement concerns, these should be raised with the Department Coordinators or Doctoral Academy at hums.doctoralacademy.support@manchester.ac.uk. 

Department Coordinators can access all PGR records within their department through eProg My Research Students. Using the traffic light system, records are displayed in white, green, amber or red:

• Green - All required milestone completed and likely to be at submission stage
• Amber - At least one milestone overdue but has been partially completed or submitted but awaiting authorisation
• Red - At least one milestone overdue and not been opened
• White - No overdue milestones or PGR on interruption 

Useful information

• eProg guide for supervisors
• Supervision Policy for PGR Degrees
• Attendance expectations (PGR handbook)
• Student Visa Responsibilities

Progression

Information about progress and reviews can be found in the PGR handbook. This includes programme/department/school-specific progress review requirements. 

Compulsory progression milestones in the Faculty of Humanities 

School PGR Director/Department Coordinator's roles are to: 

• Ensure that review panel composition is appropriate and members are appointed in a timely manner or coordinate progress reviews in accordance with the School/Department/Discipline/Division's standard practice
• Review and authorise annual review recommendations
• Address or escalate concerns related to progress with appropriate colleagues

Process for annual review arrangements 

• If the review panel have submitted the forms to confirm continuation recommendation, Doctoral Academy will notify Department Coordinators to authorise the forms (unless they have concerns to raise with PGR Directors). If the Department Coordinator is also an internal assessor, this will be taken to School PGR Director.
• If the review panel recommend referral, the panel needs to agree and communicate the resubmission requirements to the candidate. Doctoral Academy team will make a note and follow up at the resubmission due date.
• If the review panel recommend either downgrade or registration termination, Doctoral Academy team will raise the case with Department Coordinator and PGR Director
• For PGRs in the final year of their prescribed programme who have successfully met the progression criteria and are on track to submit the thesis within the prescribed programme period, they should proceed to give notice of submission in eProg
• For PGRs in the final year of their prescribed programme who have successfully met the progression criteria and need additional time beyond the prescribed programme to prepare the thesis and are eligible for submission pending registration, they will be advised to apply for registration to the Submission Pending Period (if required) or give Notice of Submission (if ready to submit by the deadline).
  • Please note that PGRs on 3-year PhD programme are eligible for 12 months Submission Pending, PGRs on 3.5-year PhD programme are eligible for 6 months and PGRs on 4-year PhD are not eligible for Submission Pending except PhDs Economics, Data Analytics and Society and Accounting and Finance where PGRs can apply for 12 months Submission Pending. Some PGRs (eg AHRC-funded, Melbourne) may be eligible for different Submission Pending Period lengths (or none). Doctoral Academy team will advise what they are eligible for.
• For other PGRs who have successfully met the progression criteria, Doctoral Academy team will term activate the records for re-registration.
• For funded PGRs whose award is administered by the University of Manchester, term activation will also trigger confirmation of funding continuation for the subsequent year of registration.
• If reviews are delayed, supervisor, review panel or Department Coordinator must notify Doctoral Academy team at hums.doctoralacademy.support@manchester.ac.uk.
• For specialist programmes (DECP, DCP, dual PhD, validated programmes), specific arrangements for annual reviews will be made and communicated to relevant colleagues by the Programmes team. If there are questions about these programmes, please get in touch with the relevant team at Contact us.

Submission pending 

Submission pending registration period is offered to PGRs who have completed all the research work, are unable to submit the thesis within the prescribed programme and require additional time to register in order to complete the thesis. Submission pending period eligibility varies depending on the PGR's registered programme. The criteria are prescribed in the PGR Submission Pending Policy. All PGRs are provided information about their eligibility to apply for Submission Pending in their programme offer letter. 

In considering submission pending applications, PGR Director/Department Coordinator will assess if the PGR has completed all required components of the degree including taught elements (where applicable), research work and compulsory training and review the submitted thesis work plan as well as the supervisory team's statement. Should there be any concerns about an application, PGR Director/Department Coordinator should seek clarification from the supervisory team. 

Useful information

• PGR handbook - Thesis submission and examination
• PGR Submission Pending Policy

Change of circumstance

PGR Director, acting on behalf of the School PGR Committee as Chair, has an oversight of PGR change of circumstance process in their School. They have the discretion to consider the following PGR change of circumstance and change of programme applications. 

• Interruption
• Extension
• Programme change
• Thesis title change
• Thesis word limit change
• Supervisory team change
• Early submission of thesis

When an application is received by the Doctoral Academy from the PGR, it is put forward to the PGR Director for consideration. Applications are then considered in accordance with the University's Change of Circumstances Policy for PGR along with associated Procedures depending on the circumstances (PGR Family Leave Procedure, PGR Medical Leave Procedure, PGR Additional Leave Procedure).

Student mobility

PGRs may apply for periods of research/work away that is either compulsory or beneficial to their studies or research project. These include the following activities:

• Fieldwork
• Mandatory Placements
• Optional Placements
• Internships
• Exchanges
• Institutional Visits

All the above applications are made through the University's My Placement system. 

PGR Director/Department Coordinator's roles are to: 

• Review applications for periods of research/work away in line with the University policies and regulations
• Ensure that appropriate risk assessment has been carried out for the proposed activity
• Ensure that appropriate the PGRs have secured appropriate funding for the proposed research/work away 

Useful information

• PGR handbook - Fieldwork and study away approval
• PGR Research and Work Away from the University Procedure
• My Placement system guide

Completion support

PGR completion support scheme is an initiative led by Schools to provide support to PGRs who may struggle to complete the thesis, in addition to the support from the supervisory team. Information about each School's scheme can be found in the PGR handbook. 

When a PGR has been referred or has self enrolled to the completion support scheme, PGR Director or Department Coordinator will make an assessment on eligibility and suitability and will have an initial discussion with the PGR. If suitable, a completion supporter will be appointed by the PGR Director or Department Coordinator. 

PGR Directors have the overall responsibility for the welfare, wellbeing and experience of PGRs in their School and with support from the Associate Dean for PGR, Deputy Associate Dean for PGR and Doctoral Academy teams. They support PGRs through a range of mechanisms including: 

• PGR representation liaison
• Support to study 
• PGR Voice Survey action plan

Doctoral Academy teams also work with PGR Directors and Department Coordinators in relation to: 

• Disability support
• Disengaged student process
• PGR communication including newsletter
• Development of peer support networks

PGR funding is managed and allocated by the Schools through a range of studentship and bursary schemes and through in-programme financial support (normally called Research Training Support Grant or RTSG).  

PGR Directors are responsible for approval of School funding, and assessing academic relevance or value in funding applications. In some Schools funding application decisions are delegated to the HUMS DA Funding Team The Funding Team adapts its procedures according to each PGR Director’s preferences and provides expenditure and budget reports where appropriate.

Current arrangements with PGR Directors are as follows:

AMBS

• The Funding Team tracks DRSA balances and expenditure and approves funding applications where funding is available with approval of the PGR’s supervisor.
• The PGR Director approves Exceptional Funding applications where a PGR’s DRSA has been depleted, up to a total value of £1,000. The Funding Team records applications, shares them and relevant information with the PGR Director, facilitates expenditure and monitors the spend.

SALC

• The Funding Team collects and approves Travel Fund applications, facilitates expenditure and monitors spend against budget.
• The Funding Team collects Fieldwork Fund applications and allocates awards of up to £1,000. Applications for greater amounts are considered by the PGR Director.
• As SALC travel and fieldwork budgets have been under pressure in recent years, the Funding Team regularly meets with the PGR Director to discuss strategy around awards.
• The Funding Team provides regular expenditure reports to the PGR Director.

SEED

• PGR Support Fund applications are collated by the Funding Team and submitted to the PGR Director for approval each week. The Funding Team facilitates disbursement of awards through liaison with the School Operations team and monitors overall spend. The Funding Team may seek further approval from the PGR Director when costs exceed those requested in the original application.

SoSS

• The DA Funding Team records, monitors and approves use of RTSG funding with approval from the PGR’s supervisor.
• Fieldwork funding applications are referred to the PGR Director for approval.
• The Funding Team monitors SERB funding allocations and spend, which have already been approved.
• The Funding Team provides regular expenditure reports to the PGR Director.

Specific detail about processes for each School is available on the Funding pages of the PGR Handbook. Please contact the Doctoral Academy Funding team at hums.doctoralacademy.funding@manchester.ac.uk if you have any questions. 

Examination

PGR Director is responsible for: 

• Reviewing and approving nominations of examiners via eProg
• Ratifying examination recommendations on behalf of the School PGR Committee, by Chair's action
• In case of Biii recommendation or below, a ratification sub-committee will be convened to review the recommendation. This is usually chaired by the PGR Director.
• In case of Biii recommendation or below and following the sub-committee's ratification, the School will also convene a PGR examination post-approval panel to identify issues, concerns and recommendations. This is usually chaired by the PGR Director.

Doctoral Academy team will provide support in coordinating sub-committee and panel meetings where appropriate.