The primary purpose of the SIMS project is to replace the existing student information system. GCU Staff can access the SIMS Sharepoint Knowledge Base and find a mixture of step-by-step manuals, short demo videos and presentations.
New students (starting from October 2022) should submit any requests related to their study progression via the eVision Portal.
Registration of the Research Programme of Study and Guidelines
The Registration milestone ensures that all research students have the arrangements for their proposed research programme of study registered promptly within one month of their start date. Particularly, this stage confirms that there is an appropriate research project, supervisory team, consideration of ethical issues, a risk assessment and a personal development plan in place.
All research students, whether full-time or part-time, must submit their Registration within one month of their start date.
The student and supervisory team are expected to complete the following documents and submit them via the eVision Portal for consideration and approval by the School Research Progression and Awards Board (RPAB).
Templates
Application for progression
The progression/confirmation process should normally be completed within nine months for full-time students and 14 months for part-time students. All research students, whether registered initially for MPhil with the possibility of transfer to PhD or PhD direct, must undertake a Progress/Confirmation Review to show that they have made satisfactory progress and to clearly demonstrate their ability to pursue study to doctoral level.
Students should submit the completed Application for Confirmation of Progression along with the progression report and Personal Development Plan (PDP)/R. As with the registration process, Application for Confirmation of Progression should be completed in conjunction with your supervisors and submitted via the eVision Portal.
The written progression report of 6,000-8,000 words should include a 500-word abstract; table of contents; introduction; literature review, research aim and research objectives; proposed methodology and methods including ethical considerations; data collection and preliminary results (if applicable); and conclusions and outline of future work (provide timetable in appendix).
Candidates are also required to give an oral presentation and to undergo a viva exam conducted by two moderators (academic staff at GCU acting as internal assessors, one of whom will be part of the supervisory team).
Templates
Suspension of study time
If the student and Director of Studies are in agreement, suspending registration involves submitting an application for suspension in eVision to the Research Degrees Committee (RDC). The period of suspension, if approved, will be deducted from the time allowed for completion of the thesis. Suspensions are for a fixed period of time (normally no longer than one year). Fees are not applied during periods of suspension.
Research students who are applying for suspension due to maternity, paternity, adoption, shared parental and parental leave should read the Supporting Families Policy (Research Students) available on the Regulations and Guidelines page.
Extension of study time
This is required where students are unable to submit their thesis before the maximum time limit (four years full-time and six years part-time for PhD/Prof D; three years full-time and four years part-time for MPhil). Application for extension is submitted via the eVision Portal to School Research Committee for the RDC.
Please note that the Application for COVID-19 extension of registration (RDC3c) process is now closed. Any student seeking an extension due to illness, including Covid-19, should use the Extension (RDC3e) process.
