Research School Irregular

Process for students who have not received a decision on their extension request by their submission deadline date, or who are in the process of submitting an extension request at the time of their deadline

At PGR Panel this month, we discussed the issue of students submitting an extension request close to or after their submission deadline date.  In some of these cases, the student has submitted a copy of their thesis to the eThesis repository (in case the request is later rejected).  However, this can cause problems (e.g. an “unfinished” version of a thesis being sent to examiners).

Previously (pre-March 2020):

Students were advised to deposit a copy of their thesis (as it stands) to the eThesis repository but not to submit paper copies. (A submission was only accepted as official if both electronic and paper copies were received.  There was, therefore, no possibility of the PGR Services Team processing the submission for examination and forwarding to examiners).

Currently:

PGRs are no longer required to submit paper copies – only an electronic copy is required. As soon as a student deposits their electronic copy, the PGR Services Team receives an automatic email. Upon receipt of this email, the PGR Services team will acknowledge the electronic submission (on eThesis system) and record the submission (on CS). If examiners are already appointed/approved, the thesis will be forwarded for examination.

Agreed process:

In order to ensure that the PGR Services Team does not acknowledge/process any “unfinished” thesis for examination, PGR Panel agreed that students should not deposit any version to the eThesis repository (via electronic submission window on My Manchester) – instead, a copy of the thesis (as it stands) should be sent to the Faculty PGR Services Team along with the extension request form.  The thesis copy does not have to be sent at the same time as the request form, but must be received by the PGR Services Team no later than the student’s current deadline date.

Both the request form and thesis copy should be sent to the PGR Services Team by uploading to the “Special Permissions” folder on our shared drive.

The PGR Services Team will keep a copy of the thesis on file.  If the extension request is later rejected, the student will be given the opportunity to upload the same version to the eThesis repository.  Before processing, the PGR Services Team will cross-check the uploaded thesis with the copy on file, to ensure that both versions are exactly the same.

Imago and The Innovation Factory are delighted to invite you to the first i □ f meetup on Thursday 2nd December. We will begin with a brief introduction to what Imago and The Innovation Factory do, how to get involved, but most importantly to enjoy two exciting software engineering and delivery talks discussing previous Imago work. The presentations will start with Miranda, Jang, and Karam, who will share the story of a challenging experience of forming and running a completely remote team, a not-entirely-technical client, and all other challenges of successfully delivering a software project. Sam and Nadine will tell us about the architectural and implementation monsters encountered during the build of a microservices-based graph database-based system. No matter if you are in the industry wondering what the wizards in the ivory tower do, if you are in academia trying to tame the industrial beast, or if you are still studying, this event is exactly for you! Tradition dictates that we throw in pizzas and drinks, so come to Alliance Business School on 2nd December at 1800 to enjoy the talks, meet the super talented students, and the Imago team. Imago is the University of Manchester’s student software company. We create beautiful and useful software for paying clients, using the skills and experience we’ve gained during our time at University. There are only 25 places available at the physical event...so register early. If you don't get a ticket to the physical event or if you cannot join us on the day, we are offering digital tickets so you can watch on Zoom from anywhere. Book your ticket now

Details of the annual competition for women graduate researchers for the 2022 Travel Bursary of £500. It is awarded by the British Federation of Women Graduates North West and is designed to help towards the costs of attending an international conference as part of the thesis research.

Partly due to unforeseen delays caused by this year’s Covid restrictions, we have extended the closing date of entry to Saturday 15 January 2022.

This is being done so that the competitors can type their papers and send them through the post, rather than send several attachments online at the last minute. Those will be disqualified as will any that do not have the written support mentioned in the instructions.

I wanted to update you that some repair works were carried out last Friday to the heating system and I am very glad to say that this has been completed. There will be some ongoing works to check the issue has been fully resolved.

Therefore you should now feel warm air in your offices. Please let Michelle Fox michelle.fox-2@manchester.ac.uk know if this isn’t the case in order that it can be reported.