PhD students joining the Postgraduate Schools of Administration are on a 3-year programme. However, a slight variation in the timeline is expected. Once on the PhD programme, you will already be aware of your Principal and Second Supervisors that will be allocated based on subject specialisation. All students will be appointed a Departmental PhD Coordinator – who will exercise general academic and pastoral oversight of PhD students at PSA, including your induction, supervision, progression and examination.

Students will be expected to meet their supervisors at least once a month. Students will be required to complete, sign and submit a meeting record which will be counter-signed by the supervisory team. The completed meeting records need to be emailed to info@psagh.com. These meeting records will be filed and presented in staff meetings to assess whether the student has demonstrated a sufficient level of progress to be considered for an exam. Progress of all students is monitored by a Thesis Committee consisting of your Principal Supervisor, Second Supervisor and the Departmental PhD coordinator. Students will be expected to meet with the Committee once at the end of the 1st year and once at the end of the 2nd year to demonstrate satisfactory progression. Students will be expected to submit a literature review draft at the end of the 1st year and present key findings from the literature review. Students are expected to submit a draft of the findings and analysis chapter by the end of the 2nd year, where they are expected to present key findings from the chapter. The Thesis Committee meetings are expected to last between 30-60 minutes.

PROGRESS OF PROGRAMME

The PhD programme will be divided into two segments. The first segment will consist of taught modules, and the second segment will be focused on the research and write-up leading to the submission of the PhD thesis. It should be noted that both segments will run in parallel to each other. You will be expected to attend all the taught modules while working on your Extended Research Proposal (ERP), followed by the literature review chapter draft.

Segment 1

The taught modules provide systematic continuous support in relation to the candidate’s skills and knowledge developed throughout their study. It allows candidates to reach a level playing field in terms of providing the foundation for doctoral-level research and knowledge of the related fields.

In the later part of the year, the student is to apply knowledge and understanding of research methodology to an actual pilot study and overall thesis proposal and to reflect on their own performance as a researcher.

Module Content

Each module covers a two-month period. Each module has 2 webinars attached to it. This is to provide students with an overall picture of how the component parts are related and the specific timings of key events. This includes research proposal and upgrade of Registration.

The modules study in stage 1 takes place over a 12-month period and:

• Provide the basis of continuous support for you to develop the skills and knowledge that form the basis of the research to be undertaken.
• Allow you to develop your thinking, reflection and writing skills and reflect on Management and business theory and practice.
• Form a development path that builds on each other to allow the research to be part of the process from the outset.
• Provide detailed formative and summative feedback that builds on each other.
• Through the assessments, which are built-in, not bolted-on, to the research project you are undertaking, work on key aspects of your research from day one.

Segment 2

It should be noted that Segment 2 will run in parallel to Segment 1, where the key milestones within Segment 2 are provided below.

YEAR 1 

(0-3rd month) Extended Research Proposal (ERP): In the first few months, students will be required to submit an ERP, which will involve students demonstrating a contribution to knowledge, outline of research methodology and structure in terms of chapters related to the PhD thesis.

(3rd-12th month) Submission of Literature Review Chapter(s) Draft: Students will be required to write a contextual review on areas related to the research focus and a critical review of related studies as part of the literature review/background write-up.

(30-60 minutes at the end of 1st academic year) Thesis Committee Meeting: To progress into Year 2, it will be mandatory for students to submit a literature review draft by the end of the academic year and satisfy academic staff at the Thesis Committee meeting via a presentation. In the case of failure, students will be granted the opportunity to convert the literature review chapter draft into an MPhil thesis within a 6 month period to qualify for an MPhil qualification.

YEAR 2

(0-3rd month) Submission of Research Methodology Chapter Draft/Ethical Approval: Students will be required to write up and submit a draft of the research methodology chapter while waiting for ethical approval from the academic staff to conduct the empirical research.

(3rd-6th month) Data collection and analysis: Students will be authorized to conduct the empirical research, where they will be expected to transcribe and analyse the retrieved data during this stage.

(6th-12th month) Submission of Findings and Analysis Chapter(s) Draft: Students will be required to submit a draft of the findings and analysis chapter by the end of the academic year, which will be subject to review by the academic staff.

(30-60 minutes at the end of 2nd academic year) Thesis Committee Meeting: The student will present the key findings from the findings and analysis chapter to the academic team to demonstrate their progress in the PhD programme.

YEAR 3

(0-3rd month) Submission of Discussion Chapter Draft: Students will be expected to submit the discussion chapter within the first 3 months, which will consist of demonstrating a contribution to knowledge as well as the realization of the research aim and objectives.

(3rd-6th month) Submission of Conclusions and Recommendations Chapter Draft.

(6th- 9th month) Submission of Introduction Chapter Draft.

(0-12th month) Final write-up: Year 3 will be an opportunity for students to review and update chapters while writing up and awaiting feedback for other chapters.

(During the 12th month) Final submission: Students will be required to submit the final draft of a 60,000-80,000 word thesis document which will be examined by an internal and external examiner.

(6-8 weeks after final submission)  Exam: This meeting will involve a meeting between the internal and external examiners with the PhD student where there will be a senior member of staff acting as chair for the program.  Additionally, one of the PhD supervisors will be allowed to attend the program as a silent/non-participating attendant.

Student Grievances and Complaints
If you have any concerns about your supervision, progression, etc, please discuss these with the Departmental PhD Coordinator at the earliest possible opportunity.

If you feel that a member of staff has unfairly treated you in any way, please raise it first with that member of staff. If that is inappropriate, then see the Departmental PhD Coordinator, who can also advise on any difficulties (personal, financial, medical or academic) affecting your studies.

RESEARCH ETHICS

It is your responsibility to make sure that you have ethical permission in place in the form of ethical approval by academic staff before performing research where this is required. Please refer to the research ethics page on the PSA website for more information.

RESEARCH INTEGRITY

Being a researcher involves a high level of ethical standards and integrity in one’s work and interactions with others. PSA takes integrity very seriously and misconduct in research can be very damaging for individuals and the institution as a whole.