Research masters degrees

• General information
• Entry requirements
• Course structure
  • Students enrolled in a research degree prior to 2002
• Grades for the award of a research masters degree
• Disciplines
• External masters candidature
  • Entry requirements
  • Facilities/resources required
  • Attendance
  • Communication
  • Review
  • Transfer to external candidature
• Advanced standing
• Upgrading from research masters to PhD

General information

A research masters degree is defined as having a research/thesis component of 66 per cent or 100 per cent.
The Faculty of Arts offers three research masters degrees: Master of Arts, Master of Bioethics and Master of Environmental Science. The Master of Arts is offered in a wide range of disciplines.
Students enrolling for a 100 per cent research masters degree can start their candidature at any time of the year.

Entry requirements

The minimum entry requirements for a research masters degree are a four-year bachelors degree with honours H1 or H2A or equivalent, or a masters qualifying with a research component with an overall grade of H2A or above. With both honours and masters qualifying, applicants are expected to have achieved a distinction or above in the research component, or an equivalent qualification in an appropriate discipline. Applicants should check the entry requirements detailed under the various programs for more specific details. Note that the minimum entry requirements may differ from program to program and from time to time.

Course structure

The Master of Arts and Master of Bioethics are available by 100 per cent thesis. Candidates undertaking these degrees by 100 per cent thesis are expected to submit a thesis of 30,000 to 40,000 words. The period of candidature is two years full-time or four years part-time. Minimum candidature for all research students is one year full-time or two years part-time. Research students, whether full-time or part-time, must be able to attend the university regularly.
The Master of Arts is also available by coursework and research. Candidates must complete 24 points of coursework at level five and are expected to submit a thesis of 20,000 to 25,000 words (weighted at 66 per cent).
The period of candidature is one-and-a-half years full-time or three years part-time. The minimum pass grade for masters coursework units and for the thesis is 60 C (credit).
The Master of Environmental Science degree is offered by coursework and research. Candidates are required to successfully complete 24 points of coursework and a thesis portfolio weighted at 66 per cent. The normal duration of the Master of Environmental Science is one-and-a-half years full-time or three years part-time.
Refer to individual discipline entries for details of the masters degrees available by coursework and research.

Students enrolled in a research degree prior to 2002

There have been a number of changes to the requirements for research degrees over the years in respect to duration, thesis length and coursework units. To find out the requirements for their research degree, students are referred to the handbook of the year of their enrolment. Handbooks are available on the web.

Grades for the award of a research masters degree

For all research masters candidates who have qualified for the degree, there are three qualifying grades: honours 2B (60 -- 69), honours 2A (70 -- 79) and honours 1 (80 -- 100). A candidate who fails to qualify for the award will obtain the grade of fail (NN).
In cases where a candidate has undertaken a thesis combined with coursework units, the marks for the thesis and the units shall be taken into consideration when deciding upon an overall qualifying grade for the degree, however the thesis results are given greater weighting. For Master of Arts degrees commenced prior to 1998, the overall qualifying grade will be based on the thesis and results of units taken in part two of the course only.
Note that the minimum grade for the research folio and core and foundation units in the Master of Environmental Science is a credit (60) or above and a credit average for electives.

Disciplines

Masters degrees by research can be supervised in the following disciplines. Refer to individual discipline entries in this handbook to obtain details of the research interests for postgraduate supervision.

ALSO OFFERED AT THE GIPPSLAND CAMPUS
In addition to the disciplines listed above, supervision of 100 per cent research masters candidates can usually be offered in all disciplines listed under the Doctor of Philosophy.

External masters candidature

The following research degrees offer external candidature:

• Master of Arts
• Master of Arts (Music Composition)
• Master of Bioethics

External candidature is available to students in Australia and overseas. All applicants must be able to demonstrate to the school and the Graduate Research Office of the Faculty of Arts that they will be able to have regular interactive communication -- at least on a fortnightly basis -- with their supervisor. The interactive communication can take the form of telephone, video conference, email or other means.
Candidates undertaking a 66 per cent research load in all disciplines, apart from linguistics, will be required to enrol for all of the units in the coursework component on Clayton campus and may then apply for transfer to external candidature. Candidates undertaking a 66 per cent MA in linguistics will normally enrol for either both or only one of the coursework units on campus and then apply for transfer to external candidature.

Entry requirements

External applicants are subject to the same entry requirements as on-campus applicants.

Facilities/resources required

External mode applicants will need to satisfy both the School and the Graduate Research Office of the Faculty of Arts that their research environment has facilities and resources suitable for the proposed research, such as library and internet access, which will enable them to carry out their proposed research program.

Attendance

Students will have to attend a Monash University campus to meet with their supervisor(s) for 21 residential days over the period of candidature. This requirement may be filled in either one block of time or in several blocks.

Communication

The students must be able to demonstrate to the school and the Graduate Research Office of the Faculty of Arts that regular interactive communication -- at least on a fortnightly basis -- can take place with their supervisor. The interactive communication can take the form of telephone, video conference, email or other means.

Review

Students undertaking a 100 per cent research load will be admitted subject to a review after four months of full-time or eight months of part-time candidature.
Students undertaking a 66 per cent research load will be subject to a review three to six months after they started their research.
In addition, for both categories, an annual progress report, which will include comments on residential attendance and the student's ability to maintain interactive communication with their supervisor, will be called for.

Transfer to external candidature

Current on-campus students may change to external mode, subject to fulfilling the same requirements as outlined for new students.

Advanced standing

Advanced standing will not normally be granted for the coursework component in a 66 per cent masters research degree.

Upgrading from research masters to PhD

Students contemplating an upgrade from research masters must allow roughly two months for the upgrading process, a point to be noted especially by students approaching the time limit for masters candidature. Except in circumstances deemed exceptional, a transfer should occur after nine but before 36 months full-time equivalent candidature has elapsed. Students should discuss a potential upgrade with their supervisor in the first instance, after which the graduate coordinator or the head of the academic unit or centre should be consulted to make the necessary arrangements.
The decision to recommend an upgrade or not (or to postpone a decision) is made by a panel that includes the school graduate coordinator and the supervisor as well as other relevant academic school members.
The panel will base its decision on an oral presentation and a written submission by the candidate, plus any other information deemed relevant by the panel.
The candidate's written case for upgrading will provide details on the proposed research, report progress to date and provide a timetable for completion of each phase of the research program. Copies are to be submitted to each panel member. Accordingly, this submission should be a substantial document of 10,000 words, worthy of the time already devoted to the work. The candidate is expected to define the focus, methods and limits of the research precisely and to place it in the context of related scholarly literature. The candidate should also explain how the masters work will be altered to reflect its new status as doctoral research. The submission may be supported by any written works, such as working papers or chapter drafts, which would reinforce the case. A bibliography of works consulted should be supplied. Due attention should be paid to matters of clarity, readability and presentation.
The oral presentation will usually be in the form of a seminar, open to the public, but the panel may accept an alternative format such as an in-depth interview if circumstances warrant.
After the candidate has made an oral presentation and submitted the written statement, the panel will meet to consider its decision. In normal cases, the panel's decision should be made known to the candidate within one month. If the panel is in favour of the upgrade, a PhD candidature application form, together with the upgrade form and the candidate's written submission, are forwarded to the faculty and, if approved, to the university's Research Graduate School Committee for final approval.

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