Enrolment in a Doctor of Philosophy involves the independent investigation of a research problem that has been formulated by the student. The research the student undertakes will need to make a significant contribution to the discipline in which the student is enrolled. Doctoral students are supported by a minimum of two supervisors throughout their enrolment.
Students are also required to complete training activities as part of the Monash doctoral programMonash doctoral program (http://www.monash.edu/migr/future-students/phd). These discipline-specific and professional development activities are designed to impart skills and knowledge that will help students to conduct their research.
These course outcomes are aligned with the Australian Qualifications Framework level 10, the Bologna Cycle 3 and Monash Graduate AttributesAustralian Qualifications Framework level 10, the Bologna Cycle 3 and Monash Graduate Attributes (http://monash.edu.au/pubs/handbooks/alignmentofoutcomes.html).
Successful completion of the program will signify that the holder has completed a course of postgraduate training in research under proper academic supervision and has submitted a thesis that the examiners have declared to be a significant contribution to knowledge and which demonstrates the candidate's capacity to carry out independent original research.
Students must, in consultation with and under the direct supervision of a member/s of the academic staff:
1. carry out a program of research on an agreed topic approved by the school or department of enrolment in the student's chosen discipline for a specified period, including attending and/or presenting at seminars and other related activities as indicated by the relevant department/school
2. submit for assessment a thesis component which meets the requirements of the examiners consisting of:
- a live performance in a public venue
- a written thesis.
The student will develop and present a live performance in a public venue, which will normally be in one of the fields of directing, theatre making or dramatic writing. The student's performance will embody the results of the research investigation, which will be into the contexts, theoretical influences, aesthetic elements and performance making processes of the project. The thesis will be an explication and analysis of the performance research project and will address methodological and theoretical issues that arise during the research investigation.
The performance will normally be 60-90 minutes and the thesis 30,000-35,000 words. The combined elements should constitute the equivalent of a research submission of 80,000 words. Calculations of equivalence are based on the proposal that one minute of actual stage time at this level is equivalent to at least 700 words of dialogue and stage directions. A performance work of 60-90 minutes would thus be equivalent to 40,000-45,000 words.
Submission of the thesis based on or partially based on conjointly published or unpublished workconjointly published or unpublished work (http://www.monash.edu.au/migr/examiners/publication/) may be permitted.
3. satisfactorily complete the following program of research training:
Students are required to undertake regular progress milestones to support them in conducting research of an appropriate quality, originality and depth as required by their course of study, in accordance with the Graduate Research Progress Management policyGraduate Research Progress Management policy (http://policy.monash.edu/policy-bank/academic/research/mrgs/grad-research-progress-mgmt-policy.html) and supporting procedures.
