Doctor of Philosophy Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ==== Completion ==== [[File:Ph.D. gown, Cambridge University.jpg|thumb|A PhD gown at the [[University of Cambridge]], one of the world's oldest and most prestigious universities]] There is usually a preliminary assessment to remain in the program and the thesis is submitted at the end of a three- to four-year program. These periods are usually extended pro rata for part-time students. With special dispensation, the final date for the thesis can be extended for up to four additional years, for a total of seven, but this is rare.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The PhD is in need of revision |url=http://www.universityaffairs.ca/the-phd-is-in-need-of-revision.aspx#latest_data |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130731002541/http://www.universityaffairs.ca/the-phd-is-in-need-of-revision.aspx#latest_data |archive-date=31 July 2013 |access-date=5 June 2013 |website=UniversityAffairs.ca}}</ref>{{better source needed|reason=Data is for Canada, not the UK|date=September 2020}} For full-time PhDs, a four-year time limit has now been fixed and students must apply for an extension to submit a thesis past this point. Since the early 1990s, British funding councils have adopted a policy of penalising departments where large proportions of students fail to submit their theses in four years after achieving PhD-student status (or pro rata equivalent) by reducing the number of funded places in subsequent years.<ref>{{Cite web |title=ESRC Society Today |url=http://www.esrcsocietytoday.ac.uk/ESRCInfoCentre/Images/res_grant_linked_studentships_tcm6-12550.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081029194816/http://www.esrcsocietytoday.ac.uk/ESRCInfoCentre/Images/res_grant_linked_studentships_tcm6-12550.pdf |archive-date=29 October 2008 |access-date=2010-04-28 |publisher=ESRC Society Today}}</ref> Inadvertently, this leads to significant pressure on the candidate to minimise the scope of projects with a view on thesis submission, regardless of quality, and discourage time spent on activities that would otherwise further the impact of the research on the community (e.g., publications in high-impact journals, seminars, workshops). Furthermore, supervising staff are encouraged in their career progression to ensure that the PhD students under their supervision finalise the projects in three rather than the four years that the program is permitted to cover. These issues contribute to an overall discrepancy between supervisors and PhD candidates in the priority they assign to the quality and impact of the research contained in a PhD project, the former favouring quick PhD projects over several students and the latter favouring a larger scope for their own ambitious project, training, and impact.{{citation needed|date=December 2016}} There has recently been an increase in the number of Integrated PhD programs available, such as at the University of Southampton. These courses include a Master of Research (MRes) in the first year, which consists of a taught component as well as laboratory rotation projects. The PhD must then be completed within the next three years. As this includes the MRes all deadlines and timeframes are brought forward to encourage completion of both MRes and PhD within four years from commencement. These programs are designed to provide students with a greater range of skills than a standard PhD, and for the university, they are a means of gaining an extra years' fees from public sources. Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page