UWA Handbook 2026

1. The Student Rules apply except where contravened by these rules.

2. Despite any other rule, the Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research Training) permits exceptions to these rules where it is in the best interest of the candidature to do so, for compelling or compassionate reasons, which were unforeseen or beyond the control of the candidate. Circumstances relating to employment are not considered exceptional. In administering these rules, the Graduate Research School (GRS) must act consistently with any exception permitted under this rule.

Admission

3. To be admitted as a candidate, an applicant must demonstrate adequate research preparation, English language competency and meet any other requirements for admission stipulated in the HDR Admission Policy. An applicant in a field of creative practice must also submit a portfolio of creative works.

Enrolment type

4. Candidates must be enrolled either full-time (1.0 Full-Time Equivalent - FTE) or part-time (0.5 FTE). Full-time enrolment is equivalent to an expectation of 30 hours of research per week and part-time enrolment is equivalent to 15 hours.

Enrolment

5. A candidate whose enrolment has not been confirmed is enrolled on a probationary basis. Probationary enrolment is permitted for no longer than 12 months (FTE).

6. Total candidature time must not exceed four years of enrolment (full-time equivalent), except where additional candidature time is permitted by the GRS as the result of an examination classification of ‘Passed, subject to revision’ or ‘Resubmit’.

7. The GRS discontinues a candidate’s enrolment when their thesis is certified complete.

8. Candidates are enrolled annually by the GRS, provided that all milestones have been met, total enrolment has not exceeded four years, and the candidate has no outstanding debts to the University or encumbrances on their record.

9. A candidate must apply for leave or withdraw from the course if they do not intend to remain enrolled.

10. When a candidate transfers from another institution, or upgrades to the PhD, their candidature time is reduced by the duration of their previous enrolment.

11. A candidate is not permitted to enrol simultaneously:

(a) in a degree course leading to a formal qualification at another institution, or,

(b) in a postgraduate, undergraduate or honours course at this University,

except where the concurrent enrolment is permitted under rule 12 or rule 13; or the specific combination of courses has been approved by Academic Board.

Concurrent enrolment in coursework units

12. Despite rule 11(b), a candidate is permitted to enrol in up to 24 credit points worth of coursework units. The units must be relevant to the candidate’s research.

13. Despite rule 11, a candidate is permitted to enrol concurrently in a micro-credential, or non-award course. The concurrent enrolment cannot be in a course for which Commonwealth Government funding is provided.

14. Concurrent enrolments under rules 12 or 13 are not permitted in the final year of candidature.

15. A leave of absence is not permitted to facilitate concurrent enrolment under rules 12 and 13.

External enrolment

16. External enrolment is permitted provided that suitable arrangements are made for supervision and access to facilities and resources, as determined by GRS.

Course content

17. Course content is determined by the supervisory team and enrolling School.

18. The GRS may prescribe additional course requirements as appropriate.

Satisfactory Progress and Milestones

19. Candidates must maintain satisfactory progress as a condition of their enrolment.

20. Satisfactory progress is the minimum progress toward completion expected of a candidate, according to the duration of their candidature. Progress is assessed at each candidature milestone.

21. Candidature milestones vary according to the stage of candidature; each milestone is an opportunity for the candidate to demonstrate their research.

22. If the supervisors and the School assess that the candidate’s progress is satisfactory, they must endorse the milestone submission and the GRS must certify that the milestone has been met.

23. When a milestone is not met the GRS and School must provide support for a second attempt at the milestone, including prescribing work to improve the candidate’s prospect of success. The candidate is notified that they are at risk of not meeting course requirements.

24. A candidate is permitted two attempts to demonstrate satisfactory progress at each milestone.

25. Failure to pass a milestone after the permitted attempts results in termination of candidature.

26. The candidate must provide an update regarding the progress of their research whenever requested to do so by their supervisors, School or GRS.

Research proposal

27. Approval of the research proposal is the first candidature milestone. A full-time candidate must submit their research proposal to GRS within six months of commencement and a part-time candidate must submit within twelve months.

28. The candidate must complete academic conduct and research integrity training before their research proposal is approved.

29. A candidate approved to upgrade from the MPhil to the PhD is deemed to have met the requirement for an approved research proposal.

Confirmation of candidature

30. A candidate must apply for confirmation of candidature by the conclusion of their probationary enrolment.

31. The GRS confirms candidature on the basis of satisfactorily meeting the following conditions:

(a) the candidate is making satisfactory progress;

(b) the research proposal has been approved;

(c) the candidate has delivered an oral presentation of their research project; and

(d) the School endorses the candidate’s application for confirmation.

32. If candidature is not confirmed in the PhD, and the standard of the research is appropriate to Master of Philosophy, the GRS may confirm candidature in the MPhil.

Leave 

33. A candidate is permitted to temporarily discontinue their research, for a period of at least one month, by taking a leave of absence. Cumulative leave throughout candidature must not exceed one year (excluding maternal/paternity leave taken under rule 34), regardless of whether the candidate has been enrolled full- or part-time. 

34. In addition to the one-year entitlement to take personal leave, candidates are permitted:

(a) up to 12 months' maternity leave, for each child; or,

(b) up to 12 months' parental leave for the primary carer, for each child.

35. A candidate whose thesis has been classified ‘Passed, subject to revision’ or ‘Resubmit’ is not permitted a leave of absence outside of exceptional circumstances.

Downgrade of candidature

36. A candidate may apply to downgrade their candidature to the Master of Philosophy. Where the application is made after the first two years (FTE) of candidature, the downgrade is considered only in compelling circumstances, supported by evidence demonstrating that continuation in the doctoral program is no longer feasible or appropriate, while completion of the MPhil remains achievable. A downgrade is not approved solely to expedite completion to avoid the requirements of the doctoral award. 

Readmission

37. A former candidate is entitled to be readmitted and continue their research, if:

(a) the research constitutes an original contribution to knowledge;

(b) there is supervisor and School support;

(c) the majority of the research and work on the thesis were undertaken during candidature;

(d) total candidature time has not exceeded four years;

(e) the candidature was not concluded by expulsion; and

(f) GRS approves.

Intellectual property and confidentiality

38. Candidates must be aware of and abide by their obligations relating to intellectual property (IP), Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property (ICIP) and confidentiality obligations.

39. Candidates must notify their supervisors and the GRS of their IP and confidentiality obligations. New IP relationships must be discussed with the supervisory team prior to entering agreements.

40. Theses are made publicly available once classified as passed. Access to the thesis, or an appendix, is restricted for up to two years if required by intellectual property or confidentiality obligations. During a period of restriction, access to the thesis is only granted with the written consent of the author.

Content and format of a thesis

41. A thesis must be an original work of research which is formatted as:

(a) a monograph;

(b) a series of papers either published or suitable for publication with an introduction and general discussion;

(c) a hybrid of papers and chapters with an introduction and general discussion; or,

(d) a creative work with a scholarly exegesis.

42. A thesis formatted as a series of papers is normally composed of three first- or lead-authored papers and must not exceed five such papers.

43. The content, coherence and contribution of the work take primacy over the form of the thesis. A thesis is approximately 80,000 words, but this is not a minimum requirement for submission. The limit is 100,000 words, including footnotes.

44. A thesis by creative practice must include a scholarly exegesis of at least 20,000 words.

45. A thesis must:

(a) be the candidate’s original work completed during the course of candidature;

(b) be created and presented in strict accordance with University policies on academic and research integrity; 

(c) be in English unless GRS has approved otherwise;

(d) abide by GRS formatting requirements; and

(e) be transmittable electronically.

46. Co-authored works are permitted in a thesis, where the candidate has made a substantial contribution to the work and any co-authors consent to its inclusion.

Submission of a thesis for examination

47. A candidate must undergo examination as a means of demonstrating that their research makes a novel contribution to knowledge in their field. The examination consists of an assessment of the thesis and an oral defence of the research.

48. A thesis which makes a novel contribution to knowledge, and has a reasonable prospect of successful examination, must not be unduly delayed in submission for examination. Any delay to submission must be beneficial to the prospect of successful examination.

49. Candidates submitting a thesis by creative practice must present their research by means of an exhibition or performance.

50. A candidate, whose thesis is considered unsuitable for submission by their School, is entitled to apply to GRS to submit the thesis for examination without the School’s endorsement.

51. A candidate who proceeds to examination without School endorsement is not entitled to further academic support if revisions to the thesis are recommended by the examiners.

52. A candidate is not permitted to withdraw or alter their thesis while it is under examination.

Nomination of examiners

53. Nominations of examiners must be in accordance with HDR Examination Policy.

54. Two examiners and one reserve examiner must be nominated by the supervisory team, endorsed by the candidate, and approved by the Head of School (or delegate). The GRS appoints two examiners to examine the thesis and the candidate, and may appoint the reserve examiner where required.

55. Examiners nominated under rule 54 (including the reserve examiner) must not be employees of the University and at least one of the appointed examiners must be based outside of Western Australia.

56. The GRS appoints examiners in cases where a School has not endorsed the candidate’s submission for examination.

Classification of theses

57. On the basis of the examiners’ reports, GRS may classify theses:

(a) Passed;

(b) Passed, subject to revision;

(c) Resubmit;

(d) Failed.

58. If a thesis is classified ‘Passed, subject to revision’, the candidate must correct the thesis accordingly and submit it to the School for endorsement within three months of the examination outcome. If the examination has proceeded without School support the candidate must submit the thesis to the GRS. 

59. A thesis which has been classified Passed (including Passed subject to revision) must be certified complete by the GRS when all course requirements have been satisfied and any required revisions to the thesis have been approved.

60. The final thesis must be formatted according to University rules and submitted electronically

61. Candidature is terminated by the GRS when a thesis is classified Failed.

Resubmission

62. A thesis must only be classified ‘Resubmit’ when there is a viable prospect of its being accepted for the award, following identifiable improvements, which can be achieved within one year.

63. The GRS must advise the candidate of the improvements required for the thesis to be classified Passed.

64. A candidate whose thesis is classified ‘Resubmit’ may be permitted one additional year of candidature time.

65. A resubmitted thesis must, after examination, be classified as Passed or Failed.

Joint/double-badged PhD

66. With the support of their supervisors and head of school (or delegate), a candidate is entitled to apply to GRS to enrol in a joint/double-badged PhD with a partner institution.

67. An agreement must be in place between UWA and the partner institution before a joint/double-badged PhD enrolment is permitted.

68. A current PhD candidate is entitled to transfer into a joint/double-badged PhD and continue their research with full credit, unless more than half of their candidature time has elapsed.

69. A current joint/double-badged PhD candidate is entitled to transfer into a PhD at UWA only and continue their research with full credit.