Research Student - Problems

Problems impeding your research

Sometimes your work may be impeded for reasons beyond your own control. If this is happening to you, it is important to seek out the people who might be able to help you. If possible, discuss it with your supervisor and maybe your Thesis Group members (particularly your RSMG rep).

Sometimes it cannot be sorted out at that level, for instance if you have a major illness or if relationships between you and your supervisor (or Thesis Group members) look like breaking down. Then you should certainly discuss the matter with the Research Students Tutor (for academic issues) or the welfare team (for welfare issues).

The Research Students Tutor will have to be involved if you need a leave of absence, or an extension, or if you need to change your supervisor or Thesis Group.

If you feel the Research Students Tutor does not or cannot give a satisfactory response, you can take the matter to the Head of School. By this stage you may be wondering about how to make a complaint.

Remember that any discussion between you and members of staff on welfare issues can be kept confidential if you wish. The general rule is that if you disclose confidential details to a member of staff, they may make their own assessment of the impact on your studies, and report that assessment to others, but they will not pass on the confidential details.

Leave of absence and extensions

There are two ways to gain extra time.

A leave of absence is for a period when you are not working, or cannot work, on your studies. A common reason is illness, but there are other situations where a leave of absence would be appropriate. It is assumed that during that period you do not need facilites or supervision, and you do not pay fees. Your submission deadline is delayed by the length of the leave of absence.

An extension is a recognition that you simply need a longer period of working in order to complete. Our aim is always to avoid extensions, since the School's effectiveness in research student supervision is judged in part (by the University and public funding bodies) on the rate of on-time submission. One focus of thesis group meetings in the later stages is to look for ways to ensure that submission is on time. However, we will generally approve an extension if it is necessary.

Note that you cannot submit late without an extension.

In both cases you will need to say how much extra time is needed, and justify that amount of time. In welfare cases you should consult the welfare team and you may also need documentation such as a letter from your doctor.

The Grad School website has guidance and request forms for Leave of Absence (including a whole Code of Practice) and Extensions. In both cases you download the form and fill it in, and then get it signed by your supervisor who will pass it on to the Research Students Tutor for School approval. It then goes to Research Students Admin for central approval. Always download a fresh form. Do not use old paper forms - sometimes the forms are updated in important ways.

For most cases of extensions, the Research Students Tutor will expect to see that the extension has been discussed in a Thesis Group meeting and that the Thesis Group are explictly recommending it. Important questions there are -

  • Is it possible to scale back the ambitions of the thesis so that it can be finished by the deadline but still be passable?
  • If not, how long an extension is needed?
  • What is the workplan for finishing within the extension? (Any extension application has to include a workplan.)

Remember that while you are writing up you should still be producing regular progress reports and holding meetings if your Thesis Group have any doubts about your progress. So an extension application should naturally follow a Thesis Group meeting.