Primary tabs
Teaching
A doctorate from the Department of Psychiatry is primarily a research degree based on a research programme developed in conjunction with a Supervisor.
| One to one supervision | Supervisors or advisers should meet with students at least weekly in term time during the first year, reducing to fortnightly in term time in the second year if the student is functioning in a more independent way, and reducing to monthly in the final (third) year as the student is involved in writing up their thesis. Supervision meetings typically last for one hour to enable adequate depth of conversation, and it helps if the student brings along a written agenda for each meeting and keeps notes from each meeting. The University of Cambridge publishes an annual Code of Practice which sets out the University's expectations regarding supervision. |
|---|---|
| Seminars & classes | Students are encouraged to attend relevant seminars and classes provided by the department and the University, as advised by their Supervisor. We also strongly recommend that all students engage with the Postgraduate School of Life Sciences' Researcher Development Programme. |
| Lectures | Students are encouraged to attend relevant seminars and classes provided by the department and the University, as advised by their Supervisor. |
| Posters and Presentations | Students are encouraged to present at least once a year, both to their group and at national and international conferences and scientific meetings, to communicate their research findings Second and third-year students will also be expected to present their work at the department's annual Postgraduate Symposium. |
Feedback
The student will receive the following feedback on their progress:
- After starting the course, the principal Supervisor will meet with the student to discuss a preliminary thesis plan and to provide direction and constructive input.
- Throughout the course, the principal Supervisor and student should meet regularly to discuss how the research is progressing
- Principal supervisors will submit supervision reports each term which are available to the student and their faculty or department (or University Partner Institution) Director of Postgraduate Education, Degree Committee, and College tutor, all of whom take an interest in the student's progress.
- Students will be required to produce a final thesis plan and meet with their principal supervisor, who is expected to provide constructive input.
- Feedback is also provided by the principal Supervisor on any work to be published.
There is furthermore oversight of student progress by the departmental Postgraduate Education Committee, which operates within the policies directed by the Faculty Degree Committee.
Assessment
Thesis / Dissertation
Examination for the PhD Degree involves submitting a written thesis that must not exceed 60,000 words (or 80,000 by special permission of the Degree Committee). These limits exclude figures, photographs, tables, appendices and bibliography. An oral examination is conducted by two examiners, usually one from the University of Cambridge and one external to the University of Cambridge, neither of whom may have any direct involvement with the student or the work being examined. Before recommending the award of the PhD Degree, the examiners must satisfy themselves that the thesis:
- is clearly written
- takes due account of previously published work on the subject
- represents a significant contribution to learning, for example, through the discovery of new knowledge, the connection of previously unrelated facts, the development of new theory, or the revision of older views
- amounts to what it is reasonable to expect a student to complete within three years of full-time (five years of part-time) research
The limitations implied by this advice are intended to apply to the scale and scope of the work presented in the thesis but not to its quality.
Other
Every PhD student is probationary in the first year and is required to submit a first-year report within nine months of commencing study. The student is then examined orally on the content of the report and on their understanding of the wider research field, and their future research plans. Subject to a satisfactory examination, which the student must pass, the student is then fully registered for PhD study.
In addition to this, PhD students are expected to submit a Project Proposal Report within the first three months, which should outline the experimental plans, timelines, key questions and expected challenges. The report should be between 800–1,000 words in length.
The report will be reviewed by the Psychiatry Postgraduate Education Committee and is assessed for the feasibility of the proposed project, access to appropriate facilities and resources, and confirmation of a good supervisor/student relationship.