What is confirmation?
All HDR candidates at Deakin are admitted on a provisional basis and must satisfactorily complete the candidature confirmation process at an early stage of candidature. The purpose of the confirmation process is to improve the candidate's chances of successfully completing their degree by:
- Assessing the likelihood of a quality thesis being completed within the candidature time limit
- Identifying any difficulties early and remedying them
Additional benefits of confirmation for the candidate are that it:
- provides reassurance that their research direction is sound
- encourages writing early in candidature so that there's less of a "mountain to climb" at the end
- provides a chance to develop their presentation skills
The confirmation process is not meant to be intimidating for candidates - the whole purpose is to improve the candidate's chances of success. A major reason why some HDR candidates do not finish their degree is that they never actually start (i.e. they get to the end of their candidature time with an incomplete literature review and no clear research question). Confirmation requires candidates to focus on a clear definition of their research question at a very early stage, and to plan the rest of the project (including the writing of thesis) on that basis.
Time limit for confirmation
The time limits by which confirmation must be completed are as follows.
| Full-time candidate | Part-time candidate | |||
| Confirmation limit | Aim to submit thesis within | Confirmation limit | Aim to submit thesis within | |
| Masters degree | 6 months | 24 months | 12 months | 48 months |
| Doctoral degree | 12 months | 36 months | 18 months | 72 months |
Preparing for confirmation
If you wish to transfer from masters to PhD, you can combine this process with confirmation.
Candidates should check with their faculty for any faculty-specific guidelines or requirements. The HDR contact people in the Faculty are another very useful source of information.
Research integrity training
All candidates are required to complete research integrity training. There are two scenarios:
1. candidates who will undergo confirmation of candidature on or before 30 June 2012 - do not have to complete the training by the time of confirmation but must complete it by the time of their 2013 annual review of progress.
2. candidates who will undergo confirmation on or after 1 July 2012 - must complete the training as a condition of confirmation.
For further information on Research integrity training:
Possible outcomes
The flow diagram below shows the possible outcomes from the confirmation process. Candidates who are not successful first time are given a second chance.
In the case of a masters candidate, the option of transferring to a masters degree would obviously not apply.
Doctor of Psychology
The confirmation process described here relates only to PhD and masters candidates. The Doctor of Psychology program has a specific confirmation process - further information is available from the School of Psychology.
