COVID-19: important information for research students
Plans for postgraduate research students from 17 May
In-person supervision of postgraduate research students can resume from 17 May. However, remote supervision should remain in place for staff and students not on campus or unable to meet in person. Please contact your supervisor to discuss how you will organise supervisory arrangements from 17 May. Remote viva examinations should continue to be the main format, but where possible we recommend that internal examiners and students should utilise campus facilities for the viva.
Please continue to adhere to current public health measures to keep yourself and everyone safe, including wearing a face covering inside campus buildings, as well as outdoors on campus wherever maintaining a 2-metre distance may not be possible.
If you are returning to campus to study, it’s also important to get tested both before and after travelling, and thereafter twice weekly. There are facilities on campus for getting tested both if you are symptom free and if you feel you may have symptoms. In the latter case, please self isolate and dont come onto campus for study purposes.
A list of frequently asked questions (FAQs) for PGRs provides detailed information to help you further.
COVID-19 Impact Log for PGR Students
We remain committed to supporting you through your research and studies by minimising and mitigating the impact of COVID-19 as much as we can. To help you, your supervisor and the University with minimising and mitigating impacts we are introducing a ‘COVID-19 Impact Log’.
This log will allow you to document any significant COVID-related impact on the progress of your research project, together with the mitigating plans that have been implemented. The form should be regularly reviewed jointly by you and your supervisor(s). In discussing the form with your supervisor you should bear in mind that a key goal has to be completing the PhD within reasonable time. This may involve a redesign of the project or a reduction in planned activity.
The University is requesting that all doctoral research students, however funded and irrespective of end-date of funding or PGR programme, complete and maintain this COVID-19 log.
You can access the form here COVID 19 PGR Log
Further details for completing the form below;
Thesis Submission and Viva
If you are ready to submit your thesis, you should send it via email it to PGRS and as long as we have had the Intention to Submit Form it will be forwarded on to your examiners.
Vivas are taking place as normal (see above) and will usually be done remotely. You will need to complete a Remote Viva Form which you can return to PGRS. Furthermore, the Remote Viva policy (Appendix 9 of the PGR Code of Practice) is available by accessing the CoP link below.
Theses are being sent out electronically by the LDC Student Experience Team, you may find that an examiner will request a hard copy be posted to them, if this happens, please could you refer them to PGRS@liverpool.ac.uk. The thesis should only be sent by the LDC Student Experience Team.
Graduation July 2021
The deadline for the receipt of paperwork for the July Graduation is 25th June 2021. By this date we need to have received all the exam reports and you need to have deposited your final thesis in the library, please.
As you may already be aware, the ceremony will not go ahead again for the July 2021. This is a decision taken based on current government advice. Please refer to the Graduation web pages for further information. https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/graduation/
Submission Deadline Extension
As you may have noted, the University has extended almost every PGR registration with a start date before 18 March 2020, by adding 6 months to your thesis submission deadline. Exceptions to this are people who have already submitted and are in the process of completing major or minor corrections or resubmitting, and XJTLU registrations which are being managed seperately by XJTLU.
The extension is done at no cost to you. It cannot be done earlier in your registration, we can only extend your deadline for submission. Please note, this will potentially be different to your funding deadline. A funding extension is different to an chronological extension.
Please also note that this extension is designed to mitigate for the effects of the pandemic. It is felt this is enough time to adapt to new practices and any further extra time will be subject to the conditions laid out in the PGR Code of Practice, Appendix 6.
Therefore, if you intend to make a request either for a suspension but more importantly, for a further extension, please read Appendix 6 before doing so. It is vitally important in order to avoid disappointment, noting the reasons for approval of an extension before putting the request in.
Please note, the extension is neither full nor part time, any changes to that element of registration, therefore will not include this extension.
Submission Pending
If you are or were due to go submission pending, you should still go ahead.
If you were due to spend more time in a lab, when we eventually return to the buildings, we will resolve that issue locally at the time we return. Some people are already able to return, this is also being arranged locally by Faculties or schools, if you have any queries, you should contact them.
Please note that transferring to submission pending will result in a significantly reduced fee and will not impact on access to labs or research facilities during the pandemic.
International Students with T4 Visa and Suspending Studies
If you have a T4 visa and are still in the UK and find you need to request a suspension of studies, its vitally important that you contact the International Advice and Guidance Team (IAG@liverpool.ac.uk) beforehand to ascertain the potential implications for your visa. We are still required to report the suspension of studies to the UKVI.
Who to Contact
There may be many other questions related to this situation, you can email any of the administrators, link officers or the PGRS email with them and you should get an answer quite quickly. As you know, the pandemic situation does not remain static and so, if we have changes, we will put them here. More immediate changes will be notified by email so do please, keep an eye on that. Contact email addresses are all available in the left hand navigation of this page.
Annual Progress Reports
Finally! Annual Progress Reports have been released, please complete the report as best as you are able when you receive it. Non completion could still cause delays to ongoing registration. The APR data is static once released, we can however, refresh the report if it is still at Check stage, if you send us an email, for example, if you think the submission deadline in the APR is incorrect. It will also be vital that you check the contact details we have for you now please and correct those if not up to date.
We are aware the meeting record may be slightly unusual because of the current situation, however, we hope that you are still keeping in contact with your supervisors and you can record email contact or remote meetings as part of your meeting record. As the university hasnt officially closed, there is an expectation that contact will be continued and recorded as normal unless you have suspended your studies.
Below this are the links to the Code of Practice, the degree Ordinances and the forms page as well as to the new 2020/21 PGR Handbook.
Thank you and stay safe.
A-Z of Forms
All the forms related to the research degree
PGR Code of Practice and Ordinances
The PGR Code of Practice and its Appendices
The Ordinances for research degrees
- PhD 57 A-D,
- MPhil 56A-D,
- Doc Med 58A & B
- DDSc 60