DPhil Student - Transfer to DPhil Status

All DPhil and MSc by Research students are initially registered as Probationer Research Students (PRS). Students should note the MPLS Division requirement that PRS students must transfer to DPhil status within four terms. It follows that PRS must apply for transfer by submitting their online application form and an assessment pro-forma (detailing the marks of the three pieces of assessed work) by Friday of week 0 of your 4th term, and the literature review and the thesis proposal by Wednesday of week 5 of your 4th term.

A guide to the transfer of status requirements, and the work PRS are expected to do in order to meet the requirements can be found in the Graduate Handbook

Students who have transferred from the Doctoral Training Centres or the Centre for Doctoral Training in Cyber Security must apply by Wednesday of 5th week of their 6th term with the written work following by 31st August (or approximately one month before the deadline if their 6th term is not Trinity Term).

Forms and notes relating to transfer You are required to complete the GSO2 application to transfer status. If you are unable to transfer by the deadline you need to complete GSO2b - "application to defer". Both application forms can be found in the My Student Record tab in Student Self Service.

If, for good reason, you are unable to apply to transfer status by the end of your fourth term you may apply to defer transfer for a maximum of two terms with the support of your supervisor. This application has to be approved by the Director of Graduate Studies.

Own your DPhil Workshop

Organised by CoGS, DPhil students who have been through transfer run a transfer workshop for first year students who will need to transfer in their fourth term. Amongst other things, the workshop provides an interactive forum for pre-transfer students to communicate their research ideas. You are strongly encouraged to attend this.

The workshop will be held in Trinity Term and will consist of a departmental overview of the transfer process from the Director of Graduate Studies followed by a presentation of MPLS-requested information and question panel with post-transfer DPhil students, and culminating with an opportunity for you to practice presenting your research question(s) to academics for feedback.

You will take turns presenting your research statement(s) in groups of 4-5 with a member of academic staff per group and will receive feedback. This is not about the content of the research itself but rather your ability to form and communicate your ideas --- much as you might be expected to do at the onset of a Transfer Viva/Interview. The goal at the end is to have each of you going into transfer better equipped to offer your topic to your assessors.