Notes for Examiners of MPhil Theses

While it is not necessary that an MPhil thesis would make a major contribution to the discipline by way of new knowledge, as a PhD would require, an MPhil thesis would be expected to make a contribution to an existing body of knowledge, by applying, clarifying, critiquing or interpreting that knowledge.

Governance

All matters pertaining to the MPhil degree are the responsibility of the Monash Research Graduate School Committee under the general direction of the University's Academic Board.

The submitted thesis

It is expected that MPhil theses generally do not exceed 50,000 words. Candidates have the option to submit either hard or soft bound thesis copies.

The examination of the thesis is undertaken by two examiners, at least one of whom must be external to Monash University.

It is the practice at Monash to release the names of examiners who have agreed to act to the candidate.  

The thesis is forwarded to an examiner in confidence. An examiner is under an obligation to maintain confidentiality and in no circumstance should the thesis or any part of the examination process be discussed with a third party without the prior approval of the Monash Research Graduate School.

Normally neither the candidate nor the supervisor are allowed to contact examiners directly during the examination process.

Examiner's assessment

To satisfy the requirements of the degree, the thesis must make a contribution to knowledge and/or understanding of the subject (see criteria 1(i) and 1(ii) on the examiner report form).

The Committee wishes to receive clear advice on specific aspects of the thesis and, to this end, the examiner is asked to place a tick by each statement as deemed appropriate in the enclosed report form, and an overall grade where appropriate. If an examiner reports negatively on any aspects referred to in Section 1 of the form then comments should be made in the written section.

Recommendation 2(ii) should be made only when the examiner can specify amendments so precisely that the Head of Department's decision is essentially a simple matter of fact.

An examiner may request that the University obtains clarification from the candidate of specific points in the thesis. Such requests should be made only through the Monash Research Graduate School.

Oral examinations are not normally a part of the examination process.

In cases where examiners deem it necessary to annotate a thesis, it should be done lightly in pencil or by the use of temporary adhesive labels.

Following receipt of both examiners' reports

• Unedited copies of the examiners' reports are forwarded to the candidate in due course.

• In the event that the two examiners disagree substantially in their assessment of the thesis, the relevant faculty is required to convene an advisory panel to determine a course of action. Most commonly an advisory panel will recommend either that:

• the thesis be revised and resubmitted to the original dissenting examiner(s) or

• an adjudicator be appointed to review the two examiners' reports, the candidate's response to the reports and the thesis. The names of the examiners are not revealed to the adjudicator.

Please use the MPhil grading descriptors when deciding a grade for the thesis.

MPhil grading descriptors

Under this scale :

• a mark of 80% or above indicates that the candidate is highly likely to be capable of completing a PhD;

• 70-79% indicates that the candidate is likely to be capable of completing a PhD but would not be in the top half of PhD students within the field;

• 60-69% indicates that the candidate is not likely to successfully complete a PhD in reasonable time; and

• 59% and below represents a fail.

You can visit the thesis examination section for a more detailed explanation of thesis and examination matters.