Doctor of Philosophy

L.N. 240 of 2014

EDUCATION ACT

(CAP. 327)

Doctor of Philosophy – Ph.D. - Degree (Amendment) Regulations, 2014

IN EXERCISE of the powers conferred upon him by articles 74 (5) and 75

(6) of the Education Act (Cap. 327), the Chancellor of the University of Malta has

promulgated the following regulations made by the Senate of the University of Malta

by virtue of the powers conferred upon it by articles 75 (3) and 79 (b) of the said Act

Citation

These regulations may be cited as the Doctor of Philosophy – Ph.D. –

Degree (Amendment) Regulations, 2014 and shall be read and construed as one with

the Doctor of Philosophy – Ph.D. – Degree Regulations, 2008, published as Legal

Notice 293 of 2008, hereinafter referred to as “the principal regulations”.

Applicability

These regulations shall be applicable from October 2014 onwards.

Amendment to regulation 9 of the principal regulations

For regulation 9 of the principal regulations there shall be substituted the

following

“9. Accepted applicants shall register for the M.Phil. Degree in the first

instance. Senate may allow the transfer of registration from the M.Phil. Degree to

the Ph.D. Degree if the conditions laid down in regulation 37 have been satisfied.”

Renumbering of regulations 18 and 19 of the principal regulations

Regulation 18 of the principal regulations shall be renumbered as regulation 19.

Regulation 19 of the principal regulations shall be renumbered as regulation 18.

Amendment to regulation 19 of the principal regulations

For regulation 19 of the principal regulations there shall be substituted the

following

“19. Applicants may be accepted to register for the Ph.D. Degree and to work

mostly away from the University, provided that

(a) they shall work in a field of major relevance to the University department

in which their research is to be carried out;

(b) the facilities at the place in which they will be carrying out their research

shall be equivalent to or better than those of the department or complementary to

those of the department and are essentially required for the work; the department

concerned shall provide written evidence of this to the Board;

(c) they shall normally spend a total of at least three weeks per semester on

the Malta campus during which period they shall hold meetings with the Principal

Supervisor; and

(d) an adviser is appointed to follow the student regularly at the off-campus

place of study/research.”

Amendment to regulation 20 of the principal regulations

For paragraph (1) of regulation 20 of the principal regulations there shall

be substituted the following

“20. (1) Studies for the Ph.D. Degree shall extend over three years of full-

time study or six years of part-time study. If the nature of the work or the research so

demands, the Sub-Committee may recommend to Senate a longer period.”

The following paragraph (2) shall be added after paragraph (1) of regulation

20 of the principal regulations;

“(2) In the case of students accepted in terms of paragraph (2) of regulation

6, the period of full-time study shall normally extend for not less than four years.”

Paragraphs (2) and (3) of regulation 20 of the principal regulations shall be

renumbered as paragraphs (3) and (4).

Amendment to regulation 25 of the principal regulations

For regulation 25 of the principal regulations there shall be substituted

the following

“Change of Mode of Study

Senate may allow students to change their mode of study from full-time to

part-time or from part-time to full-time, whenever feasible. The period of registration

shall be recalculated on the basis of the proportion of time during which the students

were studying in each mode.”

Addition of regulations 27 and 28 to the principal regulations

11. The following regulations 27 and 28 shall be added after regulation 26 of

the principal regulations

“Programme of Study

(1) Bye-laws may specify that the Ph.D. Degree shall include study-units

intended to develop skills and competencies as required for the proper execution of

the research or to introduce the students to specialist areas related to their doctoral

research or to provide preparation for future careers. The Board shall submit the

programme of study for Senate’s approval.

(2) Students shall successfully complete the programme of study during

the first part of their studies.

Assessment and Re-Assessment of Study-Units

(1) Examiners shall be governed by the General Regulations for University

Postgraduate Awards, 2008.

(2) In order to remain registered on the M.Phil. degree, students must

maintain an average mark of 60% in the study-units, which shall be calculated at the

end of the semester or year, as applicable.”

Renumbering of regulations 27 to 38 of the principal regulations

12. Regulations 27 to 38 of the principal regulations shall be renumbered as

regulations 29 to 40.

Amendment to regulation 37 of the principal regulations

13. For regulation 37 of the principal regulations there shall be substituted

the following

“Transfer of Registration from M.Phil Degree to Ph.D. Degree

(1) Is-Senat jista’ jħalli t-trasferiment tar-reġistrazzjoni mill-Grad ta’

M.Phil. għall-Grad ta’ Ph.D. bl-istess proposta ta’ riċerka jekk kienu sodisfatti

l-kondizzjonijiet li ġejjin

(a) wasal rapport ta’ progress sodisfaċenti mill-Kumitat tal-Fakultà għad-

Dottorat tal-istudent; u

(b) wara li jgħaddu tnax-il xahar u mhux aktar tard minn erbgħa u għoxrin

xahar ta’ studju fuq bażi full-time (jew l-ekwivalenti ta’ studju fuq bażi part-time),

u wara li jkun ġie mitmum b’suċċess il-programm ta’ studju jekk applikabbli, bord

ad hoc maħtur mill-Bord għal dan il-għan, magħmul minn chairman, is-Superviżur

Prinċipali u membru ieħor, għandu jiżgura li

(i) l-istudent temm b’suċċess il-programm ta’ studju, jekk applikabbli; u (ii)

l-kwalità tax-xogħol tar-riċerka ppreżentat mill-istudent għandu l-potenzjal li jilħaq

il-livell meħtieġ għall-grad ta’ dottorat u jirrakkomanda t-trasferiment.

(2) Il-bord ad hoc jista’

(i) jistabbilixxi li l-istudent ma temmx b’suċċess il-programm ta’ studju, fejn

dan il-programm huwa komponent tal-grad għall-M.Phil.; jew

(ii) jiddetermina li x-xogħol tar-riċerka tal-istudent ma laħaqx livell suffiċjenti

biex ikun ħaqqu rakkomandazzjoni għat-trasferiment u jagħti parir għal sottomissjoni

mill-ġdid f’perijodu speċifikat; jew

(iii) jagħti parir li l-istudent jingħata sa tnax-il xahar biex jikkompleta x-xogħol

għall-għoti tal-Grad ta’ M.Phil.

(3) Il-bord ad hoc għandu jinforma lis-Sotto-Kumitat permezz tal-Bord

bir-riżultati tad-deliberazzjonijiet tiegħu.

(4) Jekk it-trasferiment ikun approvat mis-Senat, ix-xogħol diġà

magħmul għall-Grad ta’ M.Phil. għandu jgħodd biex jissodisfa r-rekwiżiti għall-Grad

ta’ Ph.D.

(5) Jekk student jonqos milli jippreżenta talba għat-trasferiment tal-istudji

tiegħu għall-grad tal-Ph.D. fiż-żmien stipulat fis-sottoparagrafu (b) tal-paragrafu

(1) ta’ dan ir-regolament, l-istudent ikun meħtieġ jissottometti raġuni ġustifikata,

li s-Senat għandu jikkunsidra wara r-rakkomandazzjonijiet tal-Kumitat tal-Fakultà

għad-Dottorat, tal-Bord u tas-Sotto-Kumitat.”

Iż-Żieda tar-regolament 41 mar-regolamenti prinċipali

14. Ir-regolament 41 li ġej għandu jidħol wara r-regolament 40 tar-regolamenti

prinċipali.

“Il-Bord tal-Eżaminaturi tat-Taqsimiet Studju

(1) Senate may allow a transfer of registration from the M.Phil. Degree to

the Ph.D. Degree with the same research proposal if the following conditions have

been satisfied

(a) a satisfactory progress report from the student’s Faculty Doctoral

Committee has been received; and

(b) after 12 months and not later than 24 months of full-time study (or the

equivalent in part-time study) have elapsed, and after successful completion of the

programme of study if applicable, an ad hoc board appointed by the Board for the

purpose, composed of a chairman, the Principal Supervisor and another member, has

ascertained that

(i) the student has completed successfully the programme of study, if

applicable; and (ii) the quality of the research work presented by the student has the

potential to reach the standard appropriate to that required of a doctoral degree and

recommends transfer.

(2) The ad hoc board may

(i) establish that the student has not successfully completed the programme of

study, where such programme is a component of the M.Phil. degree; or

(ii) determine that the student’s research work has not reached a sufficient

standard to warrant recommendation of the transfer and advises re-submission within

a specified period; or

(iii) advise that the student be given up to 12 months in order to complete his/

her studies for the award of an M.Phil. Degree.

(3) The ad hoc board shall inform the Sub-Committee of the results of its

deliberations through the Board.

(4) If the transfer is allowed by Senate, the work already done for the

M.Phil. Degree shall count towards the requirements for the Ph.D. Degree.

(5) If a student fails to present a request to transfer his studies to the

Ph.D. degree within the period stipulated in sub-paragraph (b) of paragraph (1) of this

regulation, the student would be required to submit a justifiable reason, which Senate

would consider following recommendations of the Faculty Doctoral Committee, the

Board and the Sub-Committee.”

Addition of regulation 41 to the principal regulations

14. The following regulation 41 shall be added after regulation 40 of the

principal regulations.

“Boards of Examiners for Study-Units

Boards of Examiners shall be governed by the General Regulations for

University Postgraduate Awards, 2008.”

Renumbering of regulations 39 to 53 of the principal regulations

15. Regulations 39 to 53 of the principal regulations shall be renumbered as

regulations 42 to 56.

Amendment to title of regulation 42 of the principal regulations

16. For the title of regulation 42 of the principal regulations there shall be

substituted the following

“Board of Examiners for Theses”

Amendment to regulation 43 of the principal regulations

17. For regulation 43 of the principal regulations there shall be substituted

the following

“Examination of Ph.D. Theses

If a statement has been made as per paragraph (1)(b) of regulation 39, the

Board of Examiners set up under paragraph (1) of regulation 42 shall recommend to

Senate whether the thesis should be accepted for examination or not.”

Amendment to regulation 44 of the principal regulations

18. For sub-paragraph (d) of paragraph (5) of regulation 44 of the principal

regulations there shall be substituted the following

“(d) not grant permission to resubmit and state that no degree be awarded,

provided that permission as in sub-paragraphs (a) or (c) of this paragraph is granted

once only.”

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