BYE-LAWS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE FACULTY OF INFORMATION AND

DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNDER THE

AUSPICES OF THE FACULTY OF INFORMATION

AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

SUBSIDIARY LEGISLATION 327.329

BYE-LAWS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF

PHILOSOPHY UNDER THE AUSPICES OF

THE FACULTY OF INFORMATION AND

COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY *

9th April, 2010

LEGAL NOTICE 215 of 2010.

(1) The title of these bye-laws is the Bye-Laws for the

Degree of Doctor of Philosophy under the auspices of the Faculty

of Information and Communication Technology.

(2)

In these bye-laws, unless the context otherwise requires -

"the Board" means the Board of the Faculty of Information and

Communication Technology;

"the Degree" means the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy - Ph.D.;

"the Faculty" means the Faculty of Information and

Communication Technology; and

"the Principal Regulations" means the Doctor of Philosophy -

Ph.D. - Degree Regulations.

These bye-laws shall be applicable from October 2008

onwards.

(1) Applicants for the Degree offered by the Faculty shall

be in possession of one of the following degrees: a Master’s degree,

other t han a conversion degree as defined b y the Princip al

Regulations, or a Honours degree obtained with at least Second

Class Honours (Upper Division), normally in the same area of

study applied for. In addition, the Master ’s or Honours degree

obtained must

(a) be in Engineering, or Information and Communication

Technology, or Mathematics, or Science; or

(b) be an equivalent degree qualification as approved by

Senate on the recommendation of the Board.

(2) The Degree is normally open to applicants who have

obtained the qualifications specified in paragraph (1)

(a) within the last ten years before applying for

registration for the Degree; or

(b) if the qualification is older than ten years, if they

produce sufficient proof of their competence to carry

out such a research degree, subject to approval by

Senate on the advice of the Board.

(1)

Applicants may submit their application form, together

*These regulations have been repealed by Legal Notice 308 of 2023.

DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNDER THE

AUSPICES OF THE FACULTY OF INFORMATION

AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

with a comprehensive research proposal outlining the proposed

project, including research sources and materials, at any time of the

year. The proposal shall include the research questions to be

addressed, the hypothesis to be tested, and the methodology to be

adopted in dealing with the research issues.

(2) Applicants may also be asked to demonstrate competence

in those skills required by the nature of the proposed research.

(1) Further to regulations 9, 10 and 35 of the Principal

Regulations, students shall submit a written application requesting

the transfer from the M.Phil. to the Ph.D. degree, together with a

summary of the work carried out by them, preferably in the form of

a technical report for consideration by an ad hoc board appointed

by the Board. The report shall also include any modifications to the

original research proposal.

(2) The ad hoc board shall be composed of a chairman, who

shall be the head of the department concerned or his delegate, and

two examiners, one of whom shall be the Principal Supervisor and

the other appointed on the advice of the Faculty Doctoral

Committee.

(3) The ad hoc board would give favourable consideration to

work published or accepted for publication in refereed technical

journals and conferences.

(4) The ad hoc board shall examine the student orally and shall

submit a written report for consideration by the Faculty Doctoral

Committee in the first instance. The report shall contain

recommendations according to the provisions of the Principal

Regulations.

The Board shall recommend to Senate the appointment of a

Faculty Doctoral Committee composed as follows

The Dean of the Faculty or delegate (chairman)

3 - 4 Heads of Department or their delegates.

Principal Supervisors shall be required to submit a written

report to the Board, through the Faculty Doctoral Committee, every

June for all students under their supervision.

Students shall only be allowed to proceed with their studies

subject to satisfactory progress reports from their Principal

Supervi sor. If t he repo rt i s n egative, the Bo ard shall make

recommendations to Senate on the student’s continuing registration

for the Degree.

Students registered at the Faculty may be required to

participate in the Faculty’s research and teaching programmes.

The Faculty attaches great importance to the association of

doctoral students with other research students and members of

staff. Students shall therefore be required to participate fully in the

research seminars of the Faculty and present at least one per year,

or equivalent in the case of part-time registration, during the course

of their studies.

DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNDER THE

AUSPICES OF THE FACULTY OF INFORMATION

AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

Further to regulation 13 of the Principal Regulations, any

substantial modification to the title or content of the thesis shall be

subject to approval by Senate, following a recommendation of the

Board, on the advice of the Faculty Doctoral Committee, and

following a written recommendation by the student’s supervisor.

Further to regulation 5 of the Principal Regulations, a

thesis for the Degree shall report the discovery of new facts and/or

demonstrate that the student has exercised independent critical

power in reaching the reported conclusions. In both respects, the

student shall indicate clearly the extent to which the thesis

embodies the results of his or her own research and observations,

and to what extent the investigation advances the study of the

subject.

Six months before the submission deadline students shall

be informed that they are required to inform the Faculty that they

will be submitting their thesis for examination not less than three

months before the submission deadline.

The Board shall recommend to Senate the appointment of a

Board of Examiners in accordance with the Principal Regulations.

The Board shall approve and publish guidelines on the

format and presentation of the thesis for the Degree.

Further to regulation 38 of the Principal Regulations, the

Ph.D. thesis shall not normally exceed 60,000 words, exclusive of

appendices, bibliographies, glossaries and footnotes.

Students shall be required to submit a loose bound copy of

their thesis for each member of the Board of Examiners, together

with a copy in digital format. The officer in charge of the Faculty

shall issue a dated receipt.

During the oral examination, the student is expected to

present a synopsis of the thesis of about 20 minutes, to provide a

demonstration of the artefact if so required, and then to answer

questions posed by the members of the Board of Examiners.

In addition to regulation 50 of the Principal Regulations,

students shall be required to submit a copy of the final version of

their thesis, within six weeks from the publication of the result, to

each member of the Board of Examiners, as well as one copy in

digital format and at least three hard bound copies to the Faculty

Office, one of which shall be retained in the University Library,

another one in the custody of the department concerned, and one

copy for each supervisor and co-supervisor (where applicable). The

latter copies shall be in the format required by the Faculty.