Submission of your thesis

Submitting your thesis for examination marks the start of the final phase of your journey as a graduate researcher. As you prepare to finalise your thesis, make sure you are familiar with the University’s policies on the graduate research examination process and thesis requirements.

All graduate research examination, apart from the thesis/exegesis submission, is managed through the PRIME Researcher Portal. The Graduate Research Examinations module within PRIME makes the administrative processes related to your examination more accessible, transparent and efficient. For more information and access to training materials visit the PRIME Graduate Research Examinations Portal webpage.

The thesis/exegesis is submitted via a secure portal, where the Graduate Research School can access and check your thesis/exegesis and other examinable material and also provide access to your examiners. Once your Authority to Submit has been approved and processed you will be given a link to access this portal.

Preparing for submission

If you are close to finalising your thesis or exegesis, you will need to complete the following steps:

• Ensure your thesis or exegesis is correctly formatted according to the Graduate Research Examinations Schedule B – Presentation of Theses for Graduate Research Degree.
  • If you are submitting any artefacts or practice-based components, please refer to the Guidelines for examinable components of practice-based research degrees [PDF 181KB] for the applicable formatting requirements.
  • Your school or department may have certain convention requirements for your discipline, including references, bibliographies and quotations. If your discipline has particular requirements, make sure to discuss them with your supervisory team.
• 6-8 weeks before you’re planning to submit your thesis or exegesis, discuss your intentions with your supervisor.
• One month prior to your planned submission date, formally notify us of your submission plans by submitting your Notice of Intention to Submit (NOI) form through the PRIME Researcher Portal. Detailed instructions on submitting your NOI are available in the Graduate Research Examinations for candidates user guide on the PRIME Help and Support Unite Site. (You will need to use your institutional or staff login to access PRIME and the help site. Visit our institutional account page for instructions on how to activate and use your institutional account).
• If you are enrolled in a doctoral degree, this is also a good time to start preparing your 50-word citation, as you will need to submit this in a few weeks with your Authority to Submit (ATS) form:
  • Your citation is a formal statement of your accomplishment as a doctoral graduate. It summarises your research, the contribution you have made to knowledge and conveys the impact and significance of your work to a lay (non-technical) audience.
  • A good citation uses clear, non-specialist language, which can be understood and appreciated both by fellow scholars and everyone attending your graduation ceremony.
  • Your citation will also appear in print on the Australian Higher Education Graduation Statement (AHEGS).
  • It’s not easy to encapsulate the entirety of your doctoral findings into a plain language 50-word summary. It may take you a bit of time to get it right, so work with your supervisor and make sure you read the Guidelines for preparing your 50-word citation [PDF 32KB].
• We will also email your principal supervisor to request they nominate examiners using the Appointment of Examiners (AOE) form in the PRIME Researcher Portal. Your principal supervisor should discuss with you details of the potential examiners to be nominated and to provide an opportunity to ascertain whether there are any conflicts of interest or areas of concern. However, please note that there is no obligation here for supervisors to nominate any examiner you may recommend.
• Once your Examiners have been fully approved , you will be informed of their identity. If you have any concerns about your examiners, you have 10 days to write to the Chair, Board of Graduate Research to raise your concerns. From this point forward, you must have no unauthorised communication with your approved examiners.
• One week prior to your planned submission date, complete and submit your Authority to Submit (ATS) form through the PRIME Researcher Portal . Detailed instructions on submitting your ATS are available in the Graduate Research Examinations for candidates user guide on the PRIME Help and Support Unite Site. (You will need to use your institutional or staff login to access PRIME and the help site. Visit our institutional account page for instructions on how to activate and use your institutional account.
• After your ATS form has been processed by the Gradate Research School, we will send you an email with a digital link for you to upload a PDF version of your thesis to the University Repository via the Research Thesis Submission Portal. If your examiners request a printed copy of your thesis to assist with their examination, we will let you know.
• Once your thesis is ready to submit, you can do so using the link to the Research Thesis Submission Portal which is emailed to you. Click here for the user guide. You will receive an email from the University Repository confirming that the submission was successful.
• The Graduate Research School will also receive a confirmation message from the Repository letting us know that your thesis has been successfully uploaded. We will then check over your thesis to make sure it is correctly formatted, and once the examiners have accepted their formal invitation to examiner your thesis, we will update your enrolment status to 'under examination' and start your examination process.
• Please ensure that you have referred to Graduate Research Examinations Schedule B – Presentation of Theses for Graduate Research Degrees to format and present your thesis as the examination process may be delayed if the Graduate Research School requires you to make updates in accordance to this schedule.
• You will stop being charged international tuition fees or Student Services and Amenities (SSAF) fees once you are under examination.