Topic outline

  • Student Registration of NEW PostGrad Research Project

    POSTGRADUATE PROJECT REGISTRATION (HDC AND UZREC)

    Pathway for registration: Postgraduate projects  (Masters and Doctoral) must be approved by the  Faculty of Arts Research Ethics Committee (FAREC), Faculty Board (FB) and Higher Degrees Committee (HDC), followed by ethics approval by the UNIZULU Research Ethics Committee (UZREC) and issued an ethics certificate by the Ethics Office (REC). Only then may postgraduate students commence with their data collection and may apply for funding from the Research Office.

    BEFORE REGISTRATION:

    Referral to the site is recommended (before presentation)

    Departmental presentation: Applicant presents the proposal to the department, through a 15 min oral presentation. During this time, the department ensures that there is an accredited programme, selects a supervisor who is (a) interested in the topic (b) experienced in the topic and the candidate is advised to proceed with a proposal (c) Chairperson of FAREC is present. The candidate receives a letter, which they take with them to registration. (This form needs to be completed)

    The candidate is referred to this website (can log in as GUEST) and given access to TurnitIn through their respective supervisors OR the UNIZULU library.

    Proposal Writing: Student completes a research proposal in MS Word format, under guidance of supervisor(s), following the Postgraduate Proposal Guideline using this template. (See Template)

    Proposals are reviewed in the Department and the reviewers reports and correction sheet (download here) must be included in the proposal. The Correction Sheet, detailing all responses to the critique, effected or not, which the supervisor will sign, must be included.

    Once completed to the satisfaction of the supervisor(s), an Ethics Application form (in MS Word) is completed by the Supervisor and the proposal is then submitted & scrutinised by members of FAREC, where it will be recommended to be tabled at Faculty Board.

    If any research is done on animals, please consult the Acting DDRI first.

    Proposal Submission: The proposal with a copy of the TurnitIn report, is then submitted to the Acting DDRI (hermannc@unizulu.ac.za).  The following documents are needed in the pack IN ONE DOCUMENT in the following sequence:

    (SPEED DOWNLOAD FULL PACK)

    a)  Research Proposal Cover Sheet (download here)

    b) Faculty checklist with all relevant signatures. (download here)

    c) Register of the review panel during the faculty presentation (download here)

    d) Project Registration form (HDC01) (download here)

    e) Appointment of Supervisor and Co-supervisor form (HDC03) (download here) as well as the MOU (download here)

    f) Budget Template (download here)

    g) Completed review forms by faculty peer reviewers (download here).

    h)  Correction Sheet, signed off by Supervisor (download here)

    i) Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) (must be signed) (download here)

    j) Research proposal (signed) 

    k) TurnitIn Report (recommended below 10%)

    l) All research Instruments, if applicable, e.g. permission letter, Informed Consent form, questionnaire, permit, translations.

    Higher Degrees Committee approval: Once approved by FB, the application will serve before HDC for approval.

    UZ Research Ethics Committee approval: Once approved by HDC, the application will serve before UZREC for ethics approval.

    Issue of Ethics certificate: Once approved by UZREC, the project will be registered with the Research Office and an Ethics Certificate will be issued by the Ethics Office and emailed to the supervisor. Only after the ethics certificate is issued may the student start collecting data for his/her project, i.e. no research data collection may be done until the the project has received ethics approval.

  • Departmental/Staff Research Project Registration & Ethics Application

    Academic and Support Staff members and Postdoctoral Fellows that wish to register a research project with the Research Office, in order to apply for funding, follow a very simple process, only involving faculty ethics approval and UZREC ethics approval. The process to follow involves the following:

    Proposal Writing: Complete a research proposal, following the Faculty Proposal Guideline and Templates (download here).

    Faculty Ethics review: Submit the proposal together with a completed ethics application form (download here) to the FAREC representative: Dr. C. Hermann: hermannc@unizului.ac.za in MS Word format. Submission documents must include:

    a)  Proposal (Template): MS Word

    b)  Ethics Application form (download here): Completed and in MS Word format

    UZ Research Ethics Committee (UZREC): The deputy dean will submit the proposal and provisional ethics approval to the UZREC, which meets quarterly.

    Issue of Ethics certificate: Once approved by UZREC, the project will be registered with the Research Office and an Ethics Certificate will be issued by the Ethics Office. Only after the ethics certificate is issued may the research project begin collecting data, i.e. no research may be done until the the project has received ethics approval. 

    Funding application: Once the project has received ethics approval, the researcher may apply for research funding to the Research Committee (download form here), which meets quarterly.  

  • Appointment of Examiners of Dissertations & Theses

    Examiners for postgraduate students must be appointed a few months before the student intends to submit, through FAREC; Faculty Board and HDC. Three (3) examiners for Master's students (can all be from South Africa, but not the same Institution) and four (4) for PhD students (three from international institutions and one from SA) .

    See Guidelines for Appointment of Examiners (download here), or the

    Criteria for Examiners (download here).

    Examiner appointment first serve before FAFREC, then Faculty Board and then Higher Degrees Committee (HDC).

     The following documents must be included in the application, to be submitted to the DDRI, for inclusion in the FB agenda:

    1. Cover letter by the HOD, with details of the student and the names and contact details of examiners.

    2. HDC04 form (download here)

    3. CV's of the examiners

  • Dissertation & Thesis Submission for Examination

    Before submitting a dissertation or thesis, the candidate needs to indicate that they are ready to make a submission. (download form here)

    When submitting a document for examination, the following should be included with the two (for M degrees) or three (for Doctoral) ringbound copies of the dissertation/thesis:

    1. Checklist for submission of a Dissertation (MSc) or Thesis (PhD) (download here).

    2. Annexure A: Originality declaration, completed by student (download here)

    3. Annexure B: Supervisor's consent, completed by supervisor and signed by HOD and dean (download here)

    4. Assessment sheet, completed by supervisor, for M candidates (Annexure I, download here) or Doctoral candidates (Annexure J, download here).

    5. Electronic copy of the thesis/dissertation, submitted electronically.

    6. Plagiarism report, using Turnitin (Unizul library page for Turnitin: access here; url for direct access to Turninin: access here). You will need to register with Turnintin  through the library for access.

    7. Report/certificate from Language Editor.

    8. Copy of student's ethics certificate and/or renewal if required. (download here)

  • Final Submission before Graduation

    When a dissertation/thesis has been finalised, once all corrections have been made, the following should be submitted to the DDRI (hermannc@unizulu.ac.za), for approval by SENEX:

    1. The required number of hard bound copies of the dissertation/thesis, usually three.

    2. Electronic copy of the dissertation/thesis on CD, for inclusion in the library depository.

    3. Consolidation of Examiners Reports: Annexure K for M candidates (download here), Annexure L for Doctoral candidates (download here).

    4. Detailed Report from student on how examiners' comments were addressed. Can use Corrections Sheet (Download here)

    5. Examiner's reports.

    6. Minutes of the FAREC meeting(s).

    7. Proof of registration.

    8. Proof of programme (copy in Handbook)

  • Application for Research Funds from Research Committee

    Postgraduate students and staff with registered research projects and ethical clearance can apply for funding from the Research Committee. Download forms from the Research Office website (access here: Research Office website)

    Submission deadline: NOTE THE SUBMISSION DEADLINES IN THE GENERAL CALENDAR, LATE APPLICATIONS WILL NOT BE ACCOMMODATED.

    Research Project funding:

    1. Application for funding: Staff/departmental project: RC2

    2. Application for funding: Postgraduate Student project: RC2S

     

    Conference funding:

    1. Application for International Conference: RC6

    2. Application for Local Conference: RC7

    3. Application for Conference Travel as a Group: RC8

     

    Generated Funds:

    1. Individual  Generated Funds: RC5A

    2. Individual Generated Funds to attend Conference/Symposium: RC5B

    3. Individual Funds To purchase Computer or Accessories or Equipment: RC5C

    Other funding:

    1. Sabbatical Funding: RC15R

    2. Funding for Short research visit abroad: RC16

    3. Funding for Visiting lecturer/scholar: RC17

    For application for any other funds, e.g. DVC Discretionary Funds, Travel Funds, Research Grant, kindly consult the Research Office desk

  • Policies and Guidelines

    UNIZULU Policies and Guidelines

  • 2019 Accredited Journals

  • Topic 9

  • Topic 10