HDR12 - Confirmation of Candidature - Part 2

The Confirmation of Candidature (COC) milestone will require submitting the following documents and completing an Oral Defence Presentation.

Documents to submit:

• Detailed written statement of the work to be completed in the next year, demonstrating backward mapping

• Gantt Chart

• iThenticate report on your research proposal or any other piece of writing

Additional Information:

• Please discuss your proposed presentation date with your supervisor before submitting this form.

• Only submit this form once you are ready for the Oral Defence presentation. 

• Your principal supervisor must nominate three panel members and the presentation date/time. Please review policy: Higher Degree by Research - Progression Procedure / Governance Document Library (cdu.edu.au) clause 17-19 for the panel's composition details.

• Panel members must receive the documents at least two weeks before the Oral Defence presentation date. ( Please keep this in mind when selecting your presentation date/ submitting your form)

• Note: The review panel’s recommendation is not final and remains subject to the endorsement of the Faculty and the Dean of Graduate Studies.
  

If you are facing any issues, please feel free to reach out to our counseling team for support. You can contact them via the link below. 

Counselling | Charles Darwin University (cdu.edu.au)

If you require a confidential meeting with the Dean of Graduate Studies, please email the Research Degrees Team at  research.degrees@cdu.edu.au to arrange it.

• All relevant answers must be completed. Additional information may be required depending on your response to a given answer. You will be unable to continue until the required answers have been completed.
  

• Progress on this form can be saved and completed at a later stage.

• When selecting 'save and continue later,' a link will be emailed to you that enables you to return and complete the form.

Workflows:

Workflows have been enabled with this form to facilitate authorisations and signatures as follows:

1. Candidate completes Section 1- submits to the Principal Supervisor

2. The Principal Supervisor completes Section 2 - and submits to the Faculty / School administration office

3. Faculty / School administration office completes section 3 – submits to Faculty / School Delegate

4. Faculty / School Delegate completes section 4 and submits to Faculty / School administration office

5. Faculty / School administration office completes section 5 and submits it to the Panel Chair

6. The Panel Chair completes section 6 and submits to the Faculty / School administration office

7. Faculty / School administration office completes section 7 - submits to Faculty / School Delegate

8. Faculty / School Delegate completes section 8 – submits to Research Degrees

9. Research Degrees Office completes section 9– and submits to the Dean of Graduate Studies

10. The Dean of Graduate Studies completes section 10– and submits to the Research Degrees Office

11. Research Office to process request and advise Candidate by email.

A copy of the form will be sent to the Principal Supervisor once the Dean of Graduate has endorsed it. The Supervisor can then share the feedback with the student.

For queries about the process or difficulties using the form, please get in touch with the Candidate Progression Coordinator by phone at +61 8 8946 7289 or by email at research.degrees@cdu.edu.au

If you have recently updated your superivsor panel - please complete the  HDR11 - Change of Supervisory Panel (snapforms.com.au)

Associate Supervisors  must be registered supervisors paid by CDU or Menzies—or who dedicate substantial time to CDU or Menzies.

Press  "Add Supervisor" for each separate Associate Supervisor.

Specify end users or industry partners, academic advisors from other universities, and anyone else on your panel.

Press  "Add Advisor" for each separate Advisor.

The research proposal will usually comprise between 5000 and 7000 words at Masters level and 7000 and 10000 words at PhD level. 

The research proposal should 

• outline the research questions and aims—and include a literature review to justify these aims 

• describe and justify the methods that will be used to fulfil these aims 

• specify a timetable of when the various research activities are likely to be completed 

• discuss risks around ethics, safety, legal issues, and intellectual ownership, if applicable 

• specify the budget that will be needed to complete this research and the source of funds if needed 

• include a list of references

Please provide a detailed written statement of the work to be completed in the next year, demonstrating backward mapping. 

The goal is to complete your PhD in three years full-time equivalent and your Masters in two years full-time equivalent. In your Mid Thesis Review Milestone, you must demonstrate the work you have completed since your CoC and the timetable for your completion.

A Gantt chart is available here:  Gantt Software | monday.com.

Please run a similarity report in iThenticate of your research proposal or any other piece of writing to check for potential plagiarism. 

Check each instance of similarity in the report to ensure all work is correctly attributed and edit if and as required to avoid any potential plagiarism. Then, generate a similarity report on the FINAL version of your research proposal, or any other piece of writing, through iThenticate and upload it here.

Visit our  iThenticate page for more information.

Are you having  difficulty accessing IThenticate?

1. Visit Plagiarism Detection Software | iThenticate

2. Choose "Forget Password."

3. Enter your student email based on your student number (e.g., if your number is 107107, your email is s107101@students.cdu.edu.au).

4. Click submit.

Additionally, check your junk mail for the reset email. For further assistance, contact research.degrees@cdu.edu.au

After submitting your Research Proposal, you are ready to organise your Oral Defence Presentation.

Please discuss with your principal supervisor and faculty administration team about booking a date/time and venue.

Unless the Principal Supervisor organises a face to face presentation (including room bookings etc), Teams will be the medium of delivery.

In exceptional circumstances, a pre-recorded presentation may be possible with Supervisor, ADR and DGS approval.

Please can you provide the following;

• Proposal presentation paragraph of your research/ Abstract (200-300 words)

• Biography (100-200 words)

• Photo

The details here are used in the invitation for your CoC presentation. 

Once you have completed your confirmation of candidature, a profile will be created for you on the  CDU research webportal.

Please note, you will be notified by Research.degrees@cdu.edu.au once your profile has been created. After your profile is created, please contact Research.degrees@cdu.edu.au to make any changes to the wording.

Please complete the HDR33 - Internship / Employment Details form  HDR33 - Internship / Employment Details

When agreement is arranged please complete the HDR33 - Internship / Employment Details form  HDR33 - Internship / Employment Details

Please complete the 2025 HDR Internship EOI form  2025 HDR Internship - EOI 

For more information about Internships please visit the link below:

Higher Degree by research student internships | Charles Darwin University

To complete the confirmation of candidature, in addition to submitting a research proposal and presentation, candidates must:

• Agree to the HDR Student and Supervision Charter

• Complete the Epigeum - Research Integrity Training (8 core modules)

Please complete Supervsiory Charter and upload your Epigeum - Research Integrity Modules here:  HDR09 - Confirmation of Candidature - Part 1 (snapforms.com.au)

Please scroll to the bottom of the form and click  'submit.' the form will then be sent to your Principal Supervisor.

Once your supervisor has completed section 2 of this form and endorsed it, you will receive a copy of the form.

Please note:

• the candidate may need to assign their Intellectual Property to the University

• the Office of Research and Innovation will organise this assignment of Intellectual Property to the University

Please note:

• The candidate may need to assign their Intellectual Property to the Menzies School of Health 

• The business manager of the Menzies School of Health will organise this assignment of Intellectual Property to Menzies School of Health

Please review policy:  Higher Degree by Research - Progression Procedure / Governance Document Library (cdu.edu.au) clause 16-19 for the panel's composition details.  

It is strongly recommended that the review panel is independent of supervisors as this provides the most objective judgment, providing feedback from a wider range of panel researchers.

While policy permits a supervisor to be on the review panel, this is primarily to avoid delay in the event a panel member doesn't show up on the day.

Before submitting this form, please ensure you have contacted each member and confirmed they can participate in the panel on your nominated day/ time.

If you are unsure about the presentation date/time/ location details, please discuss with your student and Faculty/ Menzies administration staff before completing this form.

Please select the applicable email address from the dropdown box below.

Once you click 'submit,' the form will be sent to the relevant HDR Administrator, who will request the delegate's endorsement.

Your Faculty/ Menzies Administration team will contact you after you submit this form to confirm the presentation details.

Now that the student has submitted their Research Proposal, please get in touch with the principal supervisor/student to confirm the details for the Oral Presentation. 

Please complete the applicable email address below. 

Once you click 'submit' the form will be sent to the relevant HDR delegate for review.

Once you click 'submit' the form will be sent to the HDR administrator who will confirm and send the paperwork to the panel members

Please provide the names and email addresses of the approved panel members.

Then, confirm the date/ time and location, including online details if applicable.

The research proposal/documents and presentation details will then be sent to each panel member once you process and submit them to this workflow.

To pass the confirmation of candidature, the panel needs to be confident that 

• The supervision panel can offer the requisite feedback on the discipline, the methodology, and the methods. 

• The candidate has developed capabilities essential to the project but hard to acquire, such as English grammar. 

• The candidate has been able to devote enough time to this project. 

• The project is potentially feasible within the timeline, budget, and ethical constraints. 

• This project's scope is appropriate—roughly equivalent to 3 or 4 ordinary papers if a PhD and 1 to 2 ordinary papers if a Master by Research.

As a panel, decide whether the candidate and project demonstrates the following attributes.

Note:  The review panel’s recommendation is not final and remains subject to the endorsement of the Faculty and the Dean of Graduate Studies.

Additional information for the options listed above

Approval

• If applicable, suggest the candidate address any concerns that were raised in the future outlined below.

Reassessment

• The candidate is required to address the concerns outlined below within six (6) weeks full-time or twelve (12) weeks part-time

• Assessment panel to complete reassessment form.
  

Reject / Raise concerns

• Usually applicable if you feel the candidate is unlikely to be able to address the concerns within six (6) weeks full-time or twelve (12) weeks part-time.

• The candidate will be asked to show cause as to why they should not be discontinued.

Once you click  'submit,' the form will be sent to the relevant Faculty / School HDR Administrator, who will request the delegate's endorsement.

• A copy of this form and any attachments will be emailed to you (the chair) and the candidate's principal supervisor after the faculty and DGS have endorsed the form.

• The principal supervisor is then expected to discuss the feedback with the candidate.

The panel has requested a reassessment.  

• Please communicate this with the student/ supervisor and provide a deadline of 6 weeks for full-time students or 12 weeks for part-time students.

Please complete the applicable email address below. 

Once you click 'submit,' the form will be sent to the relevant HDR delegate for review.

The panel has requested a reassessment.  

• Please complete this form so that all workflows are completed, and the principal supervisor can receive a copy of the form and panel assessment. 

Note:  The recommendation is not final and remains subject to the endorsement of the Dean of Graduate Studies

Once you click 'submit,' the form will be sent to Research Degrees for the Dean of Graduate to endorse.

The student will be advised of the outcome once all endorsements have been received.