Milestones are designed to support and facilitate your student's progress towards thesis submission. Each milestone’s requirements are defined by your student's stage of research and may include conditions specific to their discipline. It is important as a supervisor to ensure that your students are prepared for these crucial opportunities for structured feedback.
Milestone dates are set at commencement for 12months (Confirmation), 24months (Progress Review) and 36 months (Final Review; PhD only) EFT. Students must complete the milestone within 2 months (EFT) of the due date. As a supervisor you should be aware of how your faculty/ academic unit manages milestones and the discipline specific requirements of the milestones.
Students (supervisors cc’d) will receive automated email reminders at 3 and 1 month before and 1 month post the milestone due date providing them with the following guide to preparing for the milestone. Scheduling of milestones can be challenging when attempting to find a date that works for the student, supervisor and panel so encourage and support your student to plan ahead. Below are guidelines provided to students when preparing for their Milestones.
Student Guide to Preparing your Milestone
1. Schedule the Milestone
- Check with your supervisor and relevant academic unit staff on how Milestones are organised within your academic unit.
- Plan early as it can take some time to finalise a Milestone review panel and confirm a date and venue.
- You have up to two months (EFT) from the due date above to complete your milestone
2. Prepare for your Milestone
- As a minimum, a milestone includes an oral presentation, a written submission, and an interview, with written feedback to be provided to you.
- The requirements of each milestone are defined by your stage of research and your discipline. You should discuss these with your supervisor when planning your milestone. For guidance see
- Appendix J of the Handbook for Doctoral Degrees; or
- Appendix D of the Handbook for Research Master's Students.
3. Initiate the Milestone
- Prepare your report and relevant documents to the panel using this form. Please speak to your academic unit to confirm the initiation process of your milestone review.
For further information around setting up your students' milestone meeting and further requirements, please contact your Faculty Graduate Research Office.
For further guidance, we recommend you familiarise yourself with the Graduate Research Progress Management Procedures and the Doctoral Handbook
