The Graduate Research School has produced "Thesis Submission and Examination @UNSW". All postgraduate research students should obtain a copy of this document either electronically or collect a hard copy from the Graduate Research School. The hard copy includes "Thesis Submission and Examination @UNSW" as well as the Essential Forms listed below.

Each of the above three areas aim to ensure that you have submitted your thesis in accordance with the Policy on Examination of Research Degrees and that you have submitted the correct forms prior to and with your thesis submission. Additionally, examiners are asked to complete a Report Form and are provided with Examiners’ Notes.

Once all the necessary approvals have been received, your thesis will be sent to the examiners. The examiners are asked to examine your thesis within six weeks. Students should be aware that sometimes circumstances prevent examiners from returning their report in time and delays are sometimes expected.

Once all of the examiners' reports are returned, they are considered by your Head of School and the Higher Degree Committee (HDC) and a recommendation is made.

The entire length of the examination process (i.e. from your notification of intention to submit your thesis to the Graduate Research School through to notification of the final result of your thesis examination) is outlined in the figure below.

Once you have satisfied the requirements of the higher research degree in which you were enrolled, you will be eligible to graduate in the next available ceremony. The Graduations Schedule lists the times and dates of the next round of ceremonies.

It is University policy that a thesis produced from a research higher degree should be publicly available. A program of advanced study and research should only be undertaken if these conditions can be fulfilled.

The University recognises that there are certain circumstances for which immediate public availability of the thesis in the library may not be desirable.

a. During your candidature it may be necessary for you to use confidential material which you would not be at liberty to disclose in the thesis. For example, raw experimental data, or material that identifies personal details or subjects of a study. Permission may be sought to include such essential material in a sealed appendix. Access to the appendix would be restricted by the University Library for a period normally not exceeding five years. The examiners of the thesis and, as necessary, members of committees concerned with the examination will have unrestricted access to the appendix.

b. Research carried out with industry, or discoveries made during the thesis that have potential commercial applications. Deferment of public availability of the thesis may be required to allow time for registration or protection of intellectual property such as the filing of a patent application. In all such applications, the reasons for the request should be clearly stated and documents provided to support the claim e.g. a letter of acceptance from a publisher, copy of agreement with industry or an explanation of the necessity to maintain confidentiality to protect patent or other rights.

The following steps outline the process for obtaining approval for restricted access to your thesis.