Submitting for examination

Your thesis/dissertation must conform to the RMIT formatting principles.

An electronic copy of the thesis or dissertation must be uploaded to the HDR digital repository in PDF format.

Your thesis/dissertation must include the following declaration statement.

I certify that except where due acknowledgement has been made, this research is that of the author alone; the content of this research submission is the result of work which has been carried out since the official commencement date of the approved research program; any editorial work, paid or unpaid, carried out by a third party is acknowledged; and, ethics procedures and guidelines have been followed.

In addition, I certify that this submission contains no material previously submitted for award of any qualification at any other university or institution, unless approved for a joint-award with another institution, and acknowledge that no part of this work will, in the future, be used in a submission in my name, for any other qualification in any university or other tertiary institution without the prior approval of the University, and where applicable, any partner institution responsible for the joint-award of this degree.

I acknowledge that copyright of any published works contained within this thesis resides with the copyright holder(s) of those works.

I give permission for the digital version of my research submission to be made available on the web, via the University’s digital research repository, unless permission has been granted by the University to restrict access for a period of time.

All domestic candidates and holders of RRS scholarships also need to include the following sentence.

I acknowledge the support I have received for my research through the provision of an Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship.

Please then type your name and submission date after the declaration. Do not insert an electronic signature or a scan of your handwritten signature.

You are encouraged to publish or exhibit the research you complete during your candidature. The work you publish or exhibit during this period is considered a research output. These outputs may be included as a component of your submission for examination. Publications can be included in part or in full, and if already published, they can be included verbatim or reformatted.

Your Publications must:

• Be declared when submitting for examination by completing the Research Outputs Declaration (PDF, 126KB).
• Have been completed under supervision during the period of enrolment for the degree, including transferred candidature. 
• Not have been submitted previously, in whole or in part, for any other academic award.

With respect to co-authorship the following also apply:

• It is expected that the candidate is the main contributor and/or lead author. Their contribution must be significant, in that they are responsible for the key ideas, for undertaking the research and writing the publication.
• If the candidate is not the lead author of a publication, the lead author must sign a declaration on behalf of the co-authors and included in the thesis or dissertation.

RMIT does not specify the number of research outputs you may include in your thesis/ dissertation. We recommend meeting with your Senior Supervisor or School HDR Coordinator to discuss any School-specific requirements you must meet.

For additional insights into the integration of publications in your thesis or dissertation refer to the section titled What does good practice look like?

The Research Outputs Declaration (PDF, 126KB).and any supporting material must be saved as one PDF file and uploaded when you submit for examination. 

If your HDR research or submission for examination has been impacted by COVID-19, please complete the HDR COVID-19 Impact Statement (PDF, 239KB) and upload alongside your thesis submission for examination, as a separate PDF. We will then make this available to examiners alongside your submission for examination.

You should provide a summary of how your research has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, if you have had to alter your research plan due to the restrictions in movement around Victoria or because you couldn’t access RMIT campus facilities which you would normally have used or because you had increased carer responsibilities due to the closure of schools and childcare centres.

Please detail what you have had to change/alter in your research plan or submission for examination, any implications you feel this has had on the outcomes or timeliness of your research.

SGR Examinations Office cannot accept any physical theses/dissertations.

You will need to upload your research via the Submission and lodgement tab of the Candidate Centre to submit for examination. To be eligible to do this you must:

• be enrolled as a current candidate
• have completed all course requirements including all milestones and research methods/strategies classes for your course
• have received approval from your primary supervisor and the delegated authority for your School noting your research is ready to be submitted for examination. For detailed instructions on supervisor and School delegated authority approval process, please refer to the Supervisor and School DA Approval Guide (PDF, 2MB).

Please note that the ability to submit will not appear on the candidate centre until your Primary Supervisor and Delegated Authority have given their approval in the system.

For detailed instructions of the submission process please refer to the Submission for Examination Guide (PDF, 584KB).

You will receive a notification detailing your final submission date once the SGR examinations team have approved your submission for examination.

If your examiners have already been approved, your examination will commence a few days after submission approval. The SGR examinations team will notify you once your examination has commenced.

If you are an international onshore candidate and need to provide the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) with evidence of enrolment for the purpose of extending your visa, please refer to Submission and your student visa.

Please submit an enquiry to the SGR Examinations Office if your program is part of a Collaborative Research Training Agreement (CRTA) and you intend to submit for examination. In your enquiry please include: the name of the institution, the name of the agreement with which RMIT is partnered, and the date you intend to submit.

Consideration of potential research impact should occur throughout the candidature lifecycle: “Evidence of consideration of the likely and actual impact, positive and negative, of the proposed research engagement of stakeholders, where appropriate” is required at all three Candidature Milestone Reviews (HDR Progress Management and Support Procedure). 

Candidates who enrolled after 1 January 2023 must include a statement of potential research impact; this should be included within the submission as part of the thesis/dissertation. It is provided as information for the examiners only and is not included in the assessment criteria. 

Research impact is the contribution that research makes to the economy, society, environment or culture, beyond the contribution to academic research. 

– Australian Research Council

Research and innovation for impact is a key direction of RMIT’s Knowledge with Action Strategy. This means “creating, developing and applying knowledge to create benefit for society and the environment, by deepening transdisciplinary understanding, tackling complex challenges and developing new ventures and networks.” 

By including an Impact Statement in their submission, candidates can evidence their impact-driven research training. 

The Impact Statement should explain how the new knowledge created by the candidate has the potential to make the world a better place. What are the prospective benefits that the candidate is hoping to see through their research, beyond the contribution to the discipline? 

The Impact Statement should be approximately 250 words and should appear after the acknowledgements page.

Each candidate’s statement will be unique and tailored to the specifics of their research project. While achievement of research impact may occur over a timeframe extending well beyond candidature, candidates can outline how their research is being, or is anticipated to be, used outside academia to influence changes in understanding and awareness, behaviour, practices or policy. For discovery research, candidates can identify how their contribution to knowledge can ultimately lead to beneficial outcomes for society.

Given this, the statement will vary depending on the candidate’s research impact pathway. Some candidates’ consideration of potential impact will be highly advanced due to partnering with an industry partner. Others may contribute to a larger body of knowledge that can eventually lead to significant changes in policy/practice/behaviours.

This guide can be used as appropriate to the candidates’ research: 

1. Problem: what is the bigger societal, industrial or environmental problem or issue that the research addresses?
2. Engagement: why does this problem matter, and to whom? i.e.; who are the beneficiaries or end users?  
3. Outcomes: what are the outcomes from the uptake and use of this research anticipated to be? How can the research influence change? This may include increased awareness or understanding of an issue or approach, adoption of technologies, improvement in practice, or changes in policy.
4. Impact: How may these outcomes be beneficial and to whom? How would society benefit from the application and uptake of the research? For example, improved operational efficiency, improved products or services, reduced environmental impact, improvements in health or safety, increased cultural awareness, or community development or empowerment.

• Research Impact Toolkit  
• Research Impact as Ethos