1. Guildhall School of Music & Drama Doctoral Student Induction

2. Doctorate is a self-directed, independent project with no set syllabus, very little contact hours relative to other degrees.
You are on your own a lot of the time
You don’t really have ‘teachers’ in the conventional sense
What you do is specific to your project
In this session I want to map out some of the milestones that will help structure your project.
Using Sarah’s timeline as a map (but not going chronologically).

3. summative milestones

4. Upgrade (aka transfer of registration) and Final examinations
Submit material (written material + usually practical element)
In some cases, give a performance
Viva

5. Annual Progress Review
Filled in by student and supervisors
Submitted to Sarah in summer (Year 1 March for full-time students) and reported to the Research and Knowledge Exchange Committee
Records achievements and sets agreed targets
Rates your progress and flags ‘case consultation’ or ‘progress review’ in case of trouble.
APR is a formative assessment point BUT can, in extreme cases, trigger a serious decision about continuation on the programme.

6. year 1 milestones

7. Supervisory Agreement
Roles of different supervisors
Frequency of supervisions and procedures for making appointments
Arrangements for giving feedback (eg agreed ‘turnaround’ time and format for feedback)
Preferences in terms of contact (eg by , by phone)

8. Revised research proposal
Submitted to Sarah by January (full-time) or April (part-time) of year 1
Peer feedback in research training session
Tbc: revised for student web profile

9. First year presentation
Summer term (part-time students may delay until Y2)
Practice organising and presenting your ideas
Practice conference etiquette
Receive peer and tutor feedback
DOESN’T HAVE TO BE A POWER-POINT

10. (what do you do when you do a doctorate?)
independent research
Sarah’s chart foregrounds the procedural and general milestones (and forms!). But alongside this, you and your supervisors need design a series of tasks that will get you where you need to be. I can’t tell you what yours are exactly and they will evolve as you go along. But this chart is an attempt to identify what sort of thing you might be doing when.
It’s based on the assumptions that your research will play out in three phases ie:
(what do you do when you do a doctorate?)

11. Expert knowledge (finding your niche) Generate new data ‘write up’
Immersion in literature & practice
Find your ‘niche’
Narrowing your focus
Generate new data
Research planning
Methodology
Research Ethics
Documentation
Analysis
‘write up’
Analysis & synthesis
Making your case for originality.
presenting you findings: argument & expression
Establishing your expert position of the ‘field’
Generating new knowledge
Working out what that means, and how to share your discoveries.
But these are often overlapping, simultaneous, repeated. Eg need to keep up to date on literature and practice; need to be writing up from the beginning.
Handout: what do you do when you do a doctorate.

12. Research Development Framework
Vitae
Research Development Framework
The codes on the ‘what do you do’ chart relate to this framework.
Note the emphasis on generic research skills (subject knowledge is just one small slice of the cake).

13. Let’s run through VERY IMPORTANT STUFF

14. Registration periods
4 / 7 years is MAXIMUM
Upgrade at 16 months (FT)
Intermission (up to 1 year)
Year-round (7 weeks holiday)

15. Attendance and Participation
Base your activities ‘around the School’
Attend research training and monthly supervisions.
Logged through registers, supervision reports, swipe card & informal ‘sightings’. You might be chased!
Stay in touch! Tell us about absences, leave, holidays and research trips. LoA via Ego

16. Commitment and Progress
30/15 hours a week
Manage other commitment carefully
Take responsibility for your progress
FLAG UP ISSUES EARLY!

17. Professional Conduct
Research Ethics
Insurance/risk assessment for field work
GDPR
Intellectual Property
Plagiarism and referencing
Representing the School

18. Visa Requirements
Attendance and progress
Registration periods & mode of study
Intermission
Restrictions on travel
Conditions of work
Performing and working as a musician
ALL QUESTIONS TO (copy in