Information for Prospective Research Students
Which Degree?
The Department of International Communication offers two higher degrees in International Communication, viz. the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) and the Master of Philosophy (M.Phil). If you are interested in applying for either of these degrees, you should first look at the following sections of "Higher Degree Research Guide For Candidates and Supervisors" on the Research Office website.
Part A - THE ART OF RESEARCH: AN OVERVIW OF THE STAGES OF HIGHER DEGREE RESEARCH (HDR)
Stage 1: Pre-enrolment
Stage 2: Application, Scholarships and Enrolment
Part B - CANDIDATURE INFORMATION
Section 1: Candidature Commencement
This section provides information about admission requirements. Admission to the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy requires a Bachelor degree with first class Honours or second class Honours division 1; or a Masters degree with a substantial research component or equivalent and a GPA of 3.5; or a degree with a GPA of 3.5 followed by a postgraduate research training certificate. Application forms may be downloaded from the HDRU website http://www.research.mq.edu.au/students/home Inquiries may be addressed to hdrint@vc.mq.edu.au by local or international students.
Scholarships
Scholarship information is available at http://www.research.mq.edu.au/students/scholarships
Next Steps
- Have a discussion with Professor Chitty naren.chitty@.mq.edu.au. He will direct you to a potential supervisor.
- Develop a 500 word summary proposal in consultation with the potential supervisor.
- Conduct a preliminary review of relevant literature and expand your summary proposal to 3000 words according to the guideline provided below; submit the proposal along with your application. Note that applications for research degrees in "International Communication" should state the term clearly even if the term "International Communication" is not included in print on the application. If not included, insert it yourself in ink. The area of study is B1.
Guideline for 3000 Word Proposal
Address the following:
- Background to problem/Justification of research
- Review of relevant literature
- Statement of objectives:
- Overall Objective eg. To examine the relationship between unemployment among expatriate workers in 'X-land' and incidence of crime
- Reading objectives (labour migration, unemployment and crime)
- Research objectives (eg. To determine rates of unemployment among expatriate workers and incidents of crime; to interview police officials regarding their experience of crimes committed by expatriate workers)
- Tentative statement of hypothesis. Crimes committed by expatriate workers will increase with unemployment levels
- Outline (Provide a paragraph about each proposed chapter)
- Timeline
- Conclusion
An elaboration of the requirements of your proposal are provided below:
Background/Justification: In this section you will provide some historical background to the issue under consideration and provide an academic and social justification for addressing the issue.
Objectives: State your overall objective and the 'reading' and 'research' sub-objectives which will contribute to achieving your overall objective. Your reading objectives, when fulfilled, will result in your theory
Chapters/literature review: Your research objectives, to be achieved, will require the use later on of research methodologies in order to find information about your topic.
Outline: Provide a sketch of your proposed outline. A conventional thesis will have an (1) introductory chapter; (2) background chapter; (3) literature review chapter(s); (4) methodology chapter; (5) results chapter; (6) discussion. Chapter.
Time Line: A PhD thesis project should be completed in 3.5 years. You could adopt the following schedule for completion:Semester 1: Complete introduction
Semester 2: Start literature review
Semester 3: Complete literature review
Semester 4: Complete methodology (apply for Ethics Committee approval and University Research Funds)
Semester 5: Conduct field research
Semester 6: Evaluate and write out results
Semester 7: Complete discussion, finalise and submit
Candidates are expected to attend weekly HDR workshops. External candidates need to discuss requirements with the Department.
Good luck with your educational plans.
Professor Naren Chitty