Milestone map
Milestone map
3 milestones
Pass your PhD confirmation review
9–15 months (first-year confirmation typical timeline)
A PhD is structured around milestones that confirm research viability and academic readiness. The confirmation of candidature (or transfer viva, upgrade, or first-year review — terminology varies by institution) is the first formal gate. It requires: a detailed research proposal (10–20 pages), a literature review demonstrating command of the field, a preliminary methodology, a feasibility argument for completing the research in the programme's time frame, and an oral examination with an independent panel. Prepare a 15-page confirmation document and complete your institution's confirmation review.
Proof required
Submit your confirmation document (title page and introduction only — full document is confidential) and your written feedback from the confirmation review panel, confirming you have passed with the panel's recommendations for development.
What gets checked
- Confirmation panel included at least one assessor external to your supervisory team — this is the standard for independent review.
- Panel feedback is written and specific — not a verbal 'you passed' but a document with recommendations.
- Research question is specific enough to be completable in the programme's time frame — a question requiring 20 years of longitudinal data is not a viable PhD question.
Common mistakes
- Confirmation passed with provisional conditions not yet met — this milestone requires unconditional confirmation or conditions formally cleared.
- Literature review that is comprehensive but not critical — summarising 100 papers is not demonstrating command of the field.
- Research question that has already been answered in the literature — the gap must be genuine.
Resources
Foundationstart here
Depthgo deeper
What a verifier looks for
- Ask for the written panel feedback — not a verbal account of the outcome.
- Ask the student to state their research question in one sentence and describe the gap it fills.
- Ask who the independent panel member was — not their supervisor.
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Complete data collection and produce a chapter
12–24 months (data collection timeline varies significantly by field)
Complete your primary data collection or experimental phase and produce a standalone chapter (or substantial working paper, 20–30 pages) demonstrating your research findings at this stage. The chapter must: introduce the methodology as implemented (not just planned), present your data or results, include an initial analysis or interpretation, and identify what is not yet answerable from the current data and why. Have it reviewed by your supervisory team and at least one external reader (a colleague in your research area — not your institution's supervisor).
Proof required
Submit the abstract and conclusions section of your chapter (not the full chapter), your supervisors' written feedback on the draft, and a 1-page summary of what the external reader said was unclear or underdeveloped.
What gets checked
- External reader is genuinely external — a fellow student in your lab group is not external enough; someone at another institution or in a different research group is.
- Supervisors' feedback is written — verbal comments summarised by the student are not eligible.
- Conclusions section distinguishes what the data shows from what you infer from it — the difference between results and interpretation must be clear.
Common mistakes
- Chapter that is a polished plan for future research rather than findings from completed research — this milestone requires actual data.
- External feedback that is entirely positive — a genuine peer reviewer of academic work finds something to challenge.
- Conclusions that exceed what the data supports — overclaiming is a core failure mode in PhD chapters.
Resources
Foundationstart here
What a verifier looks for
- Ask the student what the data actually shows versus what they had expected it to show.
- Ask who the external reader was and what institution they are at.
- Ask for the single most important challenge the supervisors raised in their written feedback.
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Submit thesis and pass viva voce
3–6 months (thesis writing, submission, and viva)
Complete, submit, and successfully defend your PhD thesis in a viva voce examination conducted by an internal and external examiner. The viva requires you to defend every aspect of the thesis — methodology, analysis, literature positioning, and conclusions — against sustained expert challenge. Your institution issues a formal outcome letter: pass, pass with minor corrections, pass with major corrections, or fail. This milestone requires at least a pass with minor corrections and all corrections formally submitted and accepted.
Proof required
Submit your thesis title page and abstract, your official outcome letter from the viva (institution-issued), and a 2-page reflection on the viva experience — what you were challenged on, how you responded, and what the process taught you about your own research.
What gets checked
- Outcome letter is institution-issued — not a self-reported verbal outcome.
- If minor corrections were required, evidence of formal acceptance of corrections is included.
- Reflection addresses a specific challenge from the viva — not 'the examiners were thorough' but a specific question asked and how you answered it.
Common mistakes
- Viva outcome of major corrections not yet completed — this milestone requires formal acceptance of all corrections.
- Thesis submitted to a programme not accredited by a recognised body in its jurisdiction.
- Reflection that avoids describing the viva challenge — the viva is an adversarial examination and the reflection must acknowledge what was hard.
Resources
What a verifier looks for
- Ask for the institution-issued outcome letter.
- Ask the student to describe the most challenging question in the viva and their response.
- If corrections were required, ask what they corrected and whether the acceptance is documented.
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