Last Updated on 29/01/2025
The thesis is the largest piece of research work that trainees undertake. It requires considerable planning. This section tells you how to go about planning for your thesis.
Choosing a thesis topic and supervisor
In October of the first year (full time pathway) or second year (part time pathway) trainees will be asked to submit a research choices form expressing a preference for up to five topic areas from those identified in the thesis ideas booklet for that year, which must include topics offered by at least three different supervisors. The trainee will then be allocated an academic research supervisor who will supervise their thesis and will usually also be their research tutor throughout their time on the programme. The level of support provided is detailed in the consistency framework for research. This proposal will be reviewed, and the trainee informed of the outcome.
The Thesis Proposal and Protocol
In their first year of training (2nd year if part-time), trainees prepare a thesis proposal and protocol submitted in two stages, using the Thesis Proposal and Protocol form below. At stage 1 (April full-time/July part-time) the trainee submits part 1 of the proposal which explains the scientific justification for the study and summarises the proposed study design. This is formatively assessed and the trainee is provided with written feedback. At stage 2 (July full-time/October part-time), the trainee submits the full proposal and protocol form, which is then reviewed by the programme team. More detail on the process can be found in the Thesis Proposal and Protocol Guidance Document at the bottom of the page. Once their thesis proposal and protocol is approved, the trainee may prepare their ethics application.
Applying for ethical approval
For trainees to plan their research time effectively, it is vital that they are ready to start work on their project in good time. For trainees on the full-time pathway, this is normally considered to be by January of the second year, and for trainees on the part-time pathway April of the third year. This means submitting an application for approval from relevant ethics committee(s) between September and December in the second year (November-February year 3 if part-time). Supervisors would expect to see at least one complete draft of the ethics application before submission, including copies of data collection tools (e.g., demographic questionnaire, survey, interview schedule), and draft information sheets and consent forms.
Custodianship of the data
Please note that your thesis supervisor will act as the data custodian throughout the life of the project.
Funding for research
Trainees may wish to consult the policy on funding for research in the online handbook.
The Thesis
The thesis is comprised of three papers; a literature review, research paper and critical appraisal. For more details regarding the structure of the thesis, please see the guide to the thesis format and examination. For details regarding the supervisory support that trainees can expect for the thesis, please see the consistency framework.
Presentation guidelines
All trainees are required to give a short presentation of their work to fellow trainees, supervisors and members of the wider faculty at Thesis Presentation Day. This usually takes place in April, after the main thesis submission deadline. This should be thought of as a public presentation and copies of the presentation will be made available afterwards to the public through the course website. You should bear this in mind when choosing what to present and include on your slides.
Electronic submission in the library
Trainees are required to submit an electronic copy of their thesis to the University Library using an online system. More information about this can be found in the guide to depositing your thesis below.
Guide to the thesis format and examination
Thesis contract and action plan
Thesis Proposal and Protocol form
The Thesis Proposal and Protocol – Trainee Guide
Research Choices Form
Research expenses
Data collection and analysis methods
Literature Retrieval Summary Form
The thesis is the largest piece of research work that trainees undertake. It requires considerable planning. This section tells you how to go about planning for your thesis.
Initial proposal form for thesis project
In October of the first year (full time programme) or second year (part time programme) trainees will be asked to submit a form expressing a preference for up to five topic areas from those identified in the thesis ideas booklet for that year, which must include topics offered by at least three different supervisors. The trainee will then be allocated an academic research supervisor, who will in most cases be a member of the programme team. The trainee will then receive supervision from their supervisor relating to the Thesis Preparation Assignment (submission in March) and then draft a thesis proposal form with the input of their supervisor(s) for submission in June of the first year of training. The level of support provided is detailed in the consistency framework for research. This proposal will be reviewed and the trainee informed of the outcome.
Ethics committee proposal(s)
For trainees to plan their research time effectively, it is vital that they are ready to start work on their project in good time. For trainees on the full-time programme this is normally considered to be by January of the second year, and for trainees on the part-time programme April of the third year. This means gaining approval from relevant ethics committee(s) well between October and December in the second year. Therefore, it is recommended that trainees make applications to relevant ethics committee(s) as early as possible. This is to allow time to make any alterations ethics committees require, considering the fact that some ethics committees do not meet as frequently over the summer. Supervisors would expect to see at least one complete draft of the ethics application before submission, including copies of measures and draft information sheets and consent forms.
Custodianship of the data
Please note that your thesis supervisor will act as the data custodian throughout the life of the project.
Funding for research
Trainees may wish to consult the policy on funding for research in the online handbook.
The Thesis
The thesis is comprised of three papers; a literature review, research paper and critical appraisal. For details regarding the supervisory support that trainees can expect for the thesis, please see the ‘consistency framework’. Links to both resources can be found at the bottom of the page.
Presentation guidelines
Following the submission of your thesis, you will be required to give a short presentation of your work to fellow trainees, supervisors and members of the wider faculty. This should be thought of as a public presentation and copies of the presentation will be made available afterwards to the public through the course website. You should bear this in mind when choosing what to present and include on your slides.
Electronic submission in the library
Trainees are required to submit an electronic copy of their thesis to the University Library using an online system. More information about this can be found in the guide to depositing your thesis below.
Guide to the thesis format and examination
Thesis contract and action plan
Thesis proposal form
Research expenses
Data collection and analysis methods
Deposit your Thesis – a how to guide
Consistency framework
Initial proposal form for thesis project
After the Introduction to the Thesis teaching session the trainee will identify three broad topic ideas and email these to the research co-ordinator in October. The trainee will then be allocated an academic research supervisor from the programme team. The trainee then drafts a thesis proposal form with the input of their supervisor(s). This form is to be completed in the first part of the second year. This proposal will be reviewed and the trainee informed of the outcome.
Ethics committee proposal(s)
For trainees to plan their research time effectively, it is vital that they are ready to start work on their project by October of the third year. This means gaining approval from relevant ethics committee(s) well before October in the third year. Therefore, it is recommended that trainees make applications to relevant ethics committee(s) as early as possible. This is to allow time to make any alterations ethics committees require, taking into account the fact that some ethics committees do not meet as frequently over the summer. Supervisors would expect to see one complete draft of the ethics application before submission, including copies of measures and draft information sheets and consent forms.
Custodianship of the data
Please note that your thesis supervisor will act as the data custodian throughout the life of the project.
Funding for research
Trainees may wish to consult the policy on funding for research, which can be found in the online handbook.
Literature review
To assist trainees in writing the literature review in good time, supervisors would expect to see the following:
Draft literature review structure. This should be no more than a couple of pages of A4, and should contain the proposed title of the literature review and any subheadings, together with brief outlines of what issues each trainee is planning to discuss under each subheading. This should enable trainees to plan the overall structure of the literature review. Supervisors would expect to see this draft literature review structure in the first part of the s year. At the same time, supervisors also need to see the name of the target journal that is being considered for the literature review and the notes for contributors for that journal.
A first complete draft of the literature review should normally be completed and handed in to supervisors by mid-December of the third year. It should be a complete first draft, written in the format of the target journal, containing a title page, abstract, literature review, any tables/figures and reference list.
A second complete draft of the literature review should normally be completed and handed in to the research team by the end of February of the third year. It should be a complete second draft, written in the format of the target journal, containing a title page, abstract, literature review, any tables/figures and reference list.
Research paper
To assist trainees in writing the research paper in good time, the research team would normally expect to see the following:
By the end of December of the third year, the name of the target journal that is being considered for the research paper and the notes for contributors for that journal. This is to ensure that trainees begin writing the research paper in the appropriate format for their target journal. However, a trainee may find that he or she wishes to change the target journal at some point; this is not a problem as long as the new target journal is acceptable to the research team.
A first draft of the introduction and method of the research paper should normally be completed and handed in to the research team by the end of January of the third year. This should be written in the format of the target journal, and should also contain a title page and a reference list of the references cited in the research paper so far.
A complete draft of the research paper should normally be completed and handed in to the research team by the end of March of the 3rd year. It should be a complete draft, written in the format of the target journal, containing a title page, abstract, introduction, method, results, discussion, tables/figures and reference list.
Critical appraisal section of the thesis
The research team would normally expect to see a first draft of the critical appraisal, completed and handed in to the research team by the end of March in your third year. This should be written in the format of the target journal used for the research paper, and should also contain a title page and a reference list. Given that the critical appraisal contains reflections on the whole thesis process, it is usual to leave this section to the end to write.
The Thesis
The research team would normally expect to see a complete draft of the thesis by the end of April of the third year. This should contain all the constituent parts of the thesis, including a cover page, word counts, the declaration, acknowledgements, contents pages, the literature review, the research paper, the critical appraisal, the ethics committee proposal, and appendices. Please also refer to the consistency framework for details of support.
Presentation guidelines
Following the submission of your thesis, you will be required to give a short presentation of your work to fellow trainees, supervisors and members of the wider faculty. This should be thought of as a public presentation and copies of the presentation will be made available afterwards to the public through the course website. You should bear this in mind when choosing what to present and include on your slides.
Examples of previous presentations can be found on the programme website.
Electronic submission in the library
Trainees are required to submit an electronic copy of their thesis to the University Library using an online system. More information about this can be found in the guide to depositing your thesis below.
Guide to the thesis format and examination
Thesis contract and action plan
Thesis proposal form
Research expenses
Deposit your Thesis – a how to guide
Consistency framework