For current students

At the start of your student registration, you will receive an email from the PGR team with your individual milestone submissions deadlines and when to submit your Research Proposal. Please refer to our guide on writing a research proposal.

Assessors play a vital role in reviewing PhD research proposals, ensuring they meet the required standards of quality and feasibility. After the research proposal is submitted — within six weeks of enrolment — one assessor is assigned by the student’s supervisor, and a second is appointed by the Director of Postgraduate Studies. These assessors provide thorough feedback and continue their involvement through both the Early Stage Assessment (ESA) and the Late Stage Review (LSR), offering ongoing guidance and critical evaluation during key stages of the research process. 

Induction

You will be granted access to your course module on Blackboard and to the Induction module which you must access and watch the welcome video.

Please find course information in the Imperial PGR Programme Handbook 2024/25.

Funding

Please contact your primary supervisor’s Division or Section manager for any queries about your bursary or funding payments.

Mentoring

The Mentoring Scheme is open to all PhD and MD(Res) students within NHLI. We strongly recommend that you have a mentor to support you during your time on the course. Mentoring is a useful resource for specific issues you wish to discuss with someone. Examples of topics that could be covered in mentoring include but are not limited to:

• relationship with your supervisor(s)
• balancing work and personal life
• going on or returning from parental leave
• career progression (e.g. progression from a postdoc to an independent researcher, or changing your career direction)

You can choose to have a mentor to support you from the start of your research degree or ask to have one later on.

Please find available information on Mentoring at NHLI.

There are also the Sources of Support which can help students, for example, with developing strategies for addressing challenges with supervisory partnership.

Activate mentoring programme is targeted to support students from minority ethnic heritage groups.

Mutual Expectations

Please refer to the Essential documents from Cornerstone and the Graduate School, especially the Mutual Expectations document for supervisors and students’ partnerships which is to be discussed with your supervisor at the start of your student registration, at your Early Stage Assessment then at your Late Stage Review.

We require you to review your progress every 6 months with your primary supervisor and complete a progress report every October and April until thesis submission. The progress report has two forms which will be sent to you by the PGR team, with one form to be completed by you and your supervisor, the other form is to be completed by student alone. The second form is sent separately as a confidential report, in which case the Director of Postgraduate Studies (DPS) or one of the NHLI Tutors will contact you privately to discuss any issues. Your supervisor(s) will not receive a copy of your form.

Your ESA Written report (max. 6,000 words) should be submitted to Blackboard (via the submission portal in the ‘Assessment - ESA submission’ section of your course module) at the 8^th month from the start of your student registration (or equivalent part-time).

We also ask you to provide an updated copy of your CV and course list (please see Attendance Requirements for Doctoral Students for the Professional skills courses).

For full details on what to include for your ESA submission, please refer to the ‘Assessment - ESA submission’ section of your Blackboard module: NHLI Post Graduate Research - PhD & MD(Res).

The PGR office will send your ESA documents to your assessors and contact you as well so that you can start to liaise with your assessors to arrange a time and place for your ESA Oral Assessment. If meeting in person is not an available option, we do accept online meeting as well. Please email nhlipgr.team@imperial.ac.uk the date of your presentation once it is scheduled.

The PGR office will also provide to your assessors our departmental ESA Assessment forms for them to complete with their feedback. There are two separate forms for the ESA Written assessment and one for the Oral assessment.

Please refer to the Mutual Expectations document for supervisors and students’ partnerships which is to be discussed again at your Early Stage Assessment with your primary supervisor.

The LSR requires you to submit your written report (max. 4 pages) and presentation slides to Blackboard (via the submission point in the ‘Assessment - LSR submission’ section of your course module) at around 21 months of your student registration (or equivalent part-time).

We will ask you to provide your updated CV and course list to us (please see Attendance Requirements for Doctoral Students for the Professional skills courses).

Please find further details on what to include for your LSR submission in the ‘Assessment – LSR submission’ section of your Blackboard module: NHLI Post Graduate Research – PhD & MD(Res).

The PGR office will send your LSR submission to your assessors and contact you as well so that you can start to liaise with your assessors to arrange a time and place for your LSR meeting which should take place in person within your group or Section. Please email nhlipgr.team@imperial.ac.uk the date of your LSR presentation once it is scheduled.

The PGR office will also provide to your assessors our departmental LSR Assessment form to collect their feedback comments on your behalf.

Please review the Mutual Expectations document for supervisors and students’ partnerships with your primary supervisor.

At the end of the standard active research period (36 months or, equivalent part-time), students are subject to a formal monitoring point to determine progress and eligibility to enter the Writing up period (referred to as a Progress Review) with their supervisor. You can then submit Application for entry to Writing Up Status (doc) to the Department. The maximum writing up period is 12 months and will terminate at the thesis submission deadline if this is earlier than the writing up allowance. This will allow you to retain access to the College facilities, however, all experimental work should be completed before entering this status.

A student who still has experimental work to perform at this stage cannot move into Writing up status and will continue to pay full fees.

During the Writing up period the student will remain registered and no fees will be charged.

Students may request to enter the writing up period before 36 months. Any such request must be recommended by the Main Supervisor and approved by the DPS (or nominee) and will bring forward the expected thesis submission deadline accordingly.

Further details can be read in the College’s Writing Up procedure [PDF].

Please follow College guidelines for Examination Entry process and forms, Writing up, Thesis submission, Thesis extension request and Vivas.

For any queries, please contact the Assessment Records team.

Examination entry

Student must enter for examination at least four months prior to thesis submission.

To enter for examination, please go to the Examination Entry milestone visible in your Postgraduate Research Milestones tile in My Imperial, where you will be asked to provide details relating to your research topic, thesis title and expected date of submission.

Your main supervisor will then be asked to nominate examiners for your thesis, in accordance with the College's Procedure for Appointment of Examiners for Research Degrees.

Submission

Students must submit their thesis electronically via the Research Degree Milestones tile in My Imperial. No thesis should be submitted without the approval of the supervisor.

Submission checklist for Imperial degrees

Students must submit their thesis by the given submission deadline displayed in My Imperial, regardless of the status of their examination entry paperwork. Students have until 11.59pm on the date of their maximum submission deadline to submit. Anything submitted after this deadline will be classed as late. 

For more information on the viva process please visit the Success Guide: Thesis submission and viva.