Subsequently, the members of staff concerned will agree a written statement on the report and viva, to be filed in the Department's records, and the content of this statement will be made known to the student. The statement will include recommendations as to what degree, if any, the student should aim for, and as to the future conduct of the research. However, preparation of the report should not divert the student for long periods of time from his or her longer term programme of work. Rather it should emerge naturally as a product of the first year's study, summarising what has been done and looking forward to the work that lies ahead. In particular, the report should be prepared using an appropriate document preparation system and should contain a properly organised and referenced bibliography.
Quality is more important than quantity.
Typically, a first year viva will last about an hour. The deadline for the submission of first year reports in any particular year will be made known well in advance by the Research Committee. When complete, two copies of the report should be submitted, by the appropriate date, to the Research Student Progress Monitor. The viva will normally follow within 2 to 3 weeks. Progress Ph.D. students who are approaching the end of the second year of full time study are expected to prepare and submit a progress report, and may be interviewed in a manner similar to the first year report.