PhD confirmation review

All students register directly onto the full PhD (Doctorate) degree programme, unless they choose to register for the shorter MPhil (Masters Research) degree.

To support your research and help make sure that, as a PhD student, you are progressing at the right level and pace you will undertake a Confirmation Review. This will take place during the course of May and June of the first year of study (second year for part-time students).

A candidate for the degree of PhD is required to satisfy the examiners that his or her thesis forms an addition to knowledge, shows evidence of systematic study, has the ability to relate the results of such study to the general body of knowledge in that subject and includes work worthy of publication, either in full or in an abridged form.

Confirmation review is a rigorous process but it’s intended to be a supportive one, it gives you the opportunity to receive feedback and an outside perspective from academic staff who aren’t directly involved in your project. As well as making sure that your project is progressing at the right level, it will help you to make sure that your project is sufficiently focussed and achievable within your registration period.

What does confirmation review involve?

PhD Showcase

As part of your preparation for the confirmation review, the department organises a PhD Showcase event - an opportunity for early-stage PhD students to present their research. PhD students who are approaching confirmation will give a 20-minute presentation, and there will be plenty of time in the programme for questions, discussion and feedback.

The Showcase is not a part of the formal assessment for the confirmation process. It is designed to give you a chance to try out the material you will be submitting for confirmation, and develop your experience in presenting your research.

Submission of written work

You will submit a substantial piece of written work including details about your topic and research approach. This will be supported by a timetable for completion, information about your engagement with the doctoral development programme, a Data Management Plan and confirmation that you have completed the Research Ethics and Integrity training module (full details below).

Your written work and supporting documents should be submitted via email to history.pgrenquiries@sheffield.ac.uk

Confirmation review meeting

Following submission of your written work and supporting documents, you will have a review meeting which usually takes place within a month of the confirmation review deadline.

The meeting takes the form of an oral viva examination and is held with a confirmation review panel made up of two members of academic staff not directly involved in your project. Your primary supervisor will also attend the meeting in a supporting capacity but will not take part in the review itself.

As indicated above, the confirmation review is intended as a supportive process, the meeting is an opportunity to discuss your submitted work and the panel will ask you questions about your project, progress so far and your research and writing plans for the remainder of your registration period. You will also discuss your progress with the Doctoral Development Programme in line with the needs identified in your Training Needs Analysis Form.

Following the meeting, the panel will complete a form reflecting on your submission and the review meeting. You will be provided with an outcome (see below) and a copy of the form so that you can use the panel’s feedback.

You can view the Confirmation Review Form that will be completed by the panel on the Research Services webpages here.

Showcase date

Showcase 2024-25: Wednesday 14 May 2025

Deadline*

Deadline 2024-25: 5pm, Friday 13 June 2025

Meeting dates*

Meetings 2024-25: late-June to late-July 2025

*Standard deadline/meetings dates for students beginning their studies on 1 October, you will notified of your individual deadline if you began your studies at another point in the year.

Documents for submission:

A substantial piece of written work (click for more information)

The written work should be c.7-8,000 words in length not including the bibliography, footnotes and appendices. You can choose from options A and B below.

Option A: introduction

An introduction setting out the intellectual rationale for your project. It should include:

Substantial introduction to your project:

- overview of the scope of the project and its conceptual framing
- critical review of the secondary literature
- the key research questions
- overview of the nature of the sources you intend to use, and reflections on how they will be used/interrogated

Summary overview of chapters. For each chapter heading you should briefly indicate (1-2 paras each):

- the key questions to be addressed
- the principal sources and methods to be employed
- the projected word-length

Bibliography:

- the main primary sources / data sets you are using
- the key secondary literature relevant to the topic

Option B: short introduction and draft chapter

Alternatively, you may present a short introduction and a draft chapter involving empirical research. It should include

Overview of the project (guideline 2-3,000 words):

- scope of the project, including its conceptual framing in relationship to secondary literature
- overview of primary sources / data sets to be analysed in the thesis
- summary overview of thesis structure

Draft chapter (guideline 5-6,000 words):

- chapter introduction, establishing its aims in critical relationship to scholarship
- overview of sources and methods to be used in the chapter
- extended empirical analysis of primary sources / data sets
- preliminary conclusions

Bibliography:

- the main primary sources / data sets you are using
- the key secondary literature relevant to the topic

In both cases A and B, the assessors will find it helpful to be given some indication as to which elements of your intended research will represent new work (or a novel approach), and which build substantially on the work of others. You are reminded that the guideline length for PhD theses is 75,000 words or more.

All work should be presented in an appropriate academic format, with full referencing according to discipline. Please number the pages!

All scholarly apparatus and appendices are excluded from the word count.

A timetable for completion

This should take the form of one or two sides of A4, presenting the programme of work as currently envisaged, highlighting periods of archival or other research and demonstrating the feasibility of completing and submitting the thesis by the end of the fee paying / funded period.

Please also summarise the work completed to date, so that the panel has a context for thinking about the completion of the project as a whole.

A Doctoral Development Programme (DDP) statement

This is a statement about your DDP activities so far. It should include information about what you have done towards your TNA and Development Plan objectives and how this has contributed towards your work on your thesis, including a list of all modules/training undertaken as part of the DDP. One side of A4 should normally suffice.

Training Needs Analysis (TNA) form

Please download and submit a pdf version of your TNA form, which you will have reviewed at your Bi-annual review meeting.

Data Management Plan

Your DMP describes the data you will collect during your research and how it will be managed, both during and after the project.

If you have completed your DMP via the DMP Online Sheffield portal, you can submit a downloaded pdf or can share your plan directly from the portal with r.hasnip@sheffield.ac.uk, riley.jackson@sheffield.ac.uk and history.pgrenquiries@sheffield.ac.uk.

Ethics Certificate

FCA6100 Research Ethics and Integrity is a compulsory module you must take as part of the DDP. You should complete this ahead of your confirmation review deadline and include your certificate in your submission.

Additional supporting documents

If you have a learning support plan, you should include a copy of this in your submission.

What happens next?

After your confirmation review meeting the panel will provide an outcome from the following options:

Pass
Resubmit documentation without another viva
Resubmit documentation with another viva

If the panel recommends a pass then this is submitted to Research Services where the confirmation decision ultimately rests.

If the panel recommends resubmission, you will undertake a second attempt at confirmation review. You will be given a copy of the Confirmation Review Form which includes the panels' feedback and information about the revisions that they are asking you to make.

There are two options for resubmission: minor revisions (without another viva) or major revisions (with another viva). You will be given a new departmental submission deadline. For minor revisions this is usually 3 months from the date that the panel feedback is provided to you. For major revisions this is usually 5 months and a new meeting will be arranged, usually within a month of the deadline. For part-time students this is usually 6 or 10 months respectively.

You will again be provided with an outcome and feedback from the panel. Available outcomes at this stage are a pass or moving to the MPhil degree.

More information: Research Services confirmation review webpage

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