PhD/MPhil Research
The Degrees of MPhil (Master of Philosophy) and PhD (Doctor of Philosophy) research students are Higher Degrees obtained after a period of supervised research at the leading edge of the student’s chosen subject. The results must be written up as a substantial dissertation.
The Centre for Power Transmission and Motion Control offers a wide range of research topics for self-motivated, interested students with a very good honours degree. Typically postgraduate degrees are done on a full-time basis, however it also possible to apply for part-time research degree programmes. Postgraduate projects can also be linked to industrial companies or can be carried out in collaboration with other research groups and institutions. This gives research students the opportunity to work on inter-disciplinary projects with strong industrial relevance as well as on more fundamental engineering topics.
An MPhil takes about two years to complete. The maximum period of registration for an MPhil is three years. Typically students complete most of the research work in twelve to eighteen months and are able to write up their results in a thesis in three to six months.
A PhD normally takes three years to complete. The period of registration ranges from two to four years, and studentships are typically awarded for a period of three years. Research students initially register as MPhil/PhD. After the first year of registration research students transfer to PhD by writing up a transfer report with the background to the subject and the results obtained in the first year, and undergo a viva voce examination of that material. After the MPhil/PhD transfer, research is carried on to gather further original results that are then written up in a substantial thesis. The writing up of the thesis typically takes three to six months.
During the first year of registration research students are encouraged to attend generic skills training courses on a variety of subjects, including: creative thinking and problem solving, speed reading, making presentations and answering questions, communications skills, research in a commercial environment, project management for research students.
Research students have access to the well-equipped research laboratories and computing facilities. Each research student will have access to the University's central computer system and services via their own PC or workstation. Some research students also undertake part-time teaching duties in the Department, particularly as demonstrators in the undergraduate laboratories. In addition to supplementing income, these activities can provide useful training for subsequent careers for research students.