PhD
Course Description
The Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) is the premier supervised research degree offered by the University of Melbourne. Candidates are admitted to the community of scholars in their discipline upon presentation of an original and innovative work of research that exhibits high academic merit. The candidature is conducted under academic supervision and reported and examined under internationally benchmarked standards of excellence.
Graduate Attributes
Doctoral degrees at the University of Melbourne seek to develop graduates who demonstrate academic leadership, increasing independence, creativity and innovation in their research work.
The University expects its doctoral graduates to have the following qualities and skills:
- an advanced ability to initiate research and to formulate viable research questions;
- a demonstrated capacity to design, conduct and report sustained and original research;
- the capacity to contextualise research within an international corpus of specialist knowledge;
- an advanced ability to evaluate and synthesize research-based and scholarly literature;
- an advanced understanding of key disciplinary and multi-disciplinary norms and perspectives relevant to the field;
- highly developed problem-solving abilities and flexibility of approach;
- the ability to analyse critically within and across a changing disciplinary environment;
- the capacity to disseminate the results of research and scholarship by oral and written communication to a variety of audiences;
- a capacity to cooperate with and respect the contributions of fellow researchers and scholars;
- a profound respect for truth and intellectual integrity, and for the ethics of research and scholarship;
- an advanced facility in the management of information, including the application of computer systems and software where appropriate to the student’s field of study;
- an understanding of the relevance and value of their research to national and international communities of scholars and collaborators;
- an awareness where appropriate of issues related to intellectual property management and the commercialisation of innovation; and
- an ability to formulate applications to relevant agencies, such as funding bodies and ethics committees.
The University provides a variety of opportunities in addition to the supervised research program, to facilitate a students’ acquisition of these attributes.
Candidates wishing to enrol in the PhD Program in the Faculty of Economics and Commerce may complete a thesis from any Department of the Faculty. All departments have a coursework component in their PhD programs.
Follow the links below for course details and application information for the PhD program in each department.
PhD with Coursework (Accounting)
PhD with Coursework (Economics)
PhD Administration
PhD applications and candidature are managed by the School of Graduate Studies. Before applying it is essential that you read the information on the particular PhD program (listed by department, above) you intend to join. Follow the links below for the School of Graduate Studies.
- School of Graduate Research prospective student information
- School of Graduate Research PhD applications
- School of Graduate Research homepage.
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