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Dissertation Progress Report (DPR)

The Dissertation Progress Report (DPR) is a formal mechanism through which a PhD student reports on the progress of the dissertation research, identifies any challenges encountered, outlines resource requirements, summarizes research outputs, and presents a work plan for the subsequent semester. Beginning in the first regular semester following the successful completion of the Research Proposal Examination (RPE), and by the end of Week 10 of each regular semester, the student must submit a Dissertation Progress Report to the Research Supervisory Committee (RSC). The RSC shall review the DPR and provide feedback and recommendations to the student, the Main Advisor, and Co-Advisor(s), where applicable, by the end of Week 12 of the semester. The Main Advisor shall take the RSC's feedback into consideration when completing the student's end-of-semester research progress evaluation.

The DPR shall be concise and include, but not be limited to, the following:

  • The research objectives, including any revisions since the previous reporting period.
  • A summary of the research activities and work completed during the reporting period.
  • An assessment of progress against previously established research objectives and milestones.
  • A summary of the key research findings and achievements, where applicable.
  • Any challenges or issues affecting the progress of the research, together with proposed mitigation measures, where applicable.
  • Resource requirements necessary to support the successful completion of the research, where applicable.
  • Research ethics, regulatory, and compliance matters, including the status of any required ethics approvals, safety approvals, or other regulatory requirements, where applicable.
  • Research outputs, including publications, conference presentations, patents, software, datasets, or other scholarly or research outputs, where applicable.
  • Professional development activities, including workshops, seminars, conferences, internships, teaching, or other activities that support the student's doctoral development, where applicable.
  • A work plan and research objectives for the subsequent semester.

The DPR serves as the primary mechanism for monitoring the student's semester-by-semester research progress and facilitating regular communication between the student, the Main Advisor, Co-Advisor(s), where applicable, and the RSC. Following its review of the DPR, the RSC shall provide the student with constructive feedback and recommendations, identify any actions necessary to support the timely completion of the dissertation, and provide guidance to the student and the supervisory team on the subsequent direction of the research.