{"id":43697,"date":"2018-05-15T12:55:03","date_gmt":"2018-05-15T19:55:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/world.edu\/?p=43697"},"modified":"2018-05-15T12:55:03","modified_gmt":"2018-05-15T19:55:03","slug":"upgrading-from-masters-to-phd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/world.edu\/upgrading-from-masters-to-phd\/","title":{"rendered":"Upgrading from Masters to PhD"},"content":{"rendered":"

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I recently upgraded from my Masters by Research program to a PhD. A little while afterwards, I received this enquiry from a colleague:<\/p>\n

\u201cI have a friend who wants to start a PhD, preferably with an Aussie university. He has done several years of fieldwork already but has no Masters, just an honours from a UK university. Can you give me some info into the process of starting a project as a Masters and then upgrading to a PhD.\u00a0 It may be the best route for him to take.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I thought that my reply might be helpful for other world.edu readers. Here is what I wrote (with a bit of judicious editing).<\/p>\n

First of all, I should say that I don\u2019t really know what I\u2019m talking about. This advice reflects my own personal experience, which is based on my enrolment at RMIT, in Australia. If you are thinking about doing this, please get advice from your chosen university first.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m sure that processes will vary between universities, but here is the main story, as I understand it.<\/p>\n

All universities want to know that you will be a good bet when you enroll for a PhD. The standard way to show that is to have done a good honours degree and\/or a Masters. However, not everybody has gone down that route. Some have been in industry. Some haven\u2019t had the opportunity due to socio-economic or other personal reasons. So some universities provide another route (sort of like mature aged entry into an undergrad degree).<\/p>\n

At RMIT I enrolled in a Masters by Research as a stepping stone towards a PhD. This gave the university some comfort, as they could see whether I\u2019d be a good fit or not. It also gave me a way out, if it wasn\u2019t working. I could graduate with a Masters, and everybody would still be happy. Also, I felt that, if it all went completely to hell, I\u2019d feel better dropping out of a Masters than a PhD (I don\u2019t know why).<\/p>\n

In Australia, all Higher Degree by Research courses (Masters and PhD) have milestones \u2013 Confirmation of candidature; Mid-candidature; and Completion. I\u2019m doing my studies part time, so I came up for the Masters confirmation of candidature after two years. That seemed to go OK.<\/p>\n

My next milestone for the Masters was my mid-candidature. Because I wanted to upgrade to a PhD, this became the confirmation of candidature for my PhD. That is, if I did well enough, I would be confirmed as a PhD student, and all the work that I\u2019d done towards my Masters would be counted towards my PhD.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what I did last month. It went very well.<\/p>\n

My plan is to do a PhD with publications, and one of my supervisors was worried that I hadn\u2019t done enough writing. I had one journal article under review and had done another conference paper. She would have preferred two or three journal papers, preferably with one accepted. But in the end, the review committee was very happy with my progress.<\/p>\n

It they hadn\u2019t been happy, I guess they could have either:<\/p>\n