“Warm pacific greetings to you – wherever you may be in our beautiful Pacific Islands region. We would like to highlight some of the important roles our Office plays in terms of assisting PG students doing their research. SBM’s Office of Research, Innovation and Postgraduate Affairs looks after the admission process from receiving and vetting potential applications, assisting with your registration during your candidature, until you complete and submit for graduation. While we play a major leading role in informing students of the detailed administrative requirements, it is also vital for students to inform themselves of the University’s procedures and regulations.

We always encourage students at the PG diploma level, they should start thinking of a topic if they intend to do a thesis at the Master level. While doing DG400 – Advanced Research Methodology, there is the opportunity and potential for thesis students to start developing their proposal and later fully advance as a research thesis topic with the help of potential supervisors.

Student registration for the degree of Master’s/Ph.D. remains provisional until the formal acceptance of the research proposal by SBM’s Research Committee. Registered students will develop their initial proposal and give an oral presentation to the SBM community (members of the public are welcome to join us for these presentations) about their proposed research. Soon after, the SBM’s Research Committee will review all PG proposals, including the budget to be provided by USP to directly support the proposed research, and formally approve enrolment in the relevant program (or seek further clarification).

After enrolment, every PG student by research (thesis) must:

• register every semester until their thesis has been submitted for examination,
• communicate regularly with their supervisor and submit a progress report every 6 months to our Office,
• must be aware of the minimum and maximum periods of candidature for their program,
• communicate with our Office if there is any delay or any issues encountered,
• prepare and keep accurate financial records of the USP funds allocated to support their research (funds can be made available in advance or reimbursed),
• complete the financial acquittal of USP funds as soon as the field work (data collection) stage has been completed.

Please contact us at any time if you would like further information about the PG procedures or if we can offer you any other advice or support.

Vinaka,

Ms Sonal Sharma Administrative Assistant sonal.sharma@usp.ac.fj +679 323 2712	Mr Ilima Finiasi Clerical Assistant ilima.finiasi@usp.ac.fj +679 323 1747	Prof Digby Race Deputy Head of School – Research, Innovation & Postgraduate Affairs digby.race@usp.ac.fj +679 323 1444