Skip to Main Content

UQ Research Data Manager

Provides information about how to use the UQ Research Data Manager (UQRDM) to store and manage research data for research projects.

Thesis submission and examination

All candidature, thesis and examination tasks will be managed through the UQRDM HDR dashboard. Once you complete your final milestone - Progress Review 3, the Graduate School will mark you as being eligible for thesis submission which creates a Candidature tile in your HDR Dashboard in UQRDM, as shown in the screen below.

Link to HDR dashboard in UQRDM

Login to your HDR Dashboard, and from the Candidature tile you can:

  • submit your thesis through the HDR Dashboard
  • see when the Principal Advisor has nominated examiners and assigned the Chair of Examiners for your examination, before you submit your thesis
  • review the examiners and disclose any conflicts of interest
  • follow the progress of your thesis examination.

If you cannot see the HDR Dashboard, or the candidature tile after completing Progress Review 3, contact graduateschool@uq.edu.au.

Submitting your thesis

Prepare for submission:

  • You need to own an active UQRDM project record (created with your student login). Note if your record is still Pending Approval from your Principal Advisor, you will not be able to add Additional UQ Supervisors, ORCiD information will not appear either.
  • The project record should be marked as a HDR project record.
  • Your Principal Advisor should be the Lead Investigator on that record (how to set up a HDR project record).
  • Additional UQ advisors should be added as collaborators on your project record (how to add collaborators).
  • Ensure the project record is up to date and accurate (how to update your record metadata).
  • Have all research data related to your thesis project stored in UQRDM.
  • Finalise your thesis, turn the document into a PDF file.
  • Generate the iThenticate report in PDF format.  See instructions on how to use iThenticate to generate a summary report, then view and download the report.
  • Prepare and any supplementary documents (if applicable). Supplementary documents can be in any format.

Steps to submit your thesis: 

  1. Click HDR Dashboard in UQRDM.
  2. Scroll to 'Your Thesis Submissions' pane and click on 'View candidature'. This will open a panel with detail of your candidature to date, including an option to submit your thesis.  This is shown in the screen below as Step 2.

Step 2:

Step 2 - UQRDM Thesis dashboard and candidature tile

  1. Click on 'Submit your thesis'. Note that there are two places with "Submit your thesis", you only need to choose one and click on it. A thesis submission form will open for you to complete.  This step is shown in the below screen as Step 3.

Step 3

Two places to click to submit a thesis

  1. In the thesis submission form, select the correct UQRDM Project Record related to your thesis. This must be the Project Record that stores your thesis documents and data.
  2. Complete the rest of the form. 
  3. Upload your thesis and any supplementary files. It is recommended that multiple files be zipped, and uploaded as a single supplementary file. Note: the maximum size for a file is 5GB.
  4. Click submit.

The above steps are shown in the screen below as Steps 4 - 7.

Steps 4 - 7:

UQRDM thesis submission form showing steps 4 to 7.

Examination Process

Once your thesis is deemed suitable for examination, the Graduate School will check that both examiners are approved and a Chair of Examiners has been assigned in UQRDM HDR Dashboard.  

The examination will be initiated and:

  • your examiners will be notified and begin reviewing your thesis
  • examiners will submit their feedback for review (to the Graduate School and Chair of Examiners)
  • your oral examination will be scheduled, and any examiner feedback documents released for your review via UQRDM HDR Dashboard.

On completion of your oral examination:

  • the Chair will submit their summary report via UQRDM to the Dean of the Graduate School who will review the summary report and endorse an outcome for your examination. The report will be available to you when an outcome is endorsed
  • you may need to submit corrections requested by the examination committee, or revise and resubmit your thesis. Details of the outcome will be sent to you via email with more instructions
  • use the HDR Dashboard to follow the progress of your thesis at any time.

Final Submission

Your thesis will be marked as passed at the end of the examination process.

Steps to submit the final version of your thesis:  

Go to your HDR Dashboard - View Candidature, and click 'Submit Thesis'. You will be prompted to complete the Thesis submission form including the following:

  1. Add an abstract for your thesis.
  2. Add your UQ Organisational Unit, Thesis type, any additional supervisors if applicable, Field of Research codes, appropriate keywords, and the total number of pages in your thesis.  Note: additional UQ supervisors can be added, but you must first add them to your UQRDM Project Record as collaborators. External supervisors cannot be added via UQRDM.
  3. Remove the old version of your thesis still showing in the system.
  4. Submit the final version of your thesis and only those supplementary files required for publication to UQ eSpace.

At this point, you will be asked if you have assigned your intellectual property to UQ. Ensure you discuss this with your Principal Advisor prior to submitting your final thesis. For thesis IP and embargo, see more information.

The screen below shows the final thesis submission steps 1 - 4.

Steps 1 - 4:

UQRDM thesis submission form showing steps 1 to 4.

The final version of your thesis will go to your Principal Advisor and the Graduate School, via UQRDM. They can either approve the final submission or request changes.

Conferral

This is the final step. Once it is conferred, your thesis will be uploaded to UQ eSpace with appropriate access levels depending on the thesis embargo status.