Guidance on Examination: MPhil by thesis

The information in this section outlines procedures and arrangements specific to the Faculty of Mathematics and should be read in conjunction with the University’s regulations and guidance as explained below.  The Faculty Degree Committee is responsible for overseeing MPhil by thesis examinations and award of the degree.  The process is administered by the Faculty Postgraduate Office.

• Examination requirements and overview
• Submission deadline and important dates
• Declaration of authorship and work done in collaboration
• Appointment of examiners, approval of title and oral examination arrangements
• Voluntary disclosure of additional requirements of relevance to the oral examination
• Submission for examination
• Oral Examination

Examination requirements and overview

The MPhil in Mathematics requires:

1. submission of a thesis, of a length and form appropriate to the topic, on a subject approved by the Degree Committee.
2. an oral examination on the thesis, and on the general field of knowledge within which it falls.

The Degree Committee does not stipulate a word limit, but <20,000 words can be used as a rough guide.

The examination is undertaken in two parts:

1. Following submission by the candidate, the written thesis is scrutinized by two examiners. The examiners are required to make an independent report and recommendation on the work submitted for examination.
2. Following their independent report the examiners are required to hold an oral examination with the candidate. After the oral examination the examiners are required to make a joint report and recommendation.

Once the examination is complete, the independent and joint reports and recommendations are submitted to the Degree Committee for consideration.  The Degree Committee evaluates the reports and recommendations put before it and determines whether or not the degree should be awarded. 

Possible outcomes

The possible outcomes of the MPhil examination are:

1. the thesis is satisfactory for award of the degree sought (pass); or

2. the thesis should be approved subject only to correction either minor (3 weeks) or major (6 weeks) (conditional pass); or

3. the thesis requires revision such that the examiners are unable to recommend the award of the degree sought without a fresh examination of the revised thesis (10 weeks) (deferral); or

4. the thesis can not be recommended for any degree (failure).

Notification of outcome

The Faculty Postgraduate Office confirms the examination outcome directly to the candidate, on behalf of the Degree Committee.  They will advise you of any further steps you need to take. This can take approximately 5 working days from the date of the Degree Committee meeting.

Submission deadline and important dates

The following dates apply to students on the MPhil in Mathematics who started in Michaelmas 2023.

Declaration of authorship and work done in collaboration

Under University Ordinances all candidates for the MPhil are required to:

‘… state, generally in a preface and specifically in notes or in a bibliography, the sources from which their information is derived, the extent to which they have availed themselves of the work of others, and the portions of the thesis which are claimed as original. They shall also be required to declare that the thesis submitted is not substantially the same as any that they may have submitted for a degree or diploma or similar qualification....’

(Chapter VII: Degrees, Diplomas, and Other Qualifications / Doctor of Philosophy, Master of Science... / Regulation 9)

It is accepted that in carrying out research a certain amount of collaboration is inevitable. In every case, the candidate must indicate clearly which portions of the thesis, if any, describe work done in collaboration. This may be achieved through acknowledgements, references and in the text. A student wishing to include work completed in collaboration with others (including the supervisor) must provide a statement in the preface to the thesis setting out which portions of the thesis were completed in collaboration. Collaborators should be named and an indication of the extent of their contribution provided. This is particularly important where the degree of collaboration is other than minimal and/or where joint publications are included or will result from the collaboration. Ultimately the examiners must be in no doubt about which aspects of the work submitted for examination have been undertaken in collaboration and which are the candidates own work.

See also:

• Research Best Practice
• Faculty of Mathematics guidance on plagiarism and academic misconduct
• University-wide statement on academic misconduct
• University resources and support

Appointment of examiners, approval of title and oral examination arrangements

The Degree Committee is responsible for the appointment of examiners for MPhil examinations and for approval of the final title of the thesis. Both are confirmed at the same time.

By the deadline stipulated in the table above the Degree Committee must receive the following duly completed and signed:

The Degree Committee will consider the recommended examiners in light of the information provided either at a meeting on the date stipulated in the table above.

Once the appointments have been confirmed, this will be communicated to both the student and their supervisor.

Note:

• So you can make an informed decision, you are encouraged to discuss the likely format of the oral examination with your supervisor, including whether you have a preference for this to be held in-person or by video conference when you submit this form.
• The oral examination for the MPhil takes place within a set window.  You are advised to make sure that you will be available in Cambridge for your oral examination, which may well be in-person.  The Postgraduate Office will liaise between all parties to confirm as early as possible what the oral arrangements will be.
• By not meeting the dates stipulated on this site or not being readily available to be examined you put your examination, and ultimately the potential award of your degree at risk to delay. 

Please also see:

• Appointment of an Independent Chair
• Examination Access Arrangements (research degrees)
• Graduate visa (post-study)

Voluntary disclosure of additional requirements of relevance to the oral examination

A student who wishes the examiners to be aware of any disability or chronic illness when arranging or conducting the oral examination should complete the 'Voluntary disclosure form' and submit it to degree-committee@maths.cam.ac.uk.  The Degree Committee will review any Student Support Documentation already in place, and if appropriate contact the Disability Resource Centre for advice on what additional requirements should be made.  Students may wish to consult the Accessibility and Disability Resource Centre directly.  Please note that it may take up to three weeks for the Accessibility and Disability Resource Centre to communicate recommendations on any given case, and longer for the Degree Committee to determine whether the recommendations are reasonable.  Students are advised to take action at an early stage. 

• Voluntary disclosure form

Note that examiners do not take into account any disability or chronic illness when judging the merit of the thesis itself.  The thesis will stand on its own merits as a piece of written work.  The purpose of the voluntary disclosure is therefore only to allow reasonable adjustments to be made to the oral examination arrangements (e.g. for rest breaks or access arrangements).

Submission for examination

Preparing to submit

In preparation for submission students are advised to consult the Student Registry website. In particular the section Writing, Submitting and Examination - MPhil  which includes information on the format requirements for the thesis.

In recognition that external events (e.g. COVID19 or the situation in Ukraine) may have impacted on their research, candidates are invited to submit a Research Impact Statement with their thesis. Guidance can be found here. If you would like to do this, please make sure it is signed by your supervisor and submit with your thesis on Moodle. 

Submission

Submission of the thesis must be made by the date and time stipulated in the table above.

Submission is via a dedicated Moodle site. Candidates will be given access to the site and further instructions by the Postgraduate Office, most likely in July.

If you are unable to meet your submission deadline you must consult the Faculty's Postgraduate Office at the earliest opportunity, and review the University guidance on 'Extending your ‘End of Registration Date’

What happens next

Once the thesis has been received, it will be sent electronically to the examiners with further guidance and instructions. Hard copy is only provided in exceptional circumstances, with examiners expected to print their own copy if required. Examiners should not request a hard copy of the thesis either directly from the candidate, or via the supervisor. If hard copy is supplied it must be identical in every way to the final version submitted on Moodle.

The Oral Examination

The oral examination gives the opportunity for:

• you to defend your thesis and clarify any matters raised by your examiners,
• the examiners to probe your knowledge in the field,
• the examiners to assure themselves that the work presented is your own and to clarify matters of any collaboration,
• the examiners to come to a definite conclusion about the outcome of the examination.

At the end of the oral examination you will normally receive an unofficial indication of the recommendation that the examiners will make to the Degree Committee. If there are corrections, you may also be supplied with a list either at the meeting or shortly afterwards.

Location

The oral examination may be held in-person or via video conference. Your preference, which you are asked to provide on your appointment of examiners form, will be communicated to your examiners following appointment, and they will be asked to accommodate your wishes as far as possible when finalising arrangements. If your preference cannot be accommodated and an alternative solution cannot be agreed, an alternative examiner may need to be appointed. It is recommended that you discuss your options fully with your supervisor prior to submitting a preference, even if you do not have one.

The Degree Committee recognises that instinctively candidates may prefer their examination to be conducted in-person, that there are natural benefits to being co-located with your examiners, and that it may provide a greater sense of achievement after many years of work. We do, however, strongly encourage you to also consider the potential benefits of an oral examination by video conference, in as much as it may enable the Degree Committee to appoint your external examiner from a broader pool of international examiners, and/or speed up the examination process. It should not, with appropriate preparation, detract from the overall experience of the examination.

Preparation and what to expect

An oral examination will normally take somewhere between 1 to 2 hours, and there is no set format. Your supervisor will not be present at the examination, but you should consult them about what to expect. You may also find it useful to ask other research students about their experiences. In preparation for your oral examination, make sure that you know your thesis well. You should expect to be asked to summarise your work, talk about the key points and answer detailed questions. Whilst there is no requirement for a formal presentation to be given, your examiners may ask you to prepare one, or you may decide to ask to give one. This should be finalised when arrangements for the oral examination are put in place. You are encouraged to discuss your work with colleagues, your supervisor or advisor, getting them to ask you questions, so you can practise your answers.

Other things you might consider when preparing for your oral:

• Why did you tackle this research? Why are you interested in it? How does your work sit in the wider context of your field?
• What, if any problems did you encounter? Have you noticed any errors in your thesis since submitting it?
• What type of questions might your examiners ask?
• What do you need to have with you? (e.g., water, pens, paper, chalk, copy of thesis)
• If the oral is via video conference, are you comfortable with the application to be used? If you need to write mathematics or draw a diagram to explain a point, how will you do this?

University resources:

• Guidance for conducting vivas by video conference [pdf]