Guidance notes for PhD by Portfolio

PhD by Portfolio is a part time award, for 2-5 years.

PhD by Portfolio is open to all applicants: UK and International students. Ideally you will hold Undergraduate or Postgraduate degrees upon application or be able to demonstrate and evidence professional/vocational qualifications, and/or experience to the extent that you can be judged capable of completing the award.

Please visit fees and funding page to find out how much your course will cost.

The application process is online.

The Postgraduate Research Degree page lists all the UCLan Postgraduate Research Degrees and application processes and information. In the process of completing the online application for PhD by Portfolio, an MS Word file containing the initial project proposal should be uploaded as an attachment.

Before applying, it is possible to explore ideas with one of UCLan’s Research Degree Tutors. Email us at researchadmissions@uclan.ac.uk and we will introduce you to the most relevant colleague in your research area. If you already have a contact or potential supervisor for your project, please make this clear in your application document. This will help the application find its way to the relevant people more efficiently.

Portfolio contents may take various forms, however, whatever is provided as evidence – see list below, it is what is discussed about that evidence in a given project area, that contributes to the fuller critique of the problem and/or title to qualify for the Doctoral award. Publications may be included but where they are unattributed e.g. official reports, company publications, they must be accompanied by a third-party verification – e.g. a statement from, for example, a senior manager that confirms the nature and significance of the candidate’s contribution to the work. The synoptic report (15,000 words) will be a synthesis of the three project areas towards the title of the PhD.

Whilst there is strong emphasis upon the retrospective inclusion of project work in PhD by Portfolio, the PhD Portfolio at Level 8 cannot comprise as a project element, a previously submitted and examined MA thesis (Level 7) or lower level work. However, a PhD by Portfolio project area may stem from such prior research as a development to research at level 8. If relevant, please discuss these issues with your supervisory team.

Examples of materials acceptable for Portfolio submission:

• Project / programme reports
• Project / programme materials
• Feedback from project sponsors
• Published books / chapters / journal papers
• Conference proceedings
• Patents
• Surveys
• Exhibitions/ gallery / productions / artefacts
• CD / DVD / video / film presentations
• Software programs
• Multimedia packages
• Design materials
• Maps

Supervision arrangements are the same as for PhD by traditional thesis. The School will appoint supervisors: as a minimum, a Director of Studies (DoS) and a first Supervisor. Additional supervisors and Advisors may also be appointed. The DoS should be “experienced” ie have successfully supervised one previous PhD student to completion.

1. Application: Initial Proposal – submit a prima-facie case for a project and title.
2. Supervision capacity to be assessed upon application.
3. Proposal or Research Project Approval RPA: Approval of the project concept and confirmation of the supervision team.
4. Ethics Application (an element of the project is to be ‘live’ to trigger an ethics application for data collection)
5. Supervised Portfolio design and compilation, synopsis writing. (There is no transfer stage from MPhil to PhD.)
6. Combine evidence of the 3 projects and the synoptic report constitute the final thesis for exam.
7. Examination – by viva-voce with internal and external examiner(s).

Step 1
Admissions will send the application and supporting information to the Research Degrees Tutor (RDT).

Step 2
The school will determine whether they are in a position to provide supervision.

Step 3
If supervision is available and preliminary consideration indicates the application (and supporting documents) meets criteria for PhD by Portfolio (ie is likely to be sufficient to support a doctoral level award), the applicant and potential supervisor (as may be nominated by the applicant in their application*) will be invited to interview by the School RDT.

*Nomination of a potential supervisor in application does not guarantee that that member of academic staff will take up the role of supervision.

Applicants who are not successful may use the Complaints procedure in the Admissions and Applicants Complaints procedure policy.

Following the formal interview (with RDT and potential Director of Studies) and acceptance as a Postgraduate Research Student on PhD by Portfolio, you will have 6 months, under supervision, to formulate your RPA document from the initial proposal. The RPA document will set out the content and intentions of the 3 project areas AND the project title of the PhD by Portfolio. The RPA will also confirm the supervision arrangements for the project. The RPA will be refereed prior to Research Degree Board Approval.

You can enrol and pay fees from the next standard entry point. You will also attend a Welcome Event for new PGR students to familiarise yourself with research degree programme milestones, processes and support available. Details will be provided at the point of enrolment.

Following approval from RPA, an ethics application will be made for the whole project, and in particular the live element of the project – and proceed with data collection under supervision.

The whole Portfolio (comprising retrospective evidence with reflective discussion/critique, and the new prospective research) is to be compiled and synoptic report to be written, ensuring that across the whole thesis (body of work) that the criteria for PhD are being met.

The expected time for compiling the Portfolio and writing the synoptic commentary is 2-5 years although a further 12 months may be permitted.

You can only proceed to examination once the whole Portfolio (thesis) is compiled, and examination arrangements have been approved by the Research Degrees Board. 

If you are studying for a PhD by Portfolio you are required to complete the Annual Assessment of Progression exercise to ensure you are progressing satisfactorily.

The required length of the Synoptic Commentary is 15,000 words. The Synoptic Commentary should analyse each project’s contribution to the overall title of the PhD by providing a synthesis between the 3 project areas, showing how they are linked and distinct, blended with critical discussion of concepts arising as appropriate, in relation to contemporary literature. This will lead to an overall conclusion to the whole PhD.

The Project areas are to set out prior evidence and current thinking for PhD that links the previous work of the candidate to their new ‘live’ research. The Project areas in PhD by Portfolio are not appendices to the Synopsis, however, appendices can be created for each project as may be required. The Retrospective Project areas in PhD by Portfolio (Projects 1 and 2) invite the candidate to critically reflect upon their prior experiences, by evidencing what has been previously achieved or accomplished (see examples in bulleted list above) with a critical reflective commentary that explores current developments and evolutions in that field. The candidate should identify ideas emerging from one project that leads towards and links with the next Project (from 1 to 2 and 2 to 3). In their critical reflections/discussion, the candidate should draw upon current/relevant literature to that particular area of activity. The contemporary and critical reflection within Projects 1 and 2 is a significant element to demonstrate how the unique contribution to knowledge that comes from the candidate’s PhD, stems from their previous experiences.

The ‘Live’ Project (3) will trigger an ethics application and prospective data collection to conduct a small-scale investigation (within the scope and wordage for Project 3) to demonstrate, in part, an “understanding of research methods appropriate to the chosen field”.

The whole Portfolio [thesis] will demonstrate that the research makes an independent, significant and original contribution to knowledge to the nominated topic/title chosen by the candidate.

Achieved by the Director of Studies submitting a student’s Examination Arrangements to the Research Degrees Board.

Examiners are proposed by the School and must meet the same criteria as examiners for other doctoral awards. The criteria can be found in the Academic Regulations. PhD Portfolios (ie thesis, synoptic elements and Projects, 1, 2, and 3) in conjunction with the viva examination, should demonstrate that you have attained a doctoral level of research and skills and meet the criteria for the award as defined in Academic Regulation A1.1.6.