Postgraduate by Research Guide

This guide outlines the thesis submission and graduation process for postgraduate by research students. This process comes after receiving the offer letter.

1. Registration and Prerequisite Courses
2. Seminar 1 or 2 Defense
3. The Draft Thesis-Submission Process
4. Viva-Voce Examination
5. Final Thesis Submission and Graduation

After receiving the offer letter, the student can register at the Institute of Postgraduate Studies registration website.

Once registration is complete, you must report to the School of Industrial Technology by meeting with the supervisor and the Lab Management Office (LMO) officer, Mr. Jeffiz. You can schedule an appointment by email or phone. The officer will provide briefing on the safety rules of the school. You may need to register for an online occupational safety and health induction course and complete it by receiving a certificate.

International Students

In the first semester, international students must register and pass the LKM111/2 Malaysian Culture and Malay Language course with a minimum grade of C. The course results will be released after the semester ends. To register, fill up the form and submit it to the School of Languages, Literacies and Translation with the registration payment receipt.

Local and International Students

In the first semester, students must take and pass the EKC500/2 Research Methodology course offered by the Institute of Postgraduate Studies (IPS) with a minimum grade of C+. The student will attend online classes and present the proposal at the end of the course. The course results will be released after the semester ends. To register, fill up a form and submit it to the Institute of Postgraduate Studies (IPS) with the registration payment receipt.

The student may be exempted from EKC500/2 by applying for it. The form and requirements are given at the IPS website.

Note that all course registration must be done within the first week of the semester or penalties might be enforced. The academic calendar is here. 

Passing the Seminars 1 (proposal) and 2 (final) presentations is compulsory for the submission of thesis. The seminar is an online presentation exam. The student and supervisor must agree on the date of seminar. The supervisor will decide on who the two assessors should be.

The student and supervisor need to fill up the Supervisor Approval form and submit it to the seminar coordinator. The student will submit the completed form by email to reserve a presentation slot.

Seminar coordinators by programme:

• Food Technology coordinator: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Lee Lai Kuan. Her email is here.
• Bioresource Technology coordinator: Dr. Nur Izzati Saharudin. Her email is here.
• Environmental Technology coordinator: Dr. Harlina Ahmad. Her email is here.
• Bioprocess Technology coordinator: Dr. Siti Balqis Zulfigar. Her email is here.

The student will prepare a one-page abstract to be given to the coordinator one week before the presentation date. A poster will also need to be created and emailed to Madam Nazariah (for Master's students) or Madam Noor Liyana (for Ph.D. students). The student can email them for the poster template. Their emails are here.

Typically, there will be a session every month in which three to four students will present. Each presentation will take 20 to 30 min.

The minimum score for the Seminars is 60. If the score is less than 60, the student must repeat the presentation. The grading scheme or rubric can be downloaded here.

After the seminar, the supervisor will collect the assessors' comments and scores and pass them to the student. The student should correct their thesis based on the assessors' comments, after discussions with the supervisor.

Notice of Thesis Submission

Upon passing the seminars, the student can fill up and submit the Notice of Thesis Submission to Madam Nazariah (for Master's student) or Madam Noor Liyana (for Ph.D. students). Their emails are here. The form should be attached with the evidences of publications (i.e., the first page of the publication and the Journal Citation Report PDF). The rest of the form must be completed by the supervisor, such as the nomination of the examiners.

Draft Thesis Submission for Examination

After the 3-month notice, the student can submit the thesis with the completed Verification and Draft Thesis Submission form to Madam Nazariah (for Master's student) or Madam Noor Liyana (for Ph.D. students). Their emails are here. 

In the verification form, the student should state that plagiarism-checking has been done. The student can email the form and the thesis to Madam Nazariah (for Master's student) or Madam Noor Liyana (for Ph.D. students) for the plagiarism-check using Turnitin. Their emails are here. The check would take about 3 working days. If the Similarity Index is ≤30%, the verification form will be signed off by Madam Noor Liyana or Madam Nazariah, but if it is more than 30%, the student must amend and recheck the thesis.

After plagiarism-checking, the thesis must undergo draft-thesis-format checking and the verification form must be endorsed by the Institute of Postgraduate Research (IPS). The student can email the draft thesis and the verification form to draft_thesis@usm.my. 

Finally, the student can submit the final draft thesis for examination to draft_thesis@usm.my with the completed Verification and Draft Thesis Submission form.

For other details, the student may refer to the Viva-Voce IPS website.

The student will be called for the online viva-voce examination after a date has been set, which is usually 1 to 2 months after the draft thesis submission. The student can contact Madam Nooraida Mad Naser, secretariat, for updates. Her email is here. The viva will be attended by the viva-voce committee chairperson, the dean's representative, the secretariat, the external and internal examiners, and the supervisor and co-supervisor. 

If the student passed the examination, the student will proceed with thesis correction. If not, the student would need to sit for another viva-voce examination or "re-viva" after thesis amendments have been done.

After thesis corrections, the student can submit the final thesis. The student must submit the thesis before the deadline (3, 6, or 12 months) set by the viva-voce examination committee or risk failure.

The student can submit the corrected softcopy of the final thesis (PDF) to final_thesis@usm.my of the Institute of Postgraduate Research (IPS) for thesis format checking. The student submits it with the completed Verification Form of Final Thesis Submission. 

Once the thesis is format-verified by IPS, the student can proceed with the submission of the final thesis that is password-protected using their student ID number with the completed Verification Form, Endorsement of Correction Made Form, Viva-Voce Examination Result, which the student will get by email after the Viva-Voce, identity card or passport, and the first page(s) of the publication(s) and the journal's citation report (JCR). The citation report can be obtained at jcr.clarivate.com. Note that you may need to log in to the website using your student email and password if outside of the USM network.

For other details, the student may refer to the Viva-Voce IPS website.

Additional note: the student will be tagged for graduation once all graduation requirements are met:

1. Completion of all prerequisite courses (LKM111/2 and EKC500/2).
2. Publication of research work,
   • For Master's: 1 publication in Web of Science (WoS) journals
   • For Ph.D.: 1 Q1/Q2 or 2 Q3/Q4 publication(s) in Web of Science (WoS) journals.

Upon Senate Endorsement, the student becomes eligible for convocation.