Regulations for The Doctor of Science - DSc

Official rules and regulations for the Doctor of Science. These regulations are for the 2024 intake to this qualification.

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Qualification Regulations

Part I

These regulations are to be read in conjunction with all other Statutes and Regulations of the University including General Regulations for Postgraduate Degrees, Postgraduate Diplomas, and Postgraduate Certificates.

Part II

Admission

1. Admission for consideration for the Degree of Doctor of Science requires that the candidate will:

(a) meet the University admission requirements as specified; and will:

(b) be a graduate of a Massey University degree; or

(c) be a graduate of a degree of another University and have a substantial, demonstrable, formal association with Massey University;

and will:

(d) not present themselves for consideration until at least 10 years after graduation in a qualifying degree; and

(e) not previously have applied for examination within the preceding five years, and only then will application be considered on the basis of significant new work.

Qualification requirements

2. The Degree of Doctor of Science shall be awarded for original contribution(s) of special excellence to knowledge in science. This will have been published in the form of scholarly papers and/or books. Additional unpublished work may be submitted in support of the application.

Specialisations

3. The Degree of Doctor of Science is awarded without specialisation.

Academic requirements

Examination Requirements

4. The submitted work(s) must comply with the following requirements:

(a) the work(s) has not been accepted either in whole or in part for any other degree or diploma; and

(b) must clearly define the nature and extent of any assistance the candidate has received in pursuing the research on which the work(s) is based;

(c) reference to work other than that of the candidate must be appropriately acknowledged;

(d) all relevant policies underpinning research practice have been complied with;

(e) must be submitted for examination in the manner specified by the Doctoral Research Committee in accordance with the published guidelines.

5. The work(s) will be independently examined by an Examination Committee experienced in the subject area, appointed by the Doctoral Research Committee in accordance with published guidelines.

6. The Examination Committee shall make a recommendation to the Doctoral Research Committee on the whole examination and will advise the result of the examination by using one of the following categories:

(a) Pass;

(b) Fail.

7. No appeals are allowed except on completion of the examination process on the grounds of procedural irregularities in the examination process. For an appeal to be considered, applications must be received by the Doctoral Research Committee within three months of formal notification of the examination result by the Graduate Research School.

Student progression

8. Applications will only proceed to Examination at the discretion of the Doctoral Research Committee on the recommendation of an Assessor appointed by this Committee to judge the suitability of the application, the key elements of the work(s), and the contribution to knowledge.

Schedule for the Doctor of Science

Course planning key

Prerequisites
Courses that need to be completed before moving onto a course at the next level. For example, a lot of 200-level courses have 100-level prerequisite courses.
Corequisites
Courses that must be completed at the same time as another course are known as corequisite courses.
Restrictions
Some courses are restricted against each other because their content is similar. This means you can only choose one of the offered courses to study and credit to your qualification.
Key terms for course planning
Courses
Each qualification has its own specific set of courses. Some universities call these papers. You enrol in courses after you get accepted into Massey.
Course code
Each course is numbered using 6 digits. The fourth number shows the level of the course. For example, in course 219206, the fourth number is a 2, so it is a 200-level course (usually studied in the second year of full-time study).
Credits
Each course is worth a number of credits. You combine courses (credits) to meet the total number of credits needed for your qualification.
Specialisations
Some qualifications let you choose what subject you'd like to specialise in. Your major or endorsement is what you will take the majority of your courses in.

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