With reference to ACT 1000, the C. K. Tedam University of technology and Applied Sciences ACT, 2019, the University shall provide higher education, disseminate knowledge related to development in integrated technology and applied sciences, undertake research and foster relationships with persons outside the institution.
The graduate programmes developed by the School of Medical Sciences of the University are aimed at developing skilled and competent individuals with the ability to conceptualise, develop and conduct applied research in the fields of health and allied sciences to enable them to investigate and develop innovative ideas and products to solve problems.
The school currently runs three (3) graduate programmes, viz: MPhil., Anaesthesia and Critical Care, MPhil., Infectious Diseases and Immunology, and PhD., Infectious Diseases and Immunology.
Each of the graduate programme is structured into Course work, Research work, Seminar series, and thesis preparation.
Course Work
The graduate programmes have coursework to cover statistics, research methodology, principles of management and some foundation courses relevant to the programmes.
Although the courses are all compulsory part of the programme, the courses may be audited by students depending on their background.
Course audit shall be determined at an interview prior to admission. For the Infectious disease programmes (MPhil., and PhD.,) the course work is taken in the year 1 of the programmes. Course work for the MPhil., Anaesthesia and Critical Care programme is integrated with the clinical rotations for the entire two years.
Graduate Research
Research is an important component of the MPhil and PhD programmes of the school. Each student is expected to undertake independent research work to enable him/her to write up a thesis at the end of the programme.
The conduct of research will start with the supervised preparation of the thesis proposal in the year 1 of the programme and the conduct of supervised research in year 2 for MPhil programmes.
In the case of the PhD programmes, research will start in the year 2 and continue for at least 2 years.
The MPhil and PhD programmes are research-based, and each student shall be assigned to a qualified supervisor with one or more co-supervisors.
The supervisors and co-supervisors shall be appointed in accordance with CKT-UTAS’ rules on post-graduate supervision (i.e., supervisors for master’s theses and mini-theses and doctoral theses shall be appointed by the School of Graduate Studies and Research upon recommendations by the departments and schools involved).
Graduate Seminar Series
Graduate seminar series is a mandatory requirement for the graduate programmes of the school. Students are expected to make at least three (3) MPhil Seminar presentations and at least five (5) PhD seminar presentations to qualify for graduation.
Seminar attendance is also part of the requirements for all graduate programmes of the school. Seminars at the graduate level are generally defined in the School of Graduate Studies and Research (SGSR) Guidelines for Graduate Studies, a policy document has been developed by the school to provide guidelines to graduate seminars, which is also applicable to all graduate academic programmes by research.
The Graduate Seminar Series will provide students with the opportunity to showcase their research, practice their presentation skills, and learn about their fellow students’ research.
All graduate students shall be required to register and make presentations in response to seminar calls by the department, the outline of which is specified below:
MPhil Seminar Series
The MPhil students shall be required to register for MPhil Seminar I, MPhil Seminar II, and MPhil Seminar III as advertised by the department. The scope of the seminars are specified below:
- MPhil Seminar I: Literature Review to identify needs for the thesis research
- MPhil Seminar II: Proposal Defence to justify how and why the research should be done
- MPhil Seminar III: Summary of entire thesis work to precede the thesis defence.
PhD Seminar Series
The PhD students shall be required to register for PhD Seminar I, PhD Seminar II, PhD Seminar III, PhD Seminar IV, and PhD Seminar V as advertised by the departments. The scope are specified below:
- PhD Seminar I: Literature review to identify needs for the thesis research
- PhD Seminar II: Proposal defence to justify how and why the research should be done
- PhD Seminar III: Preliminary results including self-assessment and progress report of the thesis research work, usually one year after commencement of the research.
- PhD Seminar IV: Summary of completed results including self-assessment and progress report of the thesis research work, usually when the work has been completed
- PhD Seminar V: Summary of entire thesis work to precede the thesis defence
- Student requires a pass to progress to the next Seminar Series and to graduate.
Graduate Thesis
The graduate thesis is a mandatory requirement for graduation with the MPhil and PhD degrees.
The thesis shall be prepared with the guidance of the thesis supervisor (s). Students are expected to submit a well written thesis for consideration first by the department and then by the graduate school.
The Department may make use of external supervisors, if the need arises, and they shall be contracted based on the areas of expertise.
Graduates will be equipped with the necessary skills and knowledge to enable them conduct scientific research independently. The programme will offer a unique opportunity to broaden the graduates’ knowledge in their core areas of interest and ultimately prepare them for advanced scientific career in the academia, research, and development.
The thesis should demonstrate the ability of the student to carry out supervised research in a sustained investigation, which contributes to the knowledge in the cognate area of specialization. It should be conducted with a high level of skills in analysis and critical evaluation. It should provide evidence that the student is familiar with, and has employed the most suitable research methods, and that the procedures are clearly of an appropriate standard.
MPhil Thesis
The MPhil thesis presents and discusses an independent inquiry and shall be organized into chapters covering the Introduction (Chapter 1), Literature Review (chapter 2), Methodology (chapter 3), Results (chapter 4), Discussion (chapter 5), and Conclusions and Recommendations (chapter 6).
The total word count of the thesis shall range from 35,000 to 37,500 words but in exceptional cases the Board of SGSR may approve the thesis with a word count of less or more than stated above.
The thesis should demonstrate that the student has mastery over scientific reporting, coherent reasoning, the right application of existing literature, and effective communication of the research findings to the targeted audience.
The thesis should also acknowledge information obtained from other works and the sources from which the information was obtained. The format of the thesis follows the standard set by the SGSR.
The completed thesis should be submitted to the department and if approval is given to be forwarded to the SGSR.
In consultation with the department, the thesis shall be sent for both internal (one) and external (one) assessments. If the thesis passes both internal and external assessments, there shall be a public defence of the thesis by the candidate. The thesis defence shall be assessed by a panel of examiners in accordance with the SGSR guidelines.
PhD Thesis
The PhD thesis presents and discusses an independent inquiry and may be organised into monograph thesis or thesis by publications.
The type of thesis to be prepared shall be specified at the thesis writing stage by the students and the supervisors.
The monograph thesis shall be organized into chapters covering Introduction (Chapter 1), Literature Review (chapter 2), Methodology (chapter 3), Results (chapter 4), Discussion (chapter 5) and Conclusions and Recommendations (chapter 6).
The total word count of the monograph thesis shall range from 37,500-50,000 words but in exceptional cases, the Board of SGSR may give approval to the thesis with a word count of less or more than the stated word count.
The thesis by publication should be organised into chapters covering General Introduction (Chapter 1), published papers addressing specific Objective 1 (chapter 2), published paper addressing specific Objective 2 (chapter 3), published papers addressing specific Objective 3 (chapter 4), published paper addressing specific objective 4 (chapter 5) and General Discussions, Conclusions and Recommendations (chapter 6).
Depending on the number of specific objectives, the thesis by publication shall not be less than 5 chapters and shall contain at least two (2) published peer-reviewed papers with the rest of the papers in monographs submitted for publication.
The thesis should demonstrate that the student has mastery over scientific reporting, coherent reasoning, the right application of existing literature, and effective communication of the research findings to the targeted audience.
The thesis should also acknowledge information obtained from other works and the sources from which the information was obtained.
The format of the thesis follows the standard set by the SGSR.
The completed thesis should be submitted to the department and if approval is given, to be forwarded to the SGSR.
In consultation with the department, the thesis shall be sent for both internal (one) and external (two) assessments.
A PhD thesis shall be considered passed if the thesis passes both internal and external assessment, and there shall be a public defence of the thesis by the candidate.
The thesis defence shall be assessed by a panel of examiners in accordance with the SGSR guidelines.