Field of Study: This is the main area of your PhD, e.g. mobile computing, interactive information retrieval, citation analysis. If you are a bit further on in your PhD you can try out a thesis title here
Brief summary of work done so far
A summary of what you have already achieved. We do not require pages here, two or three paragraphs that summarise what you
achieved so far will suffice. It is a good idea to concentrate on what you have achieved since the last progress report but
do include a short paragraph on what the overall PhD is about to give a context for understanding your achievements.
Any talks given to the Researchers' Digest, or other informal talks
Any presentation of your research to any
audience. Presenting your work is useful because you obtain practice at speaking in public (in the Department this means in
front of a supportive audience), it makes you think more closely about your work and you get feedback and new ideas.
Any conferences/workshops/courses attended
This can include workshops or courses on skills training such as those run by
the Centre for Academic Practice and Learning Enhancement
Any papers written (including internal notes etc)
Any publications arising from your PhD so far. This can include conference papers, journal
articles, poster papers, technical notes, etc. Publishing as part of your PhD is for similar reasons as giving a presentation: it gives good practice at formal
writing (useful practice for the thesis), you have to think in detail about your arguments or methodology and you get experienced, and independent, researchers
giving feedback. One of the main criteria for an external examiner awarding you a PhD is whether or not your work is capable of being published. If you already have
published work then it makes it easier the examiner to make this decision. Attending conferences is also a good opportunity to network with other researchers; some of whom you
may wish to work with after you complete your PhD. It is not necessary (or realistic) to publish dozens of papers
during your PhD but a target of one paper submission a year to a conference or journal is achievable by most PhD students.
Any problems or difficulties
Any issues that are stopping your progress. These might be problems with the PhD itself or personal problems. If there are
issues that you would rather not discuss on this form, make sure that someone knows about them. Either your supervisor, Head of Department or Postgraduate Monitor.
Work planned with approximate schedule
What you plan to do next. Two or three paragraphs outlining the next tasks with some indication of times.
Bibliography
Papers that you have read so far. Yes, this includes them all so you can extend the list you submitted on the last interim form.
We ask this so that your supervisor can check you are reading the right material and suggest new material, if appropriate