Fourth Year: writing up and completion

The Department of Computer Science and Technology expects that all PhD students will submit during their fourth year. Instructions about what to do when you are ready to submit may be found at Submitting your thesis.

Finances

Most PhD students' funding will finish at the end of the third year though some scholarships continue for a further 6 months. Some tenth term funding may be available from Colleges and from the Cambridge Trusts for those supported by the Gates Cambridge Trust, the Cambridge International Scholarship Scheme (CISS) or Cambridge Home and EU Scholarship Scheme (CHESS). Applications should be made directly to the Colleges or Cambridge Trusts.

 Hardship funding may be also available from the College or department. Applications should be made in the first instance to the Postgraduate Education Manager. Applications will be considered on a case-by-case basis and are at the discretion of the department.

Other sources of income include undergraduate supervision, of course, but students should bear in mind visa restrictions, the department's guidance of taking on no more than six hours of supervision per week in term time, and balancing your work load with finishing your thesis

Tuition and College fees are generally exempted after nine terms of a research degree. You may receive an email from the Student Registry explaining that you or your sponsor are no longer required to pay tuition fees as you are in the 'writing-up' period.

Writing up

You should have submitted your third-year progress statement at the end of your ninth term. This will have given you the chance to reflect upon how much more work needed to be done, a firm outline of the chapters, and a timetable for submission. You may have already passed a draft of your thesis to your supervisor. Some guidelines as to its format are available here as a reminder. Your supervisor should be active in providing feedback on your thesis. They may recommend that you have others read your thesis to help pick up typographical and other errors.

Overrunning - beyond four years

If there is any risk that you may not be able to submit your thesis within four years of your admission date (or the date recorded on your CamSIS self service page), you must talk with the Postgraduate Education Manager, (email: phd-admin (at) cst (dot) cam (dot) ac (dot) uk). Failure to submit will lead to being removed from the Register of Postgraduate Students within a few days of the 'end of registration date'. Deregistration will lead to the revocation of student visas, and a loss of College and departmental access.

Once deregistered, the 'clock' does not stop ticking. You may apply to be reinstated to the Register only once you have submitted your thesis to the Degree Committee.

It is possible to apply for an extension to the end of registration date although the Degree Committee will only consider applications in exceptional circumstances.

Secretary of the Degree Committee
September 2015, updated February 2020; updated August 2023