Graduate Studies Programmes

Graduate Studies at FNU covers Postgraduate Diploma, Masters and Doctorate.

The Fiji National University’s (FNU) Centre for Graduate Studies (CGS) is an institution of influence fostering a research community defined by global connectedness and networks with national and international research peers.

The University supports research in a broad range of areas relevant to Fiji in partnership with the Government and industries to grow our research activities and achievements for the transformation of our societies and economy.

The focus of our research at Fiji National University (FNU) is applied research, addressing issues pertinent to national development.

Our PhD and Master by Research students form a valuable part of the University research community. Our research students will have the ability to work on real and important issues for Fiji, as they drive a significant percentage of the University’s research output.

MASTERS BY RESEARCH

This Master by Research programme is a level 9 program, comprising a 30,000-to-40,000-word thesis which must be the student’s own work, embodying the results of the work undertaken by the student to form a substantially original contribution to knowledge, guided by two supervisors. The Master by Research programme develops research skills and training to analyse critically, synthesise and reflect on complex information, problems, concepts and theories. It will prepare candidates for further studies into a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) programme.

Duration of the Programme

  1. Full Time: 2 years
  2. Part-Time: 4 years

Credit Points = 240

Areas of Study Supported at FNU

  1. Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences
  2. Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries and Veterinary Science
  3. Business, Hospitality and Tourism Studies
  4. Engineering, Science and Technology
  5. Humanities and Education

Entry Requirements

The minimum requirements for admission to a Master by Research programme are:

Master by Research/Master by Coursework/Master by Coursework and mini thesis

The minimum requirements for admission to a Master programme is:

  1. A Postgraduate diploma with a GPA of 3.00 or above (or the equivalent from a recognised University).
  2. A bachelor’s degree with a GPA of 3.5.
  3. An honours Bachelor degree with a GPA of 3.00 (from a recognised institution)
  4. Master by coursework.
  5. Recognised Professional experience: Evidence of academic qualifications and/or experience inclusive of research reports, or dissertations, or publications or other evidence of professional work that satisfies the Dean of the College that, the applicant has sufficient knowledge of the field of study, and capable of undertaking research and the writing of the thesis.

The medium of instruction at FNU is the English language. Students must be sufficiently fluent in English to pursue the HDR Programme. HDR students will provide evidence from undergraduate qualifications/other English qualifications that confirm their English language competency.

Supervision

All Master by Research candidates will be supervised by two supervisors, one Principal Supervisor and a co-supervisor via regular meetings for guidance and constructive feedback on the work submitted by the candidate.

Master by Research Candidates

Progress reviews for all Master by Research candidates will require successful completion of one preparatory research course (offered by respective Colleges) and one mandatory course (offered by CGS) as pre-requisites for candidature confirmation unless exempted due to prior learning. The preparatory courses to be completed will be decided by the candidate and the principal supervisor based on the candidate’s prior learning and skills required to undertake research. The principal supervisor may waive the courses where there is evidence that they were not needed by the candidate.

Progress Reviews

The Master by Research Programme is structured to include progress reviews at regular intervals to ensure the research candidates are on the right track and complete their qualifications at the specified time. Progress reviews for each milestone for full-time candidates include:

  1. Candidature confirmation – within 8 months of candidature.
  2. Completion seminar with Oral Presentation – within 18 months of candidature.
  3. Submission of thesis – at the end of 24 months of candidature.

At the completion seminar, a Master by Research candidate can request to forego the Master qualification and upgrade the project to PhD. A clear plan and justification for the second phase of research will be assessed by the panel to allow the candidate to upgrade to a PhD.

The thesis will be submitted online via Moodle, Turnitin (a similarity checking software) and DropBox or any other subsequent software that the Senate approves.

For part-time candidates, progress reviews for each milestone are double the times for full-time candidates.

Progress reviews (Candidature Confirmation, and Completion Seminars) will be assessed by panels of three people made up of:

  • Two experts in the subject area (internal or external)
  • One representative from another College.

The two experts must have a minimum of a PhD in the subject area.

Completion Seminar with Oral Presentation

The Dean of the CGS in consultation with the Dean of the College will appoint a Chair and a panel of three (Two members will be from the candidate’s research area, one member from another discipline at FNU). The panel members will be approved by the Graduate Examination Sub-Committee.

The completed thesis will be examined by two external examiners. The outcomes of thesis examinations will be reviewed and endorsed by the Graduate Examination Sub-Committee and the Senate for the award.

Thesis Examination outcomes

  1. A clear pass: the candidate proceeds to the award of the degree.
  2. Pass with minor changes: the candidate proceeds to the award of the degree after satisfactorily completing the minor changes.
  3. A pass with substantial change: the option is provided for the student to revise and resubmit the thesis. It will be decided by the Graduate Examination Sub Committee based on examiners’ reports for a second examination or for supervisor and Graduate Examination Sub Committee approval. Once the candidate satisfactorily completes the changes approved by Graduate Examination Sub-Committee, the candidate can proceed to the award of the degree.
  4. A pass with a major rewrite and resubmit for examination: the option is provided for the student to revise and resubmit the thesis for a new examination.
  5. A failed thesis: does not merit any qualification

Appeals

Candidates cannot challenge the academic judgment of the examiners or Graduate Examination Sub-Committee. Following the completion of the examination process, candidates have the right to request a review of the decisions taken by the Graduate Examination Sub-Committee upon the recommendations made by the examiners. A request for a review of a particular decision may be based on one or a combination of any of the following grounds:

  1. That there are exceptional circumstances affecting the candidate’s performance which could not for a valid reason be brought to the attention of examiners or the Graduate Examination Sub-Committee at or before Thesis examination or were not known to the candidate prior to making his or her submission for examination.
  2. That there is evidence of procedural irregularity in the conduct of the examination (including administrative error) of such nature as to cause doubt as to whether the result might have been different had there not been such irregularity.
  3. That there is evidence of unfair or improper conduct or assessment on the part of one or more of the examiners or unfair or improper conduct on the part of any chair at the completion and oral presentation.

Award of the qualification requirements

When the decision to award the degree has been made, the Graduate Examination Sub- Committee may certify that the student is eligible to graduate subject to the student:

  1. Fulfilling all conditions of award to the satisfaction of Graduate Examination Sub Committee; and
  2. Lodging a final digital copy of the final thesis with the University Library via CGS.

Posthumous Award

A research degree may be granted posthumously based on a submission which is ready for examination.

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (PHD)

The PhD programme is a level 10 program, comprising a 50,000 to 100,000 word thesis which must be the student’s own work, embody the results of the work undertaken by the student, make a significant contribution to knowledge; and afford evidence of originality by the discovery of new knowledge and independent critical ability.

Duration of the Programme

  1. Full Time: 3 years
  2. Part-Time: 6 years

Credit Points = 360

Areas of Study Supported at FNU

  1. Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences
  2. Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries and Veterinary Science
  3. Business, Hospitality and Tourism Studies
  4. Engineering, Science and Technology
  5. Humanities and Education

Entry Requirements

The minimum requirements for admission to a PhD programme are:

  1. A Master by Research degree.
  2. Where the Master degree is by coursework a GPA of minimum 4.0 is required plus completion of a research method course.
  3. An Honours Bachelor’s degree with a GPA of minimum 4.0 and above or (First or upper Second-class Honours).
  4. Recognised Professional experience: Evidence of academic qualifications and/or experience inclusive of research reports, or dissertations, or publications or other evidence of professional work that satisfies the Dean of the College that, the applicant has sufficient knowledge of the field of study, and capable of undertaking research and the writing of the thesis.
  5. Any of the above-listed pre-requisites must have been attained from a recognised institution.

The medium of instruction at FNU is the English language. Students must be sufficiently fluent in English to pursue the HDR Programme. HDR students will provide evidence from undergraduate qualifications/other English qualifications that confirm their English language competency.

Supervision

For PhD supervision a maximum of three supervisors is required, with one as a principal and the other two Co-supervisors. In all cases the supervisory team will be assigned by the College Graduate Studies Committee.

The College Dean, in consultation with the potential supervisor and student, will ensure that the relevant expertise for supervision is available to provide guidance to the student. The CGSC endorses the Application for Admission and the supervisor allotment.

Doctor of Philosophy Candidates

Progress reviews for all PhD candidates will require successful completion of one preparatory research course (offered by respective Colleges) and one mandatory course (offered by CGS) as pre-requisites for candidature confirmation unless exempted due to prior learning. The two courses to be completed will be decided by the candidate and the Principal supervisor based on the candidate’s prior learning and skills required to undertake research. The principal supervisor may waive the courses where there is evidence that they were not needed by the candidate.

Progress Reviews

The PhD Programme is structured to include progress reviews at regular intervals to ensure the research candidates are on the right track and complete their qualifications in the specified time. Progress reviews for each milestone for full-time candidates include:

  1. Candidature confirmation – within 10 months of candidature;
  2. Completion seminar with oral presentation – within 30 months; and
  3. Submission of thesis – at the end of 36 months of candidature.

The thesis will be submitted online via Moodle, Turnitin (similarity checking software), and DropBox or any subsequent software that the Senate approves.

For part-time candidates, progress reviews for each milestone are double the times for full-time candidates.

Milestones for progress reviews (Candidature Confirmation; and Completion Seminar with Oral Presentation) will be assessed by panels of three people including:

  • Two experts in the subject area (internal or external)
  • One representative from another College.

Completion Seminar with Oral Presentation

The Dean of the CGS in consultation with the Dean of the College will appoint a Chair and a panel of three (Two members will be from the candidate’s research area, one member from another discipline at FNU). The panel members will be approved by the Graduate Examination Sub-Committee.

The completed thesis will be examined by two external examiners.

The outcomes of thesis examinations will be reviewed and endorsed by the Graduate Examination Sub Committee and the Senate.

Thesis Examination outcomes

  1. A clear pass: the candidate proceeds to the award of the degree.
  2. Pass with minor changes: the candidate proceeds to the award of the degree after satisfactorily completing the minor changes.
  3. A pass with substantial change: the option is provided for the student to revise and resubmit the thesis. It will be decided by the Graduate Examination Sub Committee based on examiners’ reports for a second examination or for supervisor and Graduate Examination Sub Committee approval. Once the candidate satisfactorily completes the changes approved by Graduate Examination Sub-Committee, the candidate can proceed to the award of the degree.
  4. A pass with a major rewrite and resubmit for examination: the option is provided for the student to revise and resubmit the thesis for a new examination.
  5. A failed thesis: does not merit any qualification

Appeals

Candidates cannot challenge the academic judgment of the examiners or Graduate Examination Sub-Committee. Following the completion of the examination process, candidates have the right to request a review of the decisions taken by the Graduate Examination Sub-Committee upon the recommendations made by the examiners. A request for a review of a particular decision may be based on one or a combination of any of the following grounds:

  1. That there are exceptional circumstances affecting the candidate’s performance which could not for a valid reason be brought to the attention of examiners or the Graduate Examination Sub-Committee at or before Thesis examination or were not known to the candidate prior to making his or her submission for examination.
  2. That there is evidence of procedural irregularity in the conduct of the examination (including administrative error) of such nature as to cause doubt as to whether the result might have been different had there not been such irregularity.
  3. That there is evidence of unfair or improper conduct or assessment on the part of one or more of the examiners or unfair or improper conduct on the part of any chair at the completion and oral presentation.

Award of the qualification requirements

When the decision to award the degree has been made, the Graduate Examination Sub- Committee may certify that the student is eligible to graduate subject to the student:

  1. Fulfilling all conditions of award to the satisfaction of Graduate Examination Sub Committee; and
  2. Lodging a final digital copy of the final thesis with the University Library via CGS.

Posthumous Award

A research degree may be granted posthumously based on a submission which is ready for examination.

APPLICATIONS