Statutes and Ordinances of the University of Cambridge
CHAPTER VII
pp. 474–477
DEGREES, DIPLOMAS, AND OTHER QUALIFICATIONS

The provisions contained in this Chapter are Regulations of the General Board

In this section

DEGREES IN ENGINEERING

MASTER OF ENGINEERING

On completing the requisite number of terms,1 a student who has obtained honours in Part IIb of the Chemical Engineering Tripos or in Part IIb of the Engineering Tripos or in Part IIb of the Manufacturing Engineering Tripos or in Part III of the Computer Science Tripos shall be entitled to proceed to the M.Eng. Degree.

DOCTOR OF ENGINEERING

Amended by Notice (Reporter, 2018–19, p. 651)

1. In order to qualify for the degree of Doctor of Engineering a candidate shall be required satisfactorily to complete a course of training prescribed for that degree and provide evidence of a significant original contribution to study in the field of engineering.

Conditions for pursuing course.

2. Subject to clauses (a)–(c) below, a Graduate Student registered for the degree of Doctor of Engineering (Eng.D.) shall pursue in the University, and such other places as the Board of Graduate Studies and the Degree Committee concerned shall determine, a course of training and research under supervision for not less than twelve terms.

The number of terms shall begin with the term from which the student is registered as a candidate for the degree and shall be consecutive except in so far as the student may have been allowed to intermit his or her course under clause (b) below, or except in so far as the Board may have determined that he or she shall not be allowed to count any particular term towards the requirements for the degree.

  1. (a)The Board, after considering a recommendation by the Degree Committee concerned, may allow a Graduate Student to spend all but three terms of his or her course as a candidate for a degree, or any lesser number of terms, working under supervision outside the University under conditions approved by the Degree Committee and the Board.
  2. (b)On account of illness or other sufficient cause, the Board, after considering a recommendation by the Degree Committee concerned, may allow a Graduate Student to intermit his or her course of research for one or more terms. Such terms shall not count for any purpose of these regulations except as provided in Regulation 7 of the general regulations for admission as a Graduate Student.
  3. (c)A student who is qualified to receive, but who has not received, a Certificate of Postgraduate Study in a subject intended as preparation for the Eng.D. Degree may be allowed to count not more than three terms of the period during which he or she was a candidate for the Certificate concerned towards the Degree.
Application for dispensation.

Every application for a dispensation under clauses (a)(c) shall be made in writing to the Secretary of the Board, and shall be accompanied by a written opinion from the applicant's Supervisor.

3. On the recommendation of the Board, the Council may grant to a Graduate Student in respect of work done in the University before matriculation, if the student's matriculation was delayed for sufficient cause, an allowance of terms not exceeding three in number, towards the minimum of three terms required to be kept under Regulation 9 for Residence and Precincts of the University for full-time study leading to the Eng.D. Degree.

4. The Board may grant to a Graduate Student, after considering an application supported by the student's Tutor, one or two terms of research towards satisfying the requirements of Regulation 2, on account of illness or other grave cause. For every term so allowed the student shall pay the appropriate fee as prescribed in Regulation 11 of the general regulations for admission as a Graduate Student.

Requirements.

5. In order to be registered as a candidate for the Degree, a Graduate Student must have completed, to the satisfaction of the Board and the Degree Committee concerned, such coursework, undertaken either in the University or at such other place as may have been approved for this purpose, as the Board and Degree Committee may have specified.

Supervision.

6. The course of training and research shall be conducted under such supervisory arrangements as the Board and the Degree Committee concerned shall specify. The Board and the Degree Committee shall satisfy themselves that, during the periods when a student is working outside the University, appropriate arrangements for supervision and for reporting on the student's progress are in place.

Eng.D. examination.

7. The examination for the degree of Eng.D. shall consist of:

  1. (a)such coursework as the Board and the Degree Committee concerned shall specify;
  2. (b)the submission of a thesis embodying the results of the candidate's approved course of research, which shall be submitted in accordance with the provisions of Regulations 8–9; in place of a thesis, a candidate may, by special permission of the Board and the Degree Committee concerned, submit a portfolio of work of equivalent length;
  3. (c)an examination, conducted orally, on the subject of the thesis, and the general field of knowledge within which it falls, provided that in exceptional circumstances, and on the recommendation of the Degree Committee concerned, the Board may dispense with such an examination.
Thesis.

8. A candidate may submit his or her thesis not earlier than the first day of the term during which he or she expects to complete the requirements of Regulation 2 and not later than the last day of the vacation following the twelfth term after that in which the student was registered as a candidate for the degree, provided that, with the permission of the Board, a thesis may be submitted later than that day. An allowance of terms made by the Council under Regulation 3 shall count in calculating the standing of a student for the purpose of this regulation.

9. In submitting their theses, candidates shall state, generally in a preface and specifically in notes or in a bibliography, the sources from which their information is derived, the extent to which they have availed themselves of the work of others, and the portions of the thesis which are claimed as original. They shall also be required to declare that the thesis submitted is not substantially the same as any that they may have submitted for a degree or diploma or similar qualification. The work, apart from quotations, shall be written in English. Each Degree Committee shall have power to specify a maximum length for theses submitted by students working under its supervision. Candidates will also submit a statement by those responsible for their supervision certifying the conditions under which each candidate's work was undertaken.

10. Two copies of each candidate's thesis, accompanied by the statement referred to in Regulation 9 and two copies of a summary of about 300 words in length, shall be sent to the Secretary of the Board, who shall forward the copies and copies of the summary to the Secretary of the Degree Committee concerned. In special circumstances the Board, after consulting the Degree Committee, may allow a candidate to submit one copy only of the thesis. The thesis shall be referred to two Examiners, appointed by the Degree Committee. Neither of the Examiners shall have been the candidate's Supervisor. Each Examiner shall make an independent report on it to the Degree Committee. The two Examiners shall jointly conduct the oral examination specified in Regulation 7(c), and shall sign a joint certificate of the result. If the Examiners do not agree in their recommendations or if for any other reason the Degree Committee or the Board need a further opinion or opinions on the merit of the work submitted, the Degree Committee may appoint an additional Examiner or additional Examiners, provided that not more than one additional Examiner shall be appointed without leave of the Board. Each additional Examiner so appointed shall make an independent report on the thesis to the Degree Committee.

11. If a candidate fails to satisfy the Examiners in the oral examination specified in Regulation 7(c), the Degree Committee may permit the candidate to be re-examined by the same Examiners. Permission so given shall be communicated to the Secretary of the Board and shall not be given on more than one occasion. Each Examiner who takes part in an examination under this regulation shall be paid a fee of £42 in addition to any fees to which he or she may be entitled under Regulation 12, and may also claim travelling expenses in accordance with the provisions of that regulation.

Payments to Examiners.

12. Each Examiner shall receive a fee from the Chest. Such a fee shall be £165 if the Examiner takes part in the oral examination specified in Regulation 7(c), or £100 if the Examiner does not so take part, either because the Board, on the recommendation of the Degree Committee, have dispensed with the oral examination or for any other reason. Examiners may claim travelling expenses, on terms and conditions specified by the Board if their place of residence is more than ten miles from Great St Mary's Church or if an oral examination or a consultation between the Examiners is for good reason held outside Cambridge. The Board may also approve payment of other reasonable expenses incurred by an Examiner in connection with the execution of his or her duties. A subsistence allowance may be claimed by Examiners at rates determined from time to time by the Finance Committee of the Council, provided that payment may be made only in respect of a day or a night on which the Examiner's absence from his or her normal place of residence in connection with the execution of his or her duties is necessary. The travelling expenses of a candidate who is required to travel to an oral examination outside Cambridge may be paid in whole or in part, at rates determined by the Board; such a candidate may also claim a subsistence allowance at rates determined from time to time by the Finance Committee, under the same conditions as apply to the Examiners.

Approval for Eng.D. Degree.

13. If, after considering the reports of the Examiners on the examinations specified in Regulation 7, the Degree Committee are satisfied that the student's work is of the requisite standard for the degree, a recommendation of the Committee to that effect, with the names of those present and voting on either side, shall be communicated to the Board, together with the reports of the Examiners. If the Board, after receiving such communication, at a meeting at which not less than five members are present, resolve that the candidate be approved for the Eng.D. Degree, the Secretary of the Board shall publish a notice of the candidate's approval for the award of the Degree unless the candidate has requested the removal of her or his name from the published list in accordance with a procedure approved from time to time by the General Board.

Revised thesis.

14. If, after considering the reports of the Examiners, the Degree Committee consider that a student's thesis is not of the requisite standard for the degree, the Board may, at a meeting at which no less than five members are present, permit the student to submit a revised thesis, but they shall not do so unless the Degree Committee have expressly recommended that such permission be given. The communication conveying such a recommendation by a Degree Committee shall contain the names of those present and voting on either side, and shall be accompanied by the reports of the Examiners. A student shall not be allowed to submit a revised thesis on more than one occasion.

Approval for M.Sc. Degree in lieu.

15. If, after considering the reports of the Examiners, the Degree Committee consider that a student's work is not of the standard requisite for the Eng.D. Degree, but that it is of the standard requisite for the M.Sc. Degree, their recommendation to that effect, with the names of those present and voting on either side, shall be communicated to the Board, together with the reports of the Examiners. If after receiving such communication the Board decide, at a meeting at which not less than five members are present, that the candidate could properly be approved for the award of the lower degree, the Secretary of the Board shall ask the candidate whether he or she is willing to be approved for the award of the M.Sc. Degree. Subject to the candidate’s agreement being received by the Secretary not later than the last day of the term following the term or vacation in which the decision on her or his candidature was made or in exceptional circumstances, which it shall itself determine, accept a candidate’s agreement at a later date, the Board shall approve the candidate for the award of that degree and the Secretary shall publish a notice of such approval unless the candidate has requested the removal of her or his name from the published list in accordance with a procedure approved from time to time by the General Board.

Deciding authority.

16. The Board shall be the deciding authority on all recommendations communicated to them by Degree Committees that candidates be approved for the award of the Eng.D. or M.Sc. Degree or that they be allowed to submit revised theses. The Board shall not approve a candidate for the award of a degree unless the Degree Committee have recommended the award of that degree; before refusing an award so recommended they shall give a representative appointed by the Degree Committee an opportunity of explaining the Committee's reasons for their recommendation.

Unsuccessful candidate to be informed.

17. If after considering the reports of the Examiners the Degree Committee resolve that a candidate's work is not of the requisite standard for any degree, and if they do not recommend that the candidate be allowed to submit a revised thesis, their resolution to that effect, with the names of those present and voting on either side, shall be communicated to the Board, together with the reports of the Examiners. The Secretary of the Board shall communicate this decision to the candidate.

Copy of thesis for Library.

18. Before being admitted to a degree, a student shall deposit with the Secretary of the Board one copy of his or her thesis and two copies of the summary, in a form approved by the Board. The Secretary shall deposit the copy of the thesis together with one copy of the summary in the University Library, where they shall be available for consultation and for the making of copies for inter-library loan purposes, unless the Board determine that they shall, for a period specified by the Board, be available only to the author or to those who have the author's written permission to consult the material. The summary shall be available for copying and publication at the discretion of the Board.

Footnotes

  1. 1. See the regulations for Residence and Precincts of the University (p. 172).a