Notices by the General Board

Study leave for holders of certain University offices

8 July 2020

The General Board has agreed to add the following offices to the Schedule of those whose holders may apply for study leave on the same conditions as are laid down in Special Ordinance C (i) 1 for University officers specified in the Schedule to Special Ordinance C (i) 1 (Statutes and Ordinances, pp. 72 and 73). The Notice concerning Study Leave for Holders of Certain University Offices (reproduced in Statutes and Ordinances, p. 698) has been amended accordingly.

Fitzwilliam Museum
Keeper of Conservation
Senior Assistant Keeper

Hamilton Kerr Institute
Assistant to the Director

Degree of Master of Surgery (M.Chir.)

With effect from 1 October 2020

The General Board has approved changes to the governance and structure of the degree of Master of Surgery (M.Chir.), to take effect from 1 October 2020 for admission from Michaelmas Term 2021.

The M.Chir. Degree is overseen by an M.Chir. Committee. The M.Chir. Degree is currently offered in two pathways: examination by thesis and examination by publication. For neither pathway are candidates formally registered with the University, with access to resources and facilities offered within the collegiate University. There are currently no candidates for the degree.

Following a review of the M.Chir. Degree, the M.Chir. Committee has proposed a number of changes to the pathways for the degree and its governance:

(a)the M.Chir. Degree by publication route would be discontinued. There are only two candidates on record to have been awarded the degree via this route, and other options are available to eligible candidates who wish to seek a degree through assessment of publications;1

(b)the M.Chir. by thesis would remain and the eligibility criteria would be expanded to attract suitable applicants who do not already hold a Cambridge degree;

(c)candidates for the M.Chir. by thesis would become matriculated students admitted by the Postgraduate Admissions Office – in accordance with the General Regulations for Admission to certain Postgraduate Degrees – and would be members of a College. The M.Chir. Committee anticipates the admission of 5 to 10 students each academic year;

(d)a fee for the course would be charged for the M.Chir. by thesis. In accordance with the College fees agreement, a proportion of the fee would be retained by the student’s College;

(e)a new pathway of M.Chir. by special regulations would be established in order to continue the practice of allowing medically qualified Cambridge graduates who are working away from Cambridge to submit a thesis for examination. The fee for the M.Chir. by special regulations will align with the fee for the M.D. Degree by special regulations;

(f)the authority to award the M.Chir. Degree would transfer from the M.Chir. Committee to the Degree Committee for the Faculties of Clinical Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, bringing the approval process in line with the award of other Master’s degrees (the M.Chir. Committee would continue to consider other matters in relation to the administration of the degree);

(g)the current bespoke appeals process would be discontinued; students would be able to access the complaints and appeals mechanisms offered to all matriculated students via the Office for Student Conduct, Complaints and Appeals.

The changes will:

(a)align the M.Chir. with cognate degrees offered within the Faculty of Clinical Medicine, such as the Doctor of Medicine (M.D.);

(b)bring about a more robust governance structure for the degree, including mechanisms for appeal against decisions not to award the degree; and

(c)expand the eligibility criteria for the degree to remove the requirement for a previous Cambridge degree, providing an opportunity for trainee surgeons and clinical surgical fellows to gain valuable experience of research in a clinical or laboratory setting, aligned to the School of Clinical Medicine’s Clinical Academic Training Programmes.

These changes were approved by the Degree Committee for the Faculties of Clinical Medicine and Veterinary Medicine on 26 November 2019, the Faculty Board of Clinical Medicine on 21 January 2020, the Board of Graduate Studies on 3 March 2020 and the General Board’s Education Committee on 18 March 2020.

The changes to General Board Regulations and a General Board procedure are set out in the Annex. The Council is submitting a Grace for the approval of changes to the Ordinance for University Composition Fees in relation to the degree (Grace 19, p. 553).

ANNEX

(1) By amending the Schedule to the General Board’s Examination Review Procedure (Statutes and Ordinances, p. 216) to include the M.Chir. by thesis and the M.Chir. by special regulations.

(2) By amending the General Board Regulations for the degree of Master of Surgery (Statutes and Ordinances, p. 499) as follows:

(a)By amending Regulation 1 to read as follows:

1. Any person may apply, in accordance with Regulation 4 below, to become a candidate for the degree of Master of Surgery who

either	(a)	holds a primary degree of the University,
or	(b)	has been admitted:
		(i) to some office in the University or to a Headship or a Fellowship of a College, and
		(ii) to the degree of Master of Arts under Statute B II 2 or to a degree of the University by incorporation,
or	(c)	holds a medical appointment approved from time to time by the Faculty Board for Clinical Medicine for the purpose,

and also holds

either	a medical degree giving entitlement to provisional or full registration with the General Medical Council,
or	a degree recognised by that Council for the purpose of full registration,
or	a medical degree approved by the M.Chir. Committee for the purpose of candidature.

No person whose candidature has been approved under Regulation 4 shall submit a thesis, or other work approved under Regulation 6, until four years have elapsed since he or she was admitted

either	to the degrees of Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery,
or	to the degree of Bachelor of Surgery under Regulation 5 of the special regulations for the conferment of the degrees of Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery,
or	to a medical degree of another university as defined above.

(b)By replacing existing Regulations 3–14 with the following:

3. In the Michaelmas Term of every second year the Faculty Board of Clinical Medicine shall appoint a member of the Faculty to act as Secretary of the M.Chir. Committee for two years from 1 January following the date of appointment. Subject to the approval of the General Board, the Faculty Board may pay the Secretary a stipend. If either the Chair of the M.Chir. Committee or the Secretary is prevented at any time by illness or other cause from performing any of the duties prescribed in these regulations, the Faculty Board shall appoint some other member of the Faculty of Clinical Medicine to act as a deputy.

4. A person who wishes to become a candidate for the M.Chir. Degree shall submit an application to the M.Chir. Committee. The application shall specify:

(a)the applicant’s proposed subject of study or research, including a plan of the work to be undertaken and an account of the methods to be used;

(b)the place where the work is to be undertaken;

(c)the name of a member of the Faculty of Medicine who has agreed to act as the candidate’s Supervisor for the research project specified;

(d)the method of financing the work;

(e)a letter of support for the application from the intended Supervisor and Head of the Department;

(f)a fee in respect of an admissions charge for an application for admission as a postgraduate student.

The M.Chir. Committee shall make recommendations on the admission of the candidate to the Degree Committee for the Faculties of Clinical Medicine and Veterinary Medicine. If the Degree Committee approves an applicant for admission to the programme, the applicant shall become a postgraduate registered student.

The Degree Committee shall determine the conditions, if any, of an applicant’s registration and shall assign the term from which he or she is to be admitted.

5. A candidate whose application has been approved shall pay the University Composition Fee for the course.

6. The examination for the M.Chir. Degree shall consist of:

(a)the submission of a thesis embodying the results of the candidate’s study or research, which shall be submitted in accordance with the provisions of Regulations 7 and 8;

(b)an oral examination on the subject of the thesis and the general field of knowledge within which it falls.

By special permission of the Degree Committee, candidates may submit with the thesis published work which they wish the Examiners to consider; such work may be considered by the Examiners at their discretion.

7. A candidate who has paid the relevant fee due under Regulation 5 shall submit to the Degree Committee, not earlier than the end of the first year after approval of the application under Regulation 4 and not later than four years after the date of such approval, unless given special permission by the Degree Committee to delay submission until a later date:

(a)two copies of the thesis, in a form recommended by the M.Chir. Committee and approved by the Degree Committee;

(b)two copies of any published work which the candidate wishes to submit under Regulation 6. 

8. 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 another degree or for a diploma or similar qualification at this or any other university. A thesis, apart from quotations, shall be written in English. The Degree Committee shall have power to specify a maximum length for theses, in consultation with the M.Chir. Committee.

9. Each thesis shall be referred to two Examiners, appointed by the Degree Committee on the recommendation of the M.Chir. Committee. Each Examiner shall make an independent report to the Degree Committee on the thesis. If the Examiners do not agree in their recommendations or if for any other reason the Degree Committee 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 Degree Committee. Each additional Examiner so appointed shall make an independent report on the thesis to the Degree Committee. Each Examiner shall receive a fee and shall, if appropriate, be entitled to claim travelling expenses and a subsistence allowance as specified in the Schedule.

10. The Act shall be conducted by the two Examiners appointed under Regulation 9. The Examiners shall jointly examine the candidate viva voce on questions connected with the work submitted as well as on other medical subjects and 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 needs 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 Degree Committee. Each additional Examiner so appointed shall make an independent report on the thesis to the Degree Committee.

11. If, after considering the reports of the Examiners on a candidate’s thesis and on her or his performance in the oral examination, the Degree Committee is satisfied that the candidate’s work is of the requisite standard for the M.Chir. Degree by thesis, for which he or she is a candidate, the Degree Committee shall communicate its resolution to the candidate and to the Registrary who shall publish a notice of the candidate’s approval for the award of the degree, specifying the subject of the examination 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.

12. If, after considering the reports of the Examiners, the Degree Committee considers that a candidate’s thesis is not of the requisite standard for the degree for which he or she is a candidate, the awarding body may permit the student to submit a revised thesis. A candidate shall not be allowed to submit a revised thesis on more than one occasion.

13. If after considering the reports of the Examiners the Degree Committee resolves that a candidate’s work is not of the requisite standard for the M.Chir. Degree by thesis, and if it does not recommend that the candidate be allowed to submit a revised thesis, the Degree Committee shall communicate its decision to the student.

14. A candidate who is not approved for the M.Chir. Degree under Regulation 12, providing the candidate meets the eligibility requirements, may apply to be a candidate for the M.Chir. Degree by special regulations; such application may be made on not more than one occasion, after a period of not less than five years from the date of the applicant’s original examination for the Degree.

15. Before being admitted to the degree, a successful candidate examined by thesis shall deposit with the Secretary of the M.Chir. Committee two copies of the thesis in a form approved by the M.Chir. Committee. The Secretary of the M.Chir. Committee shall deposit copies of the thesis in the University Library and in the Medical Library, where they shall be available for consultation and for making copies for interlibrary loan purposes.

16. All the theses submitted by candidates under these regulations who have been approved for the M.Chir. Degree in each academical year shall be considered by the M.Chir. Committee for any prize that is awarded for work done by a candidate for the degree.

(c)By amending the Schedule of Payments to Examiners (Statutes and Ordinances, p. 501) to read as follows:

To an Examiner for examining and reporting on a thesis and for taking part in the conduct of an oral examination (Regulation 9): £135.

To an additional Examiner not participating in an oral examination (Regulation 10): £100.

Each External Examiner shall receive in addition travelling expenses, in accordance with Regulation 14 of the regulations for the Ph.D., M.Sc., and M.Litt. Degrees, and the M.Phil. Degree by thesis.

(3) By rescinding the General Board Regulations for the Review of the Results of Examinations for the Degree of Master of Surgery (Statutes and Ordinances, p. 501).

(4) By adding the General Board Regulations for the Master of Surgery by special regulations, to read as follows:

Master of Surgery: Special Regulations

1. Any person may apply, in accordance with Regulation 4 below, to become a candidate for the degree of Master of Surgery who

either	(a)	holds a primary degree of the University,
or	(b)	has been admitted:
		(i) to some office in the University or to a Headship or a Fellowship of a College, and
		(ii) to the degree of Master of Arts under Statute B II 2 or to a degree of the University by incorporation,

and also holds

either	a medical degree giving entitlement to provisional or full registration with the General Medical Council,
or	a degree recognised by that Council for the purpose of full registration,
or	a medical degree approved by the M.Chir. Committee for the purpose of candidature.

No person whose candidature has been approved under Regulation 4 shall submit a thesis, or other work approved under Regulation 6, until four years have elapsed since he or she was admitted

either	to the degrees of Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery,
or	to the degree of Bachelor of Surgery under Regulation 5 of the special regulations for the conferment of the degrees of Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery,
or	to a medical degree of another university as defined above.

2. A person shall not be eligible to proceed to the M.Chir. Degree under these regulations if he or she has been approved for the M.Chir. Degree under the regulations requiring registration as a postgraduate student.1

3. A postgraduate of the University who has been examined for the M.Chir. Degree under the regulations requiring registration as a postgraduate student,1 but has not been approved for the M.Chir. Degree, may become a candidate under these regulations after a period of not less than five years from the date of submitting a thesis or a revised thesis, as the case may be, for the M.Chir. Degree.

4. A person who wishes to become a candidate for the M.Chir. Degree shall send to the Secretary of the M.Chir. Committee

(a)an application on a form obtainable from the Secretary;

(b)details of the applicant’s postgraduate appointments and surgical experience;

(c)one copy of any published work that the applicant wishes the Committee to consider;

(d)an application fee as set out in the Schedule.

The M.Chir. Committee shall decide whether or not to approve the applicant as a candidate for the degree, and the Secretary shall inform the applicant accordingly.

5. Except as provided in Regulation 6, a person approved as a candidate for the degree shall submit a thesis specially composed for the purpose, containing original observations which may be based on clinical work or laboratory work or a combination of the two. Each candidate shall send to the Secretary of the M.Chir. Committee, on a form obtainable from the Secretary, an application for approval of the proposed title of the thesis. Such an application shall include an outline of the work on which the thesis will be based, and shall specify the nature of any special branch of surgery in which the candidate is interested. The Secretary shall submit each application to the M.Chir. Committee, which may refer it to one or more referees for their opinion and advice before deciding whether to approve, reject, or suggest some modification of the candidate’s proposal. The Secretary shall communicate the M.Chir. Committee’s decision to the candidate.

6. In exceptional circumstances a candidate may apply to the M.Chir. Committee for permission to submit a thesis of work which has previously been published. Such an application shall be accompanied by a declaration that the work in question is not substantially the same as any work that the candidate may have submitted for a degree, diploma, or other qualification at this or any other university. The Secretary shall communicate to the candidate the M.Chir. Committee’s approval or rejection of the application.

7. A candidate who has obtained the approval of the M.Chir. Committee under Regulation 5 or Regulation 6 shall submit to the Secretary of the Degree Committee for the Faculties of Clinical Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, not later than four years after the date of such approval, unless given special permission by the Degree Committee to delay submission until a later date:

(a)three copies of the thesis, in a form recommended by the M.Chir. Committee and approved by the Degree Committee, or of published work which the M.Chir. Committee has given the candidate leave to submit under Regulation 6;

(b)if the thesis is based wholly or partly on work already published, three copies of such work.

8. 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 another degree or for a diploma or similar qualification at this or any other university. A thesis, apart from quotations, shall be written in English. The Degree Committee shall have power to specify a maximum length for theses, in consultation with the M.Chir. Committee.

9. Each thesis shall be referred to two or more Examiners, appointed by the Degree Committee on the recommendation of the M.Chir. Committee. Each Examiner shall make an independent report to the Degree Committee on the thesis. If the Examiners do not agree in their recommendations or if for any other reason the Degree Committee needs a further opinion or opinions on the merit of the work submitted, the Degree Committee may appoint an additional Examiner or additional Examiners. Each additional Examiner so appointed shall make an independent report on the thesis to the Degree Committee. Each Examiner shall receive a fee and shall, if appropriate, be entitled to claim travelling expenses and a subsistence allowance as specified in the Schedule.

10. A candidate may be examined viva voce by the two Examiners appointed under Regulation 9. The two Examiners shall sign a joint report on the candidate’s performance in the examination. If the Examiners do not agree in their recommendations or if for any other reason the Degree Committee needs a further opinion or opinions on the merit of the work submitted, the Degree Committee may appoint an additional Examiner or additional Examiners. Each additional Examiner so appointed shall make an independent report on the thesis to the Degree Committee.

11. The Degree Committee shall consider a candidate’s thesis or published work and the reports of the Examiners thereon at a meeting.

12. If, after considering the reports of the Examiners on a candidate’s thesis and on her or his performance in the oral examination, the Degree Committee is satisfied that the candidate’s work is of the requisite standard for the M.Chir. Degree by special regulations, for which he or she is a candidate, the Degree Committee shall communicate its resolution to the candidate and to the Secretary of the Postgraduate Committee, who shall publish a notice of the candidate’s approval for the award of the degree, specifying the subject of the examination 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.

13. If, after considering the reports of the Examiners, the Degree Committee considers that a candidate’s thesis is not of the requisite standard for the degree for which he or she is a candidate, the awarding body may permit the student to submit a revised thesis. The communication conveying such a recommendation by the Degree Committee shall contain the names of those present and voting, and shall be accompanied by the reports of the Examiners. A candidate shall not be allowed to submit a revised thesis on more than one occasion.

14. If after considering the reports of the Examiners the Degree Committee resolves that a candidate’s work is not of the requisite standard for the M.Chir. Degree by thesis, and if it does not recommend that the candidate be allowed to submit a revised thesis, its resolution to that effect, with the names of those present and voting, shall be communicated to the Postgraduate Committee together with the reports of the Examiners and the Degree Committee shall communicate its decision to the student.

15. The payments to be made to the Secretary of the M.Chir. Committee, and to referees and Examiners, shall be as prescribed in the Schedule to these regulations.

16. A candidate who has been approved for the degree of M.Chir. shall be qualified to proceed to the degree. No fee shall be payable on admission to the degree.

17. A successful candidate shall deposit in the University Library and the Medical Library a copy of the thesis or other work submitted in a form approved by the M.Chir. Committee.

18. All the theses submitted by candidates under these regulations who have been approved for the M.Chir. Degree in each academical year shall be considered by the M.Chir. Committee for any prize that is awarded for work done by a candidate for the degree.
 

• 1See Regulation 8(b) of the general regulations for certain postgraduate degrees and other qualifications ([p. 000]).

SCHEDULE
Payments to Examiners

To a referee (Regulation 5): £45.

To an Examiner (Regulation 9) for examining and reporting on a thesis and for taking part in a viva voce examination if required to do so: £135.

To an additional Examiner not participating in an oral examination (Regulation 10): £100.

Each External Examiner shall receive in addition travelling expenses, in accordance with Regulation 14 of the regulations for the Ph.D., M.Sc., and M.Litt. Degrees, and the M.Phil. Degree by thesis.

Other payments

Application fee (Regulation 4): £1,866.