Doctoral Transfer Policy and Procedures

• Doctoral applicants who wish to be considered for transfer from an existing or previous doctoral enrolment at an institution other than the University of Auckland to a doctoral enrolment at the University of Auckland.
• Doctoral applicants who are currently enrolled in a doctoral programme at the University of Auckland and who wish to transfer to enrolment in an alternative doctoral programme at the University.

Note: The transfer policy and procedures do not apply to masters thesis students at the University seeking to transfer to a PhD enrolment. Such students should consult the PhD - Masters Thesis Transfer Policy and Procedures.  

To specify the policy and procedures that apply where a doctoral applicant wishes to be considered for transfer from an existing or previous doctoral enrolment to enrolment in an equivalent or alternative doctoral programme at the University of Auckland.

1. Transfer from an existing or previous doctoral enrolment to enrolment in an equivalent or alternative doctoral programme at the University of Auckland (“doctoral transfer”) entails the continuation of the same research project across the doctoral enrolments.

2. The following applicants may, subject to this policy and procedures, be considered for doctoral transfer:

a) PhD applicants who are within their first 12 months of full-time equivalent enrolment in a PhD at an institution other than the University of Auckland at the time of application

b) PhD applicants who are currently enrolled in the research component of a named doctorate at the University of Auckland

c) Doctor of Medicine (MD) and Doctor of Fine Arts (DocFA) applicants who are:

either

i) currently enrolled in a PhD at the University of Auckland

or

ii) within their first 12 months of full-time equivalent enrolment in an equivalent doctoral programme at an institution other than the University of Auckland at the time of application.

3. Applicants under clause 2b or 2c(i) above may be considered only where the grounds presented for the transfer are the quality and nature of the research project and where the applicant’s research trajectory is compatible with the requirements of clause 13.

4. Applicants who have completed more than 12 months of full-time equivalent doctoral enrolment at an institution other than the University of Auckland may, subject to this policy and associated procedures, be considered for transfer only:

a) where the supervisor of the current doctoral enrolment is moving to the University of Auckland and regards the transfer as warranted on academic grounds

or

b) in exceptional circumstances as permitted by the Board of Graduate Studies (or delegate)

and (in addition to a or b)

c) where an applicant’s research trajectory is compatible with the requirements of clause 12.

Note: Where a candidate has been enrolled for more than 12 months of full-time equivalent doctoral enrolment, it will normally be more appropriate for the candidate to maintain their existing doctoral enrolment than to transfer the enrolment to the University of Auckland.

5. An PhD, MD or DocFA applicant who has withdrawn from enrolment in an equivalent programme at another institution may, in exceptional circumstances as permitted by the Board of Graduate Studies (or delegate), be considered for transfer of their research project to a doctoral enrolment at the University of Auckland provided the previous doctoral enrolment was less than 12 months full-time equivalent in duration, and the application is made within 6 months of the conclusion of the enrolment at the other institution.

6. Doctoral applicants other than those identified under clause 2, clause 4 and clause 5 are not eligible for consideration for a doctoral transfer.

7. For the avoidance of doubt, an applicant who has failed their doctoral examination, or who has had their doctoral enrolment terminated by the enrolling institution, will not be considered for transfer of their research project to a (further) doctoral enrolment at the University of Auckland, and will not normally be permitted to enrol and commence a new doctoral research project in the same subject at the University.

8. In order for a doctoral transfer to a PhD enrolment at the University to be approved, the applicant must satisfy this policy and associated procedures and either Regulations 13a-f of the PhD Statute or the PhD - Exceptional Circumstance Entry Policy and Procedures.

9. In order for a doctoral transfer to an MD or DocFA enrolment at the University to be approved, the applicant must satisfy this policy and associated procedures and the eligibility, admission and registration requirements of the relevant doctoral programme regulations.

10. In order for a doctoral transfer to be approved, the Board of Graduate Studies (or delegate) must be satisfied that the existing doctoral research was/is not subject to progress, quality or unresolved intellectual property issues, and satisfied with the integrity of the grounds for transfer.

11. For the avoidance of doubt, Board of Graduate Studies (or delegate) acceptance of exceptional circumstances for the purposes of clause 4 or clause 5 does not entail satisfaction with the integrity of the grounds for transfer under clause 10.

12. All applicants who are approved to transfer an existing or previous doctoral enrolment at another institution to the University of Auckland:

a) are, where transferring to the PhD programme, required to complete at least two years of full-time equivalent enrolment at the University of Auckland

b) must, where transferring to the MD or DocFA programmes, be enrolled at the University of Auckland for the duration required by the relevant programme regulations

c) will be enrolled on a provisional basis and will be subject to the relevant programme regulations including the requirements for confirmation and continuation of candidature/registration.

13. Applicants who are currently enrolled in the research component of a named doctorate at the University and who are approved to transfer to the PhD, and applicants who are currently enrolled in a PhD at the University and who are approved to transfer to the DocFA or MD:

a) must, where transferring to the PhD, be enrolled for at least two years full-time equivalent but may have their initial date of enrolment backdated by a maximum of 12 months where deemed appropriate by the Board of Graduate Studies (or delegate)

b) must, where transferring to the DocFA or MD, be enrolled in the relevant programme for the duration required by the programme regulations but may have their initial date of enrolment backdated by a maximum of 12 months where deemed appropriate by the Board of Graduate Studies (or delegate)

c) are subject to the relevant programme regulations, including the requirements for continuation of candidature/registration and the requirements for confirmation of candidature where 13d of this policy applies

d) will be enrolled on a provisional basis where an applicant is not already confirmed in the existing doctoral enrolment.

14. Approvals for doctoral transfer are conditional upon applicants:

a) withdrawing from their existing doctoral enrolment by the date specified by the Board of Graduate Studies (or delegate), which must be prior to enrolment in the doctoral programme at the University of Auckland

and

b) enrolling in the relevant doctoral programme at the University of Auckland by the date specified by the Board of Graduate Studies (or delegate).

15. Relevance, equivalence and appropriateness, where invoked in this policy and associated procedures, are determined by the Board of Graduate Studies (or delegate).

16. The scholarship implications of a doctoral transfer are the responsibility of the applicant.

17. Applicants for doctoral transfer must apply for admission to the relevant doctoral programme at the University of Auckland via the online application for admission system.

18. In addition to the material requested as part of the standard application process for the relevant doctoral programme, the applicant must arrange for the submission of:

a) a reference from the supervisor of the existing/previous doctoral enrolment (or another appropriate party as approved by the Board of Graduate Studies (or delegate))

b) a statement from the applicant, accompanying the Statement of Research Intent, as to the existing doctoral work undertaken under supervision, which would be transferred in the event of a successful application

c) a copy of the existing draft material for the thesis

d) any additional material and/or evidence relating to exceptional circumstances under the above policy, the grounds for the transfer and/or the rate of progress, quality of work and/or intellectual property issues in the existing/previous enrolment as requested by the Board of Graduate Studies (or delegate).

19. The supervisor for the proposed University of Auckland enrolment must consider, and provide a statement as to the quality of, the doctoral work proposed for transfer.

20. The application will be considered in accordance with the requirements of the relevant programme regulations and the above policy, and may be subject to comment and/or recommendation by the Academic Head and/or Associate Dean (Postgraduate Research).

21. The Board of Graduate Studies (or delegate) will make the final decision as to whether the applicant satisfies the requirements of the above policy and the applicable programme regulations.

22. Where doctoral transfer is approved, the candidate must withdraw from the existing doctoral programme and provide a satisfactory statutory declaration as to the programme withdrawal, the nature and extent of the work being transferred, and the resolution of intellectual property matters, in order to proceed to unconditional offer or enrolment as determined by the Board of Graduate Studies (or delegate).  

The following definitions apply to this document:

Academic Head refers to the head of the academic unit in which the candidate is enrolled or to their nominee for the purposes of doctoral matters.

Associate Dean/Director (Postgraduate Research) normally refers to the person holding that role (or equivalent) in the faculty or Large Scale Research Institute (LSRI) in which the candidate is enrolled, or to that person’s nominee in the case of an LSRI or one-department faculty, but the role may also be carried out by the person holding that role in another faculty or LSRI or by a person holding another associate dean/director role within the same faculty or LSRI.

Applicant means an applicant for admission to a doctoral programme at the University of Auckland.

Candidate means a candidate for a doctoral degree.

Supervisor refers to the main or joint supervisor (or equivalent).

University means the University of Auckland and includes all subsidiaries.

• PhD Statute
• DocFA regulations
• PhD - Exceptional Circumstance Entry Policy and Procedures
• PhD - Masters Thesis Transfer Policy and Procedures.
• MD regulations  

Content manager: School of Graduate Studies
Owner: Dean of Graduate Studies
Approved by: Board of Graduate Studies, Senate and Council
Date approved: October 2021
Review date: October 2026