Research Students

If you look at the most recent OU TV advert, it may come as a shock to discover than you can do research with the OU as well as taught courses.

Everything that follows applies to PART-TIME research in the OU. You can register for FULL-TIME research in the OU too, but you need to live in reasonable distance of Milton Keynes to do that!

What is a research student and what is expected of him/her?

A research student is somebody who is following a specialised line of study which they agree with the University. They are NOT following a syllabus set by the University. The definition of academic research is "the application of theory to data." So, you need a good grasp of the theory relevant to your field, and you need some data to establish and apply it to.

In common with many other Universities, a research student in the OU is somebody who is studying for a degree that ends (or begins) with the letters "Ph" - BPhil, MPhil, PhD. "Ph", of course, is an abbreviation for "Philosophy".

You can do research degrees in all disciplines and Faculties (although Part-Time registration may not be available in all areas).

Throughout your period of registration, you will be expected to share with your supervisor a decent amount of written work that shows that you're on target and capable of completing. However, there are no TMA's or three hour exams.

A research degree is awarded on the basis of a two part examination:

1) a very long piece of writing by the student normally referred to as a "thesis"; and

2) an oral examination when the student is interviewed by two academic specialists in the field about their thesis, normally referred to as a "viva".

The thesis should display considerable acquaintance with your specialised field and, for the MPhil or PhD, a fair quantity of "originality" as well. The level of originality and expertise required increases for each degree - as does the length of thesis expected. In the humanities, PhD theses usually weigh in around 70,000 words. In the exact sciences, they tend not to be quite that long.

A PhD thesis when completed must be bound and lodged in the OU Library and available for public inspection.

If you do a research degree part time with the OU, it will, most likely, take you between three and ten years to complete. They reckon that you're doing well to complete a part-time PhD in six years - it's shorter for MPhil and BPhil respectively.

When you successfully complete a PhD, they call you "Doctor". To study for a PhD is also known as "doing a Doctorate".

Who is allowed to register for a research degree in the OU?

You need two things.

1) You need to be offering to research something which the OU is equipped to supervise. If you want to research a specialism or a subject for which the OU has no appropriate experts, they will direct you elsewhere.

2) You need to show that you are capable of doing academic research. This is USUALLY indicated by successful completion of a relevant postgraduate course - especially a taught Master's degree. If you haven't got a Master's degree, you need to show that you have done some kind of academic research or something very similar to it. If you haven't got a Master's degree, you would be very sensible to go and get one first - most of them are specifically designed to equip you to research.

If you do not qualify on BOTH accounts, the OU will NOT allow you to register with them to do a research degree. You will have to look elsewhere. In this respect, the OU is NOT "open" - they can, and do, say "no".

For all part-time research students, there is an initial probationary period of two years at the end of which the OU will decide which kind of research degree they will allow you to pursue. You are admitted with a view to doing a specific degree (e.g. a PhD), but, at the end of the probationary period, they may well say that they don't think you are in a position to complete a PhD and they may offer you registration for an MPhil instead.

What support is available?

In the OU, you are given two supervisors. One is internal and the other external. The external supervisor is the one with whom you will have most dealings (meeting at least three times per year).The external supervisor, ideally, should also be as geographically close to you as is conveniently possible.

Your supervisor is NOT your tutor because, almost by definition, you will be dealing with an area of which they will have a good academic knowledge, but not necessarily the level of specialised knowledge that will be expected of you. When you do a PhD, you should be able, fairly quickly, to become better informed on your topic than your supervisor.

The OU cannot provide its part-time research students with access to a library or laboratories. You will have to negotiate these facilities separately and you will usually be paying other Universities the relevant fees in addition to your OU fees.

The marvellous thing about doing research with the OU is that the fees are very competitive - in humanities, at least £1,000 per year cheaper than other local universities.

P. Green 2003

I'm a part-time research student with the OU and I live in Wednesbury in the Midlands. I'm in the first year of my registration. I'm researching in English Literature.

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