AMIL DISSERTATION

BRIEFING SHEET
OCTOBER 2020 FT COHORT

This guidance applies to all full-time students commencing their studies in

October 2020.

STEP 1: Initial Proposal and Supervisor Allocation

In order for the University to allocate you a supervisor for your Dissertation, please
complete the Initial Proposal Form via Elite.

This should be completed by 17.00 on Friday 8 January 2021.

Based on the information submitted, the University will allocate you a supervisor
following your Term 1 assessments.

The Initial Proposal Form contains the following questions:

Provisional Dissertation Title

Brief Summary of the Proposed Study
(No more than one paragraph / two-thee sentences)

Research Methodology
- How are you going to answer your research questions?
- How are you going to analyse your research findings?

Ethics Committee Approval Required

Are you involving human participants? If yes, detail how you plan to engage with these participants.

Key Research Questions (Provisional)

Identify 1-3 key questions you are interested in investigating

Introduction to the Dissertation Module Recording

A recording introducing you to the Dissertation Module is available in the following

location on Elite: COURSES>Academic Masters in Law – Student Handbook &
Course Information>Induction Week 2

You should have watched this during induction, but it may be useful to revisit the
recording ahead of submission.

There will also be a Q&A drop in for those of you with questions about completing
the initial proposal form. This will take place on Friday 11 December 2020 at 10.00
via the Collaborate classroom in the Dissertation module. You do not need to attend
this session as there will be no formal presentation – it is just a chance for you to ask
questions.
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STEP 2: First Supervision Meetings

Once you have been allocated a supervisor you should arrange your first supervision
meeting. This first meeting should take place before the Easter 2021 break (weeks
29 March and 5 April).
You should aim to have your second meeting before your term 2 assessments (week
of 24 May).
At these meetings, you will be refining your research question and scope of your
thesis based on your initial proposal form.
Note: If at one of these early meetings it becomes clear that you will need to
seek the approval of the University’s Ethics Committee, you will need to
commence your application immediately, as the collection of data involving
human participants must not begin until the Ethics Committee has approved
the submitted application form and supporting documents.

STEP 3: Submission of the Proposal Form and Ethics Checklist

Once you have refined your title and outline, you need to complete the submission of
your Final Title and Proposal Form and Ethics Checklist will be as follows:
- Submission Link available from 09.00 Monday 12 April 2021 in the “Final
Proposal Form Submission" area in the Dissertation Module on Elite.
- Submission Link will close at 16.30 on Friday 14 May 2021

STEP 4: Subsequent Meetings and Submitting a Draft for Review

We recommend you have two further meetings once you have submitted your
proposal form and ethics checklist, but each student is different and you should
discuss your supervision needs with your supervisor. Although there are no set dates
for these meetings, you should arrange them in advance with your supervisor and
ensure that you do not arrange any full supervision meetings during the ten working
days prior to your dissertation submission deadline.
You have the opportunity to submit up to 3,000 words for review by your supervisor.
We strongly advise you to take advantage of this opportunity for feedback on your
written work. The precise timing of when you should submit your draft for review
should be agreed with your supervisor, however, we recommend it take place no
later than 25 June 2021 in order to allow sufficient time for your feedback to be
discussed and acted upon.

STEP 5: Final Submission of the Dissertation

The standard submission deadline for the dissertation is: 16.30 on Friday 13 August
2021.

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Submission will be via ELITE and full instructions will be made available nearer the
time.
Future ULaw BPC Students
For students whose place on the University of Law’s BPC programme is conditional
upon successful completion of the LLM, the submission deadline is: 16.30 on
Monday 19 July 2021.
Students who need to submit by this earlier deadline should know in advance who
they are, but this will be confirmed to you by email in the week commencing 07 June
2021.

Summary of Key Dates

Friday 11 December 2020 Initial Proposal Q&A via Collaborate (Dissertation
Online Classroom)
Friday 08 January 2021 Submit Initial Proposal via ELITE
Early-Mid February 2021 Allocation of Supervisor
By 7 May 2021 Supervision Meeting 1 and 2 to finalise the proposal
and discuss the research so far
Friday 14 May 2021 Deadline for Dissertation Proposal Form and Ethics
Checklist to be approved by Supervisor and
submitted via Elite
By 25 June 2021 Deadline for students to submit up to 3000 word
draft for feedback

By 9 July 2021 Supervision Meeting 4 to provide oral feedback on

submitted work
Friday 13 August 2021 Standard deadline for submission of dissertation via
Elite

Monday 19 July 2021 Submission deadline for students with conditional

offer for BPC programme

End of document

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