PhD Structure and Requirements

Simplified version 2020

 GRADUATE PROGRAMS IN
COMMUNICATION (BY RESEARCH)

1. Ph.D
Ph.D in Human Communication
Ph.D in Mass Communication
Ph.D in Corporate Communication (soon to be offered) -
*Those interested to change to this field can just fill in a form
to change field.

2. Master of Science (MSc)

Development Communication
Journalism
Communication Technology
Human Communication
Organizational Communication
 PhD programme

1. Phd candidates are required to complete 9 credit hours of coursework consisting:

a. 3 Credit Hours Compulsory Research Methodology Course
(Choose 1 to register and pass in the First Semester of your study)
Choices of Research Methodology Courses
KOM6117 Communication Research Design 3 credits or
KOM6119 Qualitative Methods in Communication Research 3 credits or
KOM5113 Communication Research Methods 3 credits or
any other relevant methodology courses offered across departments and/or
faculties in UPM.
b. 6 Credit Hours Elective Courses
(Choose 2 to register and pass Before the Fourth Semester of your study)
Choices of of Elective Courses
KOM6111 Advanced Communication Theory 3 credits or
KOM6115 Advanced Statistics for Communication Research 3 credits or
any other courses offered across departments and/or faculties in UPM.
Phd candidates are allowed to register for any courses in the 5000 and 6000 series
course codes.
Students can only audit courses in the 4000 series course code.
2 Register for courses before the 2nd week of semester. Ensure the status and
series of your registered courses are correct (Compulsory: YM, Elective: ELF,
Audit: AU) as this may affect your Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA).

3. Nominate your supervisory committee by completing the GS-10a form in the

graduate student portal by the end of your First Semester of study.
4 Register for the Doctoral Research (SPS6999) every semester. Get advice from
your supervisor on the number of research credits (3,6,9 or 12) that is appropriate
for your workload for any given semester.
5. Register for the Doctoral Research Proposal Seminar (SPS6903) no later than
the Second Semester of your study.
6. Submit your Research Progress Report (GS11) every semester through your
student portal within the stipulated period. Your study status may be affected if you
miss the date.
You will not be allowed to submit your research progress report (GS-11) at the
end of the semester if you fail to register for SPS6999 every semester.
Comprehensive Examination (CE)
at Doctoral Level
1 Sit for the Comprehensive Examination (CE) after completion of required
coursework (1 compulsory and 2 electives) by the 4th semester of your
study.
2 The CE shall consist of both written and oral examinations and the
student is required to pass both examinations with a minimum grade
equivalent to a B grade.
3 The student is not permitted to take the oral examination until he has
passed the written examination. The oral examination should be
conducted not later than 30 days after the written examination.

4 The examinations are to be conducted by his supervisory committee

5 A student is given two opportunities to pass the examination. The
second examination must be taken within sixty (60) days after the first
examination. Failure at the second attempt shall result in the termination of
his candidacy.
6 Students have to answer three questions which consist of Communication
Theory, Research Methodology, and Statistics/Qualitative approach
7. To graduate, PhD students are required to have 2 journal
articles (published or accepted in CIJ journal/ without GRF)

8. Students are required to register a minimum of 6 credits and

a maximum of 15 credits per semester

9 Students are required to apply and obtain approval from

Jawatankuasa Etika Penyelidikan Universiti (JKEUPM)/Ethics
Committee for Research Involving Human Subjects.

10. International students (except from Brunei and Indonesia) are

required to register (as Audit) and pass Malay Language
Comm (LPM2100) in the first semester.
STUDY PLAN FOR PHD
(6 semesters)
 SEMESTER 1 2020/2021 SEMESTER 2 2020/2021

Research Methodology 1 Elective course

(1 compulsory/ 3 credits) (3 credits)

SPS6999 Doctoral Research SPS6999 Doctoral Research

GS10a Fill up GS-10a SPS6903 Doctoral Research Proposal

(Supervisory Committee) Seminar

GS11 Research progress GS11 Research progress report

report (week 14) (week 14)

LPM2100 Malay Language Comm

(for international
students)
Committee Meeting Committee Meeting
 SEMESTER 1 2021/2022 SEMESTER 2 2021/2022

1 Elective course CE Comprehensive

(3 credits) Examination (Written
and oral) * if you have
not done so in the last
semester
SPS6999 Doctoral Research Data collecting + Data
analysis

GS11 Research progress report SPS6999 Doctoral Research

(week 14)
CE Comprehensive GS11 Research progress
Examination (Written and report (week 14)
oral)
Committee Meeting Committee Meeting
 SEMESTER 1 2022/2023 SEMESTER 1 2022/2023

Data analysis (continues)

GS-14A Notice Of Thesis
Form Submission
GS15A Thesis Submission For Wait for viva
Examination
(Minimum 3 months after
Notice Of Thesis
Submission)

SPS6999 Doctoral Research SPS6999 Doctoral Research

GS11 Research progress report GS11 Research progress report

(week 14) (week 14)

Committee Meeting Committee Meeting

 Master of Science Programme

1. Master candidates are required to complete 6 credit hours of coursework:

a. 3 Credit Hours Compulsory Research Methodology Course

(Choose 1 to register and pass in the First Semester of your study)
Choices of Research Methodology Courses
KOM5113 Communication Research Methods 3 credits or
any other relevant methodology courses offered across departments and/or
faculties in UPM.
b. 3 Credit Hours Elective Courses
(Choose 1 to register and pass)
Choices of of Elective Courses
KOM5111 Communication Theory 3 credits or
KOM5115 Statistics for Communication Research 3 credits or
KOM5217 Strategies of Communication 3 credits or
any other courses offered across departments and/or faculties in UPM.
Master candidates are allowed to register for any courses in the 4000 and 5000
series course codes. However, students are not allowed to register for any courses
in the 6000 series course code.
2 Register for courses as advised by your advisor/supervisor before the 2nd week of
semester. Ensure the status and series of your registered courses are correct
(Compulsory: YM, Elective: ELF, Audit: AU) as this may affect your Cumulative
Grade Point Average (CGPA).
3. Nominate your supervisory committee by completing the GS-10a form in the
graduate student portal by the end of your First Semester of study.
4 Register for the Master Research (SPS5999) every semester. Get advice from
your supervisor on the number of research credits (3,6,9 or 12) that is appropriate
for your workload for any given semester.
5. Register for the Master Research Proposal Seminar (SPS5903) no later than the
Second Semester of your study.
6. Submit your Research Progress Report (GS11) every semester through your
student portal within the stipulated period. Your study status may be affected if you
miss the date.
You will not be allowed to submit your research progress report (GS-11) at the
end of the semester if you fail to register for SPS5999 every semester.
7. To graduate, you are required to have 1 journal article
(published or accepted in CIJ journal/ without GRF)

8. Students are required to register a minimum of 6 credits and

a maximum of 15 credits per semester

9 Students are required to apply and obtain approval from

Jawatankuasa Etika Penyelidikan Universiti (JKEUPM)/Ethics
Committee for Research Involving Human Subjects.

10. International students (except from Brunei and Indonesia) are

required to register (as Audit) and pass Malay Language
Comm (LPM2100) in the first semester.
 GRADING SYSTEM FOR PHD, MSC

Grade Marks Quality Point

A 80-100 4.00

A- 75-79 3.75

B+ 70-74 3.50

B 65-69 3.00

B- 60-64 2.75

C+ 55-59 2.50

C 50-54 2.00

C- 50-54 1.75

D+ 45-49 1.50

D 40-44 1.00

F 0-30 0.00
 COURSE STATUS

Y/W Compulsory course: is given a grade

EL Elective subject: given a grade
AU Audit: An audit course is given an M or TM grade (if
below the ‘B’ grade). No credit will be taken into account
when computing the CGPA
N The course grade shall appear as an ‘N’ when an actual
grade is not submitted by the deadline.
M/TM Satisfactory/ Unsatisfactory: Research work during the
semester (GS-11) and research proposal seminar
(for Phd, Msc)
TL Incomplete coursework or assignment shall be given TL
grade. Failure to change a TL grade by the specified
date shall result in an F grade
 STUDY STATUS CATEGORIES

2 Probation
Students with CGPA below 3.0 but not less than 2.5 or if the student
receives a ‘TM’ grade will be placed on probation and must attain a
minimum of 3.0 the following semester.
 STUDY STATUS CATEGORIES

3 Termination of candidature. Students candidature will be

terminated (any one) if:

a. CGPA < 2.50 in any d. Fails CE examination

semester
b. Receives TM for two e. Fail to maintain continuous
consecutive semesters registration
(M.Sc and Phd students).
c. Fail to attain min 3.0 in f. Fails to settle payment of
the semester following fees on time
probation.
• Prog. Min. Publication Requirement
• Without GRF PhD 2 journal articles published @
accepted (in CIJ)
• GRF 2 journal articles published @ accepted (at least 1 in
Q1 or Q2 journal)
• iGRF 2 journal articles published @ accepted (in Q1 or
Q2 journal)
 More Information
If in doubt about courses to register, registration procedure, how
to add and drop courses etc. please contact:
1 Head of Department – Assoc Prof. Dr. Nor Azura Adzharuddin

2 Officers at the School of Graduate Studies

3 Officers at the Graduate Unit

4 your academic advisor for information about the specific courses.

5 Coordinator of Graduate Program in Communication: namh@upm.edu.my

5 Please download and refer to list of actions for postgraduate students upon
registration (by research) from the link below:

https://sgs.upm.edu.my/upload/dokumen/20191003101721Lampiran_2_-
_Action_list_for_research_new_student-checked_by_Prof._z_(Amri)-latest.pdf