Programme Requirements

Duration of Candidature

University education at NUS is demanding, intensive, and rigorous, and thus requires a high degree of commitment.

Research candidates pursuing full-time studies are expected to commit themselves to at least 40 hours per week of study. The University does not encourage full-time students from taking up employment during term time that might interfere with their studies.

Candidates may be admitted as full-time or part-time* students. However, international students pursuing studies on a Student's Pass must pursue their studies on a full-time basis. All candidates should note that commitments from employment will not be accepted as valid reasons for absence, uncompleted work, late submission of work, or poor performance, and may lead to exclusion from certain full-time programme.

The maximum periods of candidature for both full-time and part-time candidates are:

Master's	36 months
PhD	72 months for the Comparative Asian Studies Programme 60 months for other programmes

* Admission as a part-time student is at the discretion of the Departments/Programmes. Some Departments/Programmes may only accept full-time graduate students.

Residency Requirement

Candidates must spend a period of residence in Singapore for a minimum of six months for the Master's degree and 18 months for the PhD degree during their candidature.

Please note that candidates who are awarded NUS scholarships must reside in Singapore throughout the duration of the scholarship award.

Curricular Requirement

The following provides a synopsis of the main curricular requirements for both the Master's and PhD programmes. For details, please visit the websites of the individual Departments/Programmes.

Master's

PhD

A minimum of six courses (Some Departments may require more than six. Please consult website of relevant Department/Programme for the number and level of courses required.);
Compulsory course NG5001 Academic Communication for Postgraduate Researchers;
PhD thesis (max. 80,000 words; except for thesis in Chinese/Japanese);
English course (*advanced level), where applicable.
*NG5001 for those who have not read the advanced level English course from January 2023

Successful applicants may be required to take the Diagnostic English Test. They will be placed on a graduate English course or be exempted from the course, depending on their performance in the proficiency test. All students are required to achieve an intermediate level of proficiency (at least grade C) in the English courses.

Continuation Requirement

Master's

To continue in a Masters programme, a student must note the following:

Where a course is required for the graduate candidature and the minimum grade is not met, a student may repeat:- the same course (core or elective) only once. The improved grade point of the repeat/replaced course will replace the weaker one in the GPA (Grade Point Average) computation in the semester in which the successful attempt is made; and- one‐third of the curricular requirements not exceeding three courses, whichever is lower; and;
The GPA must not be below 3.0 (but ≥ 2.5) for three consecutive semesters or below 2.5 for two consecutive semesters. For any semester in which the student’s GPA falls below 3.0 (but ≥ 2.5), that student will be issued an academic warning. If, in the following semester, the student’s GPA again falls below 3.0, he/she will be placed on probation. If the student’s GPA remains below 3.0 for the third consecutive semester, the student will be issued a letter of dismissal and denied re-admission. For students whose GPA fall below 2.5 for two consecutive semesters, they will be placed on probation for the first semester, followed by dismissal in the second semester.

PhD

To continue in a PhD programme, a student must note the following:

Where a course is required for the graduate candidature and the minimum grade is not met, a student may repeat:- the same course (core or elective) only once. The improved grade point of the repeat/replaced module will replace the weaker one in the GPA (Grade Point Average) computation in the semester in which the successful attempt is made; and- one‐third of the curricular requirements not exceeding three course, whichever is lower; and;
The GPA must not be below 3.5 (but ≥ 3.0) for three consecutive semesters or below 3.0 for two consecutive semesters. For any semester in which the student's GPA falls below 3.5 (but ≥ 3.0), that student will be issued an academic warning. If, in the following semester, the student's GPA again falls below 3.5, he/she will be placed on probation. If the student's GPA remains below 3.5 for the third consecutive semester, the student will be issued a letter of dismissal and denied re-admission. For students whose GPA fall below 3.0 for two consecutive semesters, they will be placed on probation for the first semester, followed by dismissal in the second semester.A student may also be issued a warning or placed on probation or be issued a letter of termination of candidature for poor performance in the PhD qualifying examination, research thesis, or other programme requirements.

PhD Qualifying Examination

All PhD candidates are required to pass the Qualifying Examination (QE) within the first two years of their candidature. They must satisfy the conditions set by the Faculty before proceeding to the PhD QE which comprises:

Comprehensive examinations (formats differ among Departments/Programmes); and
An oral defence of the PhD thesis proposal (for which a 30- to 50-page thesis proposal is expected).

The comprehensive examinations test the general competence of the candidate in his/her discipline(s) or field(s), whereas the oral defence of the PhD thesis proposal ensures that the candidate is prepared to embark on his/her thesis research.

Thesis & PhD Oral Examination

Both Master's and PhD candidates must also pass their theses at the end of the course of study before they can be considered for the award of degree.

Master's and PhD theses should not exceed 30,000 words and 80,000 words respectively.

After submitting the thesis, the PhD candidate must present himself/herself for an oral examination on the subject matter of the thesis and related subjects.

Article-based PhD Thesis

Graduation Requirement

Master's
Obtain a minimum Grade Point Average of 3.00 for the required courses; Where applicable, obtain satisfactory grades (at least grade C) in the graduate English courses conducted by the Centre for English Language Communication at intermediate level; and Pass Master's thesis.

PhD
Obtain a minimum Grade Point Average of 3.50 for the required courses; Take and pass the course NG5001 Academic Communication for Postgraduate Researchers with a minimum grade of ‘C’; Where applicable, obtain satisfactory grades (at least grade C) in the graduate English courses conducted by the Centre for English Language Communication at intermediate level; Pass Qualifying Examination; Pass PhD thesis; and Pass Oral Examination.

PhD

Obtain a minimum Grade Point Average of 3.50 for the required courses;
Take and pass the course NG5001 Academic Communication for Postgraduate Researchers with a minimum grade of ‘C’;
Where applicable, obtain satisfactory grades (at least grade C) in the graduate English courses conducted by the Centre for English Language Communication at intermediate level;
Pass Qualifying Examination;
Pass PhD thesis; and
Pass Oral Examination.

A candidate will be recommended for award of degree once he/she has met the requirements stated above. A candidate may read more than the minimum necessary courses (comprising all required courses within the curricular requirements and in the subject/related disciplines). Generally, only the grades for the minimum necessary courses shall be considered in assessing whether the student has met the degree requirement.