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Governance

Explore this concise guide to the key governance structures that directly impact you as a research student.

PGR representatives

You will have a representative on the Faculty Committee, the Department Committee, the Research Degrees Committee, and the Academic Board.

Departments

Departmental/Divisional Graduate Tutor and Key Departmental Committees:

Every Department/Division has a Departmental Graduate Tutor, an experienced member of the academic staff at UCL, who closely collaborates with the Faculty Graduate Tutor concerning graduate matters.

Each Department will also have a committee responsible for overseeing research degrees and a Staff-Student Consultative Committee (SSCC). Through the SSCC, student representatives can raise issues and provide feedback on student experience.

Faculties

Faculties are organised entities that hold budgets.

Faculty Graduate Tutor and Key Faculty Research Degrees Committee: 

In each Faculty, there is a dedicated Faculty Graduate Tutor. The Faculty Graduate Tutor has overall responsibility for the general academic and pastoral oversight of graduate students within the faculty.

Additionally, they preside over the Faculty Research Degrees Committee, which addresses all matters concerning research students within the faculty.

Doctoral School  

The UCL Doctoral School works closely with your Department and Faculty to oversee all research degree programmes at UCL.

We coordinate across the university to:

  • improve your experience as a research student,
  • agree on the rules and regulations governing your degree,
  • implement UCL’s Doctoral Strategy, and
  • forge links with partner organisations around the world.

We advise Departments on best practice and help them troubleshoot any issues that arise.

The Doctoral School looks after all research degree programmes including PhD, MPhil, MPhilStud, EngD, Professional Doctorates, MRes and MD(Res). We also provide some support for Early-Stage Research staff.

Research Degrees Committee  

This is the UCL-level Committee directly concerned with all aspects of research degrees and their governance.

Other Committees

UCL has a number of major committees involved in different aspects of governance, listed on UCL's formal committees web page.

These include:

  • UCL Council, which is UCL’s governing body,
  • the Academic Board, which
    • advises UCL Council on academic matters and educational policy
    • includes student representation
  • University Management Committee (UMC), which manages UCL’s executive and academic functions.