Postgraduate Office

Please see Attention: important announcements further below.

Title	Background Image Location	Link Location	Launch Behavior
Postgraduate Enrolment Support	http://www.sun.ac.za/english/research-innovation/Research-Development/PublishingImages/postgraduate-office/149000351614582.jpg	http://www.sun.ac.za/english/research-innovation/Research-Development/postgraduate-enrolment-support	In page navigation
Postgraduate Funding & Support	http://www.sun.ac.za/english/research-innovation/Research-Development/PublishingImages/postgraduate-office/149000351614582%20(1).jpg	http://www.sun.ac.za/english/research-innovation/Research-Development/postgraduate-funding-support	In page navigation
Postgraduate Skills Development Support	http://www.sun.ac.za/english/research-innovation/Research-Development/PublishingImages/postgraduate-office/149000351614582%20(2).jpg	http://www.sun.ac.za/english/research-innovation/Research-Development/postgraduate-skills-development-support	In page navigation
Joint Degrees at Stellenbosch University	http://www.sun.ac.za/english/research-innovation/Research-Development/PublishingImages/postgraduate-office/149000351614582%20(3).jpg	http://www.sun.ac.za/english/research-innovation/Research-Development/joint-degrees-at-stellenbosch-university	In page navigation

The Postgraduate Office (PGO) is a central support and liaison office for postgraduate students. Located within the Division for Research Development (DRD), the PGO is continuously working towards streamlining and enhancing the complete postgraduate experience for both supervisors and postgraduate students. The PGO seeks to create enabling postgraduate environments in collaboration with the faculties and other support service divisions, thereby improving the overall quality of the research experience for postgraduate students. The PGO approaches its task as an institutional representative to market postgraduate opportunities to prospective students during the postgraduate lifecycle (from application to graduation) and focuses on different aspects of postgraduate support:

Postgraduate Enrolment Support – provides prospective postgraduate applicants and continuing postgraduate students with an advisory service and enrolment support. This includes the management of institutional joint degree programmes.

Postgraduate Funding and Support – provides information, administers financial support and also engages with broader institutional support structures for postgraduate students, typically as these relate to psycho-social support.

Postgraduate Skills Development Programme – provides information about and access to opportunities, events, workshops and resources at Stellenbosch University that can assist postgraduate students in their efforts to develop and enhance the graduate attributes required to complete their postgraduate studies and research journey.

Joint Degrees at Stellenbosch University – provides information and support with regard to what a joint degree entails, what the criteria are, what important considerations need to be taken into account and assists suitable candidates to identify a suitable partner university from the list of existing joint degree partners and to navigate the process.

Important announcements

Internship at the Postgraduate Office in 2021

The Postgraduate Skills Development Programme, within the Postgraduate Office (PGO), invites applications for one (1) internship position from Master’s and doctoral candidates who are interested in acquiring hands on work experience in the fields of higher education, student support, research support and administration. For further information, please click here.

Information on December Graduation 2020

As communicated on 30 September 2020, the Stellenbosch University (SU) Rectorate has approved a hybrid graduation model for the 2020 December graduation cycle. The hybrid graduation model includes small physical (face-to-face) ceremonies as well as virtual faculty-specific graduation ceremonies. Graduation will take place from 14 December to 16 December 2020. For further information, please click here.

Updated Links to Apply for SU Postgraduate Scholarship Programme 2021

Due to a system error which occurred after an update on SUNSurveys, applicantion links for the SU Postgraduate Scholarships had to be updated. Please click here to access the updated call documents.

Important Communication on COVID-19 Restriction Level 1 (and beyond): Revised Position Statement for In-person Research Involving Human Subjects

Stellenbosch University’s Senate for Research Ethics Committee (SREC) has recently approved revised position statements for in-person research involving human participants during COVID-19 restriction Level 1 (and beyond). Read more here.

Further applications to return to campus and access to facilities and services

Please read the communique regarding further applications to return to campus and access to campus facilities and services. Read more.

Emergency route for submitting formal assesments

Faculty-specific email addresses have been created to allow students an emergency route for submission during formal assessment opportunities should they experience SUNLearn technical difficulties when submitting files to SUNLearn. Read more.

Response to Postgraduate Office survey

To help us understand the challenges you face, and ultimately better meet your needs, our Postgraduate Office recently conducted a survey on the impact of COVID-19 on postgraduate studies at SU. The responses have been carefully reviewed. Please click here for a document with useful information on what we are doing to address many of the concerns raised in the poll.

Additional submission date for research Masters’ theses and doctoral dissertations

A special thesis or dissertation submission deadline of 1 March 2021 has been approved. For those Masters’ or PhD candidates who were on a trajectory to graduate in December 2020 or March 2021 but who have lost time due to the COVID-19 nationwide lockdown (for example, being unable to access primary or secondary sources). Candidates who want to take up this option have been requested to consult with their supervisor or promoter. For more information click here for the communication that was sent out to all SU students.

National Research Foundation Scholarship Call 2021

The National Research Foundation invites all 2021 postgraduate students to apply for funding support NOW. You should apply for this funding opportunity even if you are not sure if you are going to be accepted into postgraduate studies for 2021. For more information click here.

Research Ethics Training Podcast Series Now Available

A series of short videos developed by the Division for Research Development REC: Social, Behavioral and Education coordinator, Clarissa Graham (cgraham@sun.ac.za) is now available for students to access via SUNLearn. The aim of the series is to explain some basic principles and information regarding the research ethics process. Please click here to access the podcasts. For further information on applying for Ethics clearance at SU click here.