PGPR — Postgraduate Programme Review is the review framework applied to MS/MPhil and PhD provision. Research degrees carry risks that taught programs do not — supervision capacity, time to completion, research ethics and the standard of the thesis — and PGPR exists to control them.
What PGPR examines
- Supervisor eligibility and load — qualification, publication record and the number of students each supervisor carries against HEC limits.
- Admission and progression — entry standards, coursework, comprehensive examination and synopsis approval through the Board of Advanced Studies and Research.
- Progress monitoring — periodic review of each research student jointly by student and supervisor.
- Research environment — laboratories, funding, library and journal access, and research groups.
- Research integrity — ethical approval where required, similarity checking of the thesis, and the plagiarism policy.
- Examination — evaluation by external examiners, including foreign examiners where the HEC requires them, and the defence.
- Outcomes — completion rates, time to degree, publications arising and graduate destinations.
Instruments used
PGPR draws on the Research Student Progress Review Form and the Survey of Departments Offering PhD Programs, alongside departmental returns on enrolment, supervision load, completion and research output.