Progress of all PhD projects at ASCoR is monitored at several points during the project through the following instruments:

Training & Supervison Plan

The basic work plan, agreements about supervision, and the training plan are laid down in the Training & Supervision Plan 2 months after the start of the PhD project.

First Year Paper

Eight months after the formal start of the PhD project, a paper must be ready and submitted to the ASCoR Board for a formal assessment. The paper is either an empirical article or a theoretical review article and the quality of the article should be such that the article can - after processing the feedback from the Board - comfortably be submitted to those outlets that are mainstream in the particular sub-area.

Progress Portfolio

In the Progress Portfolio, the PhD candidate and the supervision team report on the progress so far, and indicate whether and how successful completion of the project before the project end date can be guaranteed. The portfolio consists of an outline of the dissertation, an overview of progress so far of all thesis chapters, an overview of papers that have resulted from the project so far, and a 'statement of feasibility' that the dissertation can and will be submitted before the project end date, signed by the PhD candidate and the supervision team.