The programme is examined through the presentation of a thesis and a viva voce examination. A student who has satisfied the Postgraduate Studies Committee in all aspects of their work is eligible for the award of the degree.
Academic Duration
Before you proceed with any enrolment procedure, kindly refer the AeU academic duration stated below.
AeU academic year is divided into three (3) semesters
- January
- May
- September
| Semester | Duration in Weeks |
| JANUARY | |
| Study weeks | 14 |
| End of Semester Examination | 1 |
| End of Semester Break | 2 |
| TOTAL | 17 |
| MAY | |
| Study weeks | 14 |
| End of Semester Examination | 1 |
| End of Semester Break | 3 |
| TOTAL | 18 |
| SEPTEMBER | |
| Study weeks | 14 |
| End of Semester Examination | 1 |
| End of Semester Break | 2 |
| TOTAL | 17 |
| Grand Total | 52 |
Subject Registration (Audit Courses)
Credit Load / Limit Per Semester
- The total credit hours for part time candidates shall normally be 9 credit hours (approx 3 subjects) in a semester
- The total credit hours for full time candidates shall normally be 15 credit hours (approx 5 subjects) in a semester
- Candidates are allowed to register for more credit hours in a semester with the approval of the Dean, subject to the candidates’ academic performance
- For programmes in modular mode, the total credit hours at each registration shall normally be 6 credit hours
Registration Period
- Registration is open until the fifth (5th) week of the semester
Deferment of Study
Programmes by Research
- Candidates may apply for deferment of study any time before the final examination week
- Each application is for one semester of deferment
- Candidates are required to inform the University in writing within 2 weeks after the registration of the new semester if they wish to apply for a second deferment
- Activation fee of RM 50 (Malaysian Students) or USD 30 (International Students) will be charged for each deferred semester upon registration of new semester.
Stages of Programme Structure by Research
Research Proposal
Candidates should conduct an initial literature search and review the existing literature related to the research topic in terms of the content and methodology. Candidates are required to discuss with their supervisor or supervisory committee member(s) on the focus and purpose of the research proposal as stipulated above.
A Doctoral research proposal should normally be around 30,000 words excluding appendices and references, whereas a proposal for Masters’ degree research programme normally comprises about 6,000 words.
Writing a Research Proposal
The following is a checklist of items which are typically included in a research proposal. Not all of the suggested categories are necessary or appropriate for all studies, and the order of items within chapters may vary somewhat. These items are intended to serve as a guide (Isaac & Michael, 1997).
Typically, the research proposal must use the APA formatting and it consists of three parts as suggested below:
| Preface |
|
| Text |
|
| Supplementary |
|
Submission of Research Proposal
SGS candidate is required to submit the Form SGS 003 Submission of Research Proposal, final research proposal and presentation slides (maximum 25 slides) to deansgs@aeu.edu.my at least two (2) months before the vetting process.
While for Master in Science (Management) by Research candidates, they are required to submit the SOM 003 (PD) Submission of Thesis Dissertation Proposal, final research proposal and presentation slides (maximum 25 slides) to syadwan.hanani@aeu.edu.my at least two (2) months before the vetting process.
Research Proposal Defense
In the proposal defense session, candidate must formally defend the research proposal to the Proposal Defense Committee. During the session, the candidate needs to present the proposal, including the problem identification, background literature and rationale for study, hypotheses, procedural details, analysis plan, and expected limitation. This is the time for dialogue between the candidate and the committee in order to clarify any questions, discuss and negotiate any suggested modification, recommend resources, and provide support to the research efforts of the candidate.
Data Collection
Permission to Gather Data from Relevant Authorities
A candidate is requested to seek the permission from the relevant bodies of each country that approves the conduct and the ethical considerations of the research before the candidate is allowed to embark onto the proper data gathering procedures. The letters of consent from the relevant authorities must be disclosed to the supervisor(s) and attached in the thesis as appendix.
Informed Consent and Protection from Harm
Researchers obtain informed consentby ensuring that research participants enter the research of their free will and with the understanding of the nature of the study and any possible dangers that may occur. This requirement is intended to reduce the likelihood that participants will be exploited by a researcher persuading them to participate when they are not fully aware of what the study’s requirements are.
Authenticity of Data
The researcher must declare that the thesis is his/her own work and that all contributions from any other persons or sources are properly and duly cited. The researcher further declares that it does not constitute any previous work whether published or otherwise. Candidate and supervisor(s) have the obligation to ensure the authenticity of data.
Thesis And Dissertation
A thesis, or a dissertation represents the research component of the postgraduate research programme.
At AeU, a thesis contributes to 100% fulfilment of the degree programme through original research under an academic supervision and in a research environment for a prescribed period.
A dissertation contributes to a partial fulfilment of the postgraduate degree by research under a proper academic supervision and in a research environment for a prescribed period.
The thesis, or dissertation demonstrates authority in the candidate’s field and shows evidence of command of knowledge in relevant fields.
| No | Programme | Minimum | Maximum |
| 1 | PhD (Thesis) (BA, ICT, Humanities, Finance, Social & Behavioural Science) |
50,000 | 80,000 |
| 2 | PhD (Thesis) (Education) |
80,000 | 100,000 |
| 3 | DBA (Thesis) | 35,000 | 60,000 |
| 4 | MSc (Dissertation) | 30,000 | 60,000 |
Writing a Thesis / Dissertation
There are many styles of writing thesis and dissertations. For consistency, candidates are encouraged to conform to the format approved by AeU.
Typically, the format of thesis and dissertation consists of 3 parts as suggested below.
| Preface |
|
| Text |
|
| Supplementary |
|
Submission of Thesis / Dissertation
SGS candidate is required to submit the Form SGS 007 Notice of Submission of Thesis Dissertation, Table of Contents (TOC) and Abstract of the dissertation/thesis to SGS at deansgs@aeu.edu.my at least three (3) months before the actual date of submission of thesis / dissertation and the plagiarism report.
MSc candidate is required to submit the SOM 006 (VIVA) Notice of Submission of Thesis Dissertation, Table of Contents (TOC) and Abstract of the dissertation/thesis to SOM at syadwan.hanani@aeu.edu.my at least three (3) months before the actual date of submission of thesis / dissertation and the plagiarism report.
The submission has to be completed during the term of candidature. An unbound copyof the thesis/dissertation shall be submitted to SGS / SOM to be checked for conformity to the format requirements. Next, five (5) soft bound copies of the completed dissertation/thesis, plagiarism report and power point slidesmust be submitted to the SGS / SOM for examination purpose.
Publication And Authorship
Publication
A candidate is encouraged to publish his/her doctoral work during his/her candidature, especially in an internationally refereed journal, and is advised to refer to the Standards of specific discipline on the number of internationally refereed publications required by the Malaysian Qualifications Agency before graduation.
A candidate may choose to submit parts or the entire thesis as a series of related papers, or manuscripts intended for publication. This requires prior consent of the supervisor/supervisory committee and appropriate copyright permission.
Authorship
Single or multiple names of authorship is permissible in the publication, provided that the candidate has made a substantial contribution to the work. Academic unit guidelines may specify the number and/or order of authors in accordance with discipline practice. The candidate’s contribution to both the research and the writing of any multi-authored paper must be clearly specified either in the introduction to the thesis or at the beginning of each relevant chapter.
Research Ethics
Research Ethics involves all the moral and professional issues relating to research. The most serious breach of ethical standards in writing research report / dissertation / thesis is the offence of plagiarism: the expropriation of then intellectual property of another. Plagiarism is defined as the use of original work, ideas or actual texts created by others, without acknowledging the original source. Such acknowledgement should be made by:
The use of ideas or words of others must be acknowledged individually in the text. In addition, each of the work consulted has to be included in the ‘references’ or selected bibliography.
If the quoted citation contains more than four sentences, it should be placed within a paragraph of its own with a 1 cm indentation. For example:
The general theory of relativity, on its own, cannot explain these features or answer these questions because of its prediction that the universe started off with infinite density at the big bang singularity. At the singularity, general relativity and all other physical laws break down: one couldn’t predict what will come out of the singularity (Hawking, 1988:122).
If only part of the quotation is cited, the citation should be marked with an ellipsis (…), for example:
There must be give and take, with the teacher being a participant as well as leader and.., a source of answers’ (Sizer, 7984:9).
