The CEED scholar signs an Undertaking to complete their appointment to the project. The CEED office will invoice you for the first half of the project fee when the appointment is completed. As soon as possible after this, the project team (Scholar, Mentor and Supervisor) should gather for an initial project meeting – it is the Scholar’s responsibility to coordinate this meeting, though any member of the team may take the lead. The Scholar will also participate in the CEED induction program at the first opportunity.

In full projects, the Scholar will spend 8 weeks on site working on the project – this may be at your premises, in the field, or on campus, depending on the needs of the research. For the end of year intake, this will take place at the start of the project, shortly after appointment – for the mid-year intake, the Scholar will spend second semester working on campus and then work on site during the summer vacation.

After 8-12 weeks, the Scholar will prepare the first draft of the Project Brief, which sets out the objectives, methodology, sources of resources and most importantly the final deliverables for the project. The Scholar, Supervisor, Mentor and CEED Director all sign off on the Project Brief, and it usually takes 1-2 drafts for all parties to be satisfied. The Scholar receives the first instalment of their studentship once the Brief has been signed by all parties.

During the academic semester, the Scholars will continue to work on the project (and must be enrolled in the appropriate research project unit). Scholars usually retain access to your site during the semester, and many choose to spend time on site with their client during the semester. The students will prepare monthly status reports, which will be circulated to all stakeholders.

In September each year, CEED Scholars present their work at the CEED seminar. Each Scholar has a 15 minute public presentation, and prepares a 6 page paper. The presentations and papers must be approved by the client for public release – expect your Scholars to submit the proposed presentations and papers 3-4 weeks in advance to permit review and approval (as dictated by your processes for release of material in public). Most Scholars also present their work at their client – naturally, this presentation need not be approved for public release.

The academic end of the project comes when the Scholar submits their thesis for examination. To complete the project, the Scholar will submit the deliverables defined in the project brief to you within 4 weeks of submitting their thesis. It is normal for the project team to gather for a closeout meeting to transfer their deliverables and wrap up any outstanding issues. Once you have confirmed that the deliverables are accepted, the Scholar’s final studentship payment and the invoice for the final 50% of the project fee will be issued.