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So despite having graduated magna cum laude with a CGPA of 3.75/ 4.00 in my Masters with research and having three conference publications out of which one is peer reviewed, supervisor's acceptance and a good IELTs score (8),my application to a PhD program was declined and the reason stated was that my academic qualifications don't meet the minimum criteria for admission to a PhD! Upon further enquiry, it was revealed that since I don't have journal publications I don't have any significant research output! I am really confused and dejected, is this a criterion globally? Should I stop looking for PhD positions this means? The University website didn't have any mention of publications in their eligibility criteria though! And neither did my supervisor, was really eager to take me on and really liked my research proposal.

P.S: The university in question is UNSW Australia.

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    This seems like a mistake to me. Are you switching fields? The perceived importance of conference publications varies greatly by field. And no, it isn't a global requirement in any case.
    – Buffy
    Commented Oct 9 at 16:19
  • No not at all, infact the research proposal approved by the professor is closely related to my Master's research which led to conference publications! But alas the decision was made on journal publications which unfortunately I don't have!
    – Candy
    Commented Oct 9 at 16:26

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Following up on a comment, the value of conference publications varies widely by field. In CS they are very valued, even paramount. In other fields, not so much, down to not at all. Conferences in some fields are mostly research seminars in which people explore ideas rather than present important results. I don't know the case in engineering.

But, generally, one doesn't get a PhD to prove that they don't need a PhD and that they are already fully qualified. Some institutions, of course, have very high standards and tremendous competition for admission.

Ask one of your professors if this result is typical of Australian universities, I doubt that it is. But the world is a big place. I doubt, given what you say, that you'd have the same reception in some very good US engineering schools. Cast a broad net.

Another path, that you might want to follow independent of doctoral admissions is to see what extensions of your conference work might be acceptable to reputable journals. I doubt that re-submission of old work to new venues is an option, but if conferences are so unimportant that publication there isn't considered important, it might not take much to reach the submission point. Good luck.

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  • Thank you for the very good advice, I will definitely look into ways of extending my work to get a journal publication.
    – Candy
    Commented Oct 9 at 17:48
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I believe in your case, the response about why you were rejected from a PhD position is just an excuse, it is not the "real reason", and this is one reason why finding out a reason why you were rejected might lead to incorrect assumptions and false feedback.

Selection for a PhD position is competitive, and it might just be that another person had better qualifications, or had previous experience that fits much better for the position than you, but in any case these are very far from the minimum boundary.

You could even check the minimum requirements for admission to a PhD in UNSW, and its just a Bachelors or Masters degree.

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  • Yes perhaps. And I checked the minimum requirements before even reaching out to the prospective supervisor and he also exclaimed that my credentials are enough to be competitive for the scholarship but shockingly my qualifications were not deemed even suitable for admission let alone a scholarship by the admissions committee!
    – Candy
    Commented Oct 9 at 17:45
  • @Candy You did not mention any scholarship in your initial question, or whom exactly gave you the response about not having a journal publication. And as I said, its that is not the true reason.
    – Dr. Snoopy
    Commented Oct 9 at 17:49
  • Actually I applied for UNSW university scholarship program alongwith the admission application. But I received a letter stating that I wasn't deemed suitable even for admission which was shocking for me. The reply about journal publication came from the admissions department.
    – Candy
    Commented Oct 10 at 17:58
  • @Candy Have you considered that people in admissions might have made a mistake?
    – Dr. Snoopy
    Commented Oct 10 at 18:20
  • yes they might have but since they replied on email regarding lack of publications so I think the decision is final no matter how shocking that might be. Even my prospective supervisor is shocked!
    – Candy
    Commented Oct 12 at 10:44

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