Guidelines for Completing an ACA47 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) - Completion Steps

Sep 1, 2026

Guidelines explain how postgraduate students and supervisors should complete the ACA47 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for Masters and Doctoral study, covering registration expectations, research requirements, and common areas of potential conflict. The document instructs users to download and open the writable ACA47a PDF, notes that browser handling may require local download, and emphasizes careful completion of each section. It details agreement on milestones, funding responsibilities, intellectual property, research ethics, permits, biosafety, and committee approval before data collection, including ongoing compliance changes.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLetters

FormatDOCX

Pages13

Reading Time5 min

AccessFree to download

Guidelines for Completing an ACA47 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)

Downloading the ACA47a

Context and Purpose of the MOU

Completing the MOU Sections

Student and Supervisor Details (Section A)

Contact information (A1–A2)

Jointly awarded or co-badged degrees (A3)

Word limit acknowledgement (A4)

Academic qualifications (A5)

Provisional research title and proposal (A6)

Supervisor contact details and staff number (A7)

Guidelines for Completing an ACA47 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) Downloading the ACA47a The ACA47a is a writable pdf, and there is an insurmountable problem in that internet browsers can’t deal with writable pdfs. You are likely to get the following URL in your internet browser when you access the ACA47a from your Faculty Postgraduate Page. You need to ‘right click’ on the “Please wait” message, and it will give you the option to download. Save the writable pdf to a folder on your computer, and open it from there. Context The memorandum of understanding is a formal agreement between a postgraduate student (Masters or Doctoral) and their supervisor regarding their expectations of each other, and the research requirements for completion of the degree. The intention is for students and supervisors to discuss and agree on a number of important issues at the point of registration. While this document may seem daunting to you, it is important that you complete each section with care. In addition to helping you plan your Masters or Doctoral Research programme, the MOU will be referred to in the case of any conflict or dispute arising during the course of your study at UCT. Common disputes includes issues over who funds research, authorship, intellectual property rights, insufficient contact time, dissatisfaction with a student’s progress and lack of timely feedback from supervisors. In addition to the actual outline of the research proposal, students and supervisors should agree on the milestones that need to be achieved so that students can graduate in the expected time for a Masters (2 years) or Doctoral (3 years) degree. This is important, as postgraduate funding for students is limited to 2 years for a Masters, and 3 years for a Doctoral degree. Your supervisor will also refer to the milestones that were set, when assessing your academic progress at the end of the year. Students and supervisors need to have a discussion on what funding the postgraduate student has to support their living expenses and tuition fees, prior to embarking on the degree. There should also be a clear understanding of what financial resources are available to cover the cost of research incurred by the student. It is also important to agree on a number of important intellectual property issues, prior to commencement of the degree, including authorship, use of third party data, plans for management of research data, and compliance with UCT’s intellectual policy guidelines. It is essential that students and supervisor discuss whether the proposed research requires ethical approval, permits to collect material, and biosafety approval prior to commencement of any research. It is both the supervisor’s and student’s responsibility to develop an ethically sound research proposal, ensure approval by the relevant committee’s and ensure ongoing compliance. This includes communicating to the relevant research ethics committee any personnel amendments such as who assumes direct responsibility for the study during periods of absence of the supervisor or student. Please note that ethics approval has to be in place prior to any data collection. The rest of this document is intended to assist you with the completion of each section of the MOU. Note: This form is a writable pdf; and different fields will expand depending on what options you select. A: Student and Supervisor details A1-A2: This section captures important details for the student, including contact information. A3: Jointly awarded or co-badged degrees are normally between a foreign University and UCT. A formal agreement has to be in place if this option is selected. The following URL provide a reference for information on jointly awarded and co-badged degrees: https://www.uct.ac.za/downloads/uct.ac.za/about/policies/Joint_Degrees_Policy.pdf A4: It is important to acknowledge that you know what the word limit is of your Masters dissertation or Doctoral thesis. Special permission has to be obtained fr

FAQs

Why is an ACA47 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) required at registration?

The MOU is a formal agreement defining expectations between the postgraduate student and supervisor, including research requirements for completing the degree. It also provides a reference point for resolving conflicts during study at UCT.

What should students and supervisors agree on regarding research timelines and funding limits?

They should agree on milestones needed for graduation within the expected timeframes—2 years for a Masters and 3 years for a Doctoral degree. They should also clarify what funding covers living expenses, tuition, and the costs of research incurred by the student.

What ethical and compliance steps must be completed before any data collection?

The supervisor and student must discuss whether ethical approval, permits to collect material, and biosafety approval are required before starting the research. Ethics approval must be in place prior to data collection, and ongoing compliance includes reporting personnel amendments to the relevant research ethics committee.

Sep 1, 2026

Upload by Theodore