Honours Program

About the program

The primary aim of the Honours year in the Business School at the University of Adelaide is to prepare commerce undergraduates for academic research and the pursuit of higher research degrees such as Master (Research) or PhD (Research). Critical thinking is fostered through analysis and appreciation of knowledge development in specialised areas of commerce, supplemented by the independent learning skills necessary for postgraduate research.

The Honours year is both more intensive and less formalised than in earlier years. It is more intensive in that students are required to complete four courses and write a thesis, and less formalised in that most of the student’s time is spent alone exploring the literature. A high level of self-discipline is essential for success in the programme. Full-time students are advised to refrain from seeking other employment during this period.

Disciplines available

Finance
Accounting
Management
Marketing
Law
Information Technology

Admission requirements

Except with permission of the Head of School, a student must have achieved an average grade of at least 70% in their undergraduate degree or in their most recent year of study, in order to be considered for admittance to the Honours Programme.
Admittance will also be subject to the student having completed a major, with at least a credit average, in their selected discipline in the Honours Programme. Each discipline may specify alternative criterion.
Admittance will also be subject to the availability of a staff member able to supervise the student’s proposed thesis topic.
Admittance will also be subject to the approval of the Honours Committee.

Application and Program Outline

Honours handbook

If you are ready to submit your application, please use the Honours application form.

The Coursework

The first semester of the Honours year consists of four courses designed to provide the necessary skills for research and to support the writing of an academic thesis in semester two.

Students will be awarded preliminary grades in each course, which may be moderated later by the Honours Committee in order to ensure equity between disciplines areas and supervisors.

The four courses are all taken in semester one and comprise:

Advanced Theory (discipline specific)
Selected Reading (discipline specific)
Quantitative Methods
Research Methodology

Advanced Theory (discipline specific) will study writings in one or more of the areas of accounting, finance, management and marketing.

The student’s intended thesis supervisor will teach the Selected Readings (discipline specific) course. The student will be expected to develop a critical overview of the overall literature relevant to the student’s area of interest. As such the resulting literature review will be broader than the literature review chapter included in the student’s thesis.

A student may replace Quantitative Methods with a more specialised course if the student’s supervisor considers it necessary.

Research Methodology will culminate with each student making a presentation to staff on his/her thesis proposal.

The Thesis

The thesis is a research project of not more than 15,000 words written primarily in the second semester. It will be the student’s own work, based on coursework taken in the first semester, readings of the literature and discussions with the supervisor.

Guidelines for the writing of the thesis are given on page 13 of the Honours Handbook. Students are invited to consult the Communication handbook for all matters relating to format and reference style.