Get started with your Masters and Doctoral studies
Welcome to NWU’s Masters and Doctoral Studies Hub – a dedicated one-stop to help you explore options, meet requirements, and start in your postgraduate journey.
Considering M&D studies?
- Are you ready for M&D studies?
- Ways to pursue your M&D journey
- Minimum requirements
Explore our master’s and doctoral (PhD) qualifications
At NWU, you can follow different pathways to complete your postgraduate qualification, depending on your field of study, career goals, and personal interests
How to apply for master’s and doctoral (PhD) studies
Support for every applicant – whether you are a current NWU student, an alumnus, a first-time applicant, or an international student.
Application approved? See the roadmap to your research journey as an M or D student
Registration
- Everything you need to know about the registration process, from start to finish.
- Preliminary Supervisor Matching & Agreement
Study onboarding
- Log-in Guide: How to access the Higher Degree System (HDS)
- Checklist: Key actions to complete on HDS
- Writing Centre – Academic Writing Support
- Academic Rules & Policies
- ORCID iD – Researcher Identification
Proposal Development
- Introduction to the research proposal process.
- Free webinars to boost your postgrad research skills
Ethics
- Research Ethics
- Integrated Research Integrity Management System (IRIMS)
- Ethics training
- Research Ethics Committees (RECs)
- Ethics in the use of AI
- Free webinars to boost your postgrad research skills
Doing the research
- Get step-by-step academic guidance with NWU’s Training Bank
- Postgraduate Support Centre
- Writing Centre – Academic Writing Support
Finalise your study
The Higher Degrees System will notify you of updates and track your progress throughout your postgraduate journey.
Examination
Track your examination progress on the Higher Degrees System.
Graduation
Use this checklist to ensure you’re ready for graduation – step-by-step guidance from final submission to your big day.
Support
Wellness support
We support students in times of need and help them achieve optimal wellness in all areas of life, including emotional, social, and physical well-being.
Postgraduate Support Centre
We offer a range of training initiatives and support to help NWU postgraduate students enhance their research and academic writing skills and by providing additional research-related tools, skills and strategies to ensure that they finish their degrees in good time.
