Declaration of AI Use in Postgraduate Research

Stellenbosch University (SU) is committed to fostering a research environment in which Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools are used responsibly and ethically to enhance scholarship, while preserving the integrity and credibility of academic work. All postgraduate students at Stellenbosch University are required to declare any use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools. 

The internal declaration guides discussions between students and their supervisors by establishing an agreement on the responsible use of AI tools during the preparation of research assignments, theses or dissertations. These discussions should ideally take place at the outset of the study, such as during the proposal preparation, creating the workplan or in the Student–Supervisor Memorandum of Understanding discussion, and can be reviewed regularly throughout the research journey.

Students should also consult their faculty in the event that a faculty specific internal declaration must be used instead of the generic template available on this page. 

The use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools examination declaration is submitted as part of the examination process and accompanies the research assignment, thesis, or dissertation when it is sent for examination.

The Declaration on the Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for examiners/moderators provides confirmation that the student has completed an internal declaration process regarding the permitted use of AI tools. It also reminds examiners/moderators that the University discourages the use of AI systems to summarise, critique, or generate feedback on work under examination. This restriction does not apply to legitimate analytical or computational tools routinely used within a discipline (for example, machine learning libraries or statistical software).