For Supervisors

This outlines key aspects of supervision of higher degree research candidates at UWS. It is not exhaustive and supervisors are advised that there is further information at: Current Research Students for detailed information on aspects of candidature including reporting milestones, examinations, student resources and scholarships.

A Supervisor Handbook (PDF, 798.04 KB) is available.

Research Candidates: future researchers

Research candidates are graduate researchers and important members of the University research community. Research candidates are encouraged to participate in the University research culture through conferences, workshops and seminars.

UWS supports the development and training of graduate researchers with a comprehensive package of workshops, on-line tools and seminars and candidature support funding.

Good Supervision

Supervision of research higher degree candidates is a critically important and highly specialised form of academic teaching. Research candidates are exciting and can be challenging. Your role as a supervisor is to guide your students to success in their studies and to further their chosen career. The University recognises the importance of your role and governance, policies and support units are focused on assisting you to succeed as a supervisor.

UWS uses a panel system of supervision. Panels introduce additional expertise as many research candidates are drawn to the interdisciplinary possibilities for research at UWS and they also provide a backup should the principal supervisor be absent for any reason. Panels also mentor new supervisors in a co-supervisory role and may involve experts who are external to UWS. All panels have a principal supervisor who takes a leadership role in the management of the candidature.

The quality of higher degree graduates is related to the quality and intensity of supervision.  The University has an established program to assist in the development of supervisor skills and expertise and provide quality assurance to our graduate researchers. While all supervisors may participate in the attended and on-line program, Principal Supervisors must in addition to participating in the program, be accepted for registration on the UWS Graduate Supervisor Register by their school or research institute.  

Principal Supervisors must attend a Supervisor Forum at least once every three years to maintain registration. This development program supports practice with access to the most recent information about national and international trends in doctoral pedagogy, as well as advice on UWS policies and processes for managing candidatures.

Supervisor Support & Development Program

Research education is a complex and highly specialized form of teaching. To support the highest standards of practice in conducting academic supervision of research higher degree candidates, the University has established a suite of resources, including a program of expert and peer forums to support supervisors, access to on-line development modules, literature and a registration process for principal supervisors. 

Graduate Supervisor Register

Principal Supervisors of higher research degree candidates must have been admitted to the Graduate Supervisor Register before being eligible to supervise candidates. 

The Graduate Supervisor Register at UWS realises the University's mission to achieve excellence in teaching and research and is based upon the following principles:

  • UWS recognises and encourages high quality postgraduate research supervision by academic staff
  • research supervision is a subtle and complex form of teaching and the quality of higher degree graduates is related to the quality of supervision provided
  • principal supervisors will be supported with relevant development opportunities for which the University assumes responsibility.

Reforms to the management of research by the federal government have resulted in changes to the way research supervision is managed within universities. There are now clear expectations for Australian universities to provide a comprehensive development program for research supervisors.

Registration is approved by the school or research institute Research and Higher Degree Committee and noted by the UWS Research Studies Committee. 

Persons eligible for admittance to the Register must meet each of the following conditions:

  • Be a non casual member of the academic or research staff of the University.
  • Be research active on the Register of Research Activity
  • Hold a higher degree by research or have an equivalent record of scholarly achievement.
  • Be currently engaged in either research degree supervision or in research methodology appropriate to the discipline or have been a co-supervisor for at least one higher degree graduate.
  • Have participated in research higher degree supervision development as set out under the Supervision of Research Candidates policy
  • Agree to carry out the responsibilities of Principal Supervisor as outlined in the Supervision of Research Candidates Policy.

Two steps are required for registration:

  1. An Application for Admission (DOC, 57 KB) must be approved by your School or Research Institute Research and Higher Degree Committee. Please submit to your HDR Director (or equivalent) with a brief CV, detailing your research supervision experience and qualifications. 
  2. Attendance at a Supervisor Forum. The aim of these forums is to ensure that research supervisors have the most recent information about doctoral pedagogy, national and international research education trends and UWS policies and processes for managing research supervision. These forums are conducted periodically throughout the year and at all campuses.

Principal supervisors are required to participate in at least one research supervision development forum every three years, although all supervisors are encouraged to participate more regularly.

Co-supervisors of HDR candidates are invited to participate in the Forum program but there is no registration required.

Principal Supervisors of higher research degree candidates must have been admitted to the Graduate Supervisor Register before being eligible to supervise candidates. 

Supervisor Forums

The University supports research higher degree supervisors to ensure all supervisors have a positive and quality experience. The aim of these forums is to ensure that research supervisors have the most recent information about national, international and UWS policies and processes for managing research supervision. The sessions act as an open forum for both experienced and inexperienced supervisors to share ideas and strategies for good supervision practices. The sessions are important in promulgating new policies and promoting discussion about best practice for supervision. The program is always evolving to accommodate the range of needs of research supervisors at UWS.

Some forums and workshops may be delivered via the Alliance Program with other universities.  

  • To register for the access to on-line Introductory module or to access supervisor versions of Postgraduate Essentials or Completions and Beyond, please email Mary Krone, m.krone@uws.edu.au.
  • To register for forums or workshops through the Alliance Program, please follow the instructions provided by the host university.

Alliance Program

UWS is a member of 'Alliance', a group of universities who have opened supervisor forums and workshops to staff from other universities within the group. Attendance at any of these programs fulfills the requirements of the UWS Graduate Supervisor Register.

Participating universities are; the Australian National University, Australian Catholic University, Charles Sturt University, University of Canberra and University of New South Wales (including UNSW@ADFA (opens in a new window)).

To attend a UWS program as an Alliance member please email Mary Krone, m.krone@uws.edu.au.

Alliance events open to UWS staff 2013 

To view the professional development and training for supervisors program visit the University of Canberra website (opens in a new window). 

fIRST

The fIRST web site (opens in a new window) is a resource provided for academic supervisors of higher degree candidates by a consortium of Australian universities.

UWS is a member and you can access the site. fIRST has good case studies and reflections on supervision. 

Login at fIRST (opens in a new window) with the Username: "uwsedu" and the Password: "uws2747nsw".

Research Supervisor Forum Program

Introduction to Supervision at UWS 

There is an online module 'Introduction to HDR Supervision at UWS' available for staff new to UWS. Completion fulfils the requirements of the Graduate Supervisor Register.

To access the module Email your staff id to Mary Krone, m.krone@uws.edu.au.

It is possible for introductory sessions for very experienced supervisors who are new to UWS to be arranged.  This will be by invitation only.  Deans of School, Institute Directors, Directors of Research and Higher Degree Directors please contact Mary Krone if you know anyone who should be invited.

2013 Program

Register by contacting Mary Krone, m.krone@uws.edu.au

Alliance members - non UWS Registrants please contact Mary Krone, m.krone@uws.edu.au

Special Guest presenters from the University of Canberra: Associate Professor Elke Stracke (UC, Faculty of Arts and Design), Dr Joelle Vandermensbrugghe (UC, Graduate Research Office), and Dr Sylvia Alston (UC, Faculty of Arts and Design)

Topic: Giving and Receiving Written Feedback in HDR Supervision: Enhancing Supervisors' and Candidates' Skills in a Cross-Cultural Context.

Penrith, 30 May 2013 (10.00 am - 12.30 pm)

This interactive workshop offers traps to avoid and tips to ensure successful feedback practice in HDR supervision across cultures.

Feedback lies at the heart of any learning experience, and giving and receiving feedback is an important and integral part of postgraduate supervision practice. However, its complexity is not always recognized and the practice not discussed by candidates and supervisors. Students tend to be concerned by a lack of clear directions, while supervisors tend to complain about the lack of take-up of feedback. Often, cross-cultural differences between supervisors and candidates can add to such mismatches.

Find out more about feedback in this interactive workshop that draws on recent research in the field. In this 2-hour workshop you will:

  • explore how to give and receive oral and written feedback
  • examine supervisors' written language use and candidates' reactions;
  • develop critical awareness of potential conflict due to language use and cross-cultural differences;
  • increase your skills (as supervisor or candidate) in giving and receiving feedback in a cross-cultural context.

This workshop provides an opportunity to think about how you can go about giving, receiving and responding to feedback, and to find out what works best for you.

This workshop is part of the OLT-funded project Giving and Receiving Written Feedback in HDR Supervision: Enhancing Supervisors' and Candidates' Skills in a Cross-Cultural Context led by Associate Professor Elke Stracke (UC, Faculty of Arts and Design) with Dr Theresa Winchester-Seeto (Macquarie University, Learning and Teaching Centre), Dr Joelle Vandermensbrugghe (UC, Graduate Research Office), and Dr Sylvia Alston (UC, Faculty of Arts and Design).

Special Guest: Dr Margaret Kiley, Australian National University

Topic: Masters coursework degrees as preparation for doctoral studies; Possibilities and constraints.

Parramatta, 18 June 2013 (9.30 am - 12.00 pm)

Margaret has researched and published extensively on higher degree education in Australia.

Recent grants include:

  • Coursework in Australian PhD programs: What's happening, why, and future directions? OLT 2012-2013
  • Building local leadership for research education. ALTC 2011-2012 $220,000 with David Boud, Nicky Solomon, Katrina Waite and Jo McKenzie (UTS), Angela Brew (Macquarie) and Janne Malfroy (UWS) with Kevin Ryland
  • I've done a coursework Masters, now I want to do a PhD: Can I? ALTC 2010-2012
  • Where are our doctoral candidates coming from? ALTC 2010
  • A cross-national study of the impact of an oral component on PhD examination quality. ARC Discovery 2011, 2012. Holbrook, Bourke, Lovat (Newcastle), Kiley (ANU), Paltridge (Sydney), Starfield (UNSW) $194,000.
  • The roles and practices of Australian Honours programs Carrick Institute, 2007 with David Boud (UTS), Catherine Manathunga (UQ), and Robert Cantwell (Newcastle).
  • Graduate Research Skills Project Carrick Institute. 2007 with Mandy Thomas (lead), ANU and Linda Hort, ANU
  • Honours: What is it? 2003 at the University of Canberra

More on Margaret’s research and publications (opens in a new window).

Special Guest: Dr Margaret Cargill, University of Adelaide

Topic: Strategies and steps for helping HDR scientists publish their research

Campbelltown, 30 July 2013 (1. 00 pm - 3.30 pm)

This forum will focus on practical approaches for science and technology supervisors needing to train and mentor their HDR students to publish their research during candidature. The major focus is on helping students write manuscripts that are likely to get a respectful reading by the editors and referees of their target journals, with a manageable input of revision time by supervisors. To achieve this goal a set of procedural steps will be proposed, along with their underlying rationale, and forum participants will have opportunities to discuss the applicability of the approach for their own contexts. The presentation is based on the book Writing scientific research articles: Strategy and steps (M. Cargill and P. O’Connor, Wiley-Blackwell, 2009, 2nd edition 2013).

Dr Margaret Cargill is an applied linguist and research communication educator with over 20 years experience working with HDR students in science and technology (S&T) disciplines, and their supervisors. Her current research and teaching interests focus on developing and evaluating collaborative, interdisciplinary methodology for capacity building  in publication skills, in Australia and internationally. Recent consultancies have taken her to China, working with HDR students in institutes of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Indonesia, providing professional development and curriculum advice to academic staff. She has published widely in the fields of higher education and English for specific/ academic purposes.

Special Guest: Dr Inger Newburn, Director of Research Training, Australian National University

Topic: Get with it: technology and supervision

Parramatta, 8 August 2013 (10.00 am - 12.30 pm)

Inger is the Director of Research Training at The Australian National University (opens in a new window) where she is responsible for co-ordinating, communicating and measuring all the centrally run research training activities and doing research on student experience to inform practice.

Aside from editing and contributing to the Thesis Whisperer, Inger writes scholarly papers, books and book chapters about research student experiences. Inger is a regular guest speaker at other universities and does occasional media interviews. For further information, view her Linkedin Profile (opens in a new window), or visit her at Google Scholar (opens in a new window). Related website at The Thesis Whisperer (opens in a new window). Inger is founder and managing editor of The Thesis Whisperer, a newspaper style blog dedicated to helping research students everywhere.

Special Guest: Prof Barbara Kamler, Emeritus Professor Deakin University

Topic: Publishing strategies for your student 

Bankstown, 19 September 2013

Barbara’s most recent book on doctoral writing is "Helping Doctoral Students Write: Pedagogies for Supervision Barbara Kamler, Pat Thomson".

This essential guide offers a new approach to doctoral writing, written specifically for doctoral supervisors. Rejecting the DIY websites and manuals that promote a privatised skills-based approach to writing research, Kamler and Thomson offer a new framework for scholarly work to help doctorate students produce clear and well-argued dissertations. Drawing on a wide range of research and hands-on experience, the authors argue that making an original contribution to scholarly knowledge requires doctoral candidates to do both text and identity work. Their discussion of the complexities of forming a scholarly identity is illustrated by the stories and writing of real doctoral students.

To book email Mary Krone, m.krone@uws.edu.au and nominate which forum you would like to attend.

Admissions

Applications for admission to a research higher degree are welcomed at anytime. The Academic Registrar’s Office accepts applications via an online portal.

Places for domestic candidates are funded by the Australian Government through the Research Training Scheme (RTS). Tuition fees apply to international applicants.

Scholarships

Scholarships are available to candidates seeking admission at either research masters or doctoral level.

UWS offers outstanding local and international candidates living allowance/stipend scholarships. All these scholarships are tax free and candidates must be enrolled full time. 

The University encourages Indigenous participation in research and offers Yarramundi Scholarships each year to strengthen and build our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander graduate researchers cohort. 

For more information on scholarships see Research Scholarships at UWS.

Research Higher Degree Rules and Policies

The UWS Research Studies Committee is a standing committee of Academic Senate and is chaired by the Associate Pro Vice Chancellor, Research. The Committee is responsible for individual candidature management and related policy and practice.

For detailed information about rules and policies, including minimum/maximum completion times and how to seek approval for variation to programs see Current Research Students.

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