Enrolment—Research Student Centre staff will enrol you automatically, once you have returned your Acceptance Form to the Admissions Office. A copy of your enrolment record and e-mail account details will be posted to you.
Obtain your student card by taking your enrolment record to the Student Enquiries Counter, Building 36.
Update your contact details via SOLS so that we can contact you at your new address.
In your first week ...
Make an appointment to meet your supervisors. Staff telephone numbers or e-mail addresses are available via the Staff Directory. Alternatively, you can contact the University switchboard on (02) 4221 3555.
Make an appointment to meet the Head of Postgraduate Studies (HPS) in your Faculty. Each Academic Unit or Faculty has a HPS responsible for providing advice and assistance to Higher Degree Research (HDR) Students. A list of HPSs (or their Administrative Assistants) is attached.
Find out which office space you will be using. Most HDR students will share an office with other students. Meet your fellow postgraduate students and find out what arrangements have been made to share the office, including access hours, storage space and telephone usage.
Order a key for your office (see the Postgraduate Co-ordinator or Administrative Assistant).
Find out about access to computer equipment. Some HDR students will have access to a shared computer in their offices, while others will use a designated postgraduate computer laboratory. Don't forget to ask questions about:
Your email account will be set up for you at enrolment. If you will be using an email account other than your UOW account don't forget to forward your UOW email to your personal account. In order to forward your email;
Visit your research laboratory. If you are conducting research in a lab, arrange to visit the facilities and meet fellow researchers and technical staff. Find out about policies related to:
Compulsory lab safety or equipment courses;
Laboratory rules; and
Access times and hours.
If you are a scholarship recipient, take the following documents to the Research Student Centre (Ground floor, Building 20) so that the Scholarships and Policy Officer can start your payments:
Signed conditions of award;
Enrolment advice (you must be enrolled before payments can begin);
Completed Living Allowance claim form
In your second week ...
Meet with your supervisors to discuss your research project. Take with you a copy of the Code of Practice—Supervision. At this meeting you should also discuss the Code of Practice—Supervision Appendix A—First Interview Checklist and complete Appendix B—Commencement of Candidature Form.
Sign-up for any elective workshops and information sessions run as part of the Orientation and Enrolment Day program and attend Library Workshops—including “Getting on Track with your Postgraduate Research”.
Make an appointment to meet your Faculty Librarian.
Find out about the Faculty or Departmental information sessions held during Orientation and Enrolment Day and go along and hear what other researchers are doing.
Begin discussions/preparations for your First Year Research Proposal Review. All Postgraduate Research students must present a formal research proposal in their first year of enrolment in their thesis subject. Continuation of candidature is conditional upon successful completion of the Research Proposal Review.
Find out if you will need to apply for Ethics Approval. Does your research involve human subjects, animals or genetic manipulation? If so, you will need to complete an ethical application before the research can begin.
Attend a Faculty or Department Postgraduate Research Colloquium.
At the end of the academic year …
You will receive an Annual Progress Report by email to fill in. This report needs to be completed by both yourself and your supervisor.
The Head of Postgraduate Studies and the Dean of the Faculty need to approve the form before it is returned to the Research Student Centre.
Written reports from students and their supervisors are an important and formal means to monitor research student progress.
Each report should be a frank appraisal of the student’s progress by both the supervisor and the student.
The annual report is the means by which the University assesses whether the candidature will continue into the following year.
The Annual Progress Report form will also provide an opportunity for you to check and update if necessary the details pertaining to your full-time/part-time status, your thesis title, and your supervisor.
