Academic Supervisors

All supervisors of HDR students at VCB must be listed on the Supervisor Register in order to be appointed as either a Principal or Co-Supervisor.

External and adjunct supervisors are only eligible to be appointed as co-supervisors and will need to have approval from the relevant Head of School.

Supervisors should ensure that they are registered to supervise at the appropriate level when agreeing to supervise a student.

To apply to be on the Supervisor Register, please complete the Register of Research Higher Degree Supervisors Application Form.

All registrations must comply with the Registration of Research Higher Degree Supervisors Procedures.

This training accredits research supervisors to be Principal Supervisors in accordance with the VCB Registration of HDR Supervisors Procedures. To successfully complete accreditation training VCB academic staff must:

• complete the Supervisor Induction Modules in the HDR Portal
• attend a 'Fundamentals of Supervision' training workshop facilitated by Thinkwell (run twice per year)

It does not matter in which order staff undertake these two components, but both must be completed in order for staff to be considered for accreditation. Once both components have been completed, the Head of the relevant School must approve accreditation as a Principal Supervisor.

Please contact hdrdocuments@ to register interest for the training workshops, or request enrolment in the Supervisor Induction Module in Moodle.

The Supervisor Induction online module may be completed at any time. It can be accessed via the HDR Portal in Moodle. Log into Moodle and go to the HDR Portal and click on the 'Supervisor Induction Modules' tile to begin.

Supervisors of Indigenous Researchers may like to refer to a useful guide which was developed by The Lowitja Institute.

Supporting Indigenous Researchers: A practical guide for supervisors

Supervisor Agreement

It is essential that you maintain regular contact with your student. The Graduate Research Committee requires all HDR students and their Supervisors to complete a Supervision Agreement Between Students and Supervisors within the first four weeks of starting their candidature in any HDR Program. This agreement will help establish a professional working relationship and set realistic expectations of supervisors and of their students.

Confirmation of Candidature

Confirmation of Candidature (CoC) is a requirement for HDR students and is undertaken after 6 months full-time candidature or 12 months part-time candidature.

The CoC process is designed to identify; at an early stage, any issues that may hinder a satisfactory or timely completion.

Further information relating to confirmation of candidature is available on the Confirmation of Candidature webpage.

HDR Progress Reporting

HDR Progress Reporting is a formal tool for the university to monitor and evaluate the academic progress of each HDR candidate.

It is a requirement for all HDR candidates to complete the report twice a year; each May and October.

Progress reports will be escalated to the VCB supervisor after the candidate has completed their section of the report, or after the two week student completion period.

Supervisors must complete the report for each candidate, even if they have not filled in their section of the report.

Supervisors should note that the progress reports are not confidential, and that candidates will be able to see what the supervisor has written.

Further information regarding progress reporting is available on the HDR Progress Reporting webpage.

HDR Scholarships

There are a number of Scholarships available that supervisors should encourage their HDR students to apply for.

Further information relating to HDR Scholarships is available on the HDR Scholarships webpage.

HDR RAP Portal

The HDR Resources and Advice Portal (HDR RAP) is in Moodle which all HDR students and their supervisors are automatically enrolled in. HDR RAP is designed to assist students in navigating their path through their HDR Candidature at VCB.

HDR Portal Log In (Moodle)

Other VCB services available to support HDR students

All HDR Forms and Policies can be found on the HDR Forms and Policies Webpage.

The Graduate Research Committee functions as a management advisory body, advising the Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research and supporting the Academic Board by reporting to the Research Committee in relation to all aspects of:

• Design, development, approval, monitoring, review and revision of all HDR awards
• Academic rules, policies, procedures and guidelines relating to HDR awards, supervision, research training and the research student experience.
• HDR Supervisors and Supervision
• Allocation of Research Training Program Scholarships
• Policies and procedures relating to research training and the research student experience.

The HDR Coordinators represent each school on this Committee.

Please refer to the Terms of Reference for more information.