Useful Information

When you start your higher research degree, you may feel a little dazed and confused and have a million questions to ask about the little things that help to make your days run smoothly. This page tries to summarise useful information from one postgrad to another and therefore, will hopefully help you to feel a little more at home as you begin.

However, the main piece of advice is that if you want to know anything - ASK!

Postgrad students who have been here a year or more already are often the best people to talk to and they are very willing to help as they know exactly where you are coming from, having been there themselves!

Requirements and Entitlements

Money

Other Work and Training

Faculty Cars

IT Support

Safety

Student Cards

Requirements and Entitlements

When you start your higher research degree, you are entitled to a PC and desk space at the University. Most computers are situated in the postgrad room of the building your supervisor is based in. A lap-top computer may be made available at the discretion of the supervisor.

You will have a University email address. Students are expected to check emails regularly as they may include information that will be useful to you as a student. Not only will you be notified about important dates and events, there may be additional emails giving details of postgraduate functions and seminars which could be beneficial for you to attend.

As a postgraduate student enrolled at the Faculty of Veterinary Science, you are required to:

• Attend a postgraduate interview with your co-ordinator after your first 6 months as a research student, to assess your progress and check that everything is running smoothly for you. You will fill in a probationary report form (sent to you by email) that also has a part for your supervisor to complete. This will be taken to your interview, where your co-ordinator will make a comment on it too, before submitting it to the Faculty Office.
• Produce an annual Progress Report and attend a yearly Postgraduate Interview with the postgraduate co-ordinator in your building. This will follow a similar format to the probationary interview described above.
• Attend, prepare and abstract and present at the Annual Faculty of Veterinary Science Postgraduate Conference. You must attend both of the days whether it is held in Camden or Sydney (this alternates) and you will be given advance notice in order to make this possible. The conference is always held during undergraduate Stu-Vac (student vacation week) in semester 2, which falls either in the last week of October or the first week in November.
• Attend at least 10 research seminars a year - these can be from one of the Faculty's seminar series' or in other disciplines at The University of Sydney or other institutions. Your postgraduate co-ordinator will ask you about your seminar attendance in your annual interview as it is an important part of your development as a researcher to participate in a research culture where ideas are shared and discussed.
• Give at least one seminar presentation (these are only 20 mins long) each year of your research.
• Obey the Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S) regulations in place in your lab or other place of work. If you are unsure of what is expected, ask your supervisor. Different buildings have different regulations and OH&S requirements (see the Safety section below).
• Read and abide by the University's policy on plagiarism. To help you to think about how plagiarism affects how you work, you will be required to complete a short online module called Academic Honesty. This is accessed through Sydney e-learning (see IT support for more details).
• Attend the 'Introduction to Animal Research' course on animal ethics if you will be working with animals and are not a vet. (Check with your supervisor or Merran Govendir if you are unsure.) See the events page for details.

Money

Fees and Scholarships

Postgraduate research degrees are usually HECS exempt, though international students will be expected to pay tuition fees themselves, if they are not covered by their scholarship. The International Office will have more information about what, how and when to pay.

A summary of scholarships available to Veterinary Science postgraduate students can be found in the Research Office website. Please note that applicants for Australian Postgraduate Awards (APAs) are automatically considered for any available Faculty scholarships, which are scholarships awarded and funded by the Faculty of Veterinary Science.

Postgraduate Research Support Scheme

The PRSS is to provide direct support for currently enrolled research students. Funds are allocated to The Faculty based on numbers of higher research students. The Faculty then award money to applicants based on eligibility criteria set by the University.

To benefit from this, students must present the original receipts for resources required to complete their research project, e.g. computer software, textbooks, statistical assistance, etc.

Some postgrads have previously used this scheme to get money back for travel to overseas conferences too.

The PRSS opens for a few months each year and students are paid only once per year.

Grants-In-Aid

Grants-In-Aid are available to provide some students with travel grants to support short-term periods of research overseas. They are awarded by the University and applications go through the Research Office.

The amount received averages $1,500 and is available only to local applicants who are studying a research degree full time.

Applications open in April and close around the beginning of May each year. Forms and further details are available from the research office.

The Faculty also has its own Grants-In-Aid scheme, which you will be notified about by your University email when applications are being accepted.

Petty Cash

Small expenses associated with work (e.g. travel to Camden/Sydney) may possibly be claimed back from petty cash. To be eligible, you will need the receipt and it must total under $100 (Sydney) or under $30 (Camden). This is something that you must discuss with your supervisor as it is their research funds that would pay for any cash claims made. They will explain the process to you and sign off on any claims they allow you to make.

Other Work and Training

Commercialisation Training Scheme (CTS)

The CTS was introduced in 2007 by the Commonwealth Government to provide high quality research commercialisation training for the next generation of Australian researchers.

At the University of Sydney, CTS training will require the selected students to concurrently enrol in (on a part-time basis) and complete the Graduate Certificate in Innovation and Enterprise (GCertInn&Ent) at the Faculty of Economics and Business in addition to their Masters by Research or Doctorate degree.

If you receive a CTS place, tuition fees for the GCertInn&Ent and a living allowance will be provided. It is proposed that a CTS selection round will be held each semester so check out the research office's CTS page for information, dates and application details if you are interested.

Demonstrating

It is quite likely that you will have the opportunity to demonstrate at undergraduate practical classes during your time as a postgrad. This is a good way to earn a little extra money without having a part time job! If you agree to this, make sure you ask for clear guidelines on what you will be demonstrating.

In order to get paid, you will need to speak to the Unit of Study co-ordinator, who will arrange the necessary forms and sign off on them once you have completed them. They will also then need to be signed by the Associate Dean for Staff and Students before being processed. For this to happen, you will need to leave it in the in-tray in Rm 352 of the Gunn Building (Sydney) or hand it into the Shute Building Reception (Camden).

Claims are put in once every 2 weeks, so try to get them done as soon as you can after doing the work to make sure you don't miss the pay day cut off.

Paid work

Depending on the terms of your enrolment and scholarship, you may be able to undertake up to 20 hours a week of paid work at the same time as receiving your stipend. Before agreeing to anything, you must check the terms and conditions of your position and consult your supervisor.

Faculty Cars

In order to be able to use a Faculty car for occasional work-related travel, you will need to register. If you are a holder of an Australian Drivers License, this is relatively pain-free. You just need to take your license to the Faculty Office (Sydney) or Shute Building Reception (Camden) where they will make a copy and put you on the books. If you have an International Driving License it may be necessary for you to go to an RTA Office and gain a NSW license. This is more complicated for some countries than others – see the RTA website for details.

Then once you have been approved to use the cars, you must remember to book them! Each building has it's own car(s), so ask your supervisor or another postgrad in your building how to book and where the keys are kept.

IT Support

Your first port of call, if you want any hardware or software which your computer does not have, is your supervisor.

IT support can be gained from on the Sydney campus and on the Camden campus.

There are also a number of pages on the University’s website which includes working the phones, changing passwords and using internet webmail. These can be found at IT Assist.

You will also be advised of an online module on plagiarism which you are expected to complete within the first semester of your candidature. The academic honesty module is expected to take approximately 1-2 hours if you do it all in one go, though you can take 10-15 minutes here and there to complete each section – so long as you complete them in order.

You will need your unikey to log in and you can do this at:
http://learn-on-line.ce.usyd.edu.au/webct/entryPageIns.dowebct. If you have not already used the e-learning portal (if you were an undergrad here, you should have done, though it may have been known as WebCT), information on the e-learning sites and how to use them can be found on the Student Express page on http://www.usyd.edu.au/webct/student/index.shtml.

Safety

Whatever building you work in, ask whether there is a formal induction program for Occupational Health and Safety.

For example, in the Shute Building Raj Bangur organises an OH&S induction and will introduce you to the people you need to know and give you a manual. On the Sydney campus, there is a compulsory OH&S workshop held every semester for students who use the labs in any of the buildings – this must be attended and is held once a semester. Details will be circulated and posted on the events page once finalised.

You should check whether you are up to date with your vaccinations and might discuss with your supervisor if you need to be vaccinated for any specific diseases (e.g. Q fever).

For all the non-Australians, you would be wise to be wary of some of the native wildlife (snakes, spiders etc.), especially if you work on the farms.

Student Cards

When you came in to enrol, you should have been given all the information you need about getting your student card. If you have any queries, then ask at the Faculty Office, Shute Reception or the University Card Centre (Level 2, Fisher Library, Sydney; +61 2 9351 2423; [[mailto:university.cards@usyd.edu.au||university.cards@usyd.edu.au). You can also see the student card web page at http://www.usyd.edu.au/cstudent/student_cards.shtml which contains further information on travel concessions, replacement cards, distance enrolling and more.

After enrolling for the first time, you will also need to re-enrol each year. You can also contact the above-mentioned places for information on this if you have any problems or more information can be found on the Faculty website here.

As well as these useful snippets of information, and the help and advice of your fellow postgrads, be aware that organisations such as SUPRA offer a lot of advice and provide help should you need it - whether it be academic or of a personal matter.