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HDR Research Training Program Funding and Scholarship Procedure

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Section 1 - Introduction/Background

(1) These Procedures stipulate how HDR fee offsets, fee waivers, and stipends should be distributed and allocated fairly, transparently, and in accordance with the Commonwealth Scholarships Guidelines (Research) 2017.

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Section 2 - Scope/Purpose

(2) These Procedures apply to all UOW staff members, HDR scholarship applicants, and HDR scholarship recipients at UOW.

(3) These Procedures do not apply to HDR candidates enrolled in offshore campuses if governed by the procedures of the corresponding campus.

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Section 3 - RTP Fee Offset

(4) Candidates may receive one of two tuition fee scholarships to pay their tuition fees:

  1. Research Training Program (RTP) Fee Offset scholarships, funded by the research block grant;
  2. Domestic Postgraduate Tuition Award (DPTA) or International Postgraduate Tuition Award (IPTA) scholarships for domestic and international candidates respectively.

(5) Candidates may receive these tuition fee scholarships only during their candidature.

(6) The RTP Fee Offset pays the tuition fees of:

  1. PhD candidates for up to 4 Equivalent Full-Time Student Load (EFTSL) of study; 
  2. PhD (Integrated) candidates for up to 5 EFTSL of study:
  3. Master of Philosophy and Master of Research candidates for up to 2 EFTSL of study.

(7) To be eligible to receive an RTP Fee Offset, candidates must:

  1. be enrolled in a HDR degree at the University,
  2. be an international student who has been awarded an RTP Stipend scholarship or a domestic candidate; 
  3. not be in receipt of a scholarship for which course tuition is a component under the scheme.
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Section 4 - Domestic Postgraduate Tuition Award, or DPTA, Offset

(8) Domestic candidates who have exceeded the maximum study duration may be eligible to receive a DPTA that pays the tuition fees of one session.

(9) To receive a DPTA, candidates must submit an application to the GRS before the advertised deadline that stipulates.

  1. the reasons the thesis was not submitted on time,
  2. a timetable that specifies when the candidate will most likely complete the outstanding research tasks,
  3. possible impediments that could delay these tasks, such as family responsibilities or concerns about writing skills, and
  4. a detailed plan on how candidates will attempt to prevent or to address these impediments, such as attending workshops on writing.

(10) If a candidate has not received a DPTA previously, the Associate Dean - Higher Degree Research (AD-HDR) shall endorse and Dean of Graduate Research shall approve the application if:

  1. the timetable of tasks is sufficiently ambitious but feasible; and
  2. the plan to prevent or to address possible impediments is thorough.

(11) If a candidate has received a DPTA previously, the Associate Dean - Higher Degree Research shall endorse and the Dean of Graduate Research may approve this application if

  1. the candidate could not have reasonably prevented the impediments that delayed thesis submission, and
  2. the candidate had implemented the plan that was formulated to prevent or to address possible impediments.
  3. The Director, Graduate Research School is granted the discretion to accept late applications.
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Section 5 - International Postgraduate Tuition Award or IPTA: Full-course

(12) International HDR candidates may be awarded an IPTA that pays their tuition fees until the maximum study duration is reached: 4.0 EFTSL of study for PhD degrees. 5.0 EFTSL of study for PhD (Integrated) degrees, and 2.0 EFTSL of study for research Masters degrees, called a full-course IPTA.

(13) All international HDR candidates who are awarded a stipend scholarship shall receive a full-course IPTA unless:

  1. they receive a scholarship for which course tuition is a component under the scheme;
  2. their stipend does not equal or exceed the base RTP stipend; or
  3. they do not fulfill international student visa requirements, as defined by the Department of Home Affairs.

(14) If candidates receive a stipend that does not exceed or equal the base RTP stipend, the Dean of Graduate Research may award a full-course IPTA if the stipend is beneficial to the strategic priorities of UOW.

(15) Other international HDR candidates may also receive a full-course IPTA. To ascertain which candidates can receive a full-course IPTA:

  1. the Dean of Graduate Research shall calculate the maximum number of IPTA scholarships available—partly informed by the success or otherwise of previous IPTA awards;
  2. the Dean of Graduate Research shall distribute these IPTA awards equitably across the faculties—with consideration to the number of eligible IPTA applications, the number of available supervisors, and the number of stipends awarded in each faculty;
  3. the faculties will utilise the criteria they apply to rank scholarships as well as consider the life circumstances, such as financial support, of applicants to decide which, if any, of these individuals warrant an IPTA; 
  4. the Dean of Graduate Research may then approve the recommendations of faculties.
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Section 6 - International Postgraduate Tuition Award or IPTA: Other Provisions

(16) International candidates who have exceeded their maximum study duration may receive an IPTA that pays the tuition fees of one session, called a single-session IPTA. To receive this single-session IPTA, candidates must submit an application to the Graduate Research School before the advertised deadline that stipulates:

  1. the reasons the thesis was not submitted on time;
  2. a timetable that specifies when the candidate will most likely complete the outstanding research tasks;
  3. possible impediments that could delay these tasks, such as family responsibilities or concerns about writing skills; and
  4. a detailed plan on how candidates will attempt to prevent or to address these impediments, such as attend workshops on writing.

(17) If a candidate has not received a single-session IPTA previously, the AD-HDR shall endorse and the Dean of Graduate Research shall approve the application if

  1. the timetable of tasks is sufficiently ambitious but feasible; and
  2. the plan to prevent or to address possible impediments is thorough.

(18) If a candidate has received a single-session IPTA previously, the AD-HDR may endorse and the Dean of Graduate Research may approve this application if

  1. the candidate could not have reasonably prevented the impediments that delayed thesis submission, and
  2. the candidate had implemented the plan that was formulated to prevent or to address possible impediments.

(19) If international HDR candidates are unable to pay fees, they may be eligible to receive a single-session IPTA even if their progress was not impeded by special circumstances. To receive this IPTA:

  1. the principal supervisor must sign to indicate they have reviewed evidence that substantiates this financial hardship;
  2. the AD-HDR must endorse this award; and
  3. the Dean of Graduate Research must approve this award.

(20) The Director, Graduate Research School is granted the discretion to:

  1. accept late applications if, because of unforeseen circumstances that could not have been prevented, candidates could not submit this application on time; 
  2. assess applications before the due date if delays to this decision could demonstrably and substantially compromise the wellbeing of candidates. 
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Section 7 - RTP and UPA Stipend Scholarships

(21) RTP stipends are funded by the Commonwealth Research Training Program and thus must comply with the Commonwealth Scholarships Guidelines (Research) 2017.

(22) UPA stipends are funded from other UOW sources of funds.

(23) If awarded, RTP and UPA stipend scholarships must equal or exceed the base RTP stipend rate, as specified by the Department of Education. First Nations candidates, if awarded these stipends, shall receive 1.5 times this rate.

(24) To be eligible to receive an RTP or UPA stipend scholarship, candidates must:

  1. be enrolled or have received an unconditional offer to enrol in a HDR degree at UOW;
  2. not be receiving another scholarship to support their living expenses that is worth more than 75% of this stipend; and
  3. if an international student, fulfill the student visa requirements, in accordance with the Department of Home Affairs.

(25) To receive an RTP or UPA stipend before the Research Proposal Review is completed, candidates shall usually be enrolled full time. The Dean of Graduate Research may approve exceptions if:

  1. these candidates are members of a demographic or community in which full-time study is often unfeasible; and
  2. one of the strategic priorities of the University is to increase the number of HDR completions in this demographic or community. 

(26) After candidates who receive RTP or UPA stipends have completed the Research Proposal Review, the Dean of Graduate Research may approve their requests to enrol part time if:

  1. the utility or feasibility of this research is unlikely to diminish substantially over time; and
  2. the family, wellbeing, or career of candidates may be disadvantaged if these candidates could not study part-time.

(27) If the candidates awarded stipends enrol part-time, the rate they earn each session will be halved.

(28) RTP and UPA stipends are not taxable, unless candidates are enrolled part time.                      

(29) To allocate the RTP and UPA stipend scholarships:

  1. each year, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Sustainable Futures) shall determine the number of domestic and international stipends that may be available;
  2. the Graduate Research Committee—or a subcommittee that represents each faculty—shall distribute these scholarships across these faculties equitably, with consideration to the number of applicants, the quality of these applicants, the number of available supervisors, and other principles;
  3. each faculty shall apply a defensible, systematic method, such as a formula, to rank the applications;
  4. this method should be designed to favour applicants who are likely to complete the course on time, applicants who are likely to fulfill other strategic priorities of the University, and applicants who identify as First Nation individuals, who experience socioeconomic disadvantage, or who have never completed a doctoral degree before; 
  5. to rank these applicants each faculty should then assemble a panel of at least three academics, from diverse disciplines, who have acquired suitable expertise and are unbiased by apparent, potential, or perceived conflicts of interest;
  6. this panel should rank domestic and international applicants separately; and
  7. the Associate Deans-HDR, or delegates, should meet to negotiate possible exchanges of stipends that mutually benefit each faculty.

(30) Scholarships may be advertised, and thus applicants may be ranked, more than once a year.      

(31) After the applications are ranked, the GRS will notify applicants of the outcome.

(32) After an application to receive an RTP or UPA stipend is approved, candidates shall receive correspondence that outlines:

  1. the amount that candidates will receive each fortnight and the duration of this stipend;
  2. procedures around how and when they need to accept or decline the offer;
  3. the leave entitlements of candidates;
  4. the supervision, resources, and support to which candidates are entitled;
  5. the responsibilities that candidates must fulfill to maintain the stipend; and
  6. the right of full-time candidates to work up to 15 hours a week, and the right of part-time candidates to work up to 30 hours a week.

(33) After an application to receive an RTP stipend is rejected, candidates receive correspondence that:

  1. informs the candidate of this decision as sensitively as possible;
  2. imparts opportunities that applicants can explore to secure this stipend or other stipends in the future.

(34) Regardless of whether the application to receive an RTP or UPA stipend is approved, the correspondence should refer to how candidates can submit complaints, grievances, and appeals, in accordance with the HDR policy. 

(35) RTP and UPA stipends can be deferred only if:

  1. because of circumstances the candidate could not have prevented, such as a visa delay, this individual is unable to commence on time;
  2. the deferral is less than 6 months;
  3. the HPS endorses, and the Associate Dean HDR approves, this deferral. 

(36) The Dean of Graduate Research may approve a longer deferral, but only in exceptional circumstances. 

(37) The University should pay RTP and UPA stipends:

  1. fortnightly;
  2. to an account with the name of this candidate;
  3. to an Australian bank account—that is, an account assigned an Australian ADI.

(38) The University will suspend these stipend payments if:

  1. candidates are granted a leave of absence;
  2. candidates defer their course.       

(39) Recipients of RTP stipends in particular must:

  1. notify the GRS of changes in circumstances that may affect their eligibility to receive these payments as soon as possible—such as changes to their research topic;
  2. insert a statement, in a prominent location, to the effect of “This research was supported by an Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship” in all publications, including the thesis.

(40) Other individuals who publish materials that are derived from this research project must also acknowledge the Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship.

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Section 8 - Joint Stipend Scholarships

(41) The University may also award domestic and international HDR candidates a joint stipend to which both an industry partner and UOW contribute, called a matching scholarship.

(42) The Procedures that relate to RTP and UPA stipends also apply to joint stipends except:

  1. joint stipends might be allocated at other times of the year to align with industry needs;
  2. the systematic method that is applied to rank the applications may favour other qualities such as the contribution from the industry partner, past collaboration with the industry partner, compatibility of the project to the skills and interests of the supervisors, and internship opportunities; 
  3. the application form will collect additional information, such as the compatibility of this project to the skills and interest of the supervisors.

(43) Joint stipends should be dispersed across academics rather than confined to a few academics with very strong industry collaborations. Academics who have forged strong industry collaborations should instead be encouraged to seek other funds to pay stipends.

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Section 9 - External Stipends

(44) Domestic and international HDR candidates may receive stipends from other sources, including:

  1. a grant;
  2. an international government agency; or
  3. a philanthropic foundation.

(45) Unlike RTP, UPA, and joint stipends:

  1. the University and candidates must comply with the funding terms and conditions of all external stipends,
  2. these external stipends may be offered at any time of the year.

(46) If the funding terms and conditions of external stipends are mute on a specific matter, the Procedures that relate to RTP and UPA stipends shall apply.

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Section 10 - Period of Stipend Support

(47) The duration of RTP, UPA, and joint stipends is a maximum of 3.5 years for Doctoral candidates and 2 years for Masters candidates.

(48) Further extensions to RTP, UPA, and joint stipends are not permitted unless:

  1. extraordinary events that are likely to affect fewer than 1% of stipend holders, such as supervisor misconduct that was upheld after investigation, had precluded candidates from progressing on their research; and
  2. the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Sustainable Futures) approves.

(49) This maximum duration of RTP, UPA, and joint stipends will be reduced by any periods of study undertaken:

  1. towards the degree at UOW before the stipend commenced;
  2. towards a comparable degree at another Higher Education Provider before transferring to UOW unless the candidate has since changed the project and will not utilise the work undertaken previously;
  3. towards the degree during suspension of the scholarship—unless the study was undertaken as part of a Commonwealth Government financially supported international postgraduate research scholarship or award.       

(50) If candidates suspend their studies because of sick leave or parental leave, they will continue to receive their stipend.  In these Procedures, sick leave also encompasses instances in which candidates need to care for sick relatives or suspend their studies because of domestic violence. 

(51) If a candidate upgrades from a Master of Philosophy to a Doctoral degree, the period of stipend support will be increased to a total of 3.5 EFTSL.  If a candidate transfers from a Doctoral degree to a Master of Philosophy, the period of stipend support will be decreased to a maximum of 2 EFTSL.

(52) Changes to the title or nature of the research project, the supervisory team, the academic unit to which the candidate belongs, or the Field of Education shall not affect the period of stipend support.  However:

  1. if a candidate has received a joint scholarship, the candidate, supervisors, HPS, and other relevant staff should meet the industry partner to discuss whether the updated arrangements still fulfill the needs of this partner and, if not, to explore alternative courses of action;
  2. if a candidate has received a scholarship that is not an RTP, UPA, or joint stipend, the AD-HDR shall ascertain whether the terms and conditions permit this change.

(53) If a candidate is discontinued, withdraw from the degree, or complete the degree, the stipend ceases by the next fortnightly payment cycle.

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Section 11 - Leave Entitlements

(54) Candidates may apply to suspend their stipends for one or two sessions by seeking a leave of absence.

(55) The Dean of Graduate Research may approve suspensions between three and four sessions but only in circumstances that are exceptional and could not have been prevented or foreseen by the candidate.

(56) Periods of suspension will not count towards the period of tuition fee or stipend support.

(57) Although HDR candidates are encouraged to arrange 20 days annual leave each year, this leave does not extend the duration of their stipends.

(58) Although HDR candidates can receive 10 days sick leave a year accrued across the duration of their stipend this leave does not extend the duration of their scholarship.

(59) If candidates exhaust their sick leave and then experience additional periods of illness that last longer than 10 days, their stipend can be extended up to 60 days if granted a 3.5-year scholarship or up to 35 days if granted a 2-year scholarship, but only if they supply a medical certificate.

(60) Whilst receiving their stipend, HDR candidates who have completed 12 months of study are entitled to 60 days of parental leave that can extend their stipend and be distributed over time, provided:

  1. they are the primary carer of a child; 
  2. this child is younger than 12 months of age or was adopted within the last 12 months.

(61) HDR candidates who have not yet completed 12 months of study may access unpaid parental leave, equivalent to a suspension of study. This suspension does not preclude further suspensions.

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Section 12 - RTP Allowances

(62) The Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Sustainable Futures), in consultation with relevant staff, determines the proportion of RTP that is allocated across faculties. These faculties can then utilise the allocation to discharge the ancillary expenses that enrolled HDR candidates incur to complete the course. These ancillary expenses may include the costs of:

  1. equipment, consumables, stationary, and software that are not already available in the University;
  2. courses, conferences, and travel; 
  3. other research expenses, such as editorial services, research participants, and publication costs.

(63) The faculty should convene a panel of relevant staff to design a defensible, equitable, and systematic method to allocate these funds across candidates. 

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Section 13 - Industry Research Activities

(64) HDR candidates may undertake approved research internships or other similar enrichment activities, for up to six months duration, as part of their studies. The maximum duration of their candidature will be extended by the duration of this internship.

(65) If candidates receive their RTP, UPA, or joint stipend during this industry experience, the duration of their scholarship can be extended by up to 6 months but only if:

  1. the experience is an eligible research internship, as defined by the Commonwealth Scholarships Guidelines Amendment (Research) 2021; and
  2. the Dean of Graduate Research approves.

(66) If the industry partner or other body pays an equivalent to the stipend during the internship, candidates must suspend their stipend scholarship at this time.