Postgraduate Research

Supervisors and Contact People

You will have been allocated a supervisor at the time of your enrolment. If your interests turn out to be divergent from those of your supervisor, it is quite possible to change supervisors. To do this, consult the Postgraduate Research Coordinator.

You should arrange regular consultation times with your supervisor, at which you can discuss progress, future directions for research, problems etc.

For general assistance, please contact Student Services Manager Julie Hebblewhite or Postgraduate Research Coordinator Thanh Tran.

Research Projects

Members of the School undertake a wide variety of interesting research. Along with your supervisor, you should formulate an appropriate research project. The supervisor will offer guidance in this, and may, in some cases, propose a research project for you.

Remember, however, that learning to develop autonomous research plans which are neither trivial nor impossibly difficult is an important part of becoming a capable researcher, so don't be upset if your supervisor gives you only a framework within which to develop your own research project. Remember also that projects tend to become more focussed as time progresses.

Please see Information About Research Theses for more information. You can also view past research theses.

Courses, Seminars, Colloquia

All graduate students are strongly encouraged to participate in the full range of courses, seminars, and colloquia offered by the School (and other Schools, where appropriate). Indeed, participation in seminars is part of the procedure for reviewing students' progress (see below). Most research groups within the School run informal seminars on a regular basis; students are strongly encouraged to attend these. The seminar titles and speakers are announced on the School's seminar webpage.

PGRS Seminar

The Postgraduate Research Student Seminar is intended to provide postgraduate students with an opportunity to present talks to their peers in a "non-threatening" environment. The subject of these talks may be their research areas or any other mathematical (or even non-mathematical) topic of interest.

While the seminar series is aimed primarily at postgraduate students, all members of the School are warmly invited to attend. Post-docs and honours students will be especially welcome.

The seminar series will run fortnightly.

Reviews of Progress

All graduate research students in Mathematics and Statistics at UNSW must have their progress evaluated at regular intervals; in order to continue in the program, a student's progress must be deemed satisfactory by the Head of School in agreement with the Higher Degree Committee of the Faculty of Science. The below format is followed.

Student progress will be monitored at yearly intervals via a combination of:

Progress reports submitted by the student and supervisor (separately) to the Postgraduate Research Coordinator.
A 10-minute interview will be run by a panel comprised of the Postgraduate Research Coordinator and a representative from each department.
In some special circumstances, the above-mentioned panel may require an oral presentation by a student at an informal seminar, where the audience will also include the supervisor and other members of the relevant research group. The panel will decide on the content of the presentation.

If you experience any difficulties at any stage of your candidature, please speak directly to the Postgraduate Research Coordinator.

First Year PhD Students: Procedures for Confirmation of PhD Candidature

In 2009, the UNSW Conditions for the Award of the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy were modified to include new confirmation of candidature requirements. See Forms, Procedures and Policies for Research Candidates.

In order to comply with this new policy, the School of Mathematics and Statistics will hold a confirmation review for all first year PhD students in the School between 6 to 9 months after enrolment. The duration of this review is from 15 to 20 minutes, in which the student will be required to present to the Review Panel a research proposal (apart from other procedures for review).

Taking into consideration special features of the discipline, the School requires a 1‐2 page proposal that has in it:

A literature review including a list of papers and books (related to the research topic) that the student has read since enrolment.
Any further reading that he/she is planning.
A plan (with timeline) of concrete problems that he/she will tackle in the next 6 to 12 months, in agreement with their supervisor.
A statement that the research will be conducted in accordance with the UNSW policies for intellectual property, OHS and ethics (as required by Graduate Research School; see Forms, Procedures and Policies for Research Candidates).
Apart from these items, where possible the student should include a longer plan for the thesis.

On an individual basis, the Review Panel may require that a student talk in a departmental seminar so that his/her research performance can be judged.

Enrolment

Enrolment for new students
New students should refer to the Research Programs Enrolment - 2012 document for all information relating to enrolment.
Re-enrolment for existing students
At the end of each academic year there is a re-enrolment period for research students. Research students continuing on to the next year complete a re-enrolment form, available from the Postgraduate Coordinator, after a satisfactory progress report form has been completed by the student and appropriate supervisor. This process occurs in late November and early December each year. If your research takes you away from campus at this time you must see the Postgraduate Research Coordinator to make alternative arrangements for re-enrolment.

Upgrading

Students whose progress is good may upgrade from M.Sc to Ph.D. on the recommendation of the School and in agreement with the Higher Degree Committee of the Faculty of Science and Technology.

Conditions for Award of PhD Policy

Please see the most recent UNSW policy document, Conditions for Award of Doctor of Philosophy.