A monthly newsletter keeping our HDR community informed and connected.

H D R   I N   F O C U S 

Congratulations to Vinícius Guedes Gonçalves de Oliveira from the College of Business, Government and Law who was the University Winner of the 3 Minute Thesis 2023. Vinícius presentation is titled 'Attention, this is not science fiction! Assessing Australia's space infrastructure security', and he now progresses to the Asia-Pacific 3MT Final. A shout out also goes to Cassandra Haines (NHS) for runner up and Iriana Freitas De Jesus Ximenes (HASS) for the people's choice award, and all the amazing competitors and judges who gave us a great competition this year!

This month we hear from three recently completed students who received outstanding results from examiners. Read about their research, their experience with the ups and downs and what advice they would give to current students. 

W E L C O M E

Introducing our new higher degree by research students who started this semester. We welcome you into the Flinders HDR community and look forward to following your journey.

R E C E N T L Y   C O M P L E T E D   S T U D E N T S  

Congratulations to the students who completed in the last month. The University recognises that a higher degree by research represents a considerable achievement, reflecting hard work and a high level of commitment and dedication. Congratulations on your outstanding accomplishment! 

W H A T ' S   N E W 

HDR Bulletin September Summary 

Have you been keeping up with the HDR development bulletin? Each week a different aspect of the Research and Employability Skills Training (REST) Program is spotlighted to help HDR students’ identify opportunities to progress with their skill development. The skills covered so far include research dissemination, skills week,, career planning check in and research strategy. See the blog post below to see what was covered in September

Best HDR Student Publication Award

The Best HDR Student Publication Award is an initiative of the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research) that celebrates the best student publications for each College. Students are invited to submit one first authored publication that makes significant original contribution to your field of study. Please look out for correspondence form your college regarding the call for applications To view the eligibility requirements and guidelines find out more via the link below.

Information Session on Fulbright Scholarship Program

The Fulbright Scholarship is one of the most prestigious scholarship programs in the world. An information session, held on Monday 9 October, 10am at Alere North will cover Fulbright Scholarship opportunities for Australians who are seeking funding to undertake a Masters degree or PhD research in the U.S.A in 2024/25 as well as Fulbright opportunities for current Flinders PhD students and staff to conduct research in the U.S.A. in 2024/25. If you would like to attend rsvp to julie.dover@flinders.edu.au 

New Online Training Module: Consent and Respectful Relationships

Flinders University has launched a new online training module, Consent and Respectful Relationships. This module was developed as part of a collaborative project with the University of Adelaide and the University of South Australia and is part of Flinders ongoing commitment to providing a safe and respectful learning environment for all students and staff. This is one of the practical steps Flinders is taking to ensure that safety, respect, and responsibility are the foundations of our university culture.

Consent and Respectful Relationships is now available to all students and can be completed on Canvas. All students (including HDR students) are encouraged to complete the module and will receive a certificate recognised by all South Australian Universities and earn Horizon Award points for doing so. Staff are also welcome to participate in completing Consent and Respectful Relationships on Canvas.

Make your research open access

Making research publications and data openly available increases exposure to your work and can help boost citations. With International Open Access Week being held from 23-27 October this year, the library have put together a host of events to help all researchers learn about all the options available for making your research open access at no cost. The week will open with a panel discussion and networking event which includes morning tea, followed by a number of workshops on open access publishing, copyright, research data and avoiding predatory publishing. View the full schedule and register via iEnrol.

Foreign interactions for HDR students’ research

Does your research engage with foreign individuals, groups or organisations? The University welcomes interactions with foreign individuals, groups or organisations and recognises they are an important part of University life and integral to the success of Flinders University’s research activities. It is vital that all HDR students and supervisors are familiar with the University’s Foreign Interactions Policy and its implications. The Policy helps the University assess and manage the risks associated with its foreign interactions.

Author Affiliation 

As a part of our Enhance Research Reputation initiative, the IDS Engagement and Success project team are increasing awareness of Authorship, or author affiliations, within the research community.  We will be highlighting how accurate affiliations are highly important for researchers, Colleges and Flinders University. Key to achieving this is the Authorship of Research Output Procedure.

M I N D   Y O U R S E L F

U P C O M I N G    D E V E L O P M E N T   W O R K S H O P S

Seven Steps to Academic Writing Success - 16 October & 30 October

Graduate students and academic staff can feel overwhelmed at the thought of writing a thesis, journal article or grant application. This seven-step academic writing framework helps writers break down the writing process into manageable chunks. By applying this framework, you can get started on your document with confidence much earlier and produce a high-quality product with much less stress. This workshop is held online via Team in two sessions on Monday 16 October and Monday 30 October 9:30-11:30am.

Imposter Workshop - 19 October

The session on Thursday 19 October, 1.30-3.30pm will explain why high performing people often doubt their abilities and find it hard to enjoy their successes. It will also show the links to perfectionism and self-handicapping strategies such as procrastination, avoidance and over commitment.

More Strategies for Staying Well - 20 October

This upcoming workshop with Hugh Kearns will take place on Friday 20 October, 10.00am-12.30pm, Alere Function Centre (online available). In a research career you can get worn down by the isolation, the setbacks and the uncertainty. If you want to stay well and get things done, don’t leave it to chance. You need to look after yourself. And you need some strategies for getting things done. Topics that will be discussed are thinking strategies, the imposter syndrome and self-doubts,  supporting yourself, saying NO,  dealing with guilt,  coping with setbacks, mindsets, and actions you can take. 

HDR Completions Workshop - 26 October

This intensive workshop assists HDR students in their final 6 months of candidature to complete and submit their thesis. It draws on a body of research to present students with practical skills and strategies to assist the writing up process. It also provides useful tools for editing your own work, and details the Flinders University thesis submission processes and requirements. This workshop on Thursday 26 October, 9.30am-2.00pm will be held online via Teams.

More Development Opportunities in October

• Thur 5 Oct   -  Thesis Writing Discussion Group

• Fri 6 Oct       -  Promoting Publications & Building a Research Brand 

• Mon 9 Oct   -  Thinking Critically

• Tue 10 Oct   -  Research Finance: Principles, Systems and Dashboard

• Tue 10 Oct   -  Being Productive - Online

• Wed 11 Oct   -  Endnote - Introduction

• Wed 11 Oct   -  Research Integrity Information Session

• Wed 11 Oct   -  Problem Solving

• Thur 12 Oct   -  Grant Writing: How to be a Narrative Ninja

• Thur 12 Oct   -  How to create a Data Management Plan (DMP) for your research project

• Thur 12 Oct   -  Building Professional Relationships and Connections

• Mon 16 Oct   -  Seven Steps to Academic Writing Success - Part 1

• Mon 16 Oct   -  Word - Thesis formatting and working with long documents

• Mon 16 Oct   -  Word - Thesis formatting and working with long documents

• Mon 16 Oct   -  Being Productive

• Tue 17 Oct    -  How to use the Ethics Online application system - ResearchNow Ethics and Biosafety

• Wed 18 Oct   -  Introduction to Statistical Analysis

• Wed 18 Oct   -  Imposter syndrome 

• Thur 19 Oct   -  IBM SPSS - Introduction

• Thur 19 Oct   -  Finding funding opportunities: Navigating 'Research Professional'

• Thur 19 Oct   -  Library Induction for new HDR students and researchers 

• Thur 19 Oct   -  Imposter syndrome 

• Fri 20 Oct       -  More Strategies for Staying Well

• Mon 23 Oct   -  Seven Steps to Academic Writing Success - Part 2

• Mon 23 Oct   -  International Open Access Week Launch and Panel Discussion

• Wed 25 Oct   -  Workplace Culture and Integration

• Tue 24 Oct    -  How do I comply with the open access policy for research

• Tue 24 Oct    -  Read and Publish

• Tue 24 Oct    -  IBM SPSS - Intermediate: Exploring Your Data (Descriptive Statistics, Graphs and Custom Tables)

• Tue 24 Oct    -  Community over commercialisation - What is community control and why does it matter?

• Tue 24 Oct    -  Demystifying Green Open Access 

• Wed 25 Oct   -  Complying with NHMRC and Flinders Open Access Policy

• Wed 25 Oct   -  Avoiding Predatory Publishers

• Wed 25 Oct   -  Like an open book: can academic communities ensure our voices are heard by all?

• Wed 25 Oct   -  Workplace Culture and Integration

• Thur 26 Oct   -  IBM SPSS - Intermediate: Categorical Data Analysis

• Thur 26 Oct   -  Making your research data openly available using Flinders Repository of Open Access Datasets (ROADS) 

• Thur 26 Oct   -  Finding funding opportunities: Navigating 'Research Professional'

• Thur 26 Oct   -  HDR Completions Intensive Workshop

• Thur 26 Oct   -  Copyright and open licensing for publishing

• Thur 26 Oct   -  Shine on Diamond journals: making sure they’re forever

• Fri 27 Oct      -  Complying with NHMRC and Flinders Open Access Policy

• Fri 27 Oct      -  Creating space for Indigenous and Pacific research

• Mon 30 Oct   -  Creating a Research Profile

• Tue 31 Oct    -  IBM SPSS - Intermediate: T-tests and non-parametric equivalents

• Wed 1 Nov    -  IBM SPSS - Intermediate: ANOVAs and non-parametric equivalents 

• Wed 1 Nov    -  How do I comply with the open access policy for research

• Wed 1 Nov    -  HDR Supervisor Core Training Part 2 

• Thur 2 Nov    -  IBM SPSS - Intermediate: Longitudinal Data Analysis - Repeated Measures ANOVA

• Thur 2 Nov    -  Thesis Writing Discussion Group

N E E D   H E L P ?

Any questions about your HDR studies? Please reach out!

Dean of Graduate Research - Leadership, Policy, Strategy
HDR Admissions - Admissions, Enrolments, Change of Supervisor
HDR Progression - Milestones, Intermissions, Candidature Management
HDR Exams - Turnitin, Thesis Submission, Examinations
HDR Development - Skills Development, REST, HDR Induction, Supervisor Register
HDR Engagement - All Engagement, Industry and Cotutelle related inquiries

You can also contact HDR Student Representatives with any HDR candidature matters.

Do you have any suggestions, feedback or concerns about your HDR services? Let us know via the Student Experience Idea Gateway Form