Graduate Research School

You can change supervisors or invite an additional person to act as a supervisor during your research higher degree.

Discuss your request with your current and intended supervisors, and graduate research co-ordinator. An application for change of supervisor must be submitted to the Graduate Research and Scholarships Office.

Types of supervisors

• Co-ordinating - responsible for ensuring all administrative and reporting requirements of the supervisors are met. This supervisor will receive all correspondence from the Graduate Research and Scholarships Office relating to the students, and is responsible for communication with and between other supervisors. The co-ordinating supervisor must be a member of UWA staff and may also be the sole supervisor.
• Co-supervisor - works with the co-ordinating supervisor in providing research advice in the discipline.
• External Supervisor -  is not a member of UWA staff but has expertise essential for the research project. The role of the External supervisor must be discussed (and recorded) with the student and the Coordinating and Co supervisors listed. The GRSO has to approve appointment of the External Supervisor and therefore a brief CV has to be attached (please include affiliation and contact details).

Joint supervisors

If you are enrolled in one school - your "home" school - you may still have supervisors based in different schools. The number of schools from which supervisors may come is not limited.

Normally, the co-ordinating supervisor is a full-time academic staff member of the University from your home school, unless the Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research and Research Training) or Board of the Graduate Research School has approved otherwise.

Funding arrangements

Joint supervision does not result in any adjustment of funding by the University.  All of the funding for that candidate will go to the "home" school.

If schools agree that some payment should be made to the "joint" supervisors school as a result of the supervision, the amount is negotiated between the two schools and the payment is arranged internally, usually via a T-form.