Graduate Research School

The Research Proposal Guidelines ask you to provide details of:

How you can approach this:

Research Training Plan

Provide a plan of your research training from enrolment to thesis submission. This is a separate plan to your research project plan.

The research training plan should include the dates for submission of Research Proposal paperwork, Annual Report paperwork, Confirmation of Candidature paperwork (PhD students only), ACE completion date, planned coursework enrolments (if appropriate) and planned annual leave periods.

The plan should also include any proposed research training activities such as attendance at research skills, academic writing or grant writing workshops, or courses planned to develop transferable skills such as career development, project management, commercialization, leadership, communication or public policy training.

A Gantt chart or timeline is the recommended format for this plan. Gantt chart proformas are available in Excel.

Confirmation of Candidature

In conjunction with supervisors and the school, and using the research project and research training plans, list the designated tasks for Confirmation of Candidature in the table provided on the back of the Research Proposal coversheet. These designated tasks will be used to assess progress in the first year of candidature.

Many schools have general Confirmation of Candidature requirements.

Your ongoing candidature will be confirmed if the agreed designated tasks and agreed milestones are completed and verified by the school, and approved by the Graduate Research and Scholarships Office, and all other aspects of candidature are satisfactory.

Common tasks for confirmation of candidature include:

• having your research proposal approved
• providing an oral presentation of your proposed project
• producing one or more pieces of academic writing
• applying for ethics and other approvals if required
• completing your literature review
• passing safety courses if required
• completing short courses or approved coursework units if required

Make sure you understand the sequence of administrative tasks required by the Graduate esearch and Scholarships Office and your school or Faculty, and chart them in your andidature tasks list. The GRSO milestones have deadlines, such as:

• Research proposals - due six months from your enrolment date (FTE)
• confirmation of candidature - due within 12 months from enrolment
• annual progress reports on each anniversary of your enrolment

You can find the due dates for your degree milestones via StudentConnect. This includes due and achieved dates for items such as annual reports, research proposals, and travel award reports. See How to Check milestones via StudentConnect

Working Hours

The UWA Policy on Graduate Research Training states that students are expected to spend at least 30 hours per week (or equivalent if the candidature is part time) to research higher degree studies.

If normal working hours are planned to be less than 30 hours Monday to Friday 9am-5pm you need to indicate what they will be.