(1) Charles Darwin University (CDU) is committed to providing an environment that enables and supports transformative education through higher degrees by research (HDR) and drives world-class research in areas critical to the sustainable and prosperous development of Northern Australia and the wider region. (2) This set of procedures outlines the appointment, roles, and responsibilities of supervisors and other members of supervisory panels to assist Higher Degrees by Research (HDR) Candidates. (3) This policy applies to all HDR courses, supervisors of HDR candidates, and university staff responsible for supporting HDR courses. (4) Every HDR candidate must be assigned a supervision panel consisting of one principal supervisor and at least one associate supervisor. The role of all research supervisors is to: (5) Principal supervisors must also: (6) Associate Supervisors can assume a range of roles. They may: (7) Associate Supervisors can act as the Principal Supervisor only after: (8) Advisors are other members of the supervision panel who assist the candidate but are not registered supervisors. These advisors may include: (9) The university may also develop subclasses of Principal Supervisors or Associate Supervisors in the future, such as Mentoring Supervisors. (10) To be eligible to register as a Principal Supervisor or Associate Supervisor, individuals must fulfil the relevant criteria, stipulated in Who can register as a research supervisor? These criteria are designed to confirm that both Principal Supervisor and Associate Supervisors have: (11) These criteria are also designed to confirm that Principal Supervisors have developed the capacity to predict and manage the challenges that HDR candidates may experience. (12) To register as a Principal Supervisor or Associate Supervisor, individuals must complete the HDR10 – CDU Register of Supervisors. After this form is submitted: (13) Every five years, Research and Innovation will prompt supervisors to renew their registration. (14) (15) To develop and implement these activities the Research Committee should determine the minimum level of training and development that individuals must complete to be eligible to register as a Principal Supervisor or Associate Supervisor. (16) This training and development should impart relevant knowledge and skills in how to motivate and support candidates, conduct exemplary research, and comply with university practices. (17) The (18) The (19) If concerns have been raised about a supervisor, the Dean of Graduate Studies, the (20) These recommendations may be implemented in response to: (21) These recommendations can be implemented only if approved by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research and Innovation. (22) Each HDR candidate must have a panel consisting of at least two supervisors. (23) The Supervision Agreement stipulates the precise role of supervisors. Candidates and supervisors should use the Guidelines to Help Formulate Supervision Agreements to formulate this agreement. Before confirmation of candidature can be approved, the Principal Supervisor must confirm that each candidate is assigned at least one registered supervisor who: (24) Ideally, at least one person on the supervision panel should be either: (25) The (26) In general, no academic should be the Principal Supervisor of more than six HDR candidates. To protect the right of candidates to express concerns and to maintain autonomy supervisors must prevent or report actual, potential, or perceived conflicts of interest that could be detrimental to the candidate, to the research project, or to the university, in line with the Conflicts of Interest Procedure. (27) If two staff who are close relatives or involved in a romantic relationship want to supervise the same candidate, they need to submit a justification to the Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research and Innovation. This justification should outline the necessity of this supervisory arrangement as well as how these staff plan to manage the risks, such as the imbalance of power and the possibility that both supervisors might leave the university before the thesis is completed. (28) HDR candidates, in consultation with their supervisors or other individuals, may decide to change the membership of their supervision panel. To arrange permanent changes candidates should complete the HDR11 - Change of Supervisory Panel and seek the approval of all members of the updated supervision panel. (29) If the (30) HDR candidates may sometimes wish to remove a supervisor from the supervision panel but do not feel able to communicate this information to the supervisor. In these circumstances, the candidate should convey this decision to their Principal Supervisor, to the HDR coordinator, or to the Dean of Graduate Studies. These individuals can then inform the relevant supervisor as sensitively as possible. (31) If Principal Supervisors cannot fulfill their role for more than two months, they should arrange an interim Principal Supervisor and inform their (32) Non-compliance with Governance Documents is considered a breach of the Code of Conduct - Staff and Code of Conduct - Students is treated seriously by the University. Reports of concerns about non-compliance will be managed in accordance with the applicable disciplinary procedures. (33) All staff members have an individual responsibility to raise any suspicion, allegation or report of fraud or corruption in accordance with the Fraud and Corruption Control Governance Framework, Fraud and Corruption Control Policy and Whistleblower Reporting (Improper Conduct) Procedure.Higher Degree by Research - Supervision Procedure
Section 1 - Preamble
Section 2 - Purpose
Section 3 - Scope
Section 4 - Procedure
Role of Supervisors
Eligibility to Register as a Supervisor
Approval of Supervisors
Training, Development, and Evaluation of Supervisors
Responses to Concerns Raised About Supervision
The Composition of Supervision Panels
Changes to the Supervisory Panel
Section 5 - Non-compliance
View Current
This is the current version of this document. You can provide feedback on this policy to the document author - refer to the Status and Details on the document's navigation bar.