Find a research supervisor

Identifying a suitable HDR supervisor is just as important as identifying your research project.

HDR supervisors are academic staff who are registered to support HDR students through their candidature. HDR students will have a Principal and an Associate supervisor, except for a few degree types.

Home

1. Check your eligibility

2. Find a research supervisor

3. Scholarships and fees

4. How to apply

1. Review supervisors

2. Prepare background information

3. Contact supervisor

Every supervisory relationship is different so it is important to try to find an academic staff member you think will be a good match.

At Flinders University, we encourage transdisciplinary research. Transdisciplinary research crosses boundaries and involves collaboration with people from different fields. You may consider having more than one discipline represented in your supervisory team.

Here are some questions to consider about your expectations, when you are seeking HDR supervision:

Expectations survey

Find the perfect supervisor for your research journey.
Explore Research @ Flinders.

Find a Supervisor

Explore experts by name, research or topic, centre or institute.

Select a staff member and carefully read the information on the staff member’s ‘Personal Profile’, ‘Research Outputs’ and ‘Similar Profiles’ to explore whether you think they are a good match for you and your proposed research.

Prepare yourself to request HDR supervision

You must prepare the following background information about yourself before you seek HDR supervision from a Flinders academic staff member. This will help them decide whether they can offer suitable HDR supervision, and it's your opportunity to demonstrate your competency for HDR candidature.

Academic staff are busy people, be prepared that it may take them a while to respond to your enquiry.

PhD and Masters by Research thesis-only courses

Research experience statement

In a maximum of two pages, summarise your relevant academic qualification/s and experience:

Australian Bachelor Honours Degree - include thesis title, abstract and word count

OR

Post-Bachelor qualification comparable to Australian Qualifications Framework Level 8 or higher with studies relevant to the proposed field of research – include qualification in full-time years, confirm proportion/ weighting of research component in the overall course (thesis title/abstract/word count if relevant), and for non-Australian universities, include evidence of the grading key AND unit/credit value, for example by providing hyperlinks to the university’s relevant webpages.

OR

Medical Degree with post-graduate experience (refer to Relevant research experience dot point below)**

OR

If you are requesting consideration of equivalency to above, you must include
- Bachelor degree/ post-Bachelor qualification - that may/not include at least half a year full-time research component or studies relevant to the proposed field of research, prepared as for dot point above.
  AND
- Demonstrated research experience equivalent to Honours that is relative to opportunity and relevant to your proposed field of research, refer to the next dot point.
Relevant research experience – for example
- Research outputs such as authoring refereed publications relevant to the proposed research, or non-traditional research outputs (NTROs) - Provide URL, Digital Object Identifier (DOI) number and title OR evidence of artefact or creative works
- Researcher role on a competitive grant or awardee of research income
- Other types of experience where research skills can be developed, such as relevant research employment. You must make a case for how this experience has prepared you to undertake and successfully complete a Higher Degree Research-level qualification.
- ** For PhD entry – Medical Degree with at least Credit average (GPA 5/7) OR if awarded on Pass/Fail basis, include evidence of completing a medical speciality training program that requires a research project.
- ** For Master of Surgery - evidence of two years' appropriate experience in an approved teaching hospital, with a minimum of 12 months' surgical experience within a clinical setting.

Save your research experience statement, together with any relevant evidence, as a single pdf entitled ‘(Your surname) Research Experience’

Research Project outline

If you are applying for HDR candidature that involves collaborating with industry, government, or another research organisation, the HDR project may have already been outlined for you.

Otherwise, academic staff will want to read about your proposed research before they consider supervising it.

Prepare a research project outline that defines the direction you want your HDR project to take you, using the guide below. In approximately 500 words, write a clear description of your proposed HDR project that outlines the what, why and how.

The research project outline should be written in your own words and will be subject to text-matching software as part of the admission assessment process. For more information, see Using GenAI in HDR Studies.

Include a suggested title.
Provide a brief statement of what your research will try to achieve: What is its aim? What are the objectives?
Demonstrate your engagement with a Flinders Research area. Demonstrate how your proposed research aligns with your proposed supervisor’s work.
Investigate what has already been published in the area. Your project must aim to make a significant –and for doctoral level, original- contribution to that field. Demonstrate originality but also demonstrate your knowledge of context.
Include the proposed methodology.
Estimate any potential significant projects costs, if possible. This will help the College review whether funding is available.
Include a timeline NB full-time Masters are expected to complete within two years and full-time PhDs within three years (thesis only degrees).
Include a bibliography.

Save your research outline as a single pdf entitled ‘(Your surname) Research Project Outline’.

Academic transcripts

If your official academic transcript is available via the My eQuals platform you can provide the URL, and password if needed, to allow access to the digital document. Otherwise:
Provide, in English, academic transcripts only for higher education qualifications that are relevant to your proposed HDR project (refer Research Experience Statement for details).
Include a grading key found on the back of the transcript, or provide a hyperlink to the university’s grades page in your Research Experience Statement

Save your relevant academic transcripts as a single pdf, in order of most to least recent/ relevant, entitled ‘(Surname) transcripts’.

Professional HDR courses (coursework & thesis)

If you are considering applying for one of the following courses, follow the steps below before you contact a potential supervisor:

Master of Clinical Education (Research)

Prepare Academic transcripts
Prepare Research Project outline
Prepare Experience Statement for Master of Clinical Education - Research

In a maximum of two pages, summarise your relevant academic qualification/s and experience:

a. Australian Bachelor Honours Degree - include thesis title, abstract and word count

PLUS at least two years’ work experience in a relevant health-related field

OR

b. Post-Bachelor qualification comparable to Australian Qualifications Framework Level 8 or higher. Include qualification in full-time years, confirm proportion/ weighting of research component in the overall course (thesis title/abstract/word count if relevant), and for non-Australian universities, include evidence of the grading key AND unit/credit value, for example by providing hyperlinks to the university’s relevant webpages.

PLUS at least two years’ work experience in a relevant health-related field

OR

c. Australian Bachelor Degree OR qualification comparable to Australian Qualifications Framework Level 7. For non-Australian universities, include evidence of the grading key AND unit/credit value, for example by providing hyperlinks to the university’s relevant webpages

PLUS at least five years’ work experience in a relevant health-related field OR peer reviewed publication as first author or track record as an investigator on a competitive grant.

Save your experience statement, together with any relevant evidence, as a single pdf entitled ‘(Your surname) Experience’.
Contact Course Coordinator Dr Gillian Kette

Master of Health and Clinical Research

Prepare Academic transcripts
Prepare Research Project outline
Prepare Experience Statement for Master of Health and Clinical Research

In a maximum of two pages, summarise your relevant academic qualification/s and experience:

a. Australian Bachelor Honours Degree - include thesis title, abstract and word count

OR

b. Post-Bachelor qualification comparable to Australian Qualifications Framework Level 8 or higher. Include qualification in full-time years, confirm proportion/ weighting of research component in the overall course (thesis title/abstract/word count if relevant), and for non-Australian universities, include evidence of the grading key AND unit/credit value, for example by providing hyperlinks to the university’s relevant webpages.

OR

c. Australian Bachelor Degree OR qualification comparable to Australian Qualifications Framework Level 7. For non-Australian universities, include evidence of the grading key AND unit/credit value, for example by providing hyperlinks to the university’s relevant webpages

PLUS at least five years’ of clinical or industry work experience.

Save your Experience statement, together with any relevant evidence, as a single pdf entitled ‘(Your surname) Experience’
Contact Course Coordinator Associate Professor Chris Barr

Master of Research for Practice

Prepare Academic transcripts
Prepare Research Project outline
Prepare Experience Statement for Master of Research for Practice

In a maximum of two pages, summarise your relevant academic qualification/s and experience:

Australian Bachelor Honours Degree - include thesis title, abstract and word count

OR

Post-Bachelor qualification comparable to Australian Qualifications Framework Level 8 or higher. Include qualification in full-time years, confirm proportion/ weighting of research component in the overall course (thesis title/abstract/word count if relevant), and for non-Australian universities, include evidence of the grading key AND unit/credit value, for example by providing hyperlinks to the university’s relevant webpages.

PLUS
At least two years of clinical or industry work experience

OR

Australian Bachelor Degree OR qualification comparable to Australian Qualifications Framework Level 7. For non-Australian universities, include evidence of the grading key AND unit/credit value, for example by providing hyperlinks to the university’s relevant webpages

PLUS
At least two years of clinical or industry work experience

Save your Experience statement, together with any relevant evidence, as a single pdf entitled ‘(Your surname) Experience’
Contact Course Coordinator James Gordon

Doctor of Philosophy (Clinical Psychology)

Read the list of Potential Research Projects. Other academic staff are happy to discuss PhD projects with applicants, more information can be obtained from Potential research supervisors.
Prepare Academic transcripts - your 4-year APAC accredited Psychology study sequence which you are about to complete or have completed
Prepare details of possible thesis topic(s) to be pursued in the PhD(ClinPsych) program.
Prepare an Experience Statement for PHDCP

In a maximum of two pages, summarise your relevant academic qualification/s and experience:

Australian Bachelor Honours Degree - include thesis title, abstract and word count
Duties you have undertaken for paid employment that involved activities relevant to the area of psychology
Other relevant experience e.g. such as voluntary work, research assistant work, clinically relevant experience
Any publications you have produced - list Digital Object Identifier (DOI) number and title
Any competitive research grant(s) you have obtained as investigator.

How to contact a potential supervisor

Once you have prepared the information above, you are ready to contact an academic staff member to supervise your thesis.

To contact them, open Staff Directory  and type in their Surname and First name to get their email address. Or simply type their firstname.surname@flinders.edu.au. Ensure you attach your prepared documentation in your email to them and let them know that you have followed the ‘Find A Supervisor’ web instructions.

Depending on the academic staff member’s availability they might be able to supervise your project. If not, they will refer your enquiry on.

I can't find an academic staff member to supervise me. What should I do next?

If you have had no luck in finding a potential supervisor for your project, after more than four weeks, please submit an AskFlinders request for support or visit the FAQ's. To offer you the best help, Office of Graduate Research admissions staff will need to know:

The search terms you used and/or how you identified prospective supervisors
The information you prepared for potential supervisors (per instructions above) – attach to your request
The names of the academic staff you have attempted to contact. Attach any email responses you received from those staff..

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