1996 Swinburne Higher Education Handbook

6. Research Ethics Committee
6.1 Membership will comprise:
Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research)
Chair, Human Experimentation Ethics
Committee
Chair, Animal Experimentation Ethics
Committee
Two academic staff nominated by the Board
of Research and Graduate Studies
Secretariat support will be provided by the
Office of Research.
Guidelines for Supervision
of Research Higher Degrees
Introduction
These Guidelines set out Swinburne's approach to
supervision for doctoral degrees and the University's
expectations of supervisors and candidates during the
process. They also outline some general
responsibilities of the University in regard to
processes, facilities and support. A list of standard
administrative procedures during the period of
candidature is attached for reference.
Supervisors and candidates should note that these
Guidelines are intended to be read as an adjunct to
Swinburne's formal policies, notably the Statute for
the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy The policies laid
down by the Statute are binding. Relevant
University policies, and statements on quality
assurance in postgraduate education, are intended to
mesh with these Guidelines and should also be noted.
The Guidelines aim to ensure that both supervisors
and candidates are clear about their respective
responsibilities in an academic relationship intended
to lead to the award of a doctorate. They are not
intended to be narrowly prescriptive but rather to
offer a guide to the performance standards which the
University believes should be observed. To this end,
sections of the Guidelines dealing with specific
expectations are presented in the form of checklists,
to which supervisors and candidates should refer as
necessary.
Approaches to Doctoral Supervision
Work for a doctoral degree aims to equip the
candidate with the capacity to independently conduct
research at a high level of originality and quality. The
award of a PhD signifies that a candidate is regarded as
capable of independently conceiving and designing a
research program and carrying it to completion.
A PhD thesis should reveal that the candidate has
acquired a detailed knowledge of the field of study and
has made an original and independent contribution to
knowledge either by the discovery of new facts, the
formulation of theories, or the innovative re-
interpretation of known data and established ideas.
(See also Swinburne University Statute for the Degree
of Doctor of Philosophy, Section 4.1 paragraph 2.)
Supervision of doctoral candidates can be regarded as
a negotiated undertaking between candidate and
supervisor, in which the supervisor's primary role is
to provide !guidance in accordance with a candidate's
requirements and an accepted operating framework.
The University recognises that differing models of a
supervisory relationship may apply among various
faculties and disciplines. It notes, for example, the
observation by Moses that:
The 'apprentice' model is still widely accepted in the
natural and applied sciences: students work with and
for an experienced researcher, their supervisor, for
an extended period of supervised research training.
On completibn of their degree they are deemed to
be sufficiently independent and skilled to conduct
research on their own and train other aspiring
scientists. In the humanities more often a 'coming of
age' model is practised by supervisors: the
postgraduate student is deemed to have come of age
and the new freedoms of independent inquiry and
undirected study are bestowed in this new state.1
The University further recognises that candidates in
differing disciplines are likely to place varying
demands on the resources of the University. At the
same time, there are certain common issues and
expectations which apply in all areas, regardless of the
field of research. While the roles supervisors should
play are difficult to precisely specify, the University
would expect supervisors to approach the process of
supervision as a activity in which they have a degree
of intellectual investment and one in which there is
potential for learning for all parties involved.
Swinburne actively encourages appropriately qualified
staff to gain experience in supervision of higher
degrees by research and recognises that supervisors
may require sources of advice and support. For
quality assurance, the University normally appoints as
first or coordinating supervisor only those staff
members . . who have previously had experience in
3. Initial Inquiries
The first stage in a PhD application normally occurs
when a potential candidate identifies a member of staff or
a School as having academic expertise in the area in
which they wish to study for a research higher degree.
Intending students should discuss their proposal with
a member of staff or the discipline chair of the
relevant area. These discussions should provide
information about the requirements for PhDs
(including entry requirements, see Statute, Section
3.1), advice about a research topic, how the study
should be approached and which staff might be
appropriate supervisors. Candidates should satisfy