r/AusAcademia

Hi all,

A little background about me: I graduated from a Canadian university with honours in biochemistry. My research background includes a summer research internship, a whole year of volunteering in a research lab, as well as an honours year (volunteer and honours in the same lab). I couldn't find a research job in canada after graduating so I ended up working in healthcare just to pay the bills, but it also made me realise I really love research (and also extremely miss being in the lab), thus I am applying for PhD. I have applied to 3 schools last year (non aus schools) and was rejected by all of them...

I converted WAM from my grades is an 82 which I understand is low which reduces my chance for the RTP. I have upcoming 3rd author conference poster as well as publication in the works from my honours which probably would not help that much as well based of my research online.

I am currently in talks with several professors (all go8 unis which unfortunately means that it is super competitive. I am mainly applying because of fit for research, also because they are the only supervisors that replied to my emails). Two of the potential supervisors knew my honours supervisors work and are acquainted with them. All potential supervisors are also hoping to bring my previous expertise into their lab. They have also told me that my profile is competitive but I am still having doubts.

I understand securing RTP would be an extremely competitive process, I wouldn't want to self fund a PhD as research is extremely time consuming and stressful. However, I would really love to pursue a PhD in either one of the potential lab as the work they do are similar with my background. Still looking for non go8 uni supervisors that may be a good fit for me to increase my chances, but, any input/advice would be greatly appreciated!

Many thanks!

I currently work as an assistant lecturer at one of the G8 universities and it came to my attention that a person in my department was hired at the same time as their spouse.

The spouse works in another department.

There are many questions that spawn to mind, however the person in my department is a bit unruly. They've had complaints about conduct with students, mistreat other staff or simply act unprofessional.

How common are spousal hires in Australian academia?

Is it legal to hire someone's spouse as a 'package'?

Hi all, I just accepted a continuing Lecturer position at a Go8 university. Offer letter says that I am on probation for 5 years.

I am not from Australia, so I was just wondering, is this similar to the probation pre-tenure, where being formally appointed after probation is similar to tenure?

Is it as strict as getting tenure, or mostly a formality?

Thanks in advance!

Edit: fixed pre-tenure

Greetings everyone,

I’m currently trying to decide between two PhD offers in Australia — the University of New England and the University of Canberra — and I’d really appreciate some honest insights from people who have studied at either (or both) universities.

A few things I’m hoping to learn more about:

1. Which university offers a better overall PhD/student experience based on personal experience rather than online reviews?

2. Which one has stronger leadership, student support, and opportunities for research students?

3. Between Armidale and Canberra, which environment do you think is more suitable for focused PhD research and day-to-day living?

4. Any other advice, experiences, or things you think I should consider before making the decision would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance.

(Throwaway account so I won't doxx myself)

I've been working in academia in public universities for the last 20+ years, and have mostly been happy in that role (teaching, research, leadership). Recently (last 2-3 years) the university I was at changed dramatically and workloads got beyond unrealistic, and morale was at an all-time-low. I also had some adverse action taken against me despite great performance and support for my management from those I managed and others I worked with. I could see I would not progress there so the choice was to keep teaching and researching at the crazy workload and eventually retire; or to find a different job.

I kept my head down and then was asked to do some consulting work for a new private provider - specifically sitting on their academic board and helping out with their first degree. They loved what I did, and my reputation in the area is very good, so they offered me a position very high up in their new institution. The position is higher than I have worked in before, but it is very similar to work I have done, and I would be excited, energised and happy to be doing it.

So, I took the new job, even though it pays $28k less per year (originally $38k, I negotiated it up). I sold my house, bought another house and moved. Now I am at the crunch point, where I start the new job, end the old one and move forward and I'm second-guessing everything.

It's private higher education, I'm used to public. I won't have some of the standard support network aspects such as access to a large amount of databases, an ethics committee set up (I will have to do that over the first year), and many other factors. I'm getting less per fortnight, because the place is just starting up - but they have agreed to tie my pay to performance so it will rise with success of the institution. I am leaving a safe place where I could have stayed until retirement with union-mediated pay-rises every so often, and going into a big question mark and now I'm nervous.

Has anyone here done the jump from public to private for lifestyle and happiness reasons? Not because they were going to get paid more? My move gives me a promotion but not financially. If so, was it worth it?

I have been quite nervous regarding it. As I see everyone is like it's like Ni chance of you getting research masters scholarship is that how it works isn't there like any RTP fundings for research masters candidate. Like one of my friend is trying to apply he have done Bachelor in Computer Engineering and have got 82% and have two Scopus indexed Q2 ranked journals which is on the topic of Cloud Native Microservices and looking to go for research masters by extending his papers like wouldn't this profile get funded? He is okay with mid tier unis also like Uni of Wollongong,Deakin or Swinburne or Western Sydney Unis just he is trying for RTP as he have two publications to his name during his bachelor's degree and he probably would complete his third before applying to that masters wouldn't it get funded?

I recently completed my PhD and also have industry experience in software engineering, including at a uni. I'm now applying to both research roles (postdoc, research associate/fellow, etc) and research support roles (e.g. research engineer, e-Research roles, etc). So far, nothing's worked out.

I was wondering if anyone knows how thoroughly hiring committees read responses to Key Selection Criteria? I'm worried mine are a bit detailed and long - some go to 3 pages long. Is that generally considered acceptable?

Bless you Moodle users. My uni runs on Canvas and I have a tute to run in two hours, fml.

Hey guyss:) I’m currently doing my Bachelor’s in Clinical Psychology in India and planning to continue in Australia because I really want better exposure, practical experience, and opportunities in the field. I’ll probably need to do a 1-year Honours before Master’s, but I’ve heard it’s super competitive so I’m really confused about which uni to choose. If anyone has suggestions for good unis with decent internship/part-time opportunities related to psych, pls do share. Any tips or personal experiences would genuinely help a lot because I’m feeling pretty lost rn . I’d really appreciate any guidance, thank you in advance for your time and knowledge<3

I am considering applying for a PhD in Australia in the field of Artificial Intelligence. There are loads of really interesting projects that I have found but I'm worried about my chances of actually getting funding as a non-resident.

I have a masters degree from King's College London for wich I got the highest possible mark and conducted a research project. I've also worked for 4 years as a Data Scientist which includes a 4 month stint for an Australian start-up while on a working holiday visa. I would think this would make me a good candidate, but I'm not sure how competitive funding is for international student.