Research Program Unit Coordinator Guidelines
The Summer and Winter Research Programs are administered locally by nominated unit coordinators. To support them in this role, a set of guidelines outlining key information and tasks has been developed.
Unit coordinator duties
Summer and Winter Research Program unit coordinators are responsible for the following activities:
- Liaise with research supervisors and submit an Expression of Interest to Student Enrichment and Employability Development (SEED)
- Organise which scholarships will be co-funded or fully funded within the research unit.
- Collate project details from research supervisors to be advertised on the research units website and also sent to SEED
- Review student applications and facilitate selection process
- Notify all students of their application outcome via StudentHub
- Arrange scholar access and induction in collaboration with research supervisor
- Liaise with Finance team to arrange scholarship payments
- Liaise with research supervisors and provide administrative support as needed
- Send scholarship information to SEED so the reimbursement can be processed
- Respond to student and staff enquiries about the program and projects offered by the research unit.
Program aims
The summer and winter research programs aim to:
- provide an opportunity for students to participate in an educational research experience,
- provide an opportunity for students to enhance their employability through the development of new academic and professional capabilities,
- provide an opportunity for research staff to identify potential Honours and HDR candidates, and
- Provide an opportunity for research staff to gain experience in supervising and mentoring students.
Whilst students are eager to gain research experience and achieve outcomes, their engagement in the program should not replicate the duties and expectations normally required of a Research Assistant.
Program specifics
Duration
The Summer Research Program is offered between mid-November and mid-February (see Key Dates). Projects must be offered for a minimum of six weeks to a maximum of 10 weeks within the specified program dates. Extensions beyond 10 weeks will not be granted.
When calculating project durations for the Summer Research Program, please take into consideration the University closure over Christmas/New Year. This is usually about one (1) week however, it would be ideal to provide scholars with a two (2) week leave period where possible.
The Winter Research Program is offered during the inter-semester break, June to July (see Key Dates). Project duration must be no longer than five weeks however this is subject to change depending on the length of the inter-semester break.
Projects must not conflict with teaching weeks and should not commence prior to scholars completing assessment or exam requirements.
Hours of engagement
Projects should offer between 20-36 hours per week of research-related activities for the scholar to engage in. Both the research scholar and research supervisor will need to negotiate the hours and days of engagement to ensure a flexible arrangement is achieved.
Supervision
All UQ research supervisors are expected to spend a minimum of one hour with each scholar per week. This contact should be in-person or via a video call rather than email.
Location
Research activities must be completed at a UQ campus or UQ research site to meet insurance requirements. Working virtually from home is acceptable if it is agreed by the research supervisor and research scholar.
Student eligibility
To be eligible for the program, a student must
- be currently enrolled in an undergraduate, honours or postgraduate coursework program at UQ; and
- maintain ongoing enrolment in a program of study at UQ for the entirety of the summer or winter research program; and
- be studying for a degree relevant to the research discipline; and
- have a high level of academic achievement during their undergraduate degree; and
- not be undertaking any coursework during the vacation period (i.e. summer semester study).
Things to consider about graduating students
- If a student indicates they are graduating in July or December and they are not transitioning to another eligible program of study at UQ the following semester, they will not be eligible to apply as enrolment will cease upon graduation.
- If a student is graduating and transitioning between degree programs at UQ they must maintain continuous enrolment at UQ for the entirety of the summer or winter research program. In this situation, a research unit may choose to conditionally approve an application on the proviso that confirmation of enrolment (CoE) in the new program of study is received prior to commencing the research program or that a seamless transition can be achieved whilst participating in the research program (i.e. no break between graduation and enrolment in the new program).
Scholarship
Research scholars will receive a scholarship of $360 per week for the duration of the summer or winter research project (excluding University closure over the Christmas break). The full scholarship amount will initially be paid by the research unit.
Student Enrichment and Employability Development (SEED) supports the programs by offering to co-fund a selected number of scholarships under a 50:50 arrangement with the research unit. If this has been agreed upon, SEED will liaise with the unit coordinator to reimburse 50% of the scholarship amount after the program concludes.
Whilst SEED will make every effort to co-fund the number of scholarship positions the unit puts forth, we do hope that the unit will consider fully funding additional scholarships to provide as many opportunities as possible for researchers and students.
Expression of Interest process
An Expression of Interest (EOI) process takes place in June and December each year for the Summer and Winter Research Programs respectively. An invitation to submit projects will initially be sent to the unit coordinators, Heads of School, Institute Directors and Associate Dean (Academic), who will then distribute to staff to gauge interest.
To indicate that a research unit will participate in the program and seek co-funding, the unit coordinator will need to submit an EOI form via StudentHub by the EOI deadline (See Key Dates). A link to the form will be included in the initial invitation and will ask for the following details:
- Expected number and length of scholarships to be offered in the program,
- Contact details of the unit coordinator and a backup contact within the research unit; and
- Link to the research unit’s website where the projects will be advertised.
EOI outcome
Within two weeks of the EOI deadline, all research units will receive an email confirming the number of scholarships to be co-funded by Student Enrichment and Employability Development (SEED).
If the research unit would like to increase their request for co-funded scholarships, please contact SEED as soon as possible. Whilst SEED will try to accommodate additional requests, given the high demand for co-funding, SEED may not be able to guarantee additional co-funding. If additional funding can’t be provided, the research unit can opt to fully fund the additional scholarship/s.
StudentHub Access
The administrative and student-facing components of the Summer and Winter Research Programs are hosted in StudentHub. Unit coordinators will use StudentHub to submit an EOI to participate, review applications, issue letters of approval, monitor letters of acceptance and reporting.
Each unit coordinator will need to gain Administrator Access to StudentHub to be able to perform the relevant functions. To request access please complete the form available here.
A StudentHub procedures document is available to support unit coordinators through the process of reviewing applications and issuing letters of approval.
Collating project details
The unit coordinator will be asked to send a completed Project Submission Template to Student Enrichment and Employability Development outlining specific details about the projects to be offered. The information in this document will be used to generate the student application form and will be required by the Project Details deadline (see Key Dates)
Listing available projects
The unit coordinator will need to arrange for projects to be listed on the research unit’s website prior to the start of the application period.
To assist unit coordinators in collating information for the project listings, a Project Listing Template is available. This can be sent to research supervisors to complete and will require the following information:
- Project title;
- Project duration (dates);
- Number of scholarships positions available for the project;
- Project description;
- Pre-requisites and candidate suitability (what pre-requisites are required or looked upon favourably and what candidate qualities is the supervisor looking for?)
- Expected hours of engagement, learning outcomes and deliverables;
- Supervisor name and contact details.
Please ensure that the research unit’s website also directs applicants to the centralised summer and winter research website for more information.
Applications
Open/Close Period
Students must submit an application via StudentHub before the published closing date (see Key Dates). Late applications are not accepted under any circumstances.
Student Enrichment and Employability Development (SEED) will continue to accept new projects for inclusion in the application form up until two weeks before student applications are due to close (See Key Dates). It is important to note that late projects usually receive fewer applicants.
Exemptions to these due dates will not be granted, as it is essential that all students have equitable access to project information and sufficient opportunity to apply.
Projects that have not been officially advertised through the summer or winter research program website and been included on the application form will not be eligible for consideration.
Initial Review
Once the application period has closed, unit coordinators will be able to run customised reports in StudentHub to review the applications received for each project.
When initially reviewing applications, unit coordinators should check the application data to ensure the following elements of the application are correct:
- Nominated researcher and project are within your research unit; and
- The student meets the eligibility criteria.
After this initial screening, the unit coordinator can download and share the applications with the research supervisors for short-listing.
Selection Process
How the selection process is conducted will be at the discretion of the research unit. Some research units form a selection panel to review all applications whereas others may ask the research supervisor for each project to make their own selection. Irrespective of the project, all projects should be awarded on a competitive basis taking into account:
- student eligibility
- the academic merit of the applicant
- reasons provided for wanting to participate in the program
- suitability of the applicant’s capabilities and attributes.
Students who have participated in a previous summer or winter research program are eligible to participate again at the discretion of your unit. If the number of applicants exceeds available projects and funding, please give preference to those who have not previously participated in the program.
Letters of Approval
After the selection process is complete, the unit coordinator will be responsible for either accepting, declining, waitlisting or conditionally approving the applications via StudentHub. Please refer to the StudentHub procedures for further instructions.
Students will receive an automated email notifying them of the outcome of their application. If approved, the student will be prompted to complete an acceptance form via StudentHub and to read and agree to the Conditions of Participation.
All applicants should be notified of their outcome by the deadline (see Key Dates).
Finalising Approvals
Once all application outcomes have been distributed to students, the unit coordinator will need to monitor the acceptance forms in StudentHub for their unit to see which students have accepted or declined by the due date.
It is important that the process of finalising all the acceptances is completed by the deadline (see Key Dates) so SEED can confirm how many scholars will be participating and can send them an invitation to the welcome event and skills training sessions.
Scholarship payments and reimbursement
Payments
Scholarship payments for approved participants are initially set up and paid in full by the research unit.
We recommend speaking to your Finance team ahead of time to determine what requirements they have for organising the scholarship payment and to ensure it will be paid on time.
Unit coordinators can download the bank account details for each of their scholars from the acceptance form in StudentHub.
Timings
For the summer program, the scholarship should be paid in two lump-sum payments (one paid in December and the other in January).
For the winter program, the scholarship should be paid in one lump sum payment (paid in week two of the program).
Scholarship reimbursement for research units
When the program concludes, Student Enrichment and Employability Development will contact unit coordinators to request the following information so the reimbursement can be processed:
- the total number of weeks that scholars were involved in projects
- a chartstring/s where the reimbursement is to be paid
- contact details for further enquiries.
When arranging the scholarship payments, it's also an opportune time to check in with all your supervisors to ensure their scholars have been meeting the expectations/requirements of the program. A progress check may highlight concerns that need to be addressed prior to issuing the scholarship.
Scholar access and induction
Start date
It is recommended that wherever possible, research scholars commence on the same date as this enables them to commence as a cohort and will minimuse the number of inductions.
Inductions
The unit coordinator, in liaison with the research supervisor/s, is responsible for delivering an induction for all research scholars. In preparing this, the following arrangements should be made:
- Facility Access
- IT access and requirements
- Health and Safety Training (refer to the General Training Needs Analysis and/or the Laboratory Safety Training Needs Analysis to determine what training is required based on the research tasks and environment).
For more information please check the Occupational Health and Safety website.
Welcome event
Each round of the summer and winter programs has an official start date and welcome event for all scholars (see Key Dates). All scholars are encouraged to attend the welcome event as it provides general information about the program and the opportunity to network with peers and supervisors. An invitation will be distributed by Student Enrichment and Employability Development.
Support for scholars
Skills training sessions
A series of professional development sessions are offered by Student Enrichment and Employability Development (SEED) during the summer and winter research programs to support scholars. Past feedback is that scholars find these sessions valuable, but many do not attend as they feel that they are too busy with their project. We ask that unit coordinators and research supervisors encourage scholars to attend these to enhance their experience
Research Showcase
At the conclusion of the program, SEED will invite all scholars to attend a research showcase which is a great opportunity to celebrate and share the achievements of the program.
Expressions of interest will be sought from scholars to present their research at this event. This is a great opportunity for scholars to not only develop the capability to communicate their research but to reflect on their experience as a whole.
Research supervisors and unit coordinators can also provide opportunities for scholars to present their research elsewhere by either presenting within their teams or organising smaller internal events for all the scholars in the research unit to present to each other.
Extension requests
Please refer to the Conditions of Participation for the ruling on extensions. Unit coordinators must notify Student Enrichment and Employability Development (SEED) if they wish to extend the duration of a scholarship as there will be funding implications.
Termination and withdrawal
As per the Conditions of Participation, scholarship payments will cease from the date of termination/withdrawal from the project, and if paid in advance will need to be returned for the equivalent full-weeks yet to be completed on the project. In the case of a termination or withdrawal, the unit coordinator must notify Student Enrichment and Employability Development (SEED) so there is a formal record of the change and the next steps can be discussed.
If a scholar needs to refund part of the scholarship, the unit coordinator will firstly need to calculate the refund amount and then send a request to the student to complete an online Income Deposit Form so they can make the payment online. In doing so, the unit coordinator will also need to include the following details in the email to the student so they can include them on the form:
- Refund amount*
- unit Finance Officer’s Name
- Finance Officer’s Email
- Type of GST - GST Free supply
- Operational unit
- Site Code
- Fund Code
- Function Code
- Account Code
- Project Code
- UQ GL Code
If the refunded amount exceeds $1000, the unit will need to raise a tax invoice for the student to pay. The scholar’s original application form and acceptance form will need to be adjusted in StudentHub to reflect the change however this will be arranged by SEED.
Insurance and intellectual property
Please refer to the Conditions of Participation for further information.
Enhancing student employability
Employability is a set of capabilities and personal attributes that empower graduates to perform effectively in the workplace, generate opportunities, and create positive social and economic impact. At UQ, we encourage students to enhance their employability by engaging in a range of experiences to help them develop capabilities and mindsets to be successful in any path they choose.
Seeing as research supervisors are in a position to create a meaningful research experience that further supports learning and employability development, we have provided a range of activities to help them enhance the employability of their scholars. Please refer to the Research Supervisors Guidelines.
Employability Award
Participation in either the summer or winter research program can be counted as a Supplementary Activity toward attainment of the Employability Award so long as the scholar hasn’t received course credit for their involvement.
Feedback and surveys
Research scholars are strongly encouraged to submit a research completion report (i.e. reflective survey) to Student Enrichment and Employability Development (SEED) after the research experience concludes. This report will be sent to research scholars by SEED separately.
Both unit coordinators and research supervisors may be invited to provide feedback for future program improvements.