Covid-19 update

The Office of HDR Training and Partnerships (OHDRTP) has reopened, with reception available to candidates and supervisors Monday to Friday between 8am and 4pm. While social distancing restrictions remain in place in NSW our preferred method of communication is via email or telephone, or online chat is available through our How to apply page. If you do require a face to face conversation with a staff member the OHDRTP now has an online booking system for applicants and current students to book appointments with team members between 9am and 3pm, Monday to Friday.

If you need to get in touch with your Faculty HDR Office or Academic Advisors, do so via the contact details available on the website.

The University’s support services are still available for all students and looking after your wellbeing is important. Download the MQ Wellbeing App as there are resources for COVID-19 and links to external organisations such as Beyond Blue.

Student Wellbeing is available on +61 (2) 9850 7497 or email: wellbeing@mq.edu.au. You can also now book a check-in with a Student Wellbeing Adviser. This is the best way to get advice that is most relevant and appropriate for your personal circumstances. Let us know what’s happening for you and we will call you back.

The University has dedicated financial assistance and pandemic support. This can be utilised in conjunction with our existing loans and grant schemes as well as payment plans. All Macquarie students including HDR candidates are eligible to apply for this support.

Yes. Macquarie University is still accepting applications through our online application portal although there may be some delays in processing as staff respond to the rapidly changing COVID-19 situation.

The University is currently operating under the COVIDSafe Plan for research and Universities Australia Principles and Protocols for Reducing the Potential Risk of Transmission of COVID-19. Along with the closure of Australia’s international borders there are currently limitations on and approvals required for research to be undertaken by University staff and students. These restrictions may continue into 2021 and prevent international candidates from travelling to Australia in early 2021.

The OHDRTP will approve an offsite enrolment from 2021 if the candidate, Supervisor and Faculty can confirm that adequate resources and support are available locally to candidates. More information is available, including the Guidelines for Offsite Enrolment on the Offsite Enrolment Request Form [PDF 294KB].

Applicants outside of Sydney accepting offers made from November 2020 will need to include a statement [PDF 61KB] from the Supervisor indicating whether or not the research is able to commence offsite under the current COVIDSafe arrangements in order to accept their offer. The offsite research enrolment request form will be required at least two weeks prior to enrolment.

All applicants with a Letter of Offer should read this carefully including all attachments and links on how to accept the offer.

Master of Research Y2 enrolments for S2 2020 have now closed for domestic and international candidates.

Candidates onshore in Australia: can continue to enrol throughout 2020 up until 15 December, if you are able to commence your research within the guidelines outlined in the Macquarie COVIDSafe Research Plan. Discuss with your supervisor prior to submitting your enrolment form to the OHDRTP.

Candidates outside of Sydney: candidates who are not already residing in NSW and are currently unable to travel to NSW will need to defer commencement of their program unless approval is granted to commence the research offsite To ensure that you are given appropriate support and supervision, the OHDRTP advises all candidates to defer commencement to late in 2020 or to 2021. If you are a scholarship recipient, your scholarship will be honoured. Discuss an appropriate commencement date with your supervisor. Once you have confirmed a new commencement date with your supervisor, email hdr.admissions@mq.edu.au so that we may reissue an offer and CoE (if required).

Macquarie University takes the wellbeing and positive experience of our HDR cohort very seriously. Offsite enrolment will only be approved on a case by case basis where physical and digital infrastructure, resources and support networks (including social support) are such that candidates can access the equivalent of a Macquarie on campus experience.

The University is currently operating under the COVIDSafe Plan for research and Universities Australia Principles and Protocols for Reducing the Potential Risk of Transmission of COVID-19. Along with the closure of Australia’s international borders there are currently limitations on and approvals required for research to be undertaken by University staff and students. These restrictions may continue into 2021 and prevent international candidates from travelling to Australia in early 2021.

Applicants outside of Sydney accepting offers made from November 2020 will need to include a statement [PDF 61KB] from the Supervisor indicating whether or not the research is able to commence offsite under the current COVIDSafe arrangements in order to accept their offer. The offsite research enrolment request form will be required at least two weeks prior to enrolment.

The OHDRTP will approve an offsite enrolment from 2021 if the candidate, Supervisor and Faculty can confirm that adequate resources and support are available locally to candidates. More information is available, including the Guidelines for Offsite Enrolment on the Offsite Enrolment Request Form [PDF 294KB].

All applicants with a Letter of Offer should read this carefully including all attachments and links on how to accept the offer.

Candidates must not commence any offsite research activities until permission is given in writing from the University.

International MRes Y2 candidates (including bundle offers) who were due to commence in Session 2 2020 will have received new offers for Session 1 2021 to ensure that appropriate support and supervision is available. The OHDRTP will contact your Faculty to facilitate this deferral. If you are a scholarship recipient, your scholarship will be honoured for Session 1 2021. Your CoE will be reissued if you already have one. If you are an international candidate with an offer for Session 2 2020 and have not already received a deferred offer for Session 1 2021, get in touch with hdr.admissions@mq.edu.au at your earliest convenience.

If your offer of admission for 2020 includes a scholarship with your offer of admission and you are required to defer the commencement of your program, your scholarship will be honoured.

It is very likely that your application will be able to proceed. However, you and your supervisors at both institutions will need to keep the following in mind when preparing your proposal:

• your arrival date in Australia will need to be January 2021 or later (although the joint enrolment period may commence earlier, if appropriate).
• you will need to ensure that sufficient time remains on your candidature at both Macquarie and your partner institution, as per joint enrolment requirements outlined on the HDR Cotutelle/Joint PhD website.

Many cotutelle/Joint PhD arrangements have been disrupted by the travel bans currently in place in Australia and around the world. Your study periods at Macquarie and your partner institution may need to be adjusted. As each Cotutelle and Joint PhD agreement is different, all enquiries will be addressed by HDR Partnerships on a case-by-case basis. Email hdrpartnerships@mq.edu.au; you should copy hdrcurrent@mq.edu.au and your supervision team. Rest assured we will do all we can to achieve the best possible outcomes for Macquarie’s Cotutelle and Joint PhD candidates.

Your enrolment will not automatically be paused or extended as a result of the interruptions from COVID-19. You should continue your research as usual, following the guidelines in the COVIDSafe Research Plan.

We acknowledge that the last few months may have been disruptive as you alter working arrangements, and your access to resources may have been affected. Talk to your supervisor to discuss and assess disruption to your work. In many cases, you will be able to continue projects uninterrupted or in modified form by working remotely, but in some cases you may not. See further below for interruptions and alternatives.

All MRes Y2 candidates with EWS Dates in 2020 were given an automatic 1 month extension to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19.

We acknowledge that the last few months may have been disruptive as you alter working arrangements, and your access to resources may have been affected. Talk to your supervisor to discuss and assess disruption to your work. In many cases, you will be able to continue projects uninterrupted or in modified form by working remotely, but in some cases you may not. See further below for interruptions and alternatives.

The University has developed a ‘COVIDsafe plan’ [PDF 6,543KB] detailing the approach that will be adopted to support a safe return to Research including HDR research activities. Each Faculty is in the process of developing a set of principles based upon these University guidelines. Contact your supervisor or Faculty HDR office in the first instance to discuss your return to campus-based activities.

It’s not possible to determine how long the interruption to research or the severity of the impact of the pandemic will be. This will depend on advice from the Australian Government and health authorities. However, you should discuss strategies to mitigate this impact with your supervisor.

From Monday 27 July, Levels 1 & 2 of the Library will be open for self-service borrowing and individual study. No group study spaces will be available in the Library. Level 1 and 2 of the library remain closed, except for Click and Collect services. Check the up to date information on the Library website regarding access to the library and HDR candidates

Be patient. Your supervisor is also having to adjust their research as well as their teaching and supervision. If you have not heard from your supervisor in some time, contact your Faculty HDR Office.

The University has developed the COVIDSafe Research Plan. Discuss changes to your project with your supervisor.

If you make changes to your research methods, you may need to update your ethics clearance. Contact ethics.secretariat@mq.edu.au for advice. You may also be able to rearrange your research schedule, by focusing on research literature or writing phases that can be more easily pursued remotely. Note that PhD and MPhil candidates are required to document the extent of the interruption to their research in their 2020 Annual Progress Report.

If you have research ethics approval and can continue your research without face-to-face participant contact (eg online or via other remote methods), you should update the ethics application online.

Researchers should submit urgent requests via the HREC system and also contact ethics.secretariat@mq.edu.au, explaining any protocol changes implemented to mitigate risk from:

• screening or consent from face-to-face to phone or virtual (eg. Skype, Zoom, etc) meetings;
• the way participants are supplied with any materials or devices;
• the way the research is documented (eg electronic records rather than paper).

These project changes will be prioritised, reviewed and approved by the Executive or the Chairs of the HRECs via Macquarie’s Human Research Ethics Management System. If researchers cannot continue a project without face-to-face participant contact and need to delay or suspend their work, you should contact ethics.secretariat@mq.edu.au.

For researchers whose work depends on campus facilities and equipment, not involving human participants, laboratories will remain open (as of 30 March 2020). Consider the Macquarie COVIDSafe Research Plan and discuss your return to campus with your supervisor and Faculty. Note that PhD and MPhil candidates are required to document the extent of the interruption to their research in their 2020 Annual Progress Report.

If there is no way for you to progress your research at this time – either online or with adjustment to the research plan (postponing field trips etc) – discuss with your supervisor and consider the leave options that may be available to you (see below).

All University travel, domestic and international, is currently suspended until further notice in line with advice from the Australian Government. Most conferences have now been postponed or cancelled. In the first instance, discuss alternative arrangements with your supervisor but we do not recommend rebooking travel until further notice. You should also discuss ways in which you can pursue alternative means of peer-feedback and professional development instead of conference travel.

Many candidates have been successful in securing PGRF funds to support research related travel, but it is unlikely that international travel will become a realistic option in the short to medium term. Consequently, candidates are encouraged to work with their supervisors in identifying alternative ways of expending your PGRF funds in support of their research program and in line with the PGRF rules. In light of the unique circumstances the University will exceptionally allow candidates a full 12 months to expend their PGRF funds following award, which represents a six month extension to the duration of funding.

For those candidates who received PGRF funding for Round 1, 2020 (Jan-June 2020) and have not yet been able to spend the funds during COVID-19, you have an extension to spend these funds until end 2020. As you will likely not be able to travel, consider alternative use of the funds in line with the PGRF rules.

For those students who received PGRF funding for Round 2, 2020 (July-Dec 2020) and are unlikely to use the funds per your application, you have an extension to spend these funds until end of June 2021.

In either case, with any change in plans to spend the funds submit a variation of funding request to your Faculty AD, HDRs. All PGRF forms and information can be found on the grants and funding page.

Yes, your research progress milestones are still in place. Extensions will not be granted automatically but there may be circumstances where candidates can seek an extension. Contact your Department MRes or HDR Advisor/Director, or your Faculty HDR Office for more details.

Where your work has been interrupted, you may apply for leave or extensions through the usual forms available on the HDR Forms page.

The University understands that, where travel restrictions do not prevent them from doing so, international candidates may prefer to return home to be with their families. Discuss this arrangement with your supervisor but note that travel restrictions may prevent you from returning until 2021. Candidates intending on leaving Australia will need to be granted an exemption to the current outbound travel ban, and can do so be sending an email to hdrcurrent@mq.edu.au.

Macquarie University takes the wellbeing and positive experience of our HDR cohort very seriously. Offsite enrolment will only be approved on a case by case basis where physical and digital infrastructure, resources and support networks (including social support) are such that candidates can access the equivalent of a Macquarie on campus experience.

The University is currently operating under the COVIDSafe Plan for research and Universities Australia Principles and Protocols for Reducing the Potential Risk of Transmission of COVID-19. Along with the closure of Australia’s international borders there are currently limitations on and approvals required for research to be undertaken by University staff and students. These restrictions may continue into 2021 and prevent international candidates from travelling to Australia in early 2021.

The OHDRTP will approve an offsite enrolment from 2021 if the candidate, Supervisor and Faculty can confirm that adequate resources and support are available locally to candidates. More information is available, including the Guidelines for Offsite Enrolment on the Offsite Enrolment Request Form [PDF 294KB].

Candidates must not commence any offsite research activities until permission is given in writing from the University.

Yes. Ensure that you contact hdrpartnerships@mq.edu.au to arrange your return travel home and ensure you complete the OSR Form.

To align the approval of variation requests with the NSW Government advice on schools reopening, the OHDRTP will now require supporting documentation (ie. the child’s medical certificate indicating they are suffering from an ongoing medical condition and cannot attend school) for approval of variation requests on the grounds of caring responsibilities for school aged children beyond 30 June 2020

International candidates: International candidates who hold a current Macquarie scholarship may be able to access paid leave (carer’s leave) provisions in accordance with their conditions of award. Check your conditions of award in your offer letter or on the Macquarie scholarships website. Alternatively, candidates may apply for a period of unpaid leave (suspension of award) or recreational leave in accordance with their conditions of award.

Domestic Stipend holders: Domestic PhD or MRes Y2 candidates who hold a current Macquarie Stipend Scholarship may access their paid leave (carer’s leave) provisions in accordance with their conditions of award. Check your conditions of award with your offer letter, or on the Macquarie scholarships website. Alternatively, candidates may apply for a period of unpaid leave (suspension of award) or recreational leave in accordance with their conditions of award.

Periods of unpaid leave: All candidates may apply for a Leave of Absence (LOA) during this time, in accordance with the normal policies and procedures. If you have already consumed your LOA entitlement, or you are close to completion of your thesis but still [NOTE CONTENT ENDS ABRUPTLY]