Your main contact throughout your candidature will be with your supervisor, who will be your key advisor and guide throughout your degree program.
Prior to enrolment you should approach staff members who would be suitable to supervise the kind of project you are interested in.
You can locate potential supervisors on school websites by contacting the relevant Head of School or Sub-Dean for Higher Degree Research (HDR) students in the school/Faculty that you wish to enrol in, or via the Find an expert search.
University policy is that each candidate has a supervisory team made up of a Principal Supervisor, who must be a Charles Sturt staff member, and at least one Co-supervisor, who can be internal or external to Charles Sturt.
You will have regular contact with your supervisory team throughout your candidature. It is recommended that this contact be made before enrolment and within your initial days as a HDR candidate to discuss expectations.
Typically, Principal Supervisors are located in the University's Schools, Faculties and/or Research Institutes.
During your candidature your supervisory team has overall responsibility for overseeing, guiding and monitoring your progress. Numerous models and strategies exist for developing a successful HDR candidate-supervisor relationship. Your supervisory team will have the expertise and experience in the best model of supervisory relationship for you, given your background, research focus and personality.
At some stage in your candidature, you may be faced with changes to your supervisory team.
This may occur due to changes in your own needs and expectations, or because supervisors change roles or, in some cases, leave the University. Charles Sturt takes this process seriously, and a change in the supervisory team will be approved only after substantial consultation between the candidate, supervisory team and the relevant Sub Dean Graduate Studies.
If you experience a change to your supervisory team, a range of supports are in place to assist you through this process; these include from the other members of your team, from the Sub Dean Graduate Studies and from the Office of Research Services and Graduate Studies.
