MSHS Resources for Research Higher Degree Students

The Melbourne School of Health Sciences (MSHS) values and welcomes its Research Higher Degree candidates as senior student colleagues in the University. As colleagues we have a commitment to you, as you do to us. MSHS makes a considerable resource commitment to all its students. In particular, those students who are recipients of all University scholarships have a significant proportion of the scholarship paid for by MSHS.

Candidates should note that MSHS and University resources are only available to students whose enrolment is current. Students who are on leave of absence or who have a lapsed candidature or discontinued candidature are, in most cases, not entitled to access the postgraduate facilities and resources listed below.

General Resources

  • Office Allocation

    The Melbourne School of Health Sciences values the contribution of postgraduate research students to the research and intellectual vigour of the department. To enable research higher degree students to effectively participate in the academic environment and successfully complete their research program, the department will endeavour to provide office space and equipment to support their research activities.

    The School will work to ensure that:
    • Full time research students are provided with office space.
    • All offices for full-time researchers will be equipped with desks and chairs, computers, up to 2 drawers in a filing cabinet, storage and a shared telephone.
    • Part time students will be provided with a desk on a shared basis, where possible.
    • Where students are undertaking the majority of their data collection in one of the University’s Clinical Departments, the School will advocate on your behalf for similar accommodation provisions. It will not normally be possible for you to have dedicated office space for you alone at both sites.
    • Postgraduate research students will be able to apply for after-hours access to The Melbourne School of Health Sciences building.

    The allocation of office space will be prioritised as follows:

    • Full time PhD students
    • Full time M.Phil students
    • Full time Clin Doc students
    • Part time PhD students
    • Part time M.Phil students

    Office space will be allocated to students with special needs, where available. This will be assessed with reference to the above priority areas. Cases of special need may include, but are not limited to, students who have:

    • Demonstrably difficult personal or home circumstances affecting their study, for example child care issues or disruptive home environment.
    • Medical condition or disability.
    • Specific academic needs.

    Conditions of Occupancy and Vacating

    Postgraduate research students:

    • are expected to make full and proper use of the facilities allocated to them.
    • are responsible for informing their supervisor and the Postgraduate Manager of changes to their candidature that may affect their eligibility for an office or if they no longer require an office.

    Postgraduate research students will not be eligible for office space:

    • if their candidature has lapsed
    • if they consistently do not utilise the office space allocated
    • once the student has submitted their thesis for examination (arrangements will be made to accommodate students who are required to make amendments to, or resubmit their thesis).

    The University of Melbourne’s Graduate Centre also caters for the needs of research students and you are encouraged to make full use of the facilities available – further information can be found on the Graduate Centre website.

  • MSHS Research Higher Degree Support

    The aim of this support is to cover recurrent research costs and/or conference costs and should be used as a priority source of funds instead of using MSHS operational funds. Research higher degree (RHD) students including 3rd year Clinical Doctorate students are allocated up to $500 pro-rata each year to cover such costs. Pro-rata payments apply where students are part-time or enrolment is shared with another School/department.

    ARC and NHMRC scholarship recipients with access to additional resource support that exceeds the value offered by the School must use the MSHS RHD support as a last resort. Only under exceptional circumstances and through a recommendation put forward by their supervisor will these students be able to access these funds.

    • Proposed expenditure is to be discussed with and approved by supervisor(s) before spending.

    Research costs that may be claimed

    Items that may be claimed include:
    • research equipment
    • computer hardware or software (see IT Resources)
    • conference registration and associated costs
    • statistical consultancy
    • attendance at specialist courses
    • transcription
    • thesis binding/printing (non-scholarship students only)

    Candidates should keep original receipts for external purchases, and submit them to their supervisor for approval and then forward them onto the Research Administrator. Students who hold a scholarship may have some support for thesis costs provided through their scholarship.

    Candidates should note that:
    • All non-consumable purchases must be returned to the department at the end of the student's candidature.
    • This means items such as computer peripherals, equipment purchased explicitly for the research and any other loaned equipment must be returned to the relevant department.
    • Funds are allocated on a per calendar year basis and cannot be carried over into the following calendar year.
    • Purchase of text books is not claimable under this fund.
    The Melbourne School of Health Sciences will cover costs within reason towards:
    • Telephone calls
    • Printing and Photocopying including 1 copy of the final thesis.*

    * Note: Research projects requiring excessive amounts of printing (e.g. mail out of surveys etc) should utilise external providers of printing and photocopying (e.g. Officeworks) and the RHD support fund should be used to cover these costs.

    RHD Student Allowance Approval Form

    This form is to be completed by students utilising RHD allowance supporting their studies. Proposed expenditure is to be discussed with and approved by supervisor(s) before spending. The RHD allowance is paid through reimbursement.

    Please submit this form along with all original receipts attached to the F06 Student Payment Request forms (completing your personal details only) to a member of the Research Support Team (Bernardo Jarrin or Corliss Chan) on Level 1, 200 Berkeley Street.

  • Mailboxes

    All full-time research higher degree students are allocated a shared mail-box for internal and external mail delivery. The mail-boxes are located in the administration office in the photocopying room. A mail-box can be organised by contacting staff at Reception.

  • Photocopying & Printing Access

    The Melbourne School of Health Sciences provides all RHD postgraduate students with access to shared black-and-white laser printers and a photocopier. Printers are located for easy access. Each student will have a print quota set at 2000 pages per year pro rata through the automatic $50 yearly deduction from your SRHDS. Students who exceed this print quota will need to arrange with the Postgraduate Manager to have a new quota set. Students will be emailed a total of their printing on a monthly basis.

    To access the School's photocopiers a photocopy PIN can be organised by contacting the departments technology unit. A limited amount of colour printing is available to students and this can be arranged through the departments. Depending on the paper used, students will have the costs for printing charged back to support funds.

    The shared printer located in the Physiotherapy Computer Laboratory can be accessed from the computers in the Postgraduate Common Room as well as the Computer Laboratory. Access requires a Unicard copier card, which you can get from the basement of the Baillieu Library. Printing is charged at 11 cents per page.

  • Postage

    All research higher degree students can use the mail service of the School for University purposes only. Where particularly large mail-outs are to occur, special arrangements are to be made in advance with staff at Reception to off-set these postage costs.

  • Building Access / Keys

    All research higher degree students will be issued with a key to the postgraduate student common room and an office key on payment of a deposit. Please see the staff at Reception for a Key Request Form and submit the form to the Finance Officer to arrange keys.

  • Facsimile Access

    The School's fax machine is located in the administration office. RHD students may use the fax for research purposes. It is preferable that large documents be emailed, instead of faxed.

  • Consumables

    Use of stationery and other consumables such as CD's and floppy discs will be monitored and charged against your SRHDS. Items of stationery located in the stationery cupboard are for staff purposes only and should not be accessed by students.

  • Data Storage

    Research data must be kept in a locked cabinet and on completion of the thesis it must be archived in archive boxes, which are held at the organization which gained ethics approval for the research. Archive boxes must be clearly marked with:

    • Name of candidate
    • Names of supervisors
    • Thesis title
    • Data type
    • Date of storage
    • Date for destruction

    Research data in electronic format must be archived to CD or DVD. Upon completion of candidature, data will be archived to DVD, the School will retain one copy and the student will retain one copy.

  • Department Research Seminar Programs

    The Department of Physiotherapy holds a Research Seminar Program on a fortnightly basis. The dates and program schedule are advertised around the Department, in the Physio Weekly Update and via email.
    The principles of the program are as follows:

    • to facilitate participation by all RHD students (as both presenters and audience members),
    • to fulfill the candidature requirements of Masters by Research and PhD students,
    • to foster inter-Centre participation and knowledge dissemination,
    • to provide a social forum for staff and RHD students to mingle on a regular basis.

    These seminars cover a breadth of topics. All RHD students are expected to present and attend the seminar program. Full-time students are expected to attend every seminar and part-time students on a pro-rata basis. Each seminar concludes with wine and cheese.

IT Resources

  • Communication

    The Research Higher Degree Coordinator is available to meet with any RHD student whenever the need arises. Information relevant to postgraduate research students will be disseminated via email. Students are allocated an e-mail address by the university and this is the email to which all correspondence will be sent. Students are required to check this e-mail regularly.

    Postgraduate research students are encouraged to approach the student IT on 8344 0444 for any technical support issues they may have.

  • Network Accounts

    All postgraduate research students are entitled to a network login account to enable them to access the computer laboratories, internet and email. A wireless point is located in the department that students can use for wireless access. Access to the university network is subject to university rules and regulations, details of these regulations can be found at www.it.mdhs.unimelb.edu.au. Any postgraduate research student found to be using network services in breach of university or Department policy will have their access revoked.

  • Computer Laboratories

    The Department of Physiotherapy maintains a central computer laboratory of 21 IBM compatible computers. These computers contain the standard Microsoft office software as well as statistical and multimedia applications. The School has also provided a Postgraduate common room that contains 3 IBM compatible computers. All of the computers have access to the internet (as defined above) and are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to authorized students. The Learning Resources Room (LRR) contains 3 IBM compatible and 2 Macintosh computers with statistical, multimedia and graphics applications.

  • Desktop Computers

    The School will provide all full-time RHD students with desktop computers in the RHD room. Higher standard machines for more complex work will be maintained in the LRR and will be available for Postgraduate Research use.

  • Software

    All software purchased with Department funds (including research grants) is to be purchased through the Information Technology department and will be audited. Department Support Officer maintains a database of software licenses owned by departments within The Melbourne School of Health Sciences and which computers they are assigned to. Information Technology will remove any commercial software package found on Department owned equipment, which has not been assigned a valid license.

    Installation of unlicensed software is strictly forbidden and breaches University policy and may result in disciplinary action by the university. Details on software licensing conditions is shown below. Further details on software licensing can be obtained from www.infodiv.unimelb.edu.au/services/businessunits/it_procurement.html

    Students wishing to purchase software should consult with the Information Technology department, as the University has a number of educational licensing arrangements that enable students to purchase software at a greatly reduced price.

    Software Cost
    Installable locations
    		 Additional Comments
    University Computer Staff owned computer Student owned computer
    Microsoft Office Annual cost to staff EFT Yes Yes* No * Can be installed on home computer providing the license isn't used at the same time
    Endnote Free Yes Yes Yes  
    SPSS $80/year Yes Yes* No * Must be a full time staff member. Student version available from University Bookroom.
    SAS $90 per 6 months Yes Yes No  
    Macromedia Products Annual cost to staff EFT Yes Yes* No * Can be installed on home computer providing the license isn't used at the same time
    Anti-virus Free Yes No No Free equivalent will be installed onto student computer if used within the School.
    EFT: Equivelant Full Time

  • Skills Training

    Students are advised that they should access the training programs provided through the Department of Graduate Studies UpSkills program. These short courses are specifically designed for research students for use in their candidature. Students can find additional information on the courses on offer from the UpSkills program website.

  • Data Backup

    The School's fileservers are backed up on a nightly basis and the backup media rotated offsite weekly. Any file created on the server is added to the backup facility in the evening. In the event of data being lost or accidentally overwritten the turn around time to recover data is 4 hours for data that has been created and lost within the same business week or 24 hours with data that has been lost for longer than a week.

    Students should use their individual user folders on the server to backup critical files such as Thesis documents. The server should not be used to backup large research data documents as other alternative forms of media are better suited for this purpose.

    Due to limited resources and the vast amount of data that is backed up weekly, the backup facility only has archives of items on the server and staff machines for 6 months. Large files and files that only need to be archived should be backed up via removable media drives such as Zip disks, CD-R or DVD. The Information Technology department can provide advice and services to students on backup strategies and the use of removable media devices for storing data.

  • Borrowing Equipment & Manuals

    Department Support Officers maintain a limited amount of equipment and reference material, which is available for loan by staff. Details of resources available can be obtained from the Department Support Officer staff. All equipment to be borrowed should be booked in advance and must be signed out by the person responsible.

    Equipment being borrowed must not be removed from The Melbourne School of Health Sciences without approval for the Head of Department or Department Support Officer and the responsible person must complete the necessary Insurance paperwork.