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CASS/ATNF Graduate Student Research Scholarships


Current ATNF co-supervised students Graduate Student Coordinator: Dr. Bärbel Koribalski
Administrative Assistant: Julie Tesoriero

Annual ATNF Student Symposium
Past ATNF co-supervised students

Benefits

For successful applicants to the CASS / ATNF Graduate Student Program, we offer support in the way of office accommodation, computing facilities, and short-term accommodation (<1 month) at the Marsfield lodge or at the ATNF observatories (subject to availability). Travel should be covered by the host University, although car transport with Epping ATNF staff going to the observatories is sometimes possible. The CASS / ATNF Graduate Student Program does not normally provide a scholarship, so students will need a full living and tuition scholarship at the host University. For exceptional students, CSIRO occasionally offers Postgraduate Scholarships (details here - for CSIRO staff / supervisor).

All PhD students enrolled in the CASS / ATNF Graduate Student Program are eligible to apply for overseas travel assistance to suitable conferences or for working visits. These awards are typically up to the value of A$5000 over the duration of the PhD (but can be more for exceptional students) and may be spread over several visits. Travel justifications should be submitted to Julie Tesoriero (Julie Tesoriero at csiro.au), administrative assistant to the Graduate Student Coordinator, Dr. Bärbel Koribalski. The Graduate Student Coordinator will assess the application and, where necessary, consult with the student's supervisors, before submitting the proposal for approval by the Astrophysics Theme Leader (Robert Braun). The final decision is made by the Chief of CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science (CASS), Phil Diamond, or his deputy. - We are currently creating application forms both to enter the program and request travel funds to allow for a more efficient process.

Duties

Once trained to use the Compact Array, ATNF Graduate students are expected to undertake the role of Duty Astronomer for between one and two weeks each year. The ATNF fully funds costs associated with this duty, including air travel within Australia. Students not based in Australia are encouraged, but not required, to do this duty when visiting.

ATNF Graduate students are expected to regularly visit ATNF to interact with their co-supervisor, staff, other students and visitors as well as for observations. The length and frequency of these visits may depend on the nature of the PhD project as well as the location of the host University and is negotiated between the student and his/her supervisors. Eg, Sydney-based students benefit from weekly visits, while overseas-based students generally prefer one or two longer visits per year.

Conditions

The conditions of entering the ATNF Graduate Student program are:

In addition, there needs to be an ongoing process of consultation between the student and their co-supervisors in order to agree on details such as the period of time spent at each institution, supervision responsibilities of the co-supervisors, student reviews, and authorship arrangements.

A useful general text on postgraduate student supervision is the HERDSA green guide No.3 ("Supervising Postgraduates", Ingrid Moses; unfortunately now out-of-print), and the book "Advising PhD Candidates" by Peggy Nightingale available from the Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia.

Talks and Theses

We appreciate it if students give progress talks from time to time at our ATNF Headquarters. This can be at one of our regular lunchtime meetings and at our Annual ATNF Student Symposium. These talks allow other students and staff members to find out what you are doing and assist you with your research.

At the end of your research degree, we would also appreciate a thesis colloquium in Epping, and we require copies of your thesis for the ATNF co-supervisor and the ATNF library.

Publications

ATNF Graduate Students who are first authors on publications are encouraged to have their paper internally refereed by an ATNF staff member (who is not an author on the paper), following standard ATNF publication policy.

Useful advice on the publication process is given in the HERDSA green guide No.3 (see above), and in "Check the Draft (and avoid the chill), Advice to New Authors" by D. E. Goddard.

ATNF-affiliated students must include their university as their affiliation on the paper. Students may also list the ATNF as a secondary affiliation. On request, ATNF will contribute up to a total of A$500 in page charges during the whole period of the PhD. The support will remain available, for appropriate papers, up to one year after thesis submission. It is recommended that ATNF-affiliated students who do not list the ATNF as an affiliation in the author list include a footnote on the front page to state that

Affiliated with the Australia Telescope National Facility, CSIRO.

Please include the appropriate acknowledgement for the use of Australia Telescope National Facility.

How do I apply?

The first step is to discuss possible projects with potential University and ATNF co-supervisors. Once a project is developed, a short proposal (3-4 pages) needs to be written and submitted to the ATNF Graduate Student Coordinator with the following details:

Applicant:           (Name, home address, email, telephone)
Institution:         (Name and address)
Supervisors:         (Names, email, telephone, fax)
ATNF Location:       (generally Epping)
Project title:       ("... my great project ...")
Timescale:           (eg., July 2010 to June 2013)
Project Summary:     (a few lines)
Project Description: (2-3 A4 pages)
Project Timeline:    (note thesis milestones, eg., taking and 
		      analysis of observations, publications, etc.)
The application should conclude with a statement on why you wish to joint the ATNF Graduate Student Program, including a commitment to regular visits, ATCA Duty Astronomer, Annual Student Symposium, etc. The proposal will be assessed by the ATNF Graduate Student Coordinator, B. Koribalski, and approved by the ATNF Director.

Questions?

Please contact the Graduate Student Coordinator Bärbel Koribalski for more information.

Current ATNF co-supervised students Graduate Student Coordinator: Dr. Bärbel Koribalski
Administrative Assistant: Julie Tesoriero

Annual ATNF Student Symposium
Past ATNF co-supervised students

(Maintained by B. Koribalski; last up-dated on July 28, 2010)