Postgraduate Research Scholarship in Biosensor Design for Diagnostics

1. Background

a. This Scholarship has been established to provide financial assistance to research students who are undertaking bioengineering research comprising a cross-disciplinary cluster of high-profit researchers. All research will be conducted using the state-of-art facilities and equipment located at the Faculty of Engineering.

2. Eligibility

a. The Scholarship is offered subject to the applicant having an unconditional offer of admission to study full-time in a PhD or Master by Research within the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Sydney.

b. Applicants must hold an Honours degree (First Class or Second Class) or a First Class or Second-Class Equivalent Degree in Chemical Engineering, Bioengineering, food chemistry or a master’s degree in a related field.

c. Applicants must be willing to conduct research Biosensor Design for Diagnostics.

d. Applicants must be supervised by Professor Fariba Dehghani at the Faculty of Engineering, University of Sydney.

3. Selection Criteria

a. The successful applicant will be awarded the Scholarship on the basis of:

I. academic merit,
II. area of study and/or research proposal

b. The successful applicant will be awarded the Scholarship on the nomination of the relevant research supervisor(s), or their nominated delegate(s).

4. Value

a. The Scholarship will provide a stipend allowance of $20,000 per annum (fixed amount) for up to 1 year, subject to satisfactory academic performance. No extension is possible.

b. The Scholarship is for commencement in the relevant research period in which it is offered and cannot be deferred or transferred to another area of research without prior approval.

c. No other amount is payable.

d. The Scholarship will be offered subject to the availability of funding.

5. Eligibility for Progression

a. Progression is subject to passing the annual progress review.

6. Leave Arrangements

a. The Scholarship recipient receives up to 20 working days recreation leave each year of the Scholarship and this may be accrued. However, the student will forfeit any unused leave remaining when the Scholarship is terminated or complete. Recreation leave does not attract a leave loading and the lead supervisor's agreement must be obtained before leave is taken.

b. The Scholarship recipient may take up to 10 working days sick leave each year of the Scholarship and this may be accrued over the tenure of the Scholarship. Students with family responsibilities, caring for sick children or relatives, or experiencing domestic violence, may convert up to five days of their annual sick leave entitlement to carer’s leave on presentation of medical certificate(s). Students taking sick leave must inform their lead supervisor as soon as practicable.

7. Research Overseas

a. Scholarship recipients commencing in Australia may not normally conduct research overseas within the first six months of award.

b. Scholarship recipients commencing in Australia may conduct up to 12 months of their research outside Australia. Approval must be sought from the student's supervisor, Head of School and the Faculty via application to the Higher Degree by Research Administration Centre (HDRAC), and will only be granted if the research is essential for completion of the degree. All periods of overseas research are cumulative and will be counted towards a student's candidature. Students must remain enrolled full-time at the University and receive approval to count time away.

c. Scholarship recipients who are not able to travel to Australia to start their degree, may commence their studies overseas part-time. Approval must be sought from the student’s lead supervisor and will only be granted where a progress plan has been agreed and application for remote candidature has been approved by the Associate Dean (Research Education), or their nominee. Students commencing their degree overseas will receive this scholarship initially for 12 months. The stipend payment for the period spent overseas will be paid on a pro-rata basis and made when students arrive in Australia and is subject to confirmation of satisfactory progress from the lead supervisor. Extensions beyond 12 months, if scholarship recipients are not able to travel to Australia, will be considered on a case by case basis and subject to the approval of an application to extend their remote candidature.

8. Suspension
a. The Scholarship recipient cannot suspend their award within their first six months of study, unless a legislative provision applies.

b. The Scholarship recipient may apply for up to 12 months suspension of the Scholarship for any reason during the tenure of the Scholarship. Periods of Scholarship suspension are cumulative and failure to resume study after suspension will result in the award being terminated. Approval must be sought from the student's supervisor, Head of School and the Faculty via application to the Higher Degree by Research Administration Centre (HDRAC). Periods of study towards the degree during suspension of the Scholarship will be deducted from the maximum tenure of the Scholarship.

c. The Scholarship recipient cannot suspend their award.

9. Changes in Enrolment

a. The Scholarship recipient must notify HDRAC, and their lead supervisor promptly of any planned changes to their enrolment including but not limited to: attendance pattern, suspension, leave of absence, withdrawal, course transfer, and candidature upgrade or downgrade. If the award holder does not provide notice of the changes identified above, the University may require repayment of any overpaid stipend.

10. Termination

a. The Scholarship will be terminated:

I. on resignation or withdrawal of the recipient from their research degree,
II. upon submission of the thesis or at the end of the award,
III. if the recipient ceases to be a full-time student and prior approval has not been obtained to hold the Scholarship on a part-time basis,
IV. upon the recipient having completed the maximum candidature for their degree as per the University of Sydney (Higher Degree by Research) Rule 2011 Policy,
V. if a Master’s by Research student does not satisfactorily attend and complete their first annual progress evaluation, complete the required 6 credit points of HDR coursework units, and subsequently transfer to a PhD program,
VI. if the recipient receives an alternative primary stipend scholarship. In such circumstances this Scholarship will be terminated in favour of the alternative stipend scholarship where it is of higher value,
VII. if the recipient does not resume study at the end of a period of approved leave, or
VIII. If the recipient ceases to meet the eligibility requirements specified for this Scholarship, (other than during a period in which the Scholarship has been suspended or during a period of approved leave).

b. The Scholarship may also be terminated by the University before this time if, in the opinion of the University:

I. the course of study is not being carried out with competence and diligence or in accordance with the terms of this offer,
II. the student fails to maintain satisfactory progress,
III. the student fails to attend and pass their annual progress review and complete 12 credit points of HDR coursework units by the end of year 2, or
IV. the student has committed misconduct or other inappropriate conduct.

c. The Scholarship will be suspended throughout the duration of any enquiry/appeal process.

d. Once the Scholarship has been terminated, it will not be reinstated unless due to University error.

11. Misconduct

a. Where during the Scholarship a student engages in misconduct, or other inappropriate conduct (either during the Scholarship or in connection with the student’s application and eligibility for the Scholarship), which in the opinion of the University warrants recovery of funds provided, the University may require the student to repay payments made in connection with the Scholarship. Examples of such conduct include and without limitation; academic dishonesty, research misconduct within the meaning of the Research Code of Conduct (for example, plagiarism in proposing, carrying out or reporting the results of research, or failure to declare or manage a serious conflict of interests), breach of the Code of Conduct for Students and misrepresentation in the application materials or other documentation associated with the Scholarship.

The University may require such repayment at any time during or after the Scholarship period. In addition, by accepting this Scholarship, the student consents to all aspects of any investigation into misconduct in connection with this Scholarship being disclosed by the University to the funding body and/or any relevant professional body.

12. Reports

a. The successful recipient of this Scholarship may be requested to contribute to the progress \ and final reports to ARC.

13. Intellectual Property
a. The successful recipient of this Scholarship must complete the Student Deed Poll supplied by the University of Sydney

14. Publications

a. All ARC-funded research projects must comply with the ARC Open Access Policy on the dissemination of research findings, which is on the ARC website. In accordance with this

b. Any Research Outputs arising from ARC-funded research must be made openly accessible within a 12-month period from the publication date. Where this requirement cannot be met, reasons must be provided in the Final Report for the project.

c. 5. The scholarship recipient will provide a copy of the proposed publication to each other Party at least 30 days in advance of submitting for publication. The other Parties may provide comments and/or reasonable amendments to the publication to protect their Confidential Information and/or Intellectual Property, including requesting removal or delay to the inclusion of information which may pre-empt the publication of their Project Intellectual Property, provided this is not jointly owned with the publishing Party. Any such comments and/or amendments must be given to the scholarship recipient in writing no later than 15 days before the publication is proposed to be submitted. If no such comments or amendments are provided within the 15-day period, the scholarship recipient can submit the proposed publication, subject to any applicable requirements under the Grant Agreement. Where a Party requests that the proposed publication be amended in accordance with this clause 5.5, the scholarship recipient will use all reasonable efforts to amend the proposed publication accordingly and, if requested, delay submission of the publication for a period not exceeding 6 months to allow appropriate registration of any registrable Intellectual Property.

15. Acknowledgements

a. The successful recipient agrees to include acknowledgement of the ARC’s funding, including the ARC project ID.

b. The successful recipient agrees that all Research outputs and metadata arising from the Project will be made available accessible in the timeframes and in accordance with the Grant Agreement.

c. The successful recipient agrees to acknowledge the ARC’s support in all Material, publications and promotional and advertising materials published in connection with this Agreement. The ARC will make available, on the ARC website, the form of acknowledgement that You are to use.

d. ARC’s contribution and support of the project is acknowledged in a prominent place and an appropriate form acceptable to the ARC when, at any time during or after completion of the project.

e. Where the Research Output is a publication, in addition to acknowledging ARC support, the relevant Project ID (DP210103160) must be included. Metadata for the Research Output must include the ARC Project ID, list the ARC as a Grant source and contain a permanent Digital Object Identifier (DOI) for the Research Output. If a DOI is not available, then a permanent Uniform Resource Locator (URL) link must be provided instead to the Research Output.

16. Confidentiality

a. The successful recipient agrees to not to disclose confidential information without prior written consent unless required or authorised by law or Parliament to disclose.