Managing your Candidature

There are a number of options available to help support you during any changes or interruptions to your research.  Any changes to your enrolment should first be discussed with your supervisory team.

Managing your Enrolment

Annual Re-enrolment

All currently enrolled Graduate Research students are required to re-enrol annually at the University via the Web Enrolment System (WES). To assist you with meeting this requirement, we will send information and instructions about online re-enrolment in early October. All communication around re-enrolment will be sent to your Monash University student email account. For further information about re-enrolment please visit our Re-enrolment website.

Attendance Conversion

Depending on your course and research project, you may have options that allow you to to convert from full time to part time, or even to convert to external enrolment. If you are considering these types of changes to your enrolment, you should discuss this first with your Faculty to ensure your preferred option is available.

Please be aware there may be implications to your scholarship (if you have one) if you wish to convert to part time enrolment (for example, under ATO requirements, part−time stipends are taxable, and part time enrolment while maintaining your scholarship is only available under limited circumstances). If you need taxation advice, please contact the Australian Taxation Office directly; for information on the circumstances under which you may be permitted to hold a part-time scholarship, see clause 4.13 of the RTP Scholarships Procedures.

If you have any further questions relating to your scholarship please speak to our Scholarships team (mgro-scholarships@monash.edu).

Applying for Study Away

Currently travel is being approved for essential research as part of the graduate research course.  For details on eligibility criteria and how to apply, please see the Study Away section of the Graduate Research Forms page.

Applying for Leave

These following additional leave options however require you to apply:

• Leave of Absence (including sick/carers leave for periods over 10 working days)
  Total entitlement is 12 months over the duration of your enrolment
  For sick leave of less than 10 working days, you do not need to apply for leave but instead inform your supervisor

• Maternity/Parental Leave (including adoption leave)
  12 months per birth/pregnancy or adoption

These entitlements are the same for both full time and part time attendance. When applying, you should also provide supporting documentation.  It is also important to know that any successful leave applications will automatically change your future milestones and thesis submission date.

If you are an international student it is important to note that any leave requests must be for compassionate or compelling reasons such as:

• Course progression restrictions or unit unavailability
• Bereavement; medical; COVID19
• Pregnancy/child birth;  traumatic personal experience
• Family reasons; home country natural disaster; major home country political upheaval
• Military service obligation; visa refusal/cancellation

If you require leave beyond your maximum entitlement, you may request this in exceptional circumstances.  Section 4.1 of the Handbook provides further clarity around these types of leave.

If you are a scholarship holder, please speak to our Scholarships team (mgro-scholarships@monash.edu) to find out how taking leave may affect your scholarship.

Thesis Submission Date

If your thesis preparation is tracking well and you’re set to submit your thesis on time, you should refer to the thesis examination website for all the details about preparing and submitting your thesis.

If your research has been impacted by delays beyond your control and you will not be able to submit on time, you will need to submit an application to extend your thesis submission date. You are able to apply for extensions up to 4 year EFT in a single application or as 3 month extensions.

Please note the following information in applying for extensions to your Thesis Submission Date:

• You must have achieved your Final Review milestone to be eligible for an extension;
• Applications;
  • Should be submitted at least 10 working days before your due date
  • Can be submitted no earlier than 6 months before your due date
  • Must include a detailed timeline and justification for the extension
  • Must be submitted via the Thesis Submission Extension form

If you’re an international student and your current visa expires before you finish your course, you may need to extend your stay. Visit Monash Connect for more information. Extending your thesis submission date can also incur additional course fees. You should refer to your scholarship conditions, if applicable, and be aware of any further charges.

For further information please see the Graduate Research Progress Management Procedures (section 8) that outlines your entitlements and examples of acceptable reasons for extensions.