A day in the life
Your daily activities as an Honours student will be quite different from the routine of undergraduate life. There’s more independence and responsibility, and you’re embedded in a professional research team. It really is akin to your first step on the job ladder.
Given the differences between projects across our two Schools, your daily activities may differ in some ways.
Note that some students may undertake their day-to-day activities at different locations from those listed below. This is primarily the case – but not exclusively – for students whose project and primary supervisor are based at the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute (Alfred Precinct), the Burnet Institute (Alfred Precinct), Melbourne Sexual Health (Carlton), and the Department of Forensic Medicine (Southbank).
School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine
Main location: 553 St Kilda Road, Melbourne VIC 3004
You’ll work alongside your main supervisor’s research team for the duration of your project. You’ll be given a computer and a desk, and settle in to work with your new colleagues in a mixture of on-site and remote days.
Your daily activities will vary across project types. You might spend time undertaking desktop research as you find out what’s already known about your topic, what’s not yet understood, and formulate a research question.
You may have to collect data. This might entail you liaising with data custodians to access datasets; conducting online surveys, phone interviews or in-person focus groups; or undertaking literature reviews for meta-analysis. Once you’ve got that data, you’ll need to analyse it. That could involve statistical analysis, qualitative analysis, or a mixture of both.
And finally, you’ll need to write up your research findings for presentation, and potential publication. You may even have the chance to present them at a conference.
Along the way, you’ll be presenting on your progress, and meeting regularly with your supervisors to keep your project on track.
You’ll also come together with your fellow Honours students for regular lectures and workshops that’ll give you the skills you need to undertake your project.
Honours is also quite sociable! You’ll be a core part of a group of colleagues, who’ll welcome you into their fold.
School of Translational Medicine
Main location: The Alfred Centre, 99 Commercial Road, Melbourne VIC 3004
Our students use their Honours year to connect with leading scientific researchers and experienced clinicians in their area of interest, and may publish and present their results in academic journals and at conferences.
You’ll have access to cutting-edge technology, thanks to our partnerships with our fellow Alfred Research Alliance members, other Monash campuses, and national efforts. Our strengths range from flow cytometry to micro imaging, histology and preclinical imaging; a new national molecular imaging network; and the new MAVERIC supercomputer, which will be at the forefront of AI research capability.
You’ll learn how to design and implement a research project, training you in critical thinking, project management in meeting key milestones and deadlines, collaborating in a team, and the development of oral and written scientific communication. You'll work in a real-world environment on real problems.
Depending on your specialisation, you’ll learn how to perform and analyse wet lab and/or dry lab studies; develop proficiency in data acquisition, analysis and presentation; and undertake literature reviews.