Research Degrees

2025 Report

In 2025, our graduate research team has been focusing on providing the highest quality graduate research experience. Nursing and midwifery led research is continually evolving to ensure we produce new, innovative, and evidence-based practice for the health and wellbeing of our communities.

A Monash Nursing and Midwifery PhD qualification continues to be highly sought after globally. This has been further demonstrated in 2025 with the MNM Graduate Research Office assessing 411 enquiries from prospective applicants across Australia and around the world.

In 2025, 43 students were enrolled in our graduate research program with 19 new enrolments across an extensive range of research methods and topics in line with our research focus areas. Our graduate research team continues to provide effective and timely management and delivery of research degrees, including continuing to streamline processes across admission and enrolment, securing six international and domestic full-time PhD scholarships, and two highly competitive Australian Nurses Memorial Centre scholarships to two MNM academics Renee Molloy and Angelique Clarke.

Back to teaching and learning

In 2025, the MNM graduate research team chaired 31 panel milestones and saw three timely, high quality PhD completions, delivered two research seminars and one supervision workshop.

In addition, our supervision capacity has significantly grown with newly appointed professoriate and existing MNM academics becoming accredited supervisors in 2025. In December, Dr Kaori Shimoinaba received the inaugural MNM PhD supervisor excellence award under the research excellence award category for her exceptional supervision, mentoring and training practices that enrich the experiences of our PhD students at MNM.

Our graduates’ research is diverse, from clinical to education and community-based topics.  For example, full time PhD student Cameron Marshman submitted his

PhD titled "People Being with People”: A Body- Mapping Inquiry into the Lived Experiences of Compassion in Mental Healthcare Workers and is awaiting the results of the examination process. During his PhD enrolment, Cameron published one journal article and had abstracts accepted at both international and national conferences. In July this year, midwifery academic Bethany Carr was awarded her PhD titled: Developing and Validating A Bayesian Network For Predicting Postpartum Haemorrhage that makes a distinct and significant knowledge contribution to midwifery. Dr Verity Mak who graduated in 2024 received one of the inaugural Dean's Commendations for Thesis Excellence that celebrates outstanding achievement in doctoral research, placing her among the top 5 percent of graduates from the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences.

In 2025, our PhD students presented their research at national and international conferences (four students receiving travel grants) and achieved numerous publications in top tier nursing, midwifery, and health journals. This included full time PhD student Caity Deery who received the best original research oral presentation at the Medicines Management 2025 Conference, for her presentation titled: 'Family engagement in the medication management of older adults during transitions of care'.

I look forward to 2026 and to the continued growth of the MNM Graduate Research program, including seeing the original work of our students impact the health and wellbeing of our community. Afterall, health starts with us.

Professor Gabrielle Brand
Director