Completion Scholarships * [F7890]

These conditions are subject to final approval by University Committees

An asterisk (*) indicates that this scholarship is governed by conditions. See also general conditions.

Completion Scholarships¹ are designed, and supported by UWA's central research allocation funding, to encourage timely PhD completions. This is a reimbursement scheme, whereby payments for a living allowance are made in the first instance from school/faculty accounts. The full amount paid is reimbursed from central funds if the recipient submits their thesis within the stipulated time. If the thesis is not submitted by the due date, there is no reimbursement from central scholarship funds. As funds are limited, priority is given to nominated candidates who have not previously, or recently, received scholarship support. Completion Scholarships are not to be viewed as a second extension of a current scholarship and priority is normally given to applications for funding for periods of less than the full 20 weeks.

Definitions

In these conditions—

'PhD' means a Doctor of Philosophy;

'student' means a PhD student; and

'recipient' means a person in receipt of a Completion Scholarship.

Title
1. The scholarship is called a Completion Scholarship.

Purpose
2. The purpose of the scholarship is to encourage timely PhD completions.

Value
3. The value of the scholarship is equivalent to the value of the University Postgraduate Award in the year of award, and is currently exempt from taxation under Section 51–10 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997.

Eligibility Requirements
4.(1) To be eligible to be nominated for a scholarship a candidate must—

(a) be enrolled in the PhD course on a full-time basis at UWA; or in exceptional circumstances, be granted approval by the University for a part-time award; ² and

(b) in the opinion of the supervisor, have made substantial progress towards submission of the PhD thesis for examination.

(2) To be eligible to hold a scholarship a candidate must not undertake more than eight hours employment per week during normal working hours of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday.

² Part-time awards may be offered to students who are able to demonstrate that compelling social reasons, such as a medical conditions or major family commitments, preclude full time study. The desire to undertake part-time employment will not be accepted as a compelling social reason. Part-time awards are taxable. It is the responsibilities of awardees to check the implications for tax of accepting a scholarship.

Body Responsible for Selection
5. Selection is by Chair of the Scholarships Committee, by delegated authority of the Scholarships Committee.

Selection Criteria and Process
6. Subject to (2), the scholarships are awarded by the Chair of the Scholarships Committee to the nominated candidates who, in the opinion of the Chair, best meet the following selection criteria—

(a) thesis progress to date, including the likelihood of completion within twenty weeks;

(b) the strength of recommendation from the relevant school;

(c) details of a signed completion plan; and

(d) the candidate's publications record or other evidence of relevant research output.

Method of Payment
7. The scholarships are paid in fortnightly instalments through the University's Human Resources payroll system.

Duration of Award
8. Subject to the recipient meeting the conditions of the scholarship,—

(a) the scholarship is tenable for up to a maximum of twenty weeks; 

(b) payment ceases upon submission of the thesis, or at the expiry date of the scholarship as specified in the letter of offer, whichever occurs first.

Concurrent Awards
9. The scholarship may be held concurrently with an ad-hoc top-up scholarship that is of a value equal to or less than 75 per cent of the value of a University Postgraduate Award.

Application Procedure
10.(1) Applications are called for twice during each calendar year, once in first semester and once in second semester.

(2) Nomination forms are downloaded from the Scholarships Office web site and must be submitted by the advertised closing dates.

(3) On advice from supervisors, heads of school make nominations to the Chair of the Scholarships Committee, using the nomination form.

(4) Nominations or applications are not accepted directly from students.

(5) Nominations must include the following:

(a) a copy of the latest annual progress report;

(b) a list of the candidate's publications or other evidence of research output;

(c) a letter of recommendation from the co-ordinating supervisor outlining the candidate's merit for consideration for the scholarship;

(d) a completion plan, detailing the work to be undertaken by the candidate and supervisors to achieve a submission within the specified period of the scholarship, and signed by the candidate and the supervisors; and

(e) a letter from the head of school confirming the school's support for the application and specifying the following details:

(i) the Business Unit Number;

(ii) the Project Grant Number (School Operating Project Grant: Fund 10 or 63);

(iii) the proposed commencement date of the scholarship, and

(iv) the proposed end date of the scholarship (i.e. the date of thesis submission).

Administering Body
11. The scholarship is administered by the Scholarships Office.

Suspension of Scholarship
12.(1) Recipients may apply to suspend the scholarship for up to four weeks if a period of approved leave has been granted.

(2) Applications to suspend the scholarship are considered only if written support is received from the supervisor(s) and Graduate Research Co-ordinator detailing circumstances surrounding the request for the suspension.

(3) Failure of the recipient to resume study and take up the scholarship again within the specified time may result in the award being terminated.

Progress Report
13.(1) The recipients is required to submit a progress report to the Chair of the Scholarships Committee with details of milestones reached, and the remaining steps to completion of the thesis—

(a) eight weeks after commencement of the scholarship where the tenure of the scholarship is between 15 and 20 weeks; or

(b) six weeks after commencement of the scholarship where the tenure of the scholarship is between 10 and 14 weeks.

(2) Continuation of scholarship payments is subject to submission of a satisfactory progress report and confirmation by the supervisor(s) and head of school that the recipient is on track to submit the thesis by the specified deadline.

International Students
14. If an award is made to an international student there is no waiver of fees and the relevant school must ensure that arrangements have been made with the International Centre regarding payment of the full-fee cost of the course for the duration of the scholarship.

Financial Arrangements
15.(1) All stipend payments are initially from the school/faculty account.

(2) If submission of the thesis occurs on or before the specified deadline, all stipend costs are reimbursed from the central University scholarships fund.

(3) If the thesis is not submitted by the due date there is no reimbursement of stipend costs.

Publications
16. Any thesis, dissertation or other publications resulting from research undertaken by the recipient while in receipt of a scholarship must acknowledge the support of the scholarship and carry the University by-line.

Intellectual Property
17. Intellectual property is governed by the University's Intellectual Property policy available on the University's web site at http://www.legalservices.uwa.edu.au/lso/ip_res_contracts/2._ip_policy/ip_policy