Teaching and Training - Honours
Checklist for students applying for honours in zoology
- Read the information booklet carefully or download the information from the Department of Zoology home page.
- Identify staff members associated with research areas in which you think you might be interested in undertaking an Honours research project. Remember that any or all of these people may have extended links to other institutions and may offer Discovery or Links projects. You can also check current and recent higher degree projects and publications from the staff member concerned by substituting the year in which you are interested into the following address: (http://www.research.unimelb.edu.au/rpag/reports/research/(year)/654.html) If unsure about the area in which you would like to work, discuss it with the Honours coordinators.
- Make contact with potential supervisors in person, by phone or by email. Contact details are available through the University home page. Ask for information on supervisor availability, possible projects and suggestions for other contacts. If a list of potential projects is available from any laboratory in which you are interested, pick up a copy or have one mailed or emailed to you.
- Seek information about potential supervisors from students doing honours or post-graduate work or from former students. If you do not know any and would like to be put into direct contact with some, ask the Honours Coordinators to arrange it. All supervisors and laboratories are different and what suits one student will not suit another. In the Department of Zoology, the one-to-one research relationship between supervisor and student is emphasised so you are looking for a supervisor as much as a project. At Honours level the choice of supervisor maybe as important as the choice of research area.
- Establish whether any of the supervisors of choice are in a position to make a provisional commitment. There are two pathways here:
- Some supervisors are able to make a commitment on the basis of your record, an interview in person or by phone or following recommendations from others. Such commitments are only provisional until confirmed by the Department and Faculty. If a project is offered and you wish to accept, you and the supervisor should complete the required forms, sign them and submit them to the Secretary to the Head of Department. Only forms that are accompanied by the necessary documentation and with all sections completed will be processed. An official offer will be mailed if all criteria for selection are fulfilled.
- Some supervisors are not able to make a commitment until they see all applications. They may indicate that although they are interested in supervising you, they are matching applicants with projects and cannot yet give a final commitment. You can still put in an application if no supervisor is able to complete your application. To do so you should fill in the supervisor preference table on the Zoology Department cover sheet and as much as of the rest of the cover sheet and application as possible and submit it. Although you can submit at any time, your application should reach the Secretary to the Head of Department by December 1st if you wish to be considered in the main allocation round. If your application is successful a letter of offer will be mailed to you. If we cannot proceed with your application for any reason we will attempt to contact you by email with advice on how to proceed. Every effort will be made to do this before Christmas. If you fail to hear from us by the time the University re-opens in the new year you should contact us.
- Upon receipt of an offer, fill in the form to accept or reject it by the due date. In the absence of an offer ensure that the coordinators are aware that you are still seeking a project and follow their advice.