Supporting your HDR Journey at SCU!

We’re delighted to welcome you to Southern Cross University as you embark on your Higher Degree Research (HDR) journey. Congratulations on taking this exciting step toward advancing your academic and professional aspirations!

At Southern Cross University, our HDR candidates are engaged in relevant and original research across a diverse range of fields. You are now part of a thriving and highly regarded research community, and we are proud to support you as you begin this important chapter.

As you progress through your candidature, both you and the University will need to meet a number of requirements to ensure your study, supervision, and administrative needs are fulfilled. These requirements are outlined in the information that follows.

Please know that we are here to offer support and guidance whenever you need it. Your success and wellbeing are important to us, and we’re committed to helping you thrive throughout your research journey.

Beginning of Candidature

Complete your Supervisor Candidate Agreement (SCA)
Undertake Research Integrity Training
Complete Riskware Training
Attend Mandatory HDR Orientation
How to Access NextGen Online Forms/Coversheets

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During your Candidature

Confirmation of Candidature
6 monthly Progress Reports
Manage most aspects of candidature
In-Candidature Review

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Towards the end of Candidature

Prepare for Thesis Submission
Thesis submission and availability
Restricting the availability of a thesis.

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Students at a graduation ceremony wearing ceremonial gowns and motar boards

Important First Steps

1. Supervisor Candidate Agreement form

The SCA form is a foundational agreement between you and your supervisory team. It outlines expectations, roles, and responsibilities, and must be completed within 30 days of your enrolment.

How to complete it:

Log in to the IRMA NextGen Portal.
Select “Create coversheet” and choose “Supervisor Candidate Agreement form.”
Fill in your sections; it will then be routed to your supervisor for approval.
Once approved by the Graduate School, you can view it via “status history” or print it.

Tip: Review the HDR Candidate and Supervisor Policy and Supervision Procedures before completing

2. Research Integrity Training

Completion of the Research Integrity Training is mandatory for all commencing HDR candidates prior to the completion of their confirmation of candidature. To find out more about the requirements of the training, please refer to the Research Integrity Training Guidelines.

To access the training, please log in to Blackboard first.
Select Research @ Southern Cross University under the menu on the right-hand side underneath My Information and Workgroup Sites.
Then select Research Integrity on the menu on the left-hand side to navigate to the training.

3. Riskware Training

RiskWare is SCU’s system for reporting and managing hazard and incident reports received from both staff and students. It is essential that everyone knows how to access this system, how to effectively report incidents and hazards, and how to respond to reports if in a key role. This program also includes the option to download the PocketSafety App to report hazards and incidents on the go. Completion of RiskWare training is mandatory.

To access the training, please log in to Blackboard.
Select Higher Degree by Research (Graduate School)
On the left-hand side, select Riskware Training.

HDR Orientation

HDR Orientation is a mandatory component of early candidature designed to equip new research candidates with the essential knowledge, tools, and support systems needed for a successful research journey. It introduces candidates to the administrative processes, academic expectations, and support services available throughout their candidature. Topics covered include research ethics, thesis writing, publishing, library services, and managing supervisory relationships.

Importantly, Orientation fosters peer support networks, which are especially valuable for candidates studying in isolation. These networks help maintain motivation, accountability, and engagement with research goals. Candidates unable to attend must apply for an exemption through the Dean, Graduate School, with supervisor support.

IRMA Nextgen online forms

IRMA NextGen is Southern Cross University’s online portal for managing Higher Degree Research (HDR) candidature. It provides a centralised system for HDR students, supervisors, and the Graduate School to complete and track essential administrative forms—known as coversheets—throughout the research journey.

These forms are used to:

Initiate candidature requirements, such as the Supervisor Candidate Agreement (SCA).
Submit milestone documentation, including Confirmation of Candidature and thesis submission.
Request changes to enrolment conditions, such as supervision arrangements, attendance type, or thesis topic.
Apply for leave, interruptions, extensions, or withdrawal from candidature.
Nominate examiners and lodge final thesis materials for examination and graduation.

How to access

Log in to the IRMA NextGen Portal
Use your SCU credentials to log in. If you experience any issues, contact the Service Desk at servicedesk@scu.edu.au.
Navigate to the Coversheet Section
Once logged in, select “NextGen” in the top right corner of the portal interface.
Create a New Coversheet
Click on “Create Coversheet” and choose the appropriate form from the dropdown menu.
Complete and Submit
Fill in your sections of the form. Once completed, it will automatically be routed to your supervisor(s) for review and approval.
Track Status and View Comments
After submission, you can monitor the approval process by checking the “Status History”. Click the “eye” icon next to each approver to view their comments.

For further instructions on how to use IRMA NextGen Coversheets, please refer to NextGen user guide - HDR coversheets

During your Candidature

1. Confirmation of candidature

Confirmation of Candidature is a key milestone in a higher degree by research program. It formally validates the feasibility and academic rigour of a candidate’s research proposal, ensures compliance with training and ethics requirements, and marks the transition from provisional to confirmed candidature, allowing the student to proceed confidently with their research.

This milestone is required to be completed within 6 months after enrolment (full-time equivalent).

For more information, please refer to the Confirmation of candidature guidelines.

2. Progress reports

As a Higher Degree by Research candidate at Southern Cross University, you must submit a progress report every six months to the Graduate School. These reports help monitor your academic progress, ensure regular engagement with supervisors, and identify any issues early. If you have confidential concerns, you may submit a separate report directly to the Manager of the Graduate School

3. In-Candidature Review

This in-candidature review (ICR) assesses your progress toward completing your research and ensures your thesis submission remains aligned with the timeline set at Confirmation of Candidature. Occurring 12 months post-confirmation for PhD candidates or 9 months post-confirmation for Masters by Thesis and Professional Doctorate, it is a critical checkpoint to maintain momentum, identify challenges early, and support timely completion.

For more information, please refer to the In candidature review guidelines.

Changes to Conditions of Enrolment

During your HDR journey, you may need to update your enrolment details. These changes must be submitted via IRMA NextGen using the Change to Conditions of Enrolment form and approved by your supervisor, DHDRT, and the Graduate School.

Types of Changes:

Thesis Topic: Changing your topic may affect your supervisors or faculty, with possible funding or visa implications for international students.
Supervision Arrangements: Updates require signatures from both incoming and outgoing supervisors, plus a new Supervisor Candidate Agreement.
Attendance Type: You can switch between internal/external or full/part-time enrolment.
Interruption to Candidature: Allowed only after confirmation, with valid reasons and approval. Interruptions over 12 months need Dean approval. Ethics and other approvals are suspended during this time.
Sick/Recreation Leave: Submit leave requests through IRMA NextGen. Scholarship holders must follow the HDR Scholarships Policy.
International Travel: HDR candidates must complete a travel form for absences over 72 hours. Travel is generally not permitted before confirmation unless under compassionate circumstances.
Extension Requests: Must be submitted at least two months before your end date and require exceptional circumstances. Progress reports must be current.
Withdrawal: Submit a withdrawal form via IRMA NextGen. Your student email will be deactivated immediately upon processing.

Under the Australian Government’s Department of Education, all Higher Education Providers must report on HDR students’ engagement with research end-users. A research end-user is any external individual or organisation (e.g. business, government, NGO, community) that directly benefits from the research outcomes, excluding other universities or affiliated entities.

Engagement activities include internships, placements, joint supervision, or training where the research benefits the end-user through intellectual property or commercial outcomes.

Southern Cross University must report on three types of industry engagement for PhD and Master’s students:

Joint supervision by an external industry supervisor.
Internships agreed within 18 months (full-time) or 36 months (part-time) of course start.
Internships undertaken after those timeframes.

This engagement is now compulsory and helps strengthen industry links, improve innovation, and enhance employability. All HDR students are encouraged to seek industry involvement during their studies.

For further information on Research end-user or Industry internships please read the below.

Research internship undertaken with a research end-user.

A research internship should be undertaken within 18 months from the commencement date of the student’s HDR if the student is undertaking a full-time student load (36 months from the commencement date for a part-time student load).
A written agreement is required and must detail the Research & Development (R&D) activities to be undertaken and the duration of the internship.
The internship must be for a minimum of 3 calendar months in duration, and at least 60 full-time equivalent (FTE) days of engagement.
An eligible internship must be related to the student’s area of research.
A research internship can be either paid or unpaid, and can form part of an enrolment or be undertaken during a HDR period of suspension and can be undertaken any time throughout your candidature.

For further information on Research end-user or Industry internships please see FAQ.

This is defined as a student with at least two HDR supervisors, at least one of whom is from a research end-user organisation. The supervision arrangements must be endorsed by the HDR student's Higher Education Provider (HEP) and the research end-user supervisor must be actively engaged in the student's HDR.

Examples of joint supervision by a research end-user are:

An external supervisor who comes from a government research agency such as DPI or CSIRO, or a non-governmental organisation that undertakes research.
A living stipend, sponsorship for training or conference attendance provided by an end-user.

Examination and Graduations

Once your thesis has been submitted, it takes approximately 6-8 weeks for the Graduate School to receive all the reports. Once all examiner reports have been received, these and any annotated copies of your examined thesis will be sent to the School Director and your Principal Supervisor for release to you. Please refer to our HDR Student Handbook or the Graduate School’s Examination’s Officer to learn more about dealing with examiner reports. It should be noted that when examiner reports are released to you through your supervisory team you will be given detailed instructions on how to respond to these reports.

Once a candidate has completed all changes to their thesis and the Dean, Graduate Studies has recommended the awarding of a degree, all candidates must provide the following to the HDR Officer:

One electronic copy of the final thesis in PDF format
A 100-word abstract of the thesis
A 400-word abstract of the thesis
A fully approved thesos deposit and verification coversheet through IRMA NextGen. This is pursuant to the University's policy that, subject to authorised exemption, all theses are to be included in the repositories of the University Library.

Upon receipt of this material, the Graduate School will initiate the preparation of your academic transcripts and refer your name to the Graduation Office in preparation for graduation. Candidates should also be aware that there are copyright implications that must be addressed before making your thesis available online.

Lodgement of all required copies of a research thesis is a prerequisite for graduation.

A candidate retains the intellectual property in the thesis. However, pursuant to University policy and rules, lodging a research thesis with Southern Cross University means that an unbound hard copy will be placed in the University library archive. Also, a digital copy will be uploaded to the online institutional repository to be published online within an approved institutional auspice.

A candidate may apply to impose access restrictions on both the digital and unbound copies. Please refer to the submission rules if you seek such restrictions.

Candidates should also be aware that there are copyright implications that must be addressed before making your thesis available online.

Access to a thesis may be completely restricted for a defined period of up to 24 months (see University rules). A restricted thesis will have its citation and abstract data made available, but not the full thesis. Once the full thesis is published in the Cross Connect, there is no restriction on who may access it.

Contact the Graduate School

T: +61 2 6620 3219

T: +61 2 6626 9186

E: gradschool@scu.edu.au

More Information

For general contact details please visit our contacts page

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