Research Support Program
Welcome
Welcome to the Research Support Program (RSP) for 2013.
In 2013, the co-ordinator of the RSP is Associate Professor Matthew Harding. Matthew is in room 755, and his phone number is 8344 1080.
Unless otherwise advised, seminars will be held on Wednesdays from 11.30am - 1.00pm, in room 731.
What is the RSP?
The RSP is designed to assist you with your research and to give you support over the duration of your candidature in the Law School. The RSP takes the form of a series of seminars spread across the academic year. All students are welcome to attend all seminars. However, as in past years, some of the seminars will be more helpful to students in their first year, and others will be more helpful to students in later years. In the schedule, those seminars that are especially likely to appeal to students in their first year are asterisked(*).
The aims of the RSP are to help you develop knowledge, skills and techniques that are necessary to complete a graduate research degree, and especially to:
- introduce you to research theories and methods that might bear upon your work;
- equip you to decide if and how to use these in your work;
- help you to develop your research, wiriting and editing skills;
- assist you in developing a sound approach to and timetable for research and in gaining control of your research program;
- assist you in thinking about the transition from graduate research study to an academic career; and
- provide you with a chance to get to know other graduate research students and members of faculty.
Essential to the success of these seminars is your ability to maintain a flexible approach about your research. An important role of these seminars is to encourage you to think in a more informed and creative way about your work. While many of you already have good research skills, most people find that they still need to develop the full range of skills required to complete a graduate research degree. The aim is to make the seminars a welcoming and supportive environment where you can develop conficence, skills and a support network.
How does the RSP fit into the broader program for Graduate Research Degree students?
The RSP constitutes one of the central programs of the graduate research student calendar. However, may other graduate research degree events take place throughout the year, including the milestone presentations that graduate research degree students make at various stages during their candidature. A 'Milestone Presentation Day' has been scheduled for 4 March, and will feature a range of presentations from students at confirmation and completion stages of their candidature. If you are a first year student, you are strongly encouraged to attend that day, so that you have an opportunity to meet some of the later year students and faculty, and so that you can see firsthand what to expect in the months and years to come. The details of the Milestone Presentation Day are noted in the schedule of seminars.
In additional to the RSP seminars, the law librarians are running sessions designed to assist graduate research degree students in developing research skills. The sessions are noted in the schedule of seminars.