iPhD supervisors

To ensure timely follow-up, the university supervisor should keep the iPhD program office informed about the student’s enrolment status and actual start date, otherwise the student stipend payments may face significant delays.

Once the iPhD program office has been notified that the student has accepted the university’s enrolment offer, the iPhD program office will send a Purchase Order to the university for the student scholarship (and the project development funds if applicable). Next, the university raises invoices to CSIRO for the base scholarship (and project development funds if applicable) and to the industry partner for the top-up scholarship.

Payment of the PED depends on the student’s primary location. If the student is primarily based at the university, initial funding will be transferred to the university and is dependent on student’s start date. For further information, please refer to the University Finance Responsibilities guide.

Similarly, if the industry partner’s premises is the primary location, the initial funding will be transferred to the industry partner based on the student’s start. In both instances, quote the CSIRO PO number when raising an invoice to CSIRO for payment. For further information, please refer to the Industry Finance Responsibilities guide.

The Project Expenses and Development (PE&D) fund covers project operational expenses and student professional development activities. Eligible expenses include work laptops, lab consumables, fieldwork, stationery, and travel costs relevant to the project. Personal purchases, entertainment, and supervisor costs are not allowed. Professional development activities require the agreement of the supervisory team.

The organisation where the student is primarily located is responsible for administering the funds. All procurement of goods and services must follow administering organisation’s procurement policies and processes and withstand audit scrutiny.

For further information or advice, contact the iPhD program office at iPhD@csiro.au.

Students receive a structured professional development package delivered by CSIRO alongside the PhD. This package will help foster the student’s professional skills including leadership, entrepreneurship and innovation. Most training will be delivered online, however there will be some in-person events.

The professional development training is mandatory and requires a time commitment of approximately five days per year. Please see the iPhD Training Calendar for a listing of available courses. These are constantly being updated across the year.

iPhD program staff are responsible for the delivery of the CSIRO Industry PhD program and support all project development stages, including expression of interest, contracting and student recruitment processes. As the funding administrator, we distribute the student scholarship and project expenses funds to the appropriate partners. Program staff also develop a tailored student career and professional development training program, which is delivered alongside the PhD program. Program staff actively support students and contributing partners and act as the first point of call should any issues arise.

First and foremost, your role as a supervisor is not to provide such specialist support but to know when and whom to refer the student to for professional help.

CSIRO provides the Employee Assistance Program which is open to the student and their immediate family, and provides counselling in areas including mental health, financial and legal assistance.

In addition, most universities would also have professional counselling services, which the student can be referred to. Finally, other publicly available help lines include LifeLine and Beyond Blue.

How is the Expense and Development (PED) fund obtained for the student’s second and subsequent years?

To receive subsequent PED annual funding, please obtain and complete the Annual Statement of Expenditure (ASE) from iphd@csiro.au. For further information, refer to the relevant University or Industry Finance Responsibility guides.

What is an acquittal? What is an ASE?

An acquittal is the process of providing an expenditure statement, usually together with receipts, to document the expenditure of a fund as per an agreed contract. The Annual Statement of Expenditure (ASE) is the template provided by the iPhD office.

All iPhD partners must acquit expenditures between 1 January to 31 December of the previous year. The ASE template must be used for this purpose and submitted by 28 February each year for review and approval before payment can be made.

Each partner’s finance team will need verification that expenditures are correct before they can sign off the acquittal form. They may require the student/supervisor to provide a list of expenditures and receipts.

For university supervisors, please refer to our video (coming!) for more details.

For industry supervisors, please refer to our video (coming!) for more details.

Can the Project Expenses and Development fund be carried forward into the new financial year?

If your student’s primary location is at the university, the university’s finance policies will determine if funds can be carried over, and the university’s financial year will be adhered to. Most universities typically allow the carryover of unspent funds. Please confirm with the university’s finance department to ensure that arrangements are in place for unspent funds.

Regardless of where the student is based, at the outset, the student will need to obtain the consensus of the supervisory panel for any expenditure. This should ideally happen through a discussion between the student and the supervisory panel at the start of the project and annually thereafter. In particular, the relevant supervisor (university, CSIRO or industry supervisor depending on the primary location) will need to approve the various expenditures in writing.

My student and I have been asked to attend ON Launch Camp for iPhD. Will we be reimbursed for travel expenses?ve been asked to attend Launch Camp. Will I be reimbursed for travel expenses?

CSIRO will make reimburse up to $1,500 (GST exclusive) to fund travel, accommodation, and ancillary expenses for the student to attend Launch Camp. Please note that this amount is only for the student and cannot be used to cover the supervisors’ cost of travel. Supervisors will need to be funded through their organisations’ budgets.

This reimbursable payment for travel will be determined and paid to the primary location upon the iPhD program office receiving an itemised travel invoice from the primary location (e.g., the university in most cases) quoting the CSIRO purchase order number. Therefore, it is important to keep all receipts.

What is the purpose of the Industry Engagement component?

The Industry Engagement component is a requirement of the CSIRO Industry PhD program. It aims to ensure that the needs of industry guide the development, activities, and outcomes of the PhD project. It provides an opportunity for the student to work under the guidance of their industry partner on research and development activities contributing to their PhD project.

What types of activities are suitable for the Industry Engagement component?

Activities should provide students with relevant tools and experience to better contextualise and apply research in an industry setting. Activities should contribute to the development, research and outcomes of the larger PhD project, and be related to the student’s area of research. (Note that an initial Industry Engagement project was crafted and agreed upon in the Collaboration Agreement and should be referred to.)

Potential activities may include:
• understanding the research needs of the industry partner and/or the broader industry
• undertaking practical research translation activities under the guidance of the industry partner
• testing research assumptions and innovations in an industry setting with end-users.

Generally, any results from these activities can be included in the thesis so long as confidentiality and publication clauses listed in the Collaboration Agreement and Student Agreement are complied with.

What is the required duration of the Industry Engagement component and where should it take place? Can the component be undertaken remotely?

The Industry Engagement component must be a minimum of 60 full-time days or three calendar months in duration and should ideally take place at the industry partner’s premises. The Industry Engagement component should ideally be completed part-time or in short blocks, strategically placed throughout the PhD to encourage ongoing engagement between the industry partner and the student.

At the discretion and with the agreement of the supervisory team, alternate locations may be possible if there are travel limitations, if the project needs access to specific facilities and equipment, or if the entirety of the Industry Engagement cannot feasibly be undertaken at the industry partner’s location(s). The university will need to approve any alternate location(s).

Examples of locations include:
• CSIRO site
• the university
• a combination of sites
• remote
• a mixture of remote and in-person attendance.

Does the Industry Engagement component need to be completed full-time?

The Industry Engagement component does not need to be completed full-time, however any arrangements must total at least 60 full-time equivalent days of engagement. There is significant flexibility, and the exact format should depend on the needs of the project and support the development of the student. For instance, the component could be completed part-time or in short blocks strategically placed throughout the PhD to encourage on-going engagement between the student and the industry partner.

What support is available for travel if the Industry Engagement component is in a different location?

It is strongly advised that you work with your supervisory team to construct an Industry Engagement plan for your student prior to project commencement. It should outline key details of the component, such as key activities, resources, location(s), when it will occur, and travel and accommodation costs. If there is a need for the student to travel, the Project Expense and Development Funds may be used for this purpose. If the travel costs exceed the Project Expense and Development package amount, early discussions about which party will cover these additional costs will be required.

Who is the supervisor primarily in charge of the Industry Engagement component?

Since the primary location of the Industry Engagement component will generally be the industry partner’s premises, the industry supervisor will have increased responsibility for the student during the Industry Engagement. Although the industry supervisor is responsible for the student while at the company, the day-to-day supervision of the student may be delegated to someone else on-site, or to one of the other supervisors, particularly if activities are being undertaken at a non-industry partner location.

In addition, depending on the PhD project, the student may need access to laboratories and equipment in other locations including at CSIRO or the university, and this will accordingly fall under the purview of the relevant university or CSIRO supervisor.

How will the progress of the Industry Engagement component be tracked? What documentation will need to be submitted at the end of the Industry Engagement component?

The Industry Engagement component including activities, location(s) and attendance arrangements should be jointly agreed upon between the student and the supervisory team and should be approved by the university early in the PhD.

The university will have reporting requirements, for instance an internship report may need to be completed by the student and signed off by the industry supervisor. To track the student’s attendance, their university may need to provide an appropriate tracking mechanism (e.g., timesheets).

The student should engage early with their graduate school to identify any university-specific requirements. Although it is recommended that the Industry Engagement project be scoped early in the PhD, there is an expectation that supervisors and the university will make allowance for changes down the track if required, and these changes will need to be consistent with the Collaboration Agreement.

Do students need to complete Health & Safety inductions with the industry partner? The students have already completed mandatory HSE courses at CSIRO and at the university and this seems like a duplication.

Yes, whichever premises the student enters will be governed by the health & safety requirements of that entity. When the student attends the industry partner’s premise, they will need to be aware of and comply with the industry partner company’s health & safety requirements which include completing any necessary inductions. This is for the student’s own benefit as well as to safeguard the interests of the other people on-site.

Once the university has confirmed that the student has completed all the program requirements necessary to be awarded the degree (not necessarily been bestowed the degree or attended the graduation ceremony), university supervisors, please inform the iPhD Program Office (iphd@csiro.au).

The iPhD Program Office will retrieve any uncommitted scholarship as well as Project Expenses and Development funds from the university as per the Collaboration Agreement.

This is particularly important if your student has completed the degree within 3 to 3.5 years instead of the expected 4-year tenure allowed under the iPhD Collaboration Agreement.

There is no obligation for the industry partner or CSIRO to offer employment to the student during or at completion of the project. There is also no obligation for the student to work for the industry partner after completion of the PhD.