HDR Industry Internships can be a win-win for both industry and academia, providing valuable opportunities for collaboration, innovation, and knowledge exchange. At UniSC, our PhD students are ambitious, entrepreneurial, and big picture thinkers who work alongside our field experts and sector partners to tackle some of the world's greatest challenges.
Short-term PhD student internships connect you with our brightest emerging research talent with diverse backgrounds and skills that are trained in a variety of disciplines and analytical methods.
Over a 3-month period (HDR Industry Internships are a minimum of 60 working days and at least 3 months in duration), your business can engage a specialised PhD student and benefit from their expertise to work on an industry relevant research project.
The benefits
- Rapid results in 3 months
- A cost-effective solution to tackle R&D challenges
- Business retains Project Intellectual Property
- Minimal administration and selection process
- Identify and source future talent to grow your diverse workforce and accelerate innovation.
UniSC provides you with an opportunity to undertake a Higher Degree by Research (HDR) Internship (a short-term research project) with an industry partner during your PhD program. There is increasing demand in both private and public sectors for profound expertise, innovative capabilities, and advanced research and analytical skills.
UniSC PhD candidates can choose to incorporate a HDR Industry Internship into their HDR program. A HDR Industry Internship allows interns the opportunity to strategically apply design thinking to enhance or create solutions for industry challenges in industry areas related to their PhD research. This experience promises to not only contribute to academic growth but also instil practical problem-solving skills that are highly sought after in the professional landscape.
UniSC strongly encourages you to take on a HDR Industry Internship during your PhD program and to source an industry partner ideally no later than the first 18 months of your candidature for full-time equivalent candidates.
You may choose to complete the internship at any point throughout your program, or you can undertake it while your thesis is under examination. Please note there are conditions to candidature suspension, particularly for international students, which will be discussed with you during the application process. For more information contact the Graduate Research School or discuss with your proposed supervisor.
FAQs
HDR Industry Internships are undertaken for a minimum of 3 calendar months, and a minimum of 60 days.
These can be undertaken in a single period, or across a longer duration, depending on the research project requirements and candidate availability.
HDR Industry Internships can be undertaken on-site with the industry partner, off-site or remotely, or on-campus. The location of the internship is determined by the nature of the internship research, and is something that is negotiated between the industry partner and the University.
HDR Industry Internships are designed to pair our PhD candidates with industry partners in related fields, allowing our candidates to participate in and contribute to industry research and development projects related to their area of research. Every industry internship is unique, however all internships are of an R&D nature.
Our Graduate Research School will work in collaboration with the PhD Intern, the industry partner and University to develop an internship agreement covering the industry internship.
An internship agreement is required within the first 18 months of a students' candidature (or 36 months if part-time).
Internships can take place at any point within a PhD candidature, once an agreement is in place.
HDR Candidates can register their interest to undertake a HDR Industry Internship using 'HDR Internships' platform within the University's Work Integrated Learning Sonia Online system.
We utilise Sonia Online to advertise current industry internship and research project opportunities available.
We welcome interest and enquiries from businesses, organisations and community groups who would like to collaborate with our PhD talent.
Contact our Graduate Research School at HDRInternships@usc.edu.au to register your interest and discuss your research requirements, and we will facilitate connecting you with suitable candidates who are interested in collaborating.
PhD candidates undertaking eligible HDR Industry Internships can access a HDR Industry Internship scholarship to support their participation in the internship research project. This Internship scholarship is distributed to candidates via a fortnightly stipend.
The University recognises that in some organisational settings, including health care and industries working with vulnerable people, there may be mandatory checks that need to be be met by the HDR Intern prior to commencement of the internship.
The Graduate Research School will work in conjunction with the host organisation to ensure that their HDR Interns complete and provide evidence of compliance with the host organisation’s mandatory requirements prior to commencement. These may include, but are not limited to: criminal history checks, working with children checks, vaccination evidence records, confidentiality agreements, and site-specific inductions.
Engaging a HDR Intern is a cost-effective solution when considering the contributions that an intern can offer to your organisation's research and development.
A HDR Industry Internship will offer the HDR Intern researcher the opportunity to contribute strategically and operationally to support your organisation’s growth and innovation. To support the HDR Intern, we recommend host organisations provide an internship payment of $9500 to UniSC. The University will distribute this to the intern as an internship scholarship on a fortnightly basis over the 3-month internship period.
The University does not retain any funds provided by the host organisation.
Research internships drive innovation and accelerate industry and research collaborations. As such, the Australian government may provide tax incentives for these R&D projects. Host organisations are encouraged to seek independent accounting advice regarding eligible R&D tax incentives available to their organisation.
Contact
For a confidential discussion on how a HDR Industry Internship may align with your organisation or within your candidature, please get in contact with our Graduate Research School:
Email: hdrinternships@usc.edu.au