PhD Colloquium

Masters, doctoral and other higher degree research students are invited to participate in the mentored Postgraduate Colloquium run as a parallel session on Monday and Tuesday. NB. This varies past arrangements where a separate day was run on Sunday ahead of the conference. This is an initiative to integrate the research higher degree students more closely into the conference.

When and where is it?

The 2019 PRRES PhD colloquium is scheduled to held on 14th and 15th January 2019 by The University of Melbourne and Deakin University, at the Melbourne School of Design, University of Melbourne.

What is its aim?

The aim of this colloquium is to provide the opportunity for PhD students in property to present their PhD work-in-progress in a supportive and non-confrontational environment to a group of senior academics and peers. In addition, senior academics will be invited to contribute to plenary sessions discussing such topics as ‘publishing your PhD’ and ‘making the most of your PhD experience’. The overall objective is to promote excellence in PhD research throughout the region.

Who should attend?

Any student who is considering or currently studying towards a Doctorate or Masters is welcome and will benefit from attending this colloquium.

Students who are well advanced in their research will present their initial findings and receive feedback which will be useful to them in writing up their thesis and in turning this research into possible publications;
Students who have completed their initial research proposal and literature review should present their work to date and receive helpful advice to assist them with progressing the research;
Students who are in the preliminary stages of their research, or just contemplating a research degree, for whom listening to the discussion, the proposals and the research outcomes of other students will be of great benefit in developing their research proposals. There is an opportunity to speak about your ideas for research in the ‘New to PhD’ session, which is a more informal part of the proceedings and you can receive valuable feedback from experienced academics.

What will I be doing?

We would like to encourage all PhD students to make a presentation. Students may wish to discuss the opportunity with your supervisor. Presenting can be a valuable experience, there is no better way to develop ideas than to explain them to someone else. The objective of the day is to provide you with feedback from a broader group of academics, both fellow students and more experienced academics in the field. The presentations will be attended by academics with experience in supervising and examining PhD work. It is the intention of these academics to encourage and support the students and therefore they will provide constructive feedback.

PRRES Scholarships, Prize and Award

We are pleased to announce the availability of two scholarships up to the value of AUD1,500 each available to higher degree research students (Masters or PhD in the property area) completing a PhD research degree as a full time student at a University in the broad PRRES catchment area. The scholarship is to be applied towards the costs of: Conference Registration (same cost as the early bird conference rate offered to returning PRRES members), airfares to the Conference from the winning student’s University location and 3/4 night’s accommodation (Sunday or Monday to Wednesday depending on the student’s travel arrangements). The successful student will be paid the scholarship in advance of the Conference on completion of registration. The scholarship will be awarded based on the strength of the submitted (up to 3 pages) research summary required for the PhD Colloquium. All summaries submitted by the due date will be considered for the AUD1,500 PRRES scholarships unless you indicate otherwise. You must also include a signed declaration from your supervisor that you are studying full-time, and include any additional supporting evidence of this.

In order to support and encourage PhDs students in these presentations, a PRRES Early Researcher PhD Prize for ‘Best Paper’ based on PhD paper submission (AUD400) and a PRRES PhD Award for ‘Best Presenter on the Day’(AUD400) will also be awarded at the colloquium. Further information is also available on the PRRES website at http://www.prres.net/

How should I register for the PhD colloquium and apply for the scholarships?

Students who wish to present their work and be considered for the scholarship should

Submit the application form;
Submit a signed declaration form from your supervisor proving the you are undertaking a Masters or PhD degree (by research or coursework);
Submit a research summary of not more than three pages for review ;
Pay the registration fee, and;
Have a paper in main conference (refereed or non-refereed).

The application form, signed declaration form and research summary should be sent to Dr Jerry Liang no later than the 31^th October 2018 (later submissions may be considered if space is still available, however may not be eligible for the scholarship).

The registration fee for PhD students is the same as the discounted conference rate offered to returning PRRES members. The student registration fee is only available to PhD students who are a full time student (a declaration form signed by the supervisor must be submitted) undertaking a Masters or PhD degree, and presenting a property related paper at the conference (not required to present in the PhD colloquium).

Research Summary

All the research summary will be assessed by a panel of academics to determine the PRRES Scholarships. Please note this is a summary of your research, not a paper, so please use the points outlined below to construct your research summary.

The first page should include:

The name of the candidate
The academic institution
Level of work (PhD or Masters)
Name of supervisor(s)
Working title of research
Studying part-time or full-time

The summary should address the following themes as appropriate according to stage of development:

The academic issue being studied
Why the issue is important both academically and practically
The concepts, theory and frameworks being used
The methodology being used
The anticipated contribution to knowledge
Progress to date (including preliminary results and findings)
The next steps in the research process
One or two specific issues which you would like feedback from the panel on.

Format of summary

Microsoft Word document
A4 or US Letter
Times New Roman 12 point font
Single spacing
2.5cm (1 inch) margins
Harvard style referencing
No footnotes
Figures and tables integrated into the text
One complete file only with the file name: student’s surname_colloquium

Research summaries submitted will be reviewed by an expert academic in order to ensure that they are of an appropriate standard. Those candidates making submissions will be advised prior to the colloquium that their submission has been accepted for a presentation. It is anticipated that most submissions will be accepted. The titles of the accepted submissions and authors will be included in the colloquium but submissions will not be published. Research summaries accepted will be circulated to participating senior academic panel members prior to the colloquium.

Other important dates

31^st October 2018 Closing date for submission of research summaries

15^th November 2018 Paper acceptance advised

Contact

Please contact Dr Jerry Liang or Dr Michael Mak for specific queries on the PhD Colloquium.