UNSW Higher Degree Research (HDR)

Scholarship Terms and Conditions

Contents
1. Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 1
2. Benefit and Allowance Conditions .................................................................................................. 1
3. Acceptance ...................................................................................................................................... 1
4. Tenure Conditions ........................................................................................................................... 3
5. Variation Conditions ....................................................................................................................... 3
6. Other conditions ............................................................................................................................. 4
7. Termination of entitlements ........................................................................................................... 5
8. Stipend overpayment...................................................................................................................... 5
9. Grievances and Review Procedures .................................................................................................... 5
10. Governance ....................................................................................................................................... 5

1. Introduction
These Terms & Conditions apply to various merit-based scholarships offered by the University of New
South Wales, Sydney (UNSW), including but not limited to the University Postgraduate Awards (UPA),
Tuition Fee Scholarships (TFS), and Australian Government Research Training Program
Scholarships (RTP). These scholarships are referred to as UNSW HDR Scholarships. Scholarships
can include a living allowance stipend and a tuition fee payment.

UNSW reserves the right to make amendments to these terms & conditions without prior notice.

2. Acceptance
Scholarship acceptance must be received by the prescribed deadline in the offer letter. By accepting
the scholarship, the recipient accepts the accompanying Terms & Conditions, & other Conditions of
candidature.

If acceptance is not received by the deadline, the offer will lapse after this date, and no longer be
valid.

3. Benefit and Allowance Conditions

UNSW HDR scholarship schemes provide benefits and allowances to assist recipients with ancillary
costs of a Higher Degree Research (HDR) program. Benefits and allowances may differ between
scholarships and all details are provided in the scholarship offer letter.
3.1. Stipend (living allowance)
3.1.1. Stipends are to provide a living allowance to the HDR candidate and are indexed
annually taking effect from 1 January of the relevant year.
3.1.2.The minimum stipend rate for all scholarships will be that which is advertised on the
UNSW website. This is known as the UNSW HDR Scholarship rate. Where TFS
stipends are higher than the standard UNSW HDR Scholarship rate, these will be
indexed only if and once the TFS stipend rate becomes comparable.
3.1.3. The duration of the stipend is calculated from the day of candidature commencement.
The scholarship commences on the day of enrolment for the term of the scholarship
offer. Payments and duration are pro-rated for part time enrolment, prior study, leave,
suspension, and transferring between Masters and Doctoral programs.
3.1.4. Under Section 51 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997, full-time stipends are
presently exempt from taxation, while part-time stipends are not exempt (refer to section
5.1). Part-time recipients must provide a Tax File Declaration form to Graduate
Research School (GRS) and cc UNSW HR Salaries upon submission of the
Commencement form, otherwise they will be taxed at the highest rate. UNSW cannot
provide advice regarding taxation. It is the responsibility of the scholarship recipient to
assess the tax liability of their stipend. Please refer to the Australian Tax Office Website
for further information: http://www.ato.gov.au

3.2. Tuition Fee Payments

3.2.1. The duration of tuition fee payments are based on whole terms of enrolment (HDR term
start and end dates). Recipients are liable for tuition fees if enrolling beyond the
scholarship duration.
3.2.2. Tuition fees cannot be paid in any other way, for any other purpose, or to any other
candidate.
3.2.3. The duration of the tuition fee payments are pro-rated for part time enrolment, prior
study, program leave, suspension, and transferring between Masters and Doctoral
programs.

3.3. Additional Allowances

Allowances are meant to be contributions to certain costs and might not cover the full
cost. See this page for the relevant funding amount.

Allowances are reimbursed upon fulfilment of conditions and after submission of the
Commencement Form and relevant documentation as outlined below. The Thesis Allowance
can only be paid on submission of the recipient’s thesis.

3.3.1.Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC) Allowance – For International recipients

only. The rate is set at the time of offer as the standard single Overseas Student Health
Cover policy of UNSW’s preferred provider rate for 4 years (Doctorate), or 2 years
(Research Masters). No additional documentation required.

3.3.2.Relocation Allowance -
Domestic recipients are eligible if they can demonstrate they were living overseas or
interstate at the time they applied for the scholarship or had not studied at an institution
in NSW/ACT within the 12 months prior to applying for the scholarship of relocation.
They must provide proof of relocation (eg scanned copies of tax receipts with
the amount of the relocation expenses). Recipients should retain copies of all
documents for their own records.
International recipients do not need to provide additional documentation. Costs are
 paid on receipt of the Commencement of Study Form (attached to the scholarship offer
letter).

3.3.3.Thesis Allowance – Once the recipient has submitted their thesis for examination, they
complete a Thesis Allowance Claim form and submit to the GRS
on [email protected] within one month of thesis submission.

3.3.4.Visa Processing fees – International only.

Visa Charges for Australian Government Research Training Program
Scholarship (RTP) holders are waived by the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) at the
time of visa processing. Recipients need to declare to DHA that they hold a Government
funded award. Visa Medical checks are not covered.
Where the visa processing fees have already been charged prior to RTP offer, special
cases for payment may be considered by the GRS. Scanned copies of tax receipts (not
invoices) with the amount of the visa processing charge, and reasons for the processing
fees being charged, must accompany the Commencement of Study Form.
Recipients should retain copies of all receipts for their own records.

3.3.5.Transport for NSW (TfNSW) Travel Concession - Australian Government Research

Training Program stipend holders residing in NSW are eligible to apply for the Opal
Travel Concession via https://www.student.unsw.edu.au/opal. Continued renewal of this
benefit is at the discretion of TfNSW. Opal eligibility is updated with TfNSW after census
date of each term. Recipients may receive notification of Concession cancellation prior
to this update.

4. Tenure Conditions
4.1. Ongoing eligibility
4.1.1. Recipients must meet all UNSW HDR enrolment and candidature conditions, and the
conditions outlined in the UNSW HDR Scholarships Policy and Procedure.
4.1.2. Recipients must provide accurate and up to date information to UNSW at all times.
4.1.3. Recipients are expected to spend 35-40 hours per week on their research for a total of
48 weeks per year. Approved part-time recipients are expected to spend 15-20 hours
per week on their research for a total of 48 weeks per year.
4.1.4. Recipients must be enrolled on campus and meet the minimum residency requirement
of twelve months (full-time equivalent) at UNSW or at a UNSW affiliated institution
during their candidature. This is to ensure that recipients have access to the support,
infrastructure and experience to successfully complete their HDR program.
4.1.5. Recipients must not be receiving income (such as another scholarship) to support their
enrolment if that income is greater than 75% of the primary scholarship rate (see
Section 9).

5. Variation Conditions
Scholarship holders must give twenty-one (21) days’ notice to the GRS for candidature variations
which will affect their scholarship, otherwise the recipient may be required to repay periods of
overpaid scholarship.
Variation requests need to be submitted through the Graduate Research Information System (GRIS),
with supporting documentation. Refer to the HDR Hub for full information.

5.1. Leave
5.1.1. Recipients cannot take leave in their first term. To do so would be a deferral of the
commencement of the program. The deadline to request deferral is census date of the
 start term. Any scholarship payments made to the recipient prior to deferral must be
paid back to UNSW at the time of the deferral request.
5.1.2. Leave allowances are outlined in the UNSW HDR Scholarships Procedure
5.1.3. Periods of leave do not attract leave loading.
5.1.4. If the recipient does not resume study at conclusion of leave, the candidature and
scholarship may be discontinued through the Lapsed Candidature procedure

5.2. Discontinuation
5.2.1. Recipients must give twenty-one (21) days’ notice of intention to relinquish studies,
otherwise they may be required to repay some of the scholarship

5.3. Transfer or Conversion of degrees

5.3.1. Should a recipient wish to transfer between UNSW HDR programs at the same level,
most scholarships are generally able to be transferred. Scholarship transfer is
considered during the transfer of candidature request.
5.3.1.1. Tuition Fee Scholarship transfer is additionally dependent on the new
Supervisor, School or Faculty having equivalent stipend funding available.
5.3.2. Transfer between a Research Doctorate and Research Masters will change the
duration of the scholarship as outlined in the UNSW HDR Scholarships Procedure.

5.4. Variation to study load

5.4.1. Variations from full-time to part-time must additionally request part-time scholarship
approval. Recipients must submit the request in writing to their Candidature
Management Officer, GRS, by providing a statement of reasons meeting the below
eligibility, a supporting statement from the proposed supervisor, and relevant supporting
documentation. Part-time scholarships will only be approved if the recipient can
demonstrate the following:
5.4.1.1. Significant family caring responsibilities which prevent the recipient from
undertaking a full-time study load
5.4.1.2. A disability or ongoing medical condition which prevents the recipient from
undertaking a full-time study load.

Certificates of birth, hospitalisation, or carer responsibilities may be provided by a

range of health professionals such as registered physiotherapists, doctors, maternal
and child health care nurses and occupational therapists.

See 2.1.3. for taxation details.

5.5. Working away

Permission to ‘work away’ for research purposes may be granted to currently enrolled
scholarship holders in accordance with the requirements outlined in the Variation to Candidature
Procedure.

6. Other conditions
6.1. Suspension of Scholarship
6.1.1. A recipient may request for their stipend scholarship to be suspended while they are
enrolled. The scholarship will be reduced by the period of suspension.
6.1.2. Suspension cannot be granted for the reason of receiving any other scholarships as
outlined in 4.1.5.
6.1.3. If the recipient does not make arrangements to restart the scholarship, the scholarship
will be terminated
 6.2. Internships
6.2.1. Formal internship programs managed by the UNSW and provide an opportunity for a
candidate to gain industry experience as part of their research program.
6.2.2. A candidate will have their stipend scholarship suspended during the period of
internship and re-commence their stipend after completion of the internship without the
scholarship duration being reduced.
6.2.3. Candidates should check their individual internship agreements for confirmation

6.3. Acknowledgement of contribution

6.3.1. All scholarship recipients must acknowledge the contribution of the scholarship provider
when publishing material that relates to the research project by the recipient.
6.3.2. For the RTP, all Acknowledgment must include the mention of the recipient’s support
through an “Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship”.

7. Termination of entitlements
A scholarship will be terminated when the scholarship holder:
7.1. Has their candidature discontinued.
7.2. Withdraws from the HDR Program.
7.3. Ceases to be enrolled and has not requested a period of leave.
7.4. Ceases to meet Terms and Conditions and/or eligibility requirements.
7.5. Changes research topic and/or supervision which are not supported by the particular
scholarship
7.6. Submits their thesis for examination.
7.7. Exhausts the maximum duration.
7.8. Does not resume study at the conclusion of a period of leave.
7.9. Ceases to be enrolled full-time and does not have approval to receive the scholarship part-
time in accordance with Section 5.4.
7.10. Has not provided true, accurate and complete information in relation to their scholarship
application and/or scholarship tenure.
7.11. Is in breach of UNSW HDR Policy, Procedure, Terms & Conditions, or any condition of the
scholarship as outlined in the scholarship letter of offer.

8. Stipend overpayment
Recipients are responsible for checking their payments are correct and notifying UNSW of any errors
within seven (7) days. If there are any errors, the recipient is required to repay any overpayment
within thirty (30) calendar days of being requested to do so by the UNSW. Scholarship overpayments
are viewed as financial obligations by the UNSW and failure to repay may result in sanctions being
placed on candidature as per Section 2.3 of the Student Fee Policy.

9. Grievances and Review Procedures

Grievances and complaints are managed according to the Student Complaint Procedure.

10. Governance
Related Documents:

• Admission to Higher Degree Research Programs Procedure

• Higher Degree Research Scholarships Policy
• Higher Degree Research Scholarships Procedure
• Variation of Candidature Procedure
• Student Complaint Procedure