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Applying to a graduate research program
As academics, we receive many queries relating to admission to PhD and Masters by Research programs. Most academics are time poor and receive dozens – if not hundreds – of emails each day. Graduate programs are highly competitive: at Melbourne Law School, only around 15 applicants are accepted each year. At an institution like Melbourne Law School, it is not necessary to have a supervisor on board before applying, but it can be useful to have early correspondence with a potential supervisor about a research proposal. So how can you make sure you stand out, especially if you don’t already know a potential supervisor? A potential supervisor is trying to assess whether…
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Writing a submission to government
Universities are strongly emphasising the impact agenda. For legal academics, impact can often take the form of contributing to law reform. Sometimes, our area of law is not on the agenda, and achieving impact may require direct emailing or contacting policy advisors or politicians to try to attempt to bring an issue onto the political agenda (with variable levels of success). At other times, though, our area of expertise is the subject of law reform inquiries, consultations, or legislative reform processes. In this case, there is arguably an important public benefit to us writing submissions to government, drawing on our scholarly expertise. This is important for research impact, but also to help…
