Start planning your research internship early in candidature. Your internship must include research & development (R&D) activities that are related to your research topic but can be broader than your specific research project. Discuss possible research & development (R&D) activities for an internship with your supervisors.
Examples of R&D activities include:
Prior to approaching an industry partner, you may wish to use the tools and support provided by UWA Careers and Employability to self-assess your technical capabilities and transferrable skills and build your résumé. Explore UWA's Employability Resources to develop a pitch to a potential industry partner that describes your skills, knowledge and personal attributes.
Approach an external or industry partner organisation (also known as a Research End User – REU – or partner organisation). Businesses, government departments and organisations, and non-government and community organisations are all examples of possible partner organisations, provided they are not affiliated with a university. If you are already employed by an organisation, your employer may partner with you for a research internship in some situations.
Read more about partner organisations here: government and non-government. You can email [email protected] if you would like clarification of whether a potential partner meets the definition of an REU organisation.
Discuss internship logistics with your supervisors and industry partner. You can plan for a full-time or part-time internship or a mix of both provided the total time spent on the internship is greater than 60 days (full time or equivalent) spread over three months or more. The internship can be in-person or virtual or a mix of both. You can plan an internship for any time in your candidature between confirmation of candidature and the final six months of your course.
Read the internship eligibility conditions as you will need to meet these conditions, such as satisfactory progress and up-to-date milestones, at the time of your internship. If you are a sponsored international student, check with your sponsor that an internship is possible. All students, except students on RTP and UWA scholarships, will need to check that an internship does not breach the scholarship conditions.
Submit your internship plan in HDRhub by starting a Research End User Engagement application. This internship plan is an indication of your intention to undertake an internship and not a formal agreement. Your plan needs to be submitted before you are 18 months of full-time candidature.
If you are part-time, your plan needs to be submitted before you reach 36 months of candidature. If you plan to take an internship before 18 months of candidature, you should submit your plan and formal internships agreement at least 1 month prior to the internship.
In the HDRhub Research End User Engagement application, you will need to note the planned dates of the internship, the name of your Industry Partner, the hours you intend to work and other details.
At least one month prior to your internship, your internship plan needs to be formalised as an internship agreement. This formal internship agreement is signed by you, your supervisors and your industry partner. The agreement will include how any intellectual property (IP) arising from the internship will be managed.
Submit your formal internship agreement in HDRhub.
You cannot start your internship until this formal internship agreement has been approved by the GRS in HDRhub.
Once you have the formal agreement signed by your industry partner, the GRS strongly encourage you to complete the internship as a matter of professional courtesy.
Check your internship eligibility. At the time of your internship, you need to meet the internship eligibility conditions which include making satisfactory progress and ensuring your milestones are up-to-date.
Start your internship. In total, your internship will need to extend for greater than 60 days over a minimum of three months. Internships can be planned for longer than this period or extended during the internship. If you wish to extend your research internship, you will need to submit a Research End User Engagement extension application in HDRhub.
Consider any payments. If your internship is paid, students with RTP/UWA living allowance scholarships (stipends) can choose to suspend their living allowance or receive both the internship payment and the living allowance.
During your internship, you will be protected by UWA’s insurance as you are engaged in course-related activities.
Record completion of your internship in HDRhub. Complete your HDRhub Research End User Engagement record which asks for a written reflection on your internship experience.
Satisfactory completion of a research internship of greater than 60 days over a minimum three month period will be recorded on your academic transcript.
Whether or not your internship outcomes can be included in your thesis will need to be negotiated between you, your supervisors and your industry partner.
A Partner Organisation (Research End-User) is an individual, community, employer or organisation external to academia that will directly use or directly benefit from the output, outcome, or results of the research.
PhD students have:
Anytime following Confirmation of Candidature and meeting the eligibility requirements.
UWA PhD students who are enrolled, completed 12 to 18 months into their studies and wish to start a research internship, need to submit their Research Internship Agreement, and Internship Proposal outlining the scope of work, and sign it with the Partner Organisation, UWA’s academic supervisor and approved by UWA’s Graduate Research School.
UWA PhD Students who are enrolled and completed less than 12 months into their studies can provide written confirmation of a future 60 FTE day minimum (over 3 month) internship with the Partner Organisation. They would commence their internship after their Confirmation of Candidature (12 months) with completion prior to their exams being finalised (48 months).
Partner Organisations providing an internship with UWA’s partner programs, APR Intern and iPREP, make payment as defined by the program and can be negotiated by scale.
Payment for bespoke internships can be negotiated with the student by the Partner Organisation and reflected in the Internship Agreement.
Unpaid internships may be arranged in discussion with the Research Internships team. Please email [email protected]
Research internships are normally for 3 calendar months (equivalent to 60 FTE working days) in duration and can be extended with negotiation and approval from UWA.
Research internships are developed in collaboration between the Partner Organisation, and UWA student and academic supervisor.
Partner Organisations can access UWA’s internship programs APR Intern and iPREP or develop a bespoke internship to suit the needs of your organisation.
If you are interested in establishing a bespoke research internship, please contact the UWA Graduate School of Research at [email protected].
One or more members of the Partner Organisation will be a co-supervisor to the student. This role will help develop meaningful project outcomes and key tasks for the student to complete during the internship. Partner Organisations may access UWA’s APR Intern and iPREP internship programs or develop a bespoke internship. Many student placements ultimately lead to employment opportunities after a formal internship has been completed.
The Internship Agreement set out the roles and responsibilities of the Partner Organisation, students and UWA. This includes students undertaking to comply with the Partner Organisation’s policies and procedures, agreeing to maintain confidentiality of information, and outlining the project tasks and time commitments and agreed arrangements.
Prior to the internship, an agreement including intellectual property (IP) will be executed by all parties. Typically, the internship IP is held by the Partner Organisation, while any background research IP is retained by the relevant party.
PhD students are protected by UWA’s insurance whilst engaged in course-related activities such as an internship which is recognised and approved the UWA Graduate Research School. Where an employer is offering a research internship under an employment contract, the employer provides insurance coverage. Please note: Recognition of such an arrangement as a research internship will require some criteria to be met, particularly as UWA PhD students may not suspend to take up employment.
In cases where the UWA student is working on a discrete R&D project with the Partner Organisation under an employment contract, the student is entitled to employment conditions covered by Fair Work Act and insurance coverage is met by the Partner Organisation. In most such cases the university will not be a signatory to that contract so the nature of work described in the employment contract must be recognised as equivalent to the criteria that define a research internship and approved verified in writing by the UWA supervisor or the Dean of the UWA Graduate Research School. The start/end dates and days of engagement must also be reported to the Graduate Research School. The student is entitled to employment conditions covered by Fair Work Act and insurance coverage met by the Partner Organisation.
In some situations, a research internship with an employer may be possible. Please contact UWA’s Graduate Research School of Research Internships team at [email protected]