Resources and support

RMIT offer a vast range of resources and support services for Higher Degree by Research (HDR) candidates to give you the best chance of success.

Your HDR support team

The University provides academic supervision for all Higher Degree by Research (HDR) candidates to make sure you’re fully supported during research projects. Candidates are assigned at least two supervisors who are experts in a specific field. Learn more about supervisor relationships.

The School of Graduate Research supports research training at RMIT. This includes: 

  • Admissions 
  • Scholarships 
  • Research Training Services or RTS (administration and support throughout candidature) 
  • Submissions and examinations.

Contact the School of Graduate Research’s Research Training Services (RTS) team via Student Connect.

Each School has a HDR DA who provides support for HDR candidates. Talk to your HDR DA about any issues that can’t be resolved by your supervisory team. They can also help you get access to resources for conducting your research.

Contact your HDR Student Representative if you have suggestions for improvement or would like to raise issues of concern. They may be able to help improve the student experience for you and your peers. 

HDR Student Representatives also organise regular catch ups with their respective College to make sure the student experience is kept front of mind. 

Your HDR DA can provide you with contact details for your College and/or School representative.

For more information on HDR travel and funding, please refer to the following sites:

Platforms, tools and resources

Systems you may use during your candidature include:

  • Enrolment Online – Use Enrolment Online to manage your enrolment at RMIT at the start of your HDR and throughout your candidature
  • Canvas – Use Canvas to access course content and announcements, submit assignments, and receive grades and feedback
  • Student email
  • Researcher Portal – Includes information about research integrity and ethics, and resources on research engagement and impact
  • iThenticate – checks text similarity in research outputs including draft manuscripts, journal articles, book chapters and books, and draft theses prior to publication and/or HDR examination. It protects intellectual property while allowing researchers to identify potential errors in citation and attribution
    RMIT research staff, students and HDR candidates can access the service via this link: http://www.rmit.edu.au/iThenticate
    Need help using iThenticate? Check out iThenticate resourcesturnitin's iThenticate user guides or turnitin's Support Centre
  • Qualtrics – Used to conduct and analyse online surveys. Log in to Qualtrics with your RMIT details
  • SafetyNow, RMIT’s Safety Risk Management System – used to report safety hazards and incidents
  • Val GenAI Chatbot – Val is RMIT’s generative artificial intelligence tool – it’s just like ChatGPT, but private, secure and free for RMIT students to use.

Workstations and servers:

  • Standard workstations – Research staff requiring a standard Apple Mac or PC can order one from RMIT's GetIT store and bill it to their business unit.
  • Non-standard workstations – If you require a specialised workstation for research purposes, complete the special request form.
  • Physical server hosting or virtual machines – If you require a fully managed environment and database hosting for less than 6 months, contact IT Connect.
  • NeCTAR – A National Servers Program of virtual servers and platforms that support the Australian research community. For more information, visit the National eResearch Collaboration Tools and Resources (NeCTAR) Project website.

Storage of research data must comply with all relevant RMIT policies and the Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research. For more information about research data and how to manage it, visit RMIT Library's Research Data Management Subject Guide.

What date do you need to store?

Storage solution

Key features

How to access

Store small to medium amounts of data. Cannot provide access to other researchers.

 

 

OneDrive

  • MFA protected
  • One user access (can be shared for draft purposes)
  • Version history available
  • Off-campus access
  • 1 TB storage (individual file size of 250 GB).

Go to free software and apps to download the whole Microsoft 365 (Office 365) suite, including OneDrive.

For more information on OneDrive, visit the M365 Information Hub.

Store small to medium amounts data. Can provide access to other researchers.

 

Set up an RMIT Shared drive

  • Password protected
  • You can assign access to your research team.
  • Suitable for data sets up to 20GB
  • Backed-up.
  • Off campus access
  • You can retain the data here after your research project.

Fill in the Shared Drive Access Request Form

Access organised within 3 weeks.

Off campus access via mydrive.rmit.edu.au

 

Store research data and provide access to research collaborators.

 

Nectar

  • Supported by Australian government and linked with RMIT
  • You can retain the data here after your research project.
  • Secure cloud based system.

Contact eResearch to access Nectar.

Temporarily storing data when working offsite.

Laptop, removable disc, hard drive

  • Vulnerable to loss or damage
  • Should only be used as a temporary storage solution
  • No back up

Remember to back up this data at RMIT.

You can set up your laptop so that the data is backed up every time you log in at RMIT

Large, relatively static research data sets.

 

Large Scale Research Data Store

  • Accessible from RMIT servers and desktop machines
  • Multiple TB storage
  • You can assign access to your research team.
  • You can retain the data here after your research project.
  • Off campus access option.

To apply, complete the Research Data Storage Form

Access organised within 1-3 weeks.

 

Qualtrics is an advanced web-based application for building, distributing and analysing online surveys. Qualtrics is free for all RMIT students and staff. It is easy to use and makes developing sophisticated web surveys simple.

Data collected using Qualtrics is secure and the RMIT Human Research Ethics Committee recommends Qualtrics for collecting privacy-sensitive surveys.

If you need access to research resources throughout your candidature, contact your HDR Delegated Authority (HDR DA). Resources they can help you with include: 

  • labs or studio access 
  • desk or locker allocation 
  • Higher Degree by Research funding to cover research-related costs.

Learn about your Responsibilities as a Researcher here.

RMIT uses a lot of acronyms. Check out the glossary to discover common terms you may come across throughout your research career.

Study support

Further assistance

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Acknowledgement of Country

RMIT University acknowledges the people of the Woi wurrung and Boon wurrung language groups of the eastern Kulin Nation on whose unceded lands we conduct the business of the University. RMIT University respectfully acknowledges their Ancestors and Elders, past and present. RMIT also acknowledges the Traditional Custodians and their Ancestors of the lands and waters across Australia where we conduct our business - Artwork 'Luwaytini' by Mark Cleaver, Palawa.