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  6. End-User Engagement Reporting

End-User Engagement Reporting

As a Higher-Degree-by Research (HDR) student, you are required to report on engagement activities you undertake with research end-users during your study.

What is a research end-user?

A research end-user is an individual, community or organisation external to academia that will directly use or benefit from the output or outcomes of your research. Research-end end users include:

  • Businesses
  • Government departments
  • Non-governmental organisations
  • Communities and community organisations.

Research end-users are NOT:

  • Other higher education providers
  • Organisations that are affiliates, controlled entities or subsidiaries (such as Medical Research Institutes) of a higher education provider
  • Equivalent (domestic or international) organisations of the above.

What types of activities do I need to report?

We need to know about any engagement activities that you’ve undertaken with a research end-user, including:

  1. Research internships (paid or unpaid)
  2. Joint supervision by a research end-user
  3. Joint or full funding from a research end-user
  4. Formal training on end-user engagement
  5. Other commercialisation or engagement activities

1. Internships with a research end-user

A research internship is a temporary position with a research end-user where you have undertaken research and development (R&D) activities related to your research. A research internship can be either paid or unpaid.

More information about research internships can be found here.

2. Joint supervision by a research end-user

A research end-user supervisor is where an HDR student is supervised by a specialist or professional external to UC that will directly use or benefit from the research.

To be jointly supervised by a research end–user, you must have at least two HDR supervisors, with at least one supervisor from a research end-user organisation. The supervision arrangements must be endorsed by UC and the end-user supervisor must be actively engaged in your research.

3. Joint or full funding by a research end-user

Jointly funded or fully funded by a research end–user is where a research end-user contributes financially to the cost of your course of study or to other costs borne by you during your study (such as a stipend for general living costs). The arrangement must be awarded specifically to you as an HDR student rather than a general UC research project that you may be involved with.

4. Formal training on end-user engagement

Formal training on end鈥憉ser engagement is any formal training recognised by UC that focuses on preparing you for work with a research end鈥憉ser. This includes intellectual property, management/leadership, collaboration, entrepreneurship, and research commercialisation. Training can be administered by a research end鈥憉ser organisation or by the University.

5. Other commercialisation and engagement activities with or for a research end-user

Other commercialisation and engagement activities is defined as an arrangement with a research end-user that enables experiential learning related to your research. This includes but is not limited to practicums or performances, R&D consultancy work, R&D commercialisation work, entrepreneurship, community engagement/outreach, and research extension work either with or for a research end-user.

These activities can be paid or unpaid, and no minimum period of learning days applies. The activities exclude research internships that are 30 days or longer and joint funding arrangements.

How do I report my end-user engagement activities?

To report your end-user engagement activities, you need to complete the End-User Engagement form via MyUC.

You can access the form by going to: MyUC / Graduate Research / right hand side column, click on End-user engagement report.

We encourage you to review and report your end-user engagement activities via the form each year. When you report an industry engagement activity, your supervisor will be asked to review and approve the activity.

What information will I need when I submit the end-user engagement form?

Information you’ll need to provide about your end-user engagement activities include:

  • Name of the research end-user organisation or end-user supervisor and their position (if applicable)
  • Start date and end date of your engagement
  • Number of days per week of your engagement
  • Total number of engagement days
  • Funding i.e. whether the engagement was jointly funded or fully funded by the end-user organisation.
  • Written agreement between you, UC and the research end-user with an agreement date.

If you’re reporting a research internship, you will need to provide a copy of a written agreement between you, the University and the research end-user detailing the R&D activities you completed during your internship. Your primary supervisor may be able to assist in providing this documentation. Examples of written agreements could include:

  • 50/50 scholarship
  • Legal internship agreement
  • Collaborative research agreement (or similar)
  • Employment contract
  • Letter of Intent
  • Email trail documenting the agreement between all parties.

Where to go for help

GRS are here to help with any questions. You can contact us by sending an email, visiting our office or  to chat with a member of our team.