If you are potentially interested in undertaking a PhD in the
comparative ecology lab at Macquarie University, here is information that
may help you.
The lab occupies an area on the ground floor of building E8C. The area is shared with Dr Lesley Hughes's research group, which works on plant-insect interactions in relation to global climate change. Lab members have desks within the common area.
The current research
activities in the lab are outlined on separate pages,
but research students typically develop their own project, which
need not be closely related to the ARC-funded research or to the
projects by other students.
The lab engages in a lot of discussion, mutual assistance with
each other's projects, and comments on each other's manuscripts
and seminars. Responsibilities are shared around, ranging from
taking care of the vehicles to building web pages to scrubbing
the coffee pot. Each member spends a scheduled half-hour once
a week in discussion with Westoby, and one day a week is given
over to this. There is a weekly journal club at midday, and an
end-of-afternoon session for ad hoc discussions of results or
methodology. All this undeniably takes time away from collecting
your own data, so if you would rather not be distracted by all
this communal activity, please choose another lab!
As far as funding to live off during a PhD, you will need to have
an Hons I result, or a good MSc, in order to obtain an Australian
Postgraduate Award. Australian funding is not available for overseas
students. The deadline for APA applications is generally at the
end of October. As well as being in a position to obtain an
APA, you should contact Mark Westoby, and preferably arrange to
visit the lab and talk to us all, sometime between July and November.
The lab doesn't accept new members on the strength of an application
form alone, even if they can obtain an APA. Decisions depend on
personal factors and on the current degree of crowding in the
lab, as well as on your academic record.
Research students doing PhDs often undertake some tutoring in
undergraduate classes as well. This does not provide enough income
to live off, but helps to broaden the research student's experience.
The lab's activities are embedded in the many other research activities
of the Department
of Biological Sciences. The Department includes the Key
Centre for Biodiversity and Bioresources, the CRC for Marsupial
Biology and Conservation, and the Australian Proteome Analysis
Facility. All postgraduates in the Department are expected to attend
at least 26 seminars a year and keep notes, in order to cultivate
good habits in taking an interest outside their immediate research
area. There is a conference in November each year, where all postgraduates
give a 20-min seminar, and have an interview with an advisory
panel. The Department's vigorous research culture converts talented
research students into PhD graduates of very high standards, as
indicated by frequent publication in competitive international
journals, and by the many best-presentation or best-manuscript
prizes awarded
to our students over the years.
List of past postgraduate students & topics .