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This article is from the soc.culture.australian FAQ, by Stephen Wales with numerous contributions by others.

5.2 Postgraduate Study [CP]

I don't know how universal my experience was (I did a MSc in
biochemistry) but my experience was that people admitted into MSc or
PhD programs in Australia were admitted to work with a specific
supervisor, i.e. the decision to take on a particular person as a grad
student rested with the specific supervisor that the student wanted to
work with. This is very different from the situation in the US where
students are usually admitted to a department and spend a year or two
taking classes and finding a supervisor/advisor to work with. In
general, Australian PhD programs don't involve any course work. Partly
because of this their "usual" duration is about 3 years and their
maximum duration is usually 4 years (cf 5 and 8 years in the US!!!!).

Another thing which is different between graduate programs in the two
countries is the way students are supported. In Australia most of the
scholarship support for graduate students comes directly from the
federal government, foreigners are not eligible for these
scholarships. Some postgraduate scholarships are offered by the
universities themselves and by charitable research foundations (eg
National Heart Foundation), these are the only ones that foreigners
are eligible for!!! In the US most graduate student support is
channeled through the universities. There are a few federally funded
fellowships that are similar to the old CPRA's, but only a VERY few!
Most of the students in the sciences get their stipends from their
supervisor's research grants, or from federal training grants
administered by the institutions. Alternatively they may serve as
teaching assistants (the main source of funds for humanities grad
students).

 

Continue to:

• prev: 5.1 Overview of Australian Higher Education [CP,April '93]
• Index
• next: 5.2.1 How do I find out more about Post Graduate Courses in Australia ?

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