Postgraduate Research at VELiM
Future Research Students
Application Dates for Postgraduate Research at VELiM
Current Research Students
Alumni
Future Research Students
VELiM offers a limited number of positions for postgraduate research candidates in most years, but because the Centre’s resources are limited, its selection processes are competitive. Before accepting students at VELiM we try to make sure that we provide the ‘best fit’ for a student wanting to do a higher degree. For these reasons, we ask you to consider the following information about our application process, and the expectations we have of our postgraduate research students, before applying.
During your candidature, you will be expected to undertake the following:
- Attend the Postgraduate Seminars run by VELiM;
- Attend the Institute of Teaching and Learning program on ‘Principles and Practice of University Learning’ during the first six months of your candidacy;
- Meet regularly with your supervisor and co-supervisors for assessment of your progress, including your methodology, literature review, data collection, data analysis and writing; and
- Complete regular PhD/Masters progress reports.
The following are also available to enhance your PG education and enable your participation in the academic community at VELiM:
- Auditing relevant postgraduate lectures, seminars and teaching sessions that may be relevant to your work. (The choice of unit of study should be chosen in consultation with your PhD supervisor(s);
- Participation in regular VELiM activities, including graduate teaching, regular VELiM meetings and seminars, administrative duties on sub-committees; and
- Attendance at PG Research Training programs offered by Sydney Medical School and by the University.
Supervision at VELiM
Prof. Warwick Anderson Professorial Research Fellow
Dr Stacy M. Carter Senior Lecturer in Qualitative Research in Health
Dr Claire Hooker Senior Lecturer in Medical Humanities
Dr Chris Jordens Senior Lecturer in Bioethics/Clinical Research Fellow
A/Prof. Ian Kerridge Associate Professor in Bioethics, Staff Haematologist/ Bone Marrow Transplant Physician Westmead Hospital
Prof. Miles Little Emeritus Professor of Surgery
Dr Catherine Mills Senior Lecturer in Bioethics
Dr Julie Mooney-Somers Postdoctoral Research Fellow
A/Prof. Michael Robertson Clinical Associate Professor, Ethics and Mental Health
The Application Process
In order to assist us in this task we ask that all students interested in pursuing research at VELiM submit the following:
- Curriculum vitae
- A sample of your written work (this may include an assignment from an undergraduate program, a thesis chapter, dissertation or a published or unpublished paper)
- A ‘Statement of Purpose” in which you describe your
- interests
- reasons for pursuing an advanced degree and reasons for pursuing an advanced degree at VELiM (this should be no more than 1-2 pages)
- ultimate goals. - Preliminary Project Outline: This should be no more than 1-2 pages and should include a brief background, research aims and research questions, method and anticipated outcomes. This is not assumed to be a completed product but assists us in assessing your ability to choose a topic to research, identify research questions and plan your investigation.
- Formal discussions with staff in VELiM and your preferences regarding supervision (if you have any).
Applications should be submitted to:
Ms Lindy Gaze
Centre for Values, Ethics and the Law in Medicine
Medical Foundation Building, K25
Level 1, 92-4 Parramatta Rd, Camperdown, NSW
AUSTRALIA
Fax: 0061 2 9036 3436
Email: velim@med.usyd.edu.au
Your application will then be reviewed by the Postgraduate Research and Training Committee, which will make a judgment as to whether you will be offered a place in the PhD program, or advise that you undertake a Master’s degree first.
If you are accepted into either training program, we will then, with your approval, assign a supervisor and co-supervisors, who will assist you to prepare your official proposal to the University of Sydney, and will be responsible for evaluating your progress throughout your higher degree.
Application Dates for Postgraduate Research at VELiM
Dates for applications to be submitted to VELiM:
First Friday of the following months – January, May and October.
A meeting of the committee will be convened following the cut off dates as outlined above and a decision will be made within 2 weeks of these meetings. Acceptance by VELiM still requires application for formal admission by the university.
Application Dates as set out by the University are as follows:
| Scholarship/University Applications | Application Date |
|---|---|
|
Australian Postgraduate Award /University Postgraduate Award for commencing in Semester 1 of the following year |
Before October 31 |
|
Australian Postgraduate Award /University Postgraduate Award for commencing in Semester 2 of the same year |
Before May 31 |
|
International Students for S1 following year |
Before October 31 |
|
International Students for S2 same year |
Before April 30 |
|
Domestic applications i.e. commencement in March |
31st January for Semester 1 |
|
Domestic applications i.e. commencement in July |
31st May for Semester 2 |
Current Research Students
PhD Candidates
| Candidate | Thesis Title | Supervisors |
|---|---|---|
| Valentina ADAMI | Literature and Bioethics: Margaret Atwood's Cautionary Tales | Ian Kerridge |
| Aric BENDORF | Organ Donation in Australia | Ian Kerridge |
| Margaret BOULOS | Good Eggs: Young Women as Ideal Donors for Stem Cell Research. | Catherine Waldby, Ian Kerridge |
| Adam CAPON | Nanotechnology Policy | James Gillespie, Stacy M. Carter |
| Helen CROWTHER | Epidemiology, Ethics and the Experience of Patients with Haemoglobinopathies: Creation of an Evidence-base for the Establishment of a Comprehensive Haemoglobinopathy Service in Western Sydney, NSW | Ian Kerridge |
| Claire DEAKIN | Ian Alexander, Ian Kerridge | |
| Charles DOUGLAS | A Qualitative Study of Terminal Sedation in End-of-Life Care, Involving in-depth Interviews with Health Care Providers in Palliative Care | Ian Kerridge |
| Joanne DUNN | Suicidal Masculinities: Understanding the Gendered Nature of Male Suicide | Raewyn Connell, Michael Robertson, Ian Kerridge |
| Donna FEGAN | The History and Use of Scientific Discourses in the Politics of Whaling | Rob Irvine, Ian Kerridge |
| Scott FITZPATRICK | Composing Suicide: Narrative, Identity and Suicidal Behaviour | Claire Hooker, Michael Robertson |
| Kathy FLITCROFT | The Use of Evidence in Bowel Cancer Screening Policy in Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. | Glenn Salkeld, Stacy M. Carter |
| Jan GOMBIELWSKI | Michael Robertson | |
| Bridget HAIRE | Ethics in HIV Biomedical Prevention Research | Chris Jordens, Ian Kerridge |
| Leslie HALLIDAY | The Experience of Living with Uncertain Motherhood after Haematological Malignancy in Young Adulthood | Margaret Broughton, Ian Kerridge |
| Marita HEFLER | A Natural History of Smoking Among a Cohort of Disadvantaged Young People Aged 14 to 24 | Simon Chapman, Stacy M. Carter |
| Mitchell LAWLOR | Societal Dominance of Vision and Extracorporeal Associations with Eyes: Opportunities and Limitations for Eye Banking and Corneal Donation in NSW | Ian Kerridge, Rachel Ankeny, Frank Billson |
| Peter LEWIS | Growing up with Cancer | Chris Jordens, Ian Kerridge, Julie Mooney-Somers, Kate White |
| Edwina LIGHT | How Psychiatry Informs the Community About Questions of What We Value | Michael Robertson, Ian Kerridge |
| Vincy LI | Reconceptualising Health Promotion: the Role of Values, Ethics and Evidence in Obesity Intervention | Stacy M. Carter, Lucie Rychetnik |
| Chris MAYES | Biopolitics of Lifestyle: Discipline, Aesthetics and Resistance | Catherine Mills |
| Jacqueline SAVARD | Are we the Sum of Our Genetics? A Look at How the Results from Direct-to-Consumer Personal Genetic Tests Challenge Personal Understandings of One's Body and Life | Catherine Mills, Ian Kerridge |
| Alexandra SBARAINI | The Process of Implementing Non-Surgical Care in Dental Private Practice. | Stacy M. Carter |
| Camilla SCANLAN | A Critical Analysis of the Current Concept of Consent to Medical Procedures: Examination of Legal and Ethical Limitations | Ian Kerridge, Stacy M. Carter, Miles Little, Chris Jordens |
| Moira STEPHENS | A Qualitative Study of the Experience of Multiple Myeloma | Chris Jordens, Ian Kerridge, Heather McKenzie, Stacy M. Carter |
| Louise STONE | Differences in Clinical Reasoning Between GP Registrars and Supervisors When Patients Present with Mixed Emotional and Physical Symptoms | Claire Hooker, Jill Gordon |
| Kimberly STRONG | Creating Saviour Siblings: Decision-Making in the Context of Ethical and Clinical Uncertainty | Rachel Ankeny, Ian Kerridge, Chris Jordens |
Masters Candidates
| Candidate | Thesis Title | Supervisors |
|---|---|---|
| Barbara FIELD | Jill Gordon | |
| Katrusha HULL | Ian Kerridge | |
| Jan LEWIS | Compassionate Use Programmes - Issues and Implications of Patient Access to Anticancer Pharmaceuticals Outside Traditional and Regulated Frameworks | Ian Kerridge, Evan Doran |
| Veronica RASZEJA | A Survey and Critical Review of Existing Models of Service Delivery for Complementary Therapies within Australian Haemato-Oncology Services | Ian Kerridge, Chris Jordens |
Honours Candidates
| Candidate | Thesis Title | Supervisor |
|---|---|---|
| Nicholas CLARKE | Warwick Anderson | |
| Kruthika NAGALAN | Claire Hooker | |
| Annie PARSONS | Claire Hooker |
Alumni
PhD Graduates
| Graduate | Thesis Title | Supervisors | Awarded |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wendy HU | Epistemologies of Risk in Childhood Food Anaphylaxis | Andrew Kemp, Ian Kerridge | 2006 |
| Wendy LIPWORTH | Rehabilitating the Social in Biomedical Publishing: Embracing Community and Intersubjectivity in Manuscript Review | Ian Kerridge, Stacy M. Carter, Rachel Ankeny | 2009 |
| Tamra LYSAGHT | Science Claims in Public Policy Disputes: Stem Cell Research in Australia (2005-2006) | Rachel Ankeny, Ian Kerridge | 2009 |
| Michael ROBERTSON | Traumatic Stress, Values and Australian Psychiatry | Garry Walter, Ian Kerridge, Hans Pols | 2009 |
| Karolyn WHITE | Ethics at the Margins: An Empirical Study of the Experience of Doctors and Nurses Working in Women’s Prisons in NSW | Ian Kerridge, Chris Jordens | 2009 |
Masters Graduates
| Candidate | Thesis Title | Supervisors | Awarded |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bridget HAIRE | Shifting Concepts of the Duty of Care in HIV Prevention Trials: An Analysis of Bioethical Contestation and Changing Contexts of Standards of Care, from the Vertical Transmission Trials of the 1990s to the Failed PrEP Trials of the 2000s | Chris Jordens, Ian Kerridge | 2008 |
| Seng LEE | Critique of the Precautionary Principle - John Weckert and James Moor's Defence and Formulation of the Precautionary Principle | Catherine Mills | 2009 |
| Wendy LIPWORTH | Reconfiguring Tissue Banking Consent Through Enrichment of a Restricted Debate | Rachel Ankeny, Ian Kerridge, Miles Little | 2005 |
| Catherine McGRATH | The Threads that Tie your Days Together: Going Back to Work after Allogeneic Haematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant | Rachel Ankeny | |
| Jim NEWCOMBE | Management by Human Research Ethics Committees of Potential Conflicts of Interest Arising from Pharmaceutical Sponsorship of Clinical Research | Ian Kerridge | 2005 |
| Merelyn RAE | Ethics, Public Health and the HPV Vaccine | Ian Kerridge | 2008 |
| Jacqueline SAVARD | Defining Who We Are: The Difficulties Associated with Genetic Testing from Ethnic Ancestry | Ian Kerridge | 2009 |
| Kathleen WALLBANK | Haematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation: Evaluation of a Patient and Carer Education Programme | 2008 |
Honours Graduates
| Graduate | Thesis Title | Supervisors | Awarded |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kristie ARCHER | Should Influenza Vaccination be Mandatory for Health Care Workers in BMT and Haematology Wards in Australia? | Nicole Gilroy, Chris Jordens | 2007 |
| Georgina CLARK | Ethical Issues in Gene Therapy for Neurological Disease | Ian Kerridge | 2004 |
| Theresa LY | Pandemics, Infectious Diseases and Moral Obligations: The Obligation to Avoid Infecting Others | Ian Kerridge, Michael Selgelid | |
| Peter MOORE | Withdrawal and Limitation of Life Sustaining Treatments in a Paediatric Intensive Care Unit | Ian Kerridge, David Isaacs, Henry Kilham | 2007 |
| Martin TIO | Some Ontological Considerations on a Recent Form of the Argument From Potential | Ian Kerridge | 2007 |