External examiners
Understand what’s involved in being a thesis examiner for a University of Sydney Higher Degree by Research (HDR) student
External examiners are instrumental in assessing the outcome of Higher Degree by Research (HDR) thesis submissions and providing vital feedback.
By sharing your considerable expertise, you enable the University of Sydney’s HDR candidates to test their research skills against rigorous standards and receive invaluable insights.
When you accept a nomination to be an examiner, you step into a pivotal role that shapes the research professionals of tomorrow.
We have developed some Guidelines for Examiners (pdf, 102KB) to help you understand the University’s thesis examination process from end to end.
These guidelines outline important requirements and will help you to form a recommendation regarding the outcome of the examination.
Before accepting a nomination, prospective examiners are expected to review the Thesis and Examination of Higher Degrees by Research Policy (Clause 15, 7-9) and the Conflict of Interest Guidelines (pdf, 109KB), to assess any potential conflict of interest which may affect their ability to fairly examine a candidate’s thesis submission.
If examiners are aware of a conflict of interest that may preclude them from examining the thesis, they should call the Higher Degree by Research Administration Centre (HDRAC) on +61 2 7255 1565 to declare this as early as possible.
Examiners must access the thesis submission and submit their report via the University’s Research Education Candidature System (RECS). First time users of this system will receive a notification to their nominated email address to set up a login and password. This will be sent after the examiner's appointment is approved.
Once logged into RECS, examiners can access a step-by-step guide to navigating RECS and the examination tasks. You can find this on the left-hand menu, by going to Guides > Thesis Examinations (September 2022) > Examiners – Examination Quick Reference Guide.
Once a thesis is ready to view in RECS, examiners will receive an email notification.
Following the conclusion of their role in the examination, examiners will be able to claim an honorarium as payment for their work. The honorarium form will be available to examiners on the RECS system and an email is sent to examiners when it is ready for them to complete.
Honorarium payments for thesis examinations at the University of Sydney are not subject to taxation and are paid at the rate of the Universities Australia honorarium payment.
