Postgraduate Scholarships 2008 Conditions Booklet
(APA, MRS, MIRS, FMS, HRS, Prestigious and Other Major Scholarships)
14. Transfers
Occaisonally scholarship recipients wish to transfer their enrolment to a different course or department either within the UoM or from another university. As the transfer of scholarships between courses is not automatic, students should not relinquish their scholarship or their enrolment or scholarship they know if they will receive any scholarship support for their new course.
For graduate research studebts, the UoM does not normally approve transfers to the University for students who have less than one-third of their candidature remaining.
Scholarship and candidature tenure used in the previous course is deducted from the scholarship and candidature tenure for the new course.
Refer to section 5.1 for information about conversions between a PhD and masters by research and vice-versa.
See below for further details about transfer options for the different scholarships.
14.1 APAs
APAs can be transferred between different courses or departments within the UoM.
14.1.1 APAs commenced from 2002 onwards
APAs commenced from 2002 onwards cannot be transferred to another university. Students may howver, apply for an APA at the university to which they would like to transfer.
The University of Melbourne will normally consider awarding an APA to students who were awarded an APA at another institution and wish to transfer to the University if:
- the student's scholarship score, using the University of Melbourne scholarship scoring guidelines, is above the University of Melbourne cut-off for APAs for that year, and
- there are good reasons for the student wishing to transfer to the University of Melbourne, and
- the University has sufficient funds to support the award of an APA.
Students who commenced an APA from 2002 onwards at another institution and would like to transfer to the University of Melbourne should:
- complete a University of Melbourne scholarship application form and provide the documents that are usually required for scholarship consideration. It should be clearly noted on the application form that the student would like to commence an APA at the University of Melbourne and that they currently hold an APA at another institution,
- provide with their scholarship application a written statement explaining the reason for the requested transfer to the University of Melbourne and the date they would like to transfer to the University, and
- provide an official letter from the scholarships office at their home institution which provides details about the start date of their APA and any paid or unpaid leave that has been taken from the APA.
The application will be assessed for scholarship. If the assigned scholarship score is above the UoM's cut-off for APAs that year, and the UoM has sufficient Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) funds, an APA will be offered. Students transferring to the University of Melbourne with their superviosr have a priority.
Interstate students who transfer their APA to Melbourne are eligible to receive a Relocation Grant of $2,500 (see section 6.2).
14.1.2 APAs commenced before 2002
Students who commenced their APA before 2002 may transfer their APA to another institution. The Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) APA guidelines allow students who commenced their APA before 2002 to transfer their APA to another institution. The transfer requires the approval of the institution that awarded the APA (the home institution) and the institution to which they would like to transfer the APA. Approval is usually only given if unforeseeable circumstances makes it untenable for the student to complete their studies at the home institution (eg. supervisor leaves the institution and a suitable replacement is not available).
To request an APA transfer to the University of Melbourne, the student should forward to the MSO:
- a letter from the scholarships office at their home institution that endorses the transfer,
- an official letter from the scholarships office at their home institution which provides details about the start date of their APA and any paid or unpaid leave that has been taken from the APA,
- a letter of support from the supervisor or department at the University of Melbourne to which the transfer is requested, and
- a covering letter that states the reasons for wishing to transfer and the preferred date of effect for the transfer.
top of page14.2 MRSs/MIRSs
These scholarships cannot be transferred to another university.
The scholrships can sometimes be transferred between different courses or departments at the UoM. As these scholarships are allocated to the faculties to award and the faculties provide 50% of the funding, the MSO will ask the relevant faculties on behalf of the students wishing to change departments if the scholarship can be transferred.
14.3 FMSs, HRSs and prestigious and other major scholarships
These scholarships cannot be transferred to another university.
It is normally possible for graduate research students to transfer these scholarships between different courses or departments within the UoM. Note however, that some of the other major scholarships are for study in a specific area (eg. the Ernst and Grace Mathaei scholarship is for research in the field of optics.)
Students wishing to transfer these scholarships between UoM departments and/or faculties must contact the MSO before transferring to establish if they can continue to hold their scholarship in the new department or faculty.
For graduate coursework students who hold a FMS or a HRS:
- The scholarships are awarded to support enrolment in the course specified in the offer letter. Requests to change courses are considered on a case by case basis.
- In some cases the scholarship may be held for the initial part of a graduate research course. Please see section 15.4(h) for details.