Research and Employability Skills Training (REST)

Research and Employability Skills Training (REST) is a compulsory, structured training program for all HDR students.

REST will provide you with a skills training framework that you can take with you to further studies or careers. It is a tool to analyse, record, reflect on and demonstrate the skills you gain throughout your candidature, be that through structured training activities or the everyday learning that happens throughout your studies.

REST FLO (Canvas) Site

Skills Development Module (Inspire)

About the Program

The aims of REST are to:

Provide a structured and comprehensive skills development program for all HDR students which includes research and transferrable skills employers seek;
Ensure all HDR students, regardless of their physical location, are able to access the program through online delivery and activity completion;
Enable students to identify their development needs and plan, document and control their professional development journey, reflecting on their learning;
Ensure that upon completion, students are able to articulate and demonstrate the skills and attributes they have developed throughout their candidature through documented evidence and certification.

The program incorporates the Doctoral Graduates Attributes as its guiding framework, mapping all activities to the attributes to ensure all learning is relevant. The program directly responds to the AQF requirements and national guidelines, detailed here.

REST is a skills training program that consolidates all research and transferrable skills training across the university into one program. It is an individualised program, where students choose the development most relevant to them at particular stages of their candidature. The program uses a self-reflective approach, asking students to reflect on their skills proficiency rather than meeting certain criteria (such as a set amount of points or hours under a domain). REST recognises all development activities, including experiential activities, taking into consideration the skills the students already posses through prior training or work experience.

How will you benefit from this?

REST will provide you with a skills training framework that you can take with you to further studies or careers. It is a tool to analyse, record, reflect on and demonstrate the skills you gain throughout your candidature, be that through structured training activities or the everyday learning that happens throughout your studies. Through structured development activities and milestones, you will be asked to reflect on the skills you are acquiring and the ways you are utilising those skills.

This is not extra work or training that you have to undertake - REST recognises everything you are already doing and helps you reflect in the skills you are developing. It also consolidates all training activities relevant to HDR students in one place, under the one framework, so that the development is readily available when you decide that you need it.

Why focus on skills development?

We have built the skills development module to be an iterative, reflective process, helping you to assess, identify, develop and demonstrate the skills you already have, those you need to develop and those that you are already developing. In the process of a HDR, you gain a lot of knowledge, produce new knowledge and develop a lot of new skills. Throughout this time, you are busy planning and conducting your research study, writing up your findings, publishing papers, producing a thesis. Most of these will be skills you previously did not possess, but develop throughout your study without really realising that you are developing them.

At the end of the thesis, when applying for jobs, grants or promotions, you will be asked to demonstrate those skills. Having a structured skills development process, where you plan, identify and reflect on the skills that you are gaining as you are developing them, will help you identify, reflect on and demonstrate those skills at the end. Throughout your candidature, you will be producing a skills profile (through skills completion), compiling evidence of skills development (though activity completion) and addressing criteria (though Graduate Attributes at REST Certification), that will help you produce a portfolio to assist with the next step beyond the HDR.

How do you get started?

To get started, it is important to familiarise yourself with the Doctoral Graduate Attributes and understand the different components of REST and skills development. There are two systems in place - the REST FLO (Canvas) site, and the Inspire skills development module. You can read more about these below. Start by registering in the FLO (Canvas) site and reviewing the introductory materials. These will guide you through all the steps and resources.

REST FLO (Canvas) Site

The REST FLO (Canvas) site is where all of the content for the program is housed. Throughout this site, you will find links to online content, online courses, workshops, useful resources and videos. You can browse this site for any useful material, and complete training. Please note - completion of training is not recorded in REST, but in Inspire.

The REST FLO (Canvas) site is structured under the Doctoral Graduate Attributes (1-8), with reference to the RDF Domains (A-D). These are listed in a collapsible format, and you can view them one at a time or all together. Each drop down menu has a number of skills listed, which can be explored further by clicking on the picture.

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Skills Development Module

The Skills Development Module in Inspire is where you plan and record your development. Inspire is a candidature management system, managing all aspects of your candidate - from development, to progression, variations and examinations.

You can use the Skills Development Module to assess your current level of skills, plan and record activities to develop your skills, browse and book into workshops, complete and reflect on your skills and apply for final certification upon completion. For detailed instructions on how to use the module, please refer to the Skills Development Instructions.

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