Research Training Program (RTP) - Frequently Asked Questions for university administrators

Yes. Students who have previously undertaken a HDR are eligible to apply for an RTP scholarship regardless of their previous enrolment circumstances. However, HEPs have discretion to use their selection processes to prioritise specific cohorts of students, for example, students with first class honours, First Nations students, students with industry experience, or students undertaking a HDR for the first time.

Per subsection 22(1) and paragraph 22(3)(b) of the Guidelines, HEPs must include information regarding their selection processes for RTP scholarships in their RTP scholarship policy, which must be readily and publicly available on the HEP’s website.

Per section 24 of the Guidelines, HEPs must also now distinguish (in all communications about how students are selected for RTP Scholarships), the student eligibility criteria set by the Commonwealth in section 14 of the Guidelines from any additional selection criteria set by the HEP.
 

These matters are at the discretion of each HEP as there are no specific part-time based restriction provisions in the Guidelines.

HEPs must identify their application, selection and offer processes and policies, as well as their policies relating to changes in the nature of a student's enrolment, including changing from full-time to part-time and part-time to full-time, in their RTP scholarship policy A HEP’s RTP scholarship policy must be made in accordance with the Guidelines and readily and publicly available.

Per section 24 of the Guidelines, HEPs must also now distinguish the student eligibility criteria set by the Commonwealth in section 14 of the Guidelines from any additional selection criteria set by the HEP in all of their communications about selection for RTP scholarships.

Any selection processes must be consistent with the HEP’s RTP scholarship policy, as well as the fairness requirements in Subdivision 19-D of the Higher Education Support Act 2003.

HEPs are responsible for the administration of RTP scholarships, including determining the amount required to remove a student’s liability for tuition fees through an RTP fees offset. As such, the ‘amount’ of an RTP fees offset is at the discretion of the individual HEP.

As per subsection 20(2) of the Guidelines, HEPs are required to inform students of the estimated value of each type of RTP scholarship support awarded in their RTP offer letter.

HEPs have the discretion to award an RTP allowance for any ancillary costs related to a student's HDR. While the Guidelines provide a list of examples of RTP allowances, this list is not exhaustive.

HEPs must offer each student awarded an RTP stipend a stipend rate at least equal to the base full-time RTP stipend rate and no more than the maximum full-time RTP stipend rate as advised by the department by 1 October of the preceding year.

The stipend rates advised by the department apply to all RTP stipend payments made in the relevant grant year, in accordance with subsection 18(2) of the Guidelines.

A student's period of support is not increased for periods of paid recreation leave or personal leave approved by a HEP under paragraphs 18(6)(a) and (b) of the Guidelines.

As per subsection 16(3) of the Guidelines, a student’s RTP scholarship period of support will be increased by the length of any periods of additional personal leave, paid parental leave, paid partner leave or family and domestic violence leave approved by their HEP under paragraphs 18(6)(d) to (i) of the Guidelines.

A student’s period of support will also be increased by the length of any RTP scholarship suspension that is approved by their HEP.

HEPs are required to seek information from the originating HEP on the student's HDR course commencement date and their course progression. This will typically require the student to obtain such details from their original HEP to provide to the enrolling HEP. As RTP funding is not transferred between institutions, HEPs should also ensure that sufficient funds are available to support the transferring student's RTP scholarship. HEPs are required to outline all policies and procedures relating to transfers in their RTP scholarship policy. HEPs must confirm scholarship details in writing to the student.

Subsection 16(5) of the Guidelines provides that a student’s period of support will not be increased if the student in receipt of an RTP Scholarship transfers to another HEP that will also offer the student an RTP Scholarship. This does not apply to HDR students transferring from a Research Masters to a Research Doctorate at a different HEP. Example:

• A student with a full-time student load has received an RTP Stipend and RTP Fees Offset with their first HEP for a Research Masters course of study. The student completes that course of study with their first HEP. The student then subsequently commences a Research Doctorate degree with a full-time student load with a second HEP. The second HEP can provide the student with a maximum of 4 years of support (since the student has not used any of their period of support for their Research Doctoral course of study).

In accordance with subsection 18(8) of the Guidelines, where a student transfers to another HEP and has accessed leave entitlements during the same calendar year at their previous HEP, the new HEP may deduct the amount of leave accessed by the student from the leave entitlements it must provide to the student for that calendar year.
 

As per paragraphs 18(6)(f) and (g) of the Guidelines, if a student has completed 12 months of study while in receipt of an RTP Stipend, the HEP must provide the student with an entitlement to a minimum of 20 weeks of paid parental leave on the birth or adoption of a child.

Subject to the usual practice of the HEP, if a student has completed 12 months of study while in receipt of an RTP Stipend and has a partner who will be the primary carer of a child, the HEP may choose to approve a period of paid partner leave for the student upon the bird or adoption of that child.

Section 23 of the Guidelines sets out the requirement for HEPs to ensure the Commonwealth's contribution is acknowledged when, at any time during or after completion of a HDR, the recipient of an RTP scholarship, their supervisor or any other party, publishes or produces material, such as journal articles or book chapters, which relate to the research project carried out by the RTP scholarship recipient.

This acknowledgement must include reference to the RTP’s digital object identifier by using the following form of words: 

‘This research was supported by the Commonwealth through an Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship [DOI: https://doi.org/10.82133/C42F-K220].

Where an RTP recipient has an existing Open Researcher and Contributor ID (ORCID) profile, the recipient must also acknowledge the support of the Commonwealth through the RTP by including the RTP DOI: https://doi.org/10.82133/C42F-K220 in their ORCID profile. There is no requirement for RTP recipients without an existing ORCID profile to create one. While the Guidelines do not specify which section of an ORCID profile should include the RTP DOI, the Funding section is an appropriate location.

In accordance with the Guidelines, RTP Scholarships include RTP Fees Offset, RTP Stipends and RTP Allowances provided to a HDR student through the RTP.

HEPs and HDR students are not prevented from also using other relevant persistent identifiers, including DOIs.

• Historical RBG allocations, R&D income, and HDR student completions data are available on the Consolidated time series datasets page.
• The time series dataset on R&D expenditure by higher education provider (HEP) is available on the Higher education expenditure on R&D by HEP page.

The information reported for a HDR student through the Tertiary Collection of Student Information (TCSI) should reflect their current enrolment status, acknowledging relevant reporting deadlines.

A student’s HDR completion can only be reported once, and there is no splitting or reporting of a percentage of a completion when reporting joint HDR completions, so only one HEP should report the completion through the Tertiary Collection of Student Information (TCSI).

In deciding which HEP reports the completion for a joint HDR, HEPs should work with their counterparts to determine which HEP should report the completion code and which HEP should report the code indicating the course was completed at another provider. The department recommends using Element 599 value 06 ‘transfer to complete a related course’.

The Guidelines define a HDR as:

• a higher degree by research, which is a research doctorate or research masters course, for which at least two-thirds of the student load for the course is required as research work

A research doctorate is defined in the Guidelines as:

• a Level 10 doctoral degree (research) or doctoral degree (professional) qualification as described in the Australian Qualifications Framework.

Professional doctorates that consist of less than two-thirds research are not included for the purposes of calculating RTP funding and should be reported through Tertiary Collection of Student Information (TCSI) Element 310 as code 12 (Doctorate by coursework).

Professional doctorates that comprise at least two-thirds research are included in the verified HDR completions data used to calculate RTP funding and should be reported through Element 310 as code 02 (Doctorate by research).

The definition of research can be found in the Guidelines.

The RTP stipend is paid for educational purposes. Under section 51-10 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997, scholarships paid to full-time students for educational purposes, such as RTP stipends, are treated as exempt income.

Part-time RTP stipends are taxable.

For further information refer to the ATO’s scholarship payments page or contact the ATO.