PhB Mentors Needed

Published in the Research School of Physics Event Horizon
Vol46 Issue8 1–5 March 2021

New mentors required
We need 25 academic mentors for our new PhB students. All that is required is 1-2 meetings per semester to have a general chat. Some students take projects with their mentors or request guidance on subject selection - some students do not. Don't worry if you don't know all the details - you can always re-direct them to Joe Hope, Yuri Kivshar, or James Sullivan for specific questions. Please contact Yuri Kivshar to express your interest.

The PhB Guide for 2020 (mostly for students but might be useful for staff who don’t know much about the program) can be found here for anyone who is interested: https://science.anu.edu.au/files/anu-science-phb-hitchikers-guide-2020.pdf


ASC project courses
PhB students take at least 3 Advanced Studies Courses (ASCs – undergraduate research projects) throughout the course of their degree. All PhB Physics projects (ASCs) in physics are marked by a panel that generally consists of staff that have supervised a Physics PhB student that semester. Part of the responsibilities of taking on a PhB student project you will be asked to participate in that session's marking panel. The time commitment is marking between 1-4 projects and attending a 1 hr meeting to discuss your notes on the report and agree on a mark.

Students really need and value feedback on their work. If you supervise a ASC you will also need to provide a short paragraph (as part of the assessment form) to be passed on to the student as formal written feedback. Be specific and to the point. General stuff (ie well done, good project, works well etc) wont help them improve. What did they do well? What could they improve?

The PhB team are trying to ensure that the students stick to their deadlines in 2021. Please help us with this - do not just grant a student a 2 week extension without a really strong reason. Discuss the importance of time management and deadlines with the students - they need guidance from you as the supervisor in terms of expectations and how to set a series of milestones for the project timeline. The ASC Guidelines can be found here: http://science.anu.edu.au/files/ASC%20Guidelines.pdf.


ASE course extensions
PhB students can take up to 3 Advanced Studies Extensions (ASEs – extension to undergraduate courses) throughout the course of their studies. Guidelines for ASEs can be found here: http://science.anu.edu.au/files/ASE%20Guidelines.pdf.


Prof Yuri Kivshar and Dr James Sullivan
PhB Physics discipline coordinators