About GRO

Welcome to the GRO at the Australian National University. The GRO was established as the central Higher Degree Research (HDR) Student Administration Office for the University. It commenced operations on 18 February 2019.

The GRO has a key liaison function with the Colleges and other Central Divisions to provide consistent HDR administrative support. The office is dedicated to improving the HDR student experience and is focussed on delivering effective services, advice and support to HDR candidate and staff  from application through to completion.

The GRO is part of the Office of the Dean, Higher Degree Research. The Office of the Dean, Higher Degree Research provides the academic leadership, strategic direction and oversight of the University's HDR Programs to ensure delivery of high-quality, internationally benchmarked research programs.

Location

Ground Floor, Haydon Allen Building (22) next to the Tank lecture Theatre.

******* Please note the Haydon Allen Building is currently undergoing refurbishment and the GRO physical office is now closed as of 5/6/23. Staff will be working from home until the building works are completed over the coming months. Please do not attend our office in person. Please note that you can still contact us via phone or email.  Once the refurbishment is complete you will be able to enjoy the new bathroom facilities, paint, flooring, and roof! Please be aware of the scaffolding and demolition works that will be undertaken and follow all signage to ensure your safety. 

Mailing Address

The Australian National University
Graduate Research Office 
Haydon Allen Building 22
University Avenue
Canberra ACT 2601
Australia

Contact us

Our preferred method of contact is via email to one of our functional email accounts.  If you are unsure of which email account to contact please email gro@anu.edu.au. Alternatively you can call us from 9am - 12pm and 1 - 4pm on weekdays (excluding ACT public holidays). 

Vision statement

To excel in administration and enhance the experience for the higher degree research (HDR) community.

Mission statement

GRO is here to support the HDR Candidate lifecycle and journey.

The Graduate Research Office’s mission is to promote and exemplify best practice in HDR administration. We will support you by providing trusted and dependable advice. We aim to anticipate and resolve problems including improving and streamlining processes. You can expect a service that is responsive, reliable and dynamic.

Values

• Honesty
• Integrity
• Empathy
• Respect
• Fairness
• Well-being

Key responsibilities

Other responsibilities

• HDR Supervision Development, Training and Register – administrative support for the HDR Supervision Development Framework. 
• Development - support of central HDR administrative improvements.
• Governance – administrative quality assurance and compliance, operational policy interpretation & advice.
• HDR Case Management – support to the Dean HDR, candidates and staff on individual HDR issues. 

Contact us

• GRO@anu.edu.au >>
• HDR.admissions@anu.edu.au  >>
• HDR.Candidature@anu.edu.au  >>
• HDR.Examinations@anu.edu.au >>

Feedback or complaints

We are always striving to improve our services and welcome feedback on our services. Feedback helps us to know when we are doing well and what we can do better.  We enjoy contributing to  and supporting each HDR candidates journey and student experience through transparent administration. We typically have a large volume of requests requiring manual processing and process each item in order of receipt except where a College or School has flagged the request as urgent or if there are other relevant processing deadlines (e.g. ESOS requirements or pay cutoff).   

If you have feedback (positive or constructive) or an informal grievance/complaint about an experience with us please email manager.gro@anu.edu.au and we will endeavour to respond to you within three working days as part of the informal resolution process for grievances (for further details please see the Procedure: Student grievance and complaint resolution).  

Please note if you need advice on a complaint or grievance you can always contact:

• Dean of Students
• PARSA

Further information on this topic can be found at the Academic problems, appeals, complaints web page