HDR Supervisor of the Month

The ANU Higher Degree Research (HDR) Supervisor of the Month Award recognises good practice in ANU HDR supervision.

All HDR supervisors, conveners, administrators, and anyone else who works to support HDR candidates, are eligible to be nominated.

The awardee will receive ANU-wide recognition.

Nominations are welcome from all members of the ANU community. Nomination involves completion of the simple HDR Supervisor of the Month – Nomination Form.

Current HDR Supervisor of the Month awardee

October 2024

Dr Nick Abel
Honorary Associate Professor
Fenner School of Environment & Society
ANU College of Science

Nick's supervisory approach:
"I don’t think of myself as a ‘supervisor’, I prefer to be a fellow explorer of consequential answers to salient questions. I do advise students at the outset of a research journey but expect to be following their path well before submission date. I’ve gained much more knowledge from working with research students over the decades than they’ve got from me, but I do hope each of them will keep asking new questions no matter how distinguished their achievements.

Someone wrote on the toilet wall of another university where I worked ‘come to this school and have your answers questioned’. Sharp questions puncture academic complacency and over-inflated theories and egos. They resharpen ageing minds too. Thank you to all the students who’ve taught me."

Find out more about Nick’s work by visiting Nick's profile webpage on the Researchers website.