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

June 2024

Professor Colin Jackson
Senior Lecturer, Research School of Chemistry
ANU College of Science

Colin's supervisory approach:
"I consider myself very lucky to have the opportunity to supervise the type of talented and ambitious students that we have here at the ANU. It’s a lot of responsibility and it’s a part of the job that I care about deeply. Every student is different and trying to help them gain the confidence that they can solve problems by themselves and are deserving of the praise they get is something that is an interesting challenge. Many of them are much smarter than I am – seeing them eventually realise this is always quite enjoyable for me.

I think back to my experience as a PhD student and what helped me develop the most – in all cases it was solving a problem, getting something to work that hadn’t worked previously, helping somebody else solve a problem or talking through a problem with somebody more senior. It helps to understand that a PhD isn’t about how much work you get done, but how much you learn and how much you grow as a person and a researcher. I find research to be a lot of fun, and it’s a real privilege to do this every day, and trying to share this perspective with the students is something that I think is important."

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