• Honours home
• 1. Introduction

1.1. Scope of these guidelines
1.2. Sources of information

• 2. Academic requirements of the honours course

2.1. Basic course details
2.2. Course objectives
2.3. Areas of specialisation
2.4. Admission requirements
2.5. Repeating units for honours admission purposes
2.6. Period of candidature and enrolment
2.7. Advanced standing for previous studies

• 3. Roles and responsibilities

3.1. Faculty Board
3.2. Faculty Education Committee
3.3. Faculty Board of Examiners
3.4. Associate Dean (Education)
3.5. Faculty Academic Manager
3.6. Faculty Honours Committee and Board of Examiners (FHC&BE)
3.7. School Honours Coordinator
3.8. Academic supervisors
3.9. Students

• 4. Approved honours requirements for each area of specialisation

4.1. Objectives for each area of specialisation
4.2. Publication of assessment requirements
4.3. Honours assessment guidelines for typical assessment tasks
4.4. Submission of results for honours component units
4.5. Overall honours mark and grade

• 5. Faculty honours administration

5.1. Admission and enrolment
5.2. Deferment and intermission
5.3. Load management and quotas
5.4. Honours units
5.5. Special consideration
5.6. Appeal process
5.7. Scholarships
5.8. Graduation

• 6. School academic responsibilities

6.1. Provision of induction information
6.2. School policies on supervisory practices
6.3. Absences of supervisors
6.4. Identification and roles of co-supervisors
6.5. Assessment processes and criteria
6.6. General guidelines for the final research project thesis

List of appendices
• Appendix 1 – Relevant university policies and procedures
• Appendix 2 – Objectives of honours in areas of specialisation
• Appendix 3 – Full-time and part-time honours unit structure
• Appendix 4 – Honours research thesis assessment guidelines
• Appendix 5 – Sample oral presentation assessment sheet (DOC 56KB)

Faculty honours administration

5.1 Admission and enrolment

The Faculty of Science office provides support to staff and students in the administration of the Honours course. The faculty has responsibility for:

• coordinating applications for the science honours program and providing supporting information on the eligibility of individual applicants for consideration by the Associate Dean (Education) and School Honours Coordinators and other staff;
• processing offers of admission and coordinating the enrolment and re-enrolment processes;
• recording the award of overall honours marks and grades for individual candidates.

In particular, staff in schools/departments are not authorised to offer, officially or unofficially, any applicant a place in the science honours program or to amend the enrolment of a current honours student.

Students are not normally permitted to maintain an active enrolment in any other course while they are enrolled in the honours program, and only with the permission of the Associate Dean (Education) in very exceptional circumstances.Students in all Bachelor of Science double-degree courses are eligible for admission to the Bachelor of Science (Honours) during their double-degree course, normally as an intermission, upon the completion of (a) at least 144pts of the studies towards the double-degree course in which they are enrolled; and (b) all of the science studies for that double-degree course. Eligible students may seek intermission from their double-degree course to enrol in the BSc(Hons) course for one year of full time study (or two years part time).

Whether students intermit, or transfer into the honours versions of science double-degree course, eg BSc(Hons)/BE, BCom/BSc(Hons), will be at the discretion of the managing faculty for the double degree course.

Notwithstanding the above, students who completed a specialist science degree at Monash, such as the Bachelor of Biomedical Science or Bachelor of Computer Science, or who completed a major sequence in a science area of study as part of another course for which that sequence is also offered, such as Geography or Psychology in the Bachelor of Arts, will normally be expected to undertake the corresponding honours course rather than the Bachelor of Science (Honours). Exceptions to this requirement may be approved by the Associate Dean (Education) in consultation with the Faculty Academic Manager.

5.2 Deferment and intermission

Students are not permitted to defer an offer of a place in the honours program. Students who apply and are granted a place but then wish to defer their enrolment in the honours program will be advised that they must reapply when they are in a position to commence study.

In exceptional circumstances students may be granted intermission, or ‘leave of absence’, during their honours program. The maximum period of intermission for full-time candidates is six months and part-time twelve months. An application to intermit honours studies must be endorsed by the relevant head of school/department and submitted through the School Honours Coordinator to the Associate Dean (Education). The application must outline the reasons for the request, include full details of the assessment components completed by the student and outline the anticipated timelines for the completion of the remaining components of the program following the period of intermission. Intermission is not normally granted to allow students to pursue other studies during their course. The results for any enrolled assessable units that are completed prior to the intermission must be submitted to the faculty in the normal manner.

5.3 Load management and quotas

The Faculty of Science does not impose minimum or maximum intake targets for the science honours program. At any given time honours enrolments in schools/departments will reflect the eligibility of applicants and will be limited only by the availability of appropriate resources and appropriate academic supervision.

In areas of science for which the number of applications for entry to the honours course exceeds the available supervision, the relevant head of department/school, in consultation with the Faculty Honours Coordinator and Associate Dean (Education), may recommend to the Faculty that only a limited number of places be offered to eligible applicants for the honours course in that area of study. Where this occurs, the quota must be advised to the Faculty Academic Manager in advance of selection for the science honours course, and admission to the course in that area will be determined on the basis of academic merit (only).

5.4 Honours units

In accordance with the university Honours Year Programs Policy, the typical unit structures and normal enrolment pattern is shown in ‘Appendix 3 – Full-time and part-time honours unit structure’ for both full-time and part-time study for both March and July commencement. Where it is possible with the existing approved unit offerings, the order in which the units are taken can be varied with the approval of the relevant honours coordinator.

Changes to the approved honours unit structure must be approved by the Faculty Education Committee as a formal amendment to the existing units, including making part-time studies available to students in areas of study that are normally only available full-time.

Where part-time study is available, all units labelled ‘part time I’ are ‘not examinable’ (NE) as the units are only split into two parts to facilitate enrolment across two academic years; all other full-time and part-time units must have both a mark and grade returned at the completion of the enrolled period.

Typical unit structures and enrolment patterns for full-time (FT) and part-time (PT) study will vary depending on the requirements of the honours program in that area of specialisation. Where an assessable coursework component is completed over a single semester the university Honours Year Programs Policy requires that unit structure should reflect this, for example:

* Alternative timings may be permitted with approval of the relevant School Honours Coordinator

Astrophysics, Atmospheric science, Geography and environmental science, Mathematics and Statistics at Clayton, and Mathematical Sciences at Gippsland all follow the ‘Mixed pattern’ above.

In other areas of specialisation, for academic reasons the assessable coursework component may extend across two semesters, for example due to its close link to various stages of the research project. In this case a typical unit structure is:

Biological Sciences, all Biomedical sciences, Chemistry, Geosciences and Psychology (full-time only) all follow the ‘full-year pattern’ above. Materials Science and Physics are similar to the ‘full-year pattern’ above but with two 24-point full-time units and four 12-point part-time units. Computer Science at Clayton, Experimental Sciences, and Science Honours at Sunway have individual ‘full-year patterns’.

Where feasible and appropriate, schools/departments should provide sufficient flexibility in their unit structure to allow students to complete a range of assessable specialist coursework offered by other suitable institutions, and to allow students from other institutions to complete appropriate assessable units at Monash.

Other unit structures and enrolment patterns may be approved by the faculty board for individual areas of study but, where appropriate and possible, these existing patterns are preferred. The unitised structure provides an opportunity to provide some cross-disciplinary preparatory units in the longer term, for example in research methods and/or OHSE, but this is not anticipated in the short term.

5.5 Special consideration

Special consideration is available for all types of assessment in the honours program, including submission of the honours research project and any examination papers for coursework components. Students wishing to apply for special consideration should use the official university form to do this. Substantiating evidence such as doctor’s certificates, report and signature from counsellor etc is required to support the claim. It is recommended that School Honours Coordinators assess all special consideration applications for minor disruptions to studies. Major issues must be forwarded to the Faculty Honours Committee and Board of Examiners for consideration.

Extension of submission and examination dates beyond the normal period of enrolment for any assessable unit can only be approved by the Associate Dean (Education) upon the recommendation of both the Faculty Honours Committee and Board of Examinersand the relevant head of school/department.

5.6 Appeal process

Due to the importance of the honours year to students’ future career paths, considerable care has been taken to ensure an objective assessment procedure. However, where a student is not satisfied with some aspect of their supervision or assessment, they may express a grievance in writing, outlining the reasons why they believe their supervision or result is unfair. The School Honours Coordinator will consider such applications initially. The appropriate school/department representative/s should then investigate the matter and report the outcome to the Faculty Honours Coordinator. The School Honours Coordinator will return a verdict to the student. If the student is still dissatisfied they may wish to take the matter up with the Associate Dean (Education), who is the nominee of the dean to ‘hear complaints from honours students in relation to academic matters’ under the university Grievance Procedures.

5.7 Scholarships

A small number of scholarships may be awarded to students in the science honours program on the basis of academic merit. Students will be ranked, based on academic performance in their undergraduate studies, and nominated by a group comprised the Associate Dean (Education), the Faculty Honours Committee and Board of Examiners  and the Faculty Academic Manager for the following scholarships

• Vice-Chancellors Undergraduate Research Scholarship – value: $3000 per annum.
• Faculty of Science Honours Scholarship – value: $1500 per annum.

Applications for the Vice-Chancellors Undergraduate Research Scholarship must be nominated by the relevant school/department in accordance with the normal application process – where more than one application is submitted by any school/department they must be ranked by the head. Successful candidates will be notified by the Vice-Chancellors office or the Faculty of Science office, respectively.

5.8 Graduation

Under university policy, a person who has qualified for both the pass degree and the fourth-year honours bachelor degree and who wishes to graduate with both degrees may not be awarded both degrees on the same day.