Unit Guide

General Information

Unit convenor and teaching staff	Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit Convener Bandita Mainali bandita.mainali@mq.edu.au Room 309, 9 Wally's Walk Appointment via email or Mondays from 12 pm to 2 pm. Binesh Puthen Veettil binesh.puthenveettil@mq.edu.au
Credit points	Credit points 80
Prerequisites	Prerequisites
Corequisites	Corequisites
Co-badged status	Co-badged status
Unit description	Unit description The Master of Research is undertaken as a single unit. The thesis together with four core research activities form a single coherent research program based on individual research plans and will consist of the following: Research Frontiers: You will attend a number of school or faculty-run sessions and engage in a program of activities developing your knowledge of the sub-disciplinary field in which you want to situate your own research, and develop your own presentation skills; Literature Review: You will learn how researchers in your field engage with previous research literature, and produce a draft of your own literature review for your thesis; Research Methods: With other students and led by academic staff, you will develop the research methods you will use in your research project; Research Planning: Through individual work with your supervision team, you will develop a plan for a large-scale research project, part of which will be completed in the MRes; and Thesis: You will complete a small research project and write it up in an externally examined thesis. Following examination, you will revise your thesis to address comments provided by examiners.

Important Academic Dates

Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

ULO1: Apply critical and integrative thinking to develop research questions within your discipline through scholarly investigation of currently available evidence.
ULO2: Communicate a coherent and sustained argument in relation to your research outcomes to specialist and non-specialist audiences.
ULO3: Employ integrity and ethical conduct in research as a socially and culturally responsible researcher.
ULO4: Plan and execute a research project to contribute knowledge to your discipline.
ULO5: Demonstrate expert judgement, adaptability and accountability in your professional practice as an independent researcher.
ULO6: Apply high-level cognitive, creative and technical skills to generate and evaluate complex ideas and concepts.

General Assessment Information

Student Responsibilities

Be familiar with University policy and procedures and act in accordance with those policies and procedures.

It is the responsibility of the student to retain a copy of any work submitted. Students must provide these documents upon request. Copies should be retained until the end of the grade appeal period each term.

The student is to perform the required due diligence for their assessment grade and rectify as soon as possible upon finding any errors.

Late Submission

Late Submission Policy

5% penalty per day: If you submit your assessment late, 5% of the total possible marks will be deducted for each day (including weekends), up to 7 days.
- Example 1 (out of 100): If you score 85/100 but submit 20 hours late, you will lose 5 marks and receive 80/100.
- Example 2 (out of 30): If you score 27/30 but submit 1 day late, you will lose 1.5 marks and receive 25.5/30.
After 7 days: Submissions more than 7 days late will receive a mark of 0.
Extensions:
- Automatic short extension: Some assessments are eligible for automatic short extension. You can only apply for an automatic short extension before the due date.
- Special Consideration: If you need more time due to serious issues and for any assessments that are not eligible for Short Extension, you must apply for Special Consideration.

Need help? Review the Special Consideration page HERE

Notifications

Formal notification of assessment tasks, grading rubrics, and due dates will be posted on iLearn. Although all reasonable measures to ensure the information is accurate, The University reserves the right to make changes without notice. Each student is responsible for checking iLearn for changes and updates.

Grading and passing requirements for unit

For further details about grading, please refer below to the policies and procedures section.

In order to pass this unit, a student must obtain a mark of 50 or more for the unit (i.e. obtain a passing grade P/ CR/ D/ HD).

The unit will be graded according to the Macquarie University Grading policy. The following grades will be used according to the listed numerical range:

ASSESSMENT GRADES AND STATUS

GRADE	RANGE	STATUS ( ‘Standard Grade’ in AMIS)	DESCRIPTION
HD	85-100	Pass	Provides consistent evidence of deep and critical understanding in relation to the learning outcomes. There is substantial originality, insight, or creativity in identifying, generating, and communicating competing arguments, perspectives or problem-solving approaches; critical evaluation of problems, their solutions, and their implications; creativity in the application as appropriate to the program.
D	75-84	Pass	Provides evidence of integration and evaluation of critical ideas, principles, and theories, distinctive insight, and ability in applying relevant skills and concepts in relation to learning outcomes. There is a demonstration of frequent originality or creativity in defining and analyzing issues or problems and providing solutions; and the use of means of communication appropriate to the program and the audience.
CR	65-74	Pass	Provides evidence of learning that goes beyond replication of content knowledge or skills relevant to the learning outcomes. There is a demonstration of substantial understanding of fundamental concepts in the field of study and the ability to apply these concepts in a variety of contexts; convincing argumentation with appropriate coherent justification; communication of ideas fluently and clearly in terms of the conventions of the program.
P	50-64	Pass	Provides sufficient evidence of the achievement of learning outcomes. There is a demonstration of understanding and application of fundamental concepts of the program; routine argumentation with acceptable justification; communication of information and ideas adequately in terms of the conventions of the program. The learning attainment is considered satisfactory or adequate or competent or capable in relation to the specified outcomes.
F	0-49	Fail	Does not provide evidence of attainment of learning outcomes. There is missing or partial or superficial or faulty understanding and application of the fundamental concepts in the field of study; missing, undeveloped, inappropriate or confusing argumentation; incomplete, confusing, or lacking communication of ideas in ways that give little attention to the conventions of the program.

Assessment Tasks

Name	Weighting	Hurdle	Due	Groupwork/Individual	Short Extension	AI assisted?
Poster presentation	10%	Yes	31/07/2026	Individual	No	Open
Research methods	0%	Yes	30/05/2026	Individual	No	Observed
Weekly colloquia	0%	No	31/07/2026	Individual	No	Observed
Research planning	0%	Yes	30/04/2026	Individual	No	Observed
Literature review	0%	Yes	28/02/2026	Individual	No	Open
Thesis	90%	Yes	Check the offer letter for the EWS Date.	Individual	No	Open

Poster presentation

Assessment Type ¹: Professional task
Indicative Time on Task ²: 20 hours
Due: 31/07/2026
Weighting: 10%
Groupwork/Individual: Individual
Short extension ³: No
AI assisted?: Open
This is a hurdle assessment task (see assessment policy for more information on hurdle assessment tasks)

You will prepare a poster presentation explaining your current research