Kia ora graduate research students
We await further information from Government regarding how this lockdown period will proceed. For Auckland, this information will be available late afternoon, Monday 30 August. In the meantime, we understand Alert Level 4 brings with it a unique set of challenges for graduate research students. This will be particularly true if you were amidst collecting data. Additionally, you are all in different living situations, and we acknowledge that productivity on your research, even if just reading and writing, may be impacted by lockdown. Be assured that we will be accommodating of this where it is clear your progress was affected. Your regular progress report (PGR8) will provide you with the chance to detail any negative impacts, so please do keep a brief record of specifics to then relay in your report. Be proactive in contacting your supervisory team – they are there to support you.
You have access to student support services with a specialist postgraduate research Student Advisor – Emiliana Faapoi provides very well informed care and support for you. Do reach out if you are experiencing difficulty. Additionally, please review the Student Support section on our website should you be experiencing financial hardship, need access to health and counselling support, or general academic support.
Refresh yourself with the specific guidelines for research activity at the different alert levels, and our associated Covid-19 ethics guidelines for research. This will help your planning for possible scenarios over the coming weeks.
Graduate Research School activity continues amidst the pandemic. We continue to provide online workshops (registrations through the Events section within elab.aut.ac.nz; workshops currently advertised as face to face may be postponed or moved online in response to COVID-19 updates), and oral examinations are proceeding via Zoom.
Kia atawhai, kia tūpato, kia haumaru (be kind, be careful, be safe)
Graduate Research School team
