UTS HDR Capability Framework

This pedagogical framework for higher degree research student development at UTS aims to embed the capabilities required to develop research knowledge and skills relevant to a diverse range of careers and to deliver a range of research outputs meeting the requirements of the discipline or field of study.

This framework is a specialised HDR student version of UTS’s wider Research Outcomes Capability Framework. It serves to situate UTS HDR students as highly valued members of the research community and forms a key aspect of the HDR student experience at UTS. Using this dedicated framework HDR students will develop a distinctive research identity—a UTS researcher.

The UTS HDR Capability Framework has five interlocking components:

Research Knowledge and Skills
Disciplinary knowledge capabilities: the development of research questions, and competency in research methods. This is the traditional focus of research study, now recognised as needing to be complemented by a range of other areas of capability.
Research Communication
Researchers need to be able to communicate their research and its implications to a diversity of audiences, using a range of media, from the thesis and journal articles for academics and scholars, to presentations, broadcasts, videos and social media aimed at audiences in the community, including journalists and funders.
Research Governance and Research Management
Researchers have a responsibility to act with integrity, engage in ethical research practices, and understand the policies that govern the management of research projects and programs.
Impact and Engagement
Researchers learn to look beyond themselves and their own project, as they create and develop relationships within scholarly and professional networks. Through these networks, they can engage with real world problems and with the impact and changes their research can make, directly and indirectly.
Career Development
Acknowledges that research education leads to a wide range of careers, drawing on the specialist knowledge and skills developed in the higher degree programs, and that planning for a career after graduation will involve learning how to present those skills to optimise career potential.

To find out more about the capabilities and outcomes identified in the UTS Capability Framework, please use the interactive graphic below (descriptions of each component will appear underneath the graphic) or refer to our plain-text version.

Research Skills and Knowledge

Stage 1

Conduct literature reviews
Develop research questions
Demonstrate an understanding of research methods used in the discipline
Demonstrate an ability to design a research project using methods that are appropriate to the project and discipline

Stage 2

Implement and defend choice of methods and proposed parameters of research (e.g. to an ethics committee)
Undertake preliminary analysis of collected data
Critically reflect on emerging findings
Modify/adapt research questions, projects and methods to meet expected ethical or integrity standards, or in response to emerging findings
Demonstrate progress of research project

Stage 3

Conduct sophisticated analyses
Synthesise findings and develop a coherent story from the results
Make critical contributions to improving local, institutional, scholarly and/or professional research communities
Produce the knowledge and artefacts of the scholarly community
Demonstrate near completion of thesis

Career Development

Stage 1

Plan interactions with the broader research, industry or professional community

To support that, the student should:

Create ORCID identity
Establish an online professional profile (for example, Google Scholar, LinkedIn, and/or your UTS researcher profile)
Set up a Portfolium account
Use an online tool to develop a skills profile
Enrol in Career development modules in Canvas
Consider an internship/placement and/or industry mentoring

Stage 2

Demonstrate interactions with the broader research, industry or professional community

To support that, the student should:

Update online professional profile(s)
Revise cv/resume with support from SSU
Continue with career development modules in Canvas
Consider an internship/placement and/or industry mentoring program
Identify one or more preferred areas of work, including professional opportunities in those areas and career skills required
Participate/engage in external professional networks, associations, or events
Enrol in Learning & Teaching credential

Stage 3

Plan next steps in research career

To support that, the student should:

Update online professional profile(s)
Revise cv/resume with support from SSU
Use an online tool to develop a skills profile
Identify job opportunities requiring your knowledge and skillset
Discuss career paths with members of the broader research, industry or professional community
Participate in practice interviews and seek feedback on written application materials
Participate/engage in external professional networks, associations, or events

Impact and Engagement

Stage 1

Manage the relationship with supervisors
Manage relationships with other internal and external stakeholders (e.g. research group, other researchers, research managers, industry partners)
Appreciate the broader perspective of research and its impact in society
Demonstrate the ability to balance and prioritise competing interests in managing one’s time

Stage 2

Articulate the potential impact of one’s work in the broader context of society and community
Demonstrate the development of research contacts/potential collaborations beyond the local research group and/or UTS
Demonstrate the leadership and teamwork skills required to work in industry

Stage 3

Demonstrate the potential impact of one’s work in the broader context of society and community
Establish strong relationships with key people and create links in order to, for example, plan future research projects and take up opportunities for the development/implementation of the research outcomes

Research Governance and Research Management

Stage 1

Explain the principles of research integrity and relevant governing policies or legislation
Develop a data management plan relevant to research proposal
Develop a project plan within the limitations of available resources
Demonstrate the ability to balance and prioritise competing interests in managing one’s time

Stage 2

Demonstrate an understanding of the principles in the ethical conduct of research
Implement a project plan within known constraints and modify the plan as new constraints emerge from the context of the research (e.g. ethics committee stipulations, changes in the field, rights and obligations of the researcher and research team, standards of research practice)
Modify and update data management plan in response to emerging data requirements
Revise graduate research study plan where necessary

Stage 3

Demonstrate that research has been conducted to the highest standard of transparency and ethical behaviour
Publish data to standards expected of discipline/project

Research Communication

Stage 1

Use the language of the discipline/s in oral presentations to expert audiences
Communicate impact to lay-audiences
Write research proposals

Stage 2

Demonstrate emerging expertise using the language of the discipline or field across a number of spoken and written genres for different audiences
Rigorously distinguish between their work and others in the field, based on experience, expertise and literature