Academic Referee Report
To support Research Degree Application for Admission and/or Scholarship
CRICOS Provider Code: 00121B

Instructions for Referee

Thank you for agreeing to complete this form on behalf of the applicant.  Referee reports are used for ranking purposes and are highly regarded. 

Your report will remain confidential, and is not shared with the applicant unless you choose to share it.

It is essential that ALL sections are completed carefully, sections E and F are particularly important for scoring purposes. 

We appreciate that it may be difficult to answer all questions, depending on your relationship with the applicant.  Please answer all questions to the best of your ability as we may not be able to use the report unless it is complete.  If you feel you cannot answer the question, then please advise the applicant that you are unable to provide a referee report.

Timeline

It is important that the Graduate Research Admissions team receives your report within 5 days of application submission.  If the applicant is also applying for a competitive scholarship their application may not be considered if your referee report is late.

Submitting a report

•	Referee reports should be sent from your academic or business email address (e.g. diana.prince@unisa.edu.au).  We will also accept referee reports from non-academic email addresses where the email address is published on the University or Institution website or can be independently verified in another way (e.g. shown on research published in an academic journal).
•	If you cannot provide the referee report through a verified email address then you should print the report once it is completed, sign it and add a stamp from your University, and then scan and email it back to us.

Please email your completed referee report to the Graduate Research Admissions team at: research.referees@unisa.edu.au .

Please note: Your referee report will not be accepted if sent directly from the applicant. 

If you have any queries, please contact the Graduate Research Admissions team at research.degrees@unisa.edu.au .

SECTION A:	Research degree applicant’s details	
FAMILY name:	     	
OTHER name(s):	     	
Application number (if known):	     	
SECTION B	Referee’s details 	
Referee's full name and title:	     	
Referee's position:	     	
University/organisation:	     	
School or department:	     	
Address:	     	
	     	
Email:	     	
Telephone:	     	
SECTION C:	Knowledge of the applicant	
How long have you known the applicant?	
	0-3 months	3-6 months	6-12 months	1-2 years	>2 years	
Prior to undergraduate (U/G) study						
During undergraduate study (including honours)						
Since completing U/G. study (excluding P/G study)						
During postgraduate study						
Since completing postgraduate (P/G) study						
In what capacity have you known the applicant? (you may select more than one box)	
    Lecturer	     Masters (Coursework) Supervisor	
    Course Coordinator/Program Director	     Research Degree Supervisor	
    Head of School/Department	     Examiner of the applicant’s thesis	
    Honours Supervisor	     Other (please specify):	     	
What is your professional knowledge of the applicant?	
    Thorough	    Very good	    Adequate	    Poor/Limited	
SECTION D:	Applicant’s academic performance	
Based on the quality of the completed work, what is the applicant’s academic standard?
	
  Outstanding	  Exceptional	  Very Good	  Good	   Adequate	   Poor	
Please complete the relevant sections below
	
Honours result:	
Have you known the applicant during their Honours degree/program?        No         Yes	
Has the applicant already obtained an actual Australian Honours result?     Unknown         No         Yes	
If Yes, please indicate the level of Honours achieved:  	
          Honours 1           Honours 2A           Honours 2B           Failed            Didn’t complete	

SECTION D:	Applicant’s academic performance (continued)	
Please complete the relevant sections below
	
Honours equivalence/postgraduate performance:	
Are you familiar with the applicant's performance during postgraduate study?       No           Yes	
If Yes, please indicate course of study:	
     Masters by Research	     	
     Masters by Coursework	     	
     Postgraduate Diploma	     	
     Other (please specify):	     	
If you are familiar with the Australian Honours system, please indicate your assessment of the applicant's performance in postgraduate study in terms of equivalence to the Australian system of Honours. Please expand on your assessment in Section G.	
     Honours 1	     	
     Honours 2A  	     	
     Honours 2B	     	
     Failed	     	
     Didn’t complete	     	
		
SECTION E	Potential research	
Please rate the applicant’s performance in the areas listed below in relation to ALL potential postgraduate research students you have known. Please select the most appropriate box in each area. The numbers appearing in brackets indicate the points that will be allocated in determining the ranking. The shaded areas do not influence the points used in the ranking.
	
	Performance	
AREA	Unknown	Poor
Bottom 40% (0)	Average
Top 60%
(1)	Good
Top 25%
(2)	Very good
Top 10%
(3)	Exceptional
Top 5%
(4)	Outstanding
Top 2%
(5)	
Creative ability								
Initiative								
Persistence								
Critical and conceptual ability								
Ability to communicate with others								
Ability to work as a member of a team								
Definitions:		
Creative ability:   ability to develop original ideas, hypotheses, and to write original compositions 
Initiative:   ability to embark on new ideas or approaches without prompting
Persistence:   ability to persevere
Critical and conceptual ability:   ability to analyse information and understand arguments, form ideas and build on them
Ability to communicate with others:   both written and spoken
Ability to work as a member of a team:   ability to work cooperatively and collaboratively with others	

SECTION F:	Ability to complete the Higher Degree by Research 	
Please indicate whether you consider the applicant will complete their research degree within time, taking into account their ability to plan, keep to a schedule and persevere in difficult circumstances. In Australia candidates are expected to complete within 4 years for a Doctorate and within 2 years for a Masters by Research.	
Please select ONE box only:	Applicant for PhD	Applicant for Masters	
I do not expect the candidate will complete			
I expect the candidate to experience considerable difficulties in completing			
I expect the candidate to complete, but may experience some difficulties			
I am confident that the applicant will complete			
I have no reservations that the applicant will complete and produce an excellent research thesis			
SECTION G:	Explanatory comments	
Please use this space if you wish to clarify any of the statements in this report and to give reasons if, in your opinion, an applicant’s research potential is not indicated by their academic record. 

If more than one applicant for the same course at UniSA has asked you for a report, it would help us if you would rank the applicants in the space below. 

We welcome any other comments you may wish to make that may assist UniSA in assessing the applicant. Please include another page if you wish.  	

University/Employer Authenticity Stamp

     	
Academic referee:	     	     		     	
	Signature	Printed	Date