The Role of Postgraduate Students in the Farrer Centre

The importance of postgraduate students to the research effort within the Farrer Centre is underscored by their increasing numbers and their contribution to the publications arising from the Centre. In 1990 there was one postgraduate student enrolled in a PhD undertaking his research through the Farrer Centre. Now there are in excess of 30 postgraduates associated with the Farrer Centre enrolled in Honours, Masters and Doctoral degrees.

These students are undertaking a range of research projects from improving strategies for oat breeding, the biology of weeds and their control and the fate of pesticides in soil through to the structuring of information on the world wide web and the assessment of environmental flows for the Murrumbidgee River.
Presently, all students within the Farrer Centre, including Honours students, have a scholarship to support them in their research. These scholarships come from a range of sources including the Grains Research and Development Corporation, Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation, the Australian Research Council and the Cooperative Research Centres for Sustainable Rice Production and Weed Management Systems.

Although the majority of students undertake their research at Charles Sturt University, a number are situated remotely from CSU. Some students are undertaking their research at the Wagga Agricultural Institute, others at CSIRO and Department of Agriculture Laboratories in Canberra, Griffith and Launceston. The students are supervised by at least one scientist from Charles Sturt University, but often have external supervisors. Therefore, the students become the link between the Farrer Centre and other institutions thus increasing the opportunities for more expansive research networks.

The Farrer Centre supports postgraduates by supplying scholarships for study, the development and maintenance of resources to support research and the provision of funds to assist students in attending conferences where they can present their research. The Farrer Centre has offered postgraduate and honours scholarships in the past. At present, the provision of "top up" scholarships are being examined.

Major infrastructure which has been funded by, or granted to, the Farrer Centre include glasshouses, the lysimeter complex, incubators, microscopes, computer and software resources and a freeze drier. The Farrer Centre has supported students to travel and present findings in Spain, Scotland, Italy, New Zealand, USA, and Canada as well as conferences throughout Australia.