Law Honours 2017 14 September 2016 Presented by Dr Catrina Denvir Associate Professor Arlie Loughnan Natasha de Zilva Sarah Bradbury– former Law Hons student Faculty of Law

Honours: Basic Features Supervised honours thesis Undertaken for 12 credit points over one semester 12,000 word limit, including footnotes (but not footnote numbers or citations) Standard for HD: a scholarly paper of publishable quality Honours Award based on HWAM: double weighting of Honours Thesis mark Compulsory - research training seminar (methodology is fun!)

Eligibility for admission to honours in 2017 Completion of at least 16 compulsory units (including Legal Research I and II) by the application closing date (13 December). This does not include 2016/2017 summer school results. Satisfied the requirements of your first degree Meet the WAM cut-off – for 2017 this is 75 This WAM is based on all compulsory units taken at Sydney Law School, except Foundations, completed by the end of Second Semester 2016. This does not include marks for electives. Submission of a complete Honours Application: this includes the research proposal and the supervisor’s approval/sign-off.

Eligibility for admission to honours in 2017 Students who fall marginally short of the entry WAM (those with a WAM of 74+) may apply to the Dean for special entry on the basis that they can demonstrate aptitude for extended research. A strong record of achievement in academic essay writing or other evidence of high level research and writing skills is required. If you are a student with a WAM between 74 and 74.9 and you wish to apply for Honours, please attach a statement which outlines your capacity for high level research and writing. This statement should not exceed 300 words.

What is Honours and why do it? Independent and extended research  extended essay or thesis An intellectual challenge in an area that particularly interests you Research and writing skills training Apprenticeship for postgraduate study – direct supervision Competitive advantage for postgraduate places, scholarships Value-adding for the employment market Sarah Bradbury

Honours: Applications Applications in penultimate year for all students intending to do honours in following year (in either semester) Students are responsible for developing a topic and arranging supervision as part of the application process Past Honours theses are available in the Sydney E-Scholarship Repository on the library catalogue in special collection: see http://ses.library.usyd.edu.au/handle/2123/6261

Important Dates 4 September: WAM cut-off released  75 for 2017 14 September: list of available supervisors released and applications for Honours 2017 open 13 December 2016: applications close By early February 2017: notification of successful applicants

Law Honours 2014 Information Session The application form You must nominate the semester in which you wish to undertake honours Include: proposed title, supervisor, research proposal and preliminary bibliography You must obtain the approval of your supervisor before you submit the form Successful applicants will be notified after results are processed and WAMs are calculated. This should be completed by early February 2017. If successful, you must submit a departmental permission request to enrol in honours in Sydney Student. Note: Putting in an application does not guarantee a spot in the Honours program.

Finding a supervisor The list of available supervisors for 2017 is available under the “How to apply” section of the Honours web page. This includes… The semester each supervisor is available Each supervisor’s research interests Please note: supervision capacity is limited http://sydney.edu.au/law/cstudent/undergrad/honours_program.shtml

Finding a supervisor When choosing a supervisor consider the following: The supervisor’s availability and expertise in the general field of study Read some of their published work before deciding esp if you have not had experience with then as a lecturer Knowledge and experience with the supervisor and useful feedback Likely compatibility of style and approach Make contact and discuss proposed topic with potential supervisor Don’t leave it to the last minute! Potential Supervisors may not be available to sign relevant forms, meet with you or attend to email correspondence if you do.

Ethics approval Consider early on whether you need to get human ethics approval – will you be conducting research that involves human participants? This includes surveys, questionnaires, and interviews. Getting ethics approval may delay the commencement of your project so you should speak to your supervisor about this well in advance.

Award of honours Award based on HWAM = all compulsory and elective law units taken at Sydney Law School except Foundations with the Honours mark given double weighting Note: Being in the Honours program does not guarantee an honours degree Description HWAM Honours Class I HWAM ≥ 80 Honours Class II (Division 1) 75≥ HWAM < 80 Pass HWAM < 75

Honours Thesis - Mark The honours thesis is an important component of your honours grade Your thesis mark is the result of a robust examination process in which: Your supervisor will suggest an examiner for your thesis and your examiner will prepare a report and recommend a conditional mark to your supervisor Supervisor and examiner discuss and agree on conditional mark The examination report and the conditional mark are provided to the Honours Committee Theses are then moderated by the Honours Committee who ensures each student has been marked to the same standard

The First/Second Class Honours Fear Previously students have expressed concerns that if they do not achieve a First, then they are better off getting a Pass degree Operates on assumption that a Distinction sounds better than a 2:1 Maybe yes, maybe no Important to recognise that whatever your eventual degree classification, if you are applying to overseas universities, they will usually require you to convert your grade into their classification system (Honours, GPA, etc…) Focus on whether you want to undertake independent research

Developing your topic and research proposal LAWS 3900 Developing your topic and research proposal

Outlining your research proposal Honours application requires a brief outline of intended research: Maximum of 200 words – tight and concise Your working hypothesis or research question Rationale and background to the research – including brief reference to the relevant law literature and why it is worth doing Brief description of your research methodology

The good research question checklist Will this question hold my interest and can I manage any potential biases I may have in this area? Is the question right for the field? Will the findings be considered significant and contribute to knowledge? Contribute to change? Is the question well articulated and terms properly defined? Is the question doable? In time, resources, materials? Ethically? Is the question of interest to potential supervisors? Zina O’Leary 2014 Doing your research project, p 45

Developing your research proposal Refining your choice of topic area to a research question: What is already known what are the gaps in knowledge about this issue? Why is this topic important, interesting or topical? How do you propose to approach the topic in terms of methodology and argument? What is the line of your overall argument? Selected bibliography or sources

Questions? law.professional@sydney.edu.au First point of enquiry: Honours webpage Still not clear? For both administrative and academic queries, contact: law.professional@sydney.edu.au