The Minerals Geoscience Honours (MGH) Program

The MGH courses have been prepared based on the advice of a panel of senior professionals from the mining and exploration industry. Each course is designed to address specific knowledge and skills relevant to your future employment as a minerals industry professional.

The program includes both field and lecture based courses with a diverse range of content based on the expertise of staff at the participating universities. Brief course descriptions are attached to this website.

The courses are intended to seamlessly mesh with your home university’s honours program, providing a component of your required course work, whilst offering you the opportunity to study a range of specialised subjects with experts from around the country. The program includes financial support, via travel bursaries, to help with travel expenses (see below).

Please discuss your MTEC course participation with your intended honours supervisor or honours co-ordinator from your university. Think carefully about the type of course that will most fulfil your needs (including relevance to your proposed honours project) and take heed of the advice of your supervisor. Remember you will need to list three courses in order of preference or your registration form will be rejected and you will be asked to reapply.

In order to minimise travel costs you should aim to register for courses and apply for travel bursaries as soon as possible. Early registration will also help us to plan the courses more effectively.

Assessment

All of the Minerals Geoscience Honours Program courses are designed to be completed within the one (1) week timetabled for the course. The nature of assessment will vary depending on the nature and content of the course. All students taking courses toward their honours degree will be assessed in the same way, however, the weighting of the courses (as a proportion of your degree) may vary slightly between universities. All work submitted for assessment will be completed and handed in by the conclusion of the course – there will be no take-home work.

The Travel Bursary 

As part of its support for the Minerals Geoscience Honours Program, MTEC has provided financial assistance to offset the cost of students participating in courses outside their hometown. The bursary is designed to assist you with the costs of travel to the city where the course is being run and, where accommodation is not provided, with the cost of accommodation. Please note the following:

• It is not intended that the travel bursary should completely cover your travel costs.
• We do not require you to submit receipts.
• Bursaries will be paid in batches throughout the year, generally within four weeks of the trip taking place.
• The organisation of your travel and accommodation is your responsability and it is advisable to book early.
• The amount given to go from one place to another will often be different to doing the reverse journey, eg. Melbourne - Hobart does not attract the same travel bursary as going from Hobart - Melbourne. This is due to the accommodation provided on some courses and not on others. We have put these zones in place after careful consideration and will not be changing them mid year.

In the case of field-based courses the travel bursary is designed to assist your travel to the start point of the course, after which travel and accommodation will be arranged by the course co-ordinator.

If you attend a course at an away institution you are entitled to the appropriate travel bursary. If you attend two away courses you will be entitled to two appropriate travel bursaries, HOWEVER, the maximum amount of travel bursary you may have is $950 UNLESS one of the travel bursaries you are applying for is a Zone 6 or 7 bursary in which case the maximum amount you will be eligible for is $1300. If you would like to check on this please contact Caroline Walker-Grime, the program coordinator.

There is no need to apply separately for a travel bursary. Your course registration will be sufficient for this process.

NB. You will receive your bursary reimbursement after you have completed each course, and payment may take up to 4 weeks.

Registration

Registration will be possible from 9th October 2012. Please register for your preferred courses through the website using the login code supplied to you by your honours coordinator or the relevant contact person listed on the Contacts page. Please note that mid-year students will be given priority access to the MGH courses provided that they register within the first week from 9th October 2012. From the 16th of October onwards mid-year students' registrations will be considered, like all other Honours students' registrations,  in the exact order in which they are received.

Registration process for all Honours students

1. Attend Honours/MTEC information session at your home institution (Sept - Nov).
2. Discuss the course options with your supervisor or prospective supervisor and make a decision as to your preferred courses and course dates, taking into consideration possible fieldwork commitments. You will be given the access code for the registration form at the information session or by your supervisor.
3. Fill in the online registration form giving three choices of course in order of preference and specifying how many courses you wish to attend. When you fill in the registration form you are asked to confirm that you undertake to fill in any paperwork required by your home institution to ensure all Health and Safety requirements are met. Please note it is vital that you do this and if it is found that you have not done so you will be refused access to the course and your home institution will be informed.
4. If appropriate, provide your bank details to Executive Officer, Caroline Walker-Grime, when she requests them so she is able to pay your travel bursary once you have attended your courses.
5. Confirm whether or not you have been accepted in to your university's Honours program to Executive Officer, Caroline Walker-Grime, as soon as you are able to. Caroline will then email you to let you know which courses you have been allotted a space on and advise you that you can book your travel and accommodation. Information about accommodation options will be sent through to you prior to the course.
6. You should regularly refer to the website and the course information section relating to the courses you are registered for in case there are updates throughout the year.
7. Four weeks prior to the start of the course you will be contacted and requested to confirm by email that you will attend the course (respond within seven days). This is referred to as the lock in date (this may be less than four weeks for the earliest courses or if you are late to enrol) and you will not be allowed to change your choice of course after this date. If you decide you no longer wish to attend the course after the lock in date your home institution will be informed and you will not be eligible to attend another course as a replacement.
8. Once you have attended the course you will receive your travel bursary if you are eligible to do so. Please note this may not arrive in your bank account for four weeks after you have attended the course as we group the transfers into batches throughout the year.
9. You will receive your grades back from the Honours convenor at your home institution or through your home institution's normal system.

Registration process for University of Melbourne Masters students

1. You are allowed to attend two courses in each of the two years of your Masters. In the first year you will have the same access to courses as all of the Honours students (see above) so should discuss with your supervisor which two courses you would most like to attend and apply for them in the first year of your Masters. We strongly advise that you choose the two courses which most interest you in the first year. You will be eligible for the travel bursary/ies in one of the two years you participate in the program and should inform the Executive Officer, Caroline Walker-Grime, by email whether you wish to take the travel bursary in the first year you register for the program or wish to defer the bursary to the following year.
2. In the second year you participate in the program you can send in your registration form at any time but Honours students will be given priority and you will only be given a place on the course you have requested at the Lock In Date if there is a space available for you. This is because we need to ensure that Honours students who only get one opportunity to participate in the program get priority over second year Masters students.
3. Fill in the online registration form giving three choices of course in order of preference and specifying how many courses you wish to attend. When you fill in the registration form you are asked to confirm that you undertake to fill in any paperwork required by your home institution to ensure all Health and Safety requirements are met. Please note it is vital that you do this and if it is found that you have not done so you will be refused access to the course and your home institution will be informed.
4. You can contact the Executive Officer, Caroline Walker-Grime, at any time to ask for an update on the registrations for the course you are interested in and the likelihood of you getting a place.
5. In the second year of your Masters once you have been offered a place on the course of your choice and have confirmed that you wish to accept it, you will be considered Locked In and will not be able to change course. If you decide you no longer wish to attend the course after this date your home institution will be informed and you will not be eligible to attend another course as a replacement.
6. Once you have attended your courses you will receive your travel bursary if you are eligible to do so. Please note this may not arrive in your bank account for four weeks after you have attended the course as we group the transfers into batches throughout the year.
7. You will receive your grades back from the Honours convenor at your home institution or through your home institution's normal system.