Apply for Honours

You can commence your Honours year either in late January/early February or in July. Honours programmes generally commence a few weeks earlier that the university’s semester dates. There are a limited number of Honours places available and there are limits on how many students a supervisor may take. Therefore, it is important to make your decision about Honours early. The application deadline is 15 December (February start) or 31 May (July start) with information sessions being scheduled towards the end of Semester 1 and the beginning of Semester 2.

There are two main entry requirements for admission to the Health and Medicine specialisation of the Honours in Health Sciences programme.

1. A Bachelor degree with a major or equivalent in a cognate discipline with a weighted average mark equivalent to an ANU 70 per cent calculated from the 36 units (i.e. 0.75 EFTSL) of courses in the discipline, excluding 1000-level courses (i.e. introductory undergraduate courses), with the highest marks.
2. And with the written approval of an identified supervisor.

At ANU Cognate Disciplines include Population Health, Health Science, Health Promotion, Psychology, Medicine, Allied Health disciplines, (Bio)Medical Science, Anthropology, Indigenous studies, Sociology, Demography.

However, you should be aware that specific specialisations may have their own requirements, commonly a more specific definition of what counts as a cognate course. For example, whist the requirements are the same, the specialisation in Medical Research specifies the following as the relevant Cognate Disciplines:

Biomedical science, biology, cell and molecular biology, microbiology and immunology, neuroscience, genetics, cancer biology, human biology, pathology, biochemistry, medicinal chemistry, pharmacology, physiology, biological psychology, quantitative biology, biophysics, computer science and mathematics

Perhaps the most important part of applying to undertake an Honours year is to identify a supervisor with whom you wish to work. Your supervisor should be an expert in the area of research and type of project you wish to undertake. Some supervisors will have projects that you might be able to join whilst others will encourage you to define, develop and refine a project for yourself. This will largely depend on the kind of study you wish to pursue. Depending on the Bachelor’s degree programme you are enrolled in, you may be able begin this process by taking a Research Project Elective. If you wish to discuss potential directions, you might wish to explore please contact the convenor Dr Nathan Emmerich.