unimelb thesis

Finding theses

University of melbourne theses, australian theses,   international theses, referencing theses, further help, find theses online and in print.

This guide shows you how to find Masters and PhD theses, online and in print, from:

• The University of Melbourne
• Other Australian universities
• Outside Australia

Why use theses?

Theses can be a valuable source of information, especially for topics where there are fewer published works available., the references or works cited in a thesis can also be useful to find further published sources on a topic..

If you are currently writing a thesis (Honours, Masters or PhD) you may want to:

• check if anyone has recently completed a PhD thesis in your area of research internationally
• look at PhD theses from your faculty (or supervised by your supervisor) to get an idea of how to format your thesis.

Most recent theses are available through Minerva Access , the University's institutional repository. 

Minerva includes PhD and Masters Research theses, as well as a smaller number of Honours and Masters Coursework theses.

Accessing Full-Text in Minerva Access

Open access theses.

• Many theses are open access, which means anyone is able to read the full text online, and no subscription or login is required.
• Use the download link on the left to access a PDF of the thesis.

Restricted access theses

Some theses are currently only available to university of melbourne staff/students.

Use the login link and access with your unimelb username and password

Embargoed theses

If a thesis is under full embargo , full-text is not available for internal or external access (including inter-library loan requests). It a thesis is under an external embargo , it can be requested by University staff and students for research purposes via Minerva Access .

You will be able to view an abstract 

Finding theses from your faculty or school in Minerva Access

You can limit your results in minerva access to view only theses from your faculty..

1. Select your faculty from the list of Communities on the Minerva Access homepage. You may need to also choose your school on the next page. 

2. Select the option that includes Theses  (rather than Research Publications) 

3.To further refine the list (ie. to only PhD theses) scroll down to use the Type menu on the far left menu bar.

Finding University of Melbourne print theses

University of Melbourne theses not available online are held in the Cultural Collections Reading Room on level 3 of the Baillieu Library, or in offsite storage. While you cannot physically browse the thesis collection, you can submit a request to view a thesis using the online form .

You can search the Library Catalogue  to find our print collection of University of Melbourne theses

• To restrict your search to just theses, select University of Melbourne Theses from the drop-down menu to the right of the search bar

For more information on requesting to view print theses see the Special Collections website . ( Note : Use the request form for Rare Books)

Australian theses from other universities can be found via Trove .

1. Select Advanced search on the Trove homepage, and choose Research and reports

2. Type your search terms into the first box (Keyword search box)

3. Check the box next to Australian content

4. Click the green Search button

5. On the results page, select the Show more  option under Format

6. Select Thesis  to limit your results to theses

7.  To access, check the purple link at the bottom of each record. Theses available online will either:

• have a link to where they are held

• have an Access conditions apply  link

8. Click on the title of the thesis to view the record, and select the  Read  button to access the full text

•  If the thesis is not available online through Trove, please complete a Thesis request form on the  Request Forms page . We will then try to obtain a copy of the thesis for you via inter-library loan. 
• For more information on using the Advanced Search to create more specific searches, see Trove's Australian theses page. 

These are the top four international theses databases that include full-text:

• ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global The most comprehensive collection of dissertations and theses from around the world. Spans 1743 to the present day, offering full text for most dissertations added since 1997.
• British Library EThOS (Electronic Theses Online Service) Search for UK theses and access or request full text. See FAQs for more information.
• DART-Europe E-theses Portal Access to digitised theses from European universities.
• OATD: Open Access Theses and Dissertations Indexes more than 1.5 million theses and dissertations. Metadata (information about the theses) comes from 600+ colleges, universities, and research institutions.

Other useful theses databases ​

• American Doctoral Dissertations
• China Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses full-text Database This database is a comprehensive, high quality database of dissertations and theses in China. The dissertations and theses are from hundreds of institutions located across China. Coverage is 1984 onwards and is updated daily. It covers a wide range of subjects such as fundamental sciences, engineering technology, agriculture, medical science, history, philosophy, education, law, economics and more.
• CNKI China Academic Journals Most comprehensive, full-text database of Chinese journals. To narrow your searching select section (G) Politics/ Military Affairs/ Law to search across the database.
• KRIS - Kiwi Research Information Service NZ open access research document portal.
• TEL (thèses-en-ligne) French theses
• Theses Canada Portal

Need help with referencing theses?

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• Last Updated: May 2, 2024 2:46 PM
• URL: https://unimelb.libguides.com/findingtheses

• Academic Skills
• Graduate research services
• Writing thesis sections - Part 1

Structuring your thesis

This resource provides advice for writing the structural elements of your thesis. It includes activities to help you apply tips to your own context and reflect on your learning, and should take you 15-20 minutes to complete. Check out the further resources at the bottom of each section and references on the last page for more information on this topic.

This page introduces you to the macro and micro structures that thesis writers use to clearly convey the value and importance of their research to their readers (Dunleavy, 2003, p. 50). The structure of a thesis should be guided by what readers will expect, what the discipline requires, and what makes sense for the research.

Macro Structure

The macro structure consists of three parts. Note that the lead-in and lead-out sections will include your introduction and conclusion respectively but may include other material as well.

1) Lead-in material 

• Two chapters at most
• Gives your reader a broad overview of the thesis
• Provides background information, usually in the form of a literature review
• Helps readers contextualise your research
• Highlights the contribution your research makes
• Describes the motivation for your research.

2) Core material

• Around five chapters
• Focuses on your own work
• Presents your research question and hypothesis
• Works through your data, cases and primary sources
• Shows the findings of your analysis.

3) Lead-out material

• One or two chapters
• Responds to the research question and hypothesis
• Addresses the impacts of your results for your field.

This basic structure should help you envision your thesis as a whole. (Adapted from Dunleavy, 2003, p. 50)

Micro structure

The micro structure consists of chapters and the sub-headings within an individual chapter. What constitutes a chapter will vary by discipline, but typical chapters include a brief chapter introduction followed by relevant sections and a chapter conclusion.

1) Chapters

• Plan for the introduction and conclusion chapters to comprise roughly 20% of your thesis (10% each)
• Consider that core chapter length can vary, but 8,000-12,000 words is considered a good guideline
• Justify the length of any chapters that are noticeably longer or shorter than others.

2) Sub-headings

• Break chapters into sub-topics
• Use informative and substantive headings and sub-headings
• Make sure your heading reflects the key argument of the section.

Watch this video to see examples of Macro and Micro structures in theses.

• Keep chapter introductions short
• Relate each chapter to the research question and hypothesis
• Conclude chapters by both summing up and looking ahead.

Identify structural elements in a thesis

This activity will help you to plan your own thesis structure.

• Go to University of Melbourne’s institutional repository and find a thesis from your discipline.
• How does it compare to the examples here?
• If you have a draft or portion of your thesis written, how does its structure compare to others from your field?
• Take note of the differences and keep those in mind as you plan your own thesis structure.

Use the side menu to go the next section : Introducing your research , where we discuss writing an introduction.

Ask - /faq/3213/submitting-your-thesis/

Submitting your thesis, how/where do i submit my research thesis.

The process for submitting your thesis is as follows:

• Approximately two months prior to your expected date of submission, discuss the time-frame for thesis submission with your supervisor. You need their permission to submit.
• Once you have confirmation from your supervisor, log into the Thesis Examination System (TES) and register your intention to submit. As part of your notice of intention, you will be asked to include an 80-word summary of your thesis topic.
• You are encouraged to register for an ORCID and enter it in the intention to submit webform.
• Shortly after receipt of your 80-word summary, you will receive an email confirmation with information on submitting your thesis for examination.
• Your department will be sent a link to the 'Nomination of Examiners' form, which your supervisor and Chair of Examiners will complete and submit to the Examinations Office.
• You will be required to submit an electronic copy of your thesis for examination and you will need to log into the  Thesis Examination System  when you are ready to submit.

Further information on submitting a thesis is available on the Graduate Research Hub .

About this answer

Last updated: May 18, 2023, 12:55 p.m.

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Minerva Access

Discover minerva access.

Minerva Access is the University of Melbourne's institutional repository and makes our research outputs publicly available.

Browse the repository by collection, publication date, author, title, or subject.

Search the repository, including published research outputs and theses.

Answers to frequently asked questions and contact details for further advice.

Deposit your research

University of Melbourne staff and students can deposit research outputs in Minerva Access. This can be a quick and easy way to make your publications open access.

Research Outputs

University staff can deposit their research outputs in Minerva Access by uploading files in Elements, completing a ServiceNow form, or emailing the Research Outputs team. Find out more here.

Graduate Research Theses

PhD, Doctorate and Masters Research candidates are required to submit their final thesis to Minerva Access via the Thesis Examination System (TES). See the "My thesis in the Library" page for details.

Honours and Masters Coursework Theses

Honours and Masters Coursework candidates are welcome to submit their completed thesis to the Minerva Access repository. This may be required by some schools or departments. View guidance here.

To find out more about open access and open research, visit out Open Scholarship website.

If you require assistance using Minerva Access, or have queries relating to existing Minerva Access records, please contact [email protected] .

For assistance depositing Author Accepted Manuscripts (AAMs), contact the Research Outputs team at [email protected] .

Further open access support can be found on our Open Scholarship website. For further support, please organise to consult a librarian or contact [email protected] .

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• Social Work
• Social Work Graduate Research

Past Graduate Research Theses

The Department of Social Work offers a wide range of expert specialisations in Health, Mental Health and Disability; Family Violence and Child and Family Welfare; and Criminal Justice

The tables below are a historic record of all theses completed by students of the department and include names of supervisors and links to the full thesis where available. Prospective students are encouraged to use these both to seek supervisors, and to explore the vast range of topics in social work research.

Graduate research at the Department of Social Work

Applying for graduate research

Student name	Thesis title	Year of completion	Primary supervisor	Type of theis
Weizenegger, Bree		2022	Louise Harms	PhD Thesis
Webster, Kim		2022	Kristin Diemer	PhD Thesis
Wojciechowski, Lisa		2022	Louise Harms	PhD Thesis
Krakouer, Jacynta		2022	Sarah Wise	PhD thesis
Andrews, Shawana		2021	Cathy Humphreys	PhD Thesis
Tan, Wei Wu		2020	Arno Parolini	PhD thesis
Lainson, Kristina Janet		2020	Lynette Joubert	PhD thesis
Beecher Kelk, Aviva Elisabeth		2020	Lynette Joubert	PhD thesis
Steiner, Vera		2020	Lynette Joubert	PhD thesis
Albers, Bianca		2020	Marie Connolly	PhD thesis
McNabb, David John		2020	Marie Connolly	PhD thesis
Donovan, Jennifer Ann		2019	David Rose	PhD thesis
Kwan, Edward		2019	Jackson Alun	PhD thesis
Thornton, Rebecca Kate		2019	Louise Harms	PhD thesis
Mackieson, Penelope Kathleen		2019	Marie Connolly	PhD thesis
Jenkins, Dagmar Anne		2018	David Rose	Masters Research thesis
Kellett, Connie Sandra		2018	Louise Harms	PhD thesis
Kosta, Lauren Giovanna		2018	Louise Harms	PhD thesis
Smith, Fiona		2018	Louise Harms	Masters Research thesis
McCoy, Alicia Anne		2018	Marie Connolly	PhD thesis
Lamb, Katie		2017	Cathy Humphreys	PhD thesis
Levi, Katherine Sarah		2017	Cathy Humphreys	PhD thesis
Sellick, Kathryn		2017	David Rose	PhD thesis
Liddicoat, Stephanie		2017	Gregory Missingham	PhD thesis
Lambert, Caroline		2017	Lou Harms	PhD thesis
Maughan, Katherine		2017	Louise Harms	Masters Research thesis
O'Mara, Kelly		2017	Louise Harms	Masters Research thesis
Pleban, Alex		2017	Lynette Joubert	Masters Research thesis
O'Brien, Meghan		2017	Lynette Joubert	PhD thesis
Kiraly, Meredith Patricia Ruth		2016	Cathy Humphreys	PhD thesis
Huang, Dolly Hsaio-Yun		2016	Elizabeth Ozanne	PhD thesis
Pfitzner, Naomi		2016	Kelsey Hegarty	PhD thesis
Vassos-Anagnostopoulos, Sevasti		2016	Louise Harms	PhD thesis
Smith, Catherine Jane		2016	Louise Harms	Masters Research thesis

Student name	Thesis title	Year of completion	Primary supervisor	Type of thesis
Kinrade, Trisha Anne		2015	Alun Jackson	PhD thesis
Bingham, Aaron Ross		2015	David Rose	Masters Research thesis
De Leo, Maria Ann		2015	Elizabeth Ozanne	PhD thesis
Alam, Md Jahangir		2015	Elizabeth Ozanne	PhD thesis
MORRIS, ANITA		2015	Kelsey Hegarty	PhD thesis
Lok, Marian		2015	Louise Harms	PhD thesis
KIM, HYUN SEUNG		2015	Lynette Barbara Joubert	PhD thesis
BERGER, ILANA		2015	Lynette Joubert	Masters Research thesis
Miller, Catherine Jane		2015	Marie Connolly	PhD thesis
MCFADYEN, BRONWYN		2014	Louise Harms	PhD thesis
ALEXANDER, MELINDA		2014	Louise Harms	PhD thesis
POON, WENG CHEONG		2014	Lynette Joubert	PhD thesis
GRAVEN, Christine Jane		2014	Lynette Joubert	PhD thesis
BARRETT, CHRISTINE		2014	Marie Connolly	PhD thesis
Webster, Susan Margaret		2014	Meredith Temple-Smith	PhD thesis
SMITH, JOANIE		2013	Cathy Humphreys	PhD thesis
HOCKING, ALISON		2013	Lynette Joubert	Masters Research thesis
Beovich, Denise		2013	Lynette Joubert	Masters Research thesis
Lee, Jin Su		2013	Lynette Joubert	PhD thesis
Moore, Kirsten Jane		2012	Elizabeth Ozanne	PhD thesis
Cantwell-Bartl, Annie Marie		2012	Louise Harms	PhD thesis
Lockhart, Stephanie Jayne		2012	Louise K Harms	PhD thesis
McPherson, Vivien Ruth		2012	Lynette Joubert	Masters Advanced Seminar & Shorter thesis
Manguy, Alys-Marie		2012	Lynette Joubert	Masters Research thesis
Egan, Veronica		2012	Marie Connolly	PhD thesis
MISRACHI, SUZETTE		2012	Winsome Roberts	Masters Research thesis

Student name	Thesis title	Year of completion	Primary supervisor	Type of thesis
Salmon, Catherine Lee		2011	Fiona McDermott	Masters Advanced Seminar & Shorter thesis
Kallianis, Voula		2011	Lynette Joubert	Masters Research thesis
Bishop, Jessica Rebecca		2011	Winsome Roberts	Masters Research thesis
HALL, JULIE		2010	Cathy Humphreys	PhD thesis
Daniel, Catherine Elizabeth		2010	Stephen Elsom	Masters Research thesis
GILLINGHAM, P.		2009	Cathy Humphreys	PhD thesis
Western, Deborah Jane		2009	Fiona McDermott	PhD thesis
NEWALL, FIONA HELEN		2009	Paul Monagle	PhD thesis
Brophy, Lisa Mary		2009		PhD thesis
GREHAN, MADONNA MAY		2009		PhD thesis
Zuluaga, Beatrice Harrison		2008		PhD thesis
HAMPSON, RALPH		2008		PhD thesis
Monani, Devaki Ghansham		2008		PhD thesis
Foster, Sandra Joan		2008		PhD thesis
Summers, Michael		2007		PhD thesis
Lindeman, Melissa Ann		2006		PhD thesis
ABSLER, DEBORAH		2006		PhD thesis
O'Neal, Paul Douglas		2005		PhD thesis
Laming, Chris		2005		PhD thesis
Bedford, Ian Alexander		2004		PhD thesis
Richardson, Lisa-Jane		2003		PhD thesis
HARMS, LOUISE KAY		2001		PhD thesis
O'CALLAGHAN, CLARE		2001		PhD thesis
ZIGURAS, STEPHEN		2001		PhD thesis
Cumberland, Rhonda		2000		PhD thesis
JORDAN, BRIGID		2000		PhD thesis

Melbourne Social Equity Institute

• PhD Scholarship Opportunities – Melbourne Social Equity Institute

Melbourne Social Equity Institute PhD Scholarships Open Call

Melbourne social equity institute is seeking expressions of interest from candidates interested in undertaking doctoral research on social equity issues. for this open call, up to three australian government research training program (rtp) scholarships will be available for commencement in 2025..

For this open call opportunity, Melbourne Social Equity Institute is inviting interested candidates to develop and submit their own research project proposal on a social equity issue.

Projects which are closely aligned with the Institute’s research priority areas of Inclusive and Distributive Economies, Gender Equity, Health Equity, and Migration and Mobility will be highly regarded.

Reflecting the nature of social inequities, many of the Institute's research initiatives engage at the intersections of these priorities.

Due to funding restrictions, this opportunity is open to domestic students only.

Targeted Scholarship Opportunities In addition to these three scholarships, Melbourne Social Equity Institute is also accepting expressions of interest for a  PhD scholarship on Reproductive Justice offered in partnership with the Reproductive Justice Hallmark Research Initiative. Further, the Institute, in partnership with the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, is seeking expressions of interest for two scholarships to support one domestic and one international student through the Social Equity in Engineering and Information Technology Scholarship Program .  See all scholarships

Critical Dates

• Expressions of Interest Open – Monday 3 June 2024
• Expressions of Interest Close – Monday 2 September 2024
• Shortlisted candidates required for interviews – week commencing Monday 9 September 2024
• Successful candidates submit full applications to the relevant Faculty by Friday 27 September 2024

Scholarship Benefits

The scholarship benefits include:

• Full exemption from payment of student fees at the University of Melbourne;
• A stipend of $37,000 per annum (2024 full-time rate, tax-free) for 3.5 years;
• Allowances as per the Graduate Research Scholarship Terms & Conditions .

Melbourne Social Equity Institute will also provide an additional $2000 per annum (a maximum of $6000 during candidature) in research support funds.

The successful candidate will also receive automatic entry into the Institute’s Doctoral Academy and/or interdisciplinary PhD Program in Migration, Statelessness and Refugee Studies .

Supervision

As part of the Expression of Interest process, candidates are asked to identify, and show evidence of in-principle agreement from, a proposed PhD supervisor at the University of Melbourne.

The University's Find an Expert site can assist in identifying suitable potential supervisors. If you are unable to identify a suitable and/or available supervisor, please contact [email protected] and we will do our best to assist you.

Learn more about finding a supervisor

Eligibility

The scholarship is only available to Australian and New Zealand citizens or Australian permanent residents. The scholarship is conditional upon acceptance into a PhD program at the University of Melbourne. Read more about information on the University's Study site .

Successful applicants must be available to commence their studies in 2025. Applicants should have completed tertiary studies that are at least equivalent to a 4-year honours degree at an Australian university with a minimum result equivalent to a first-class Honours (80%). However, for students from an underrepresented or disadvantaged background seeking access and equity considerations, a minimum result equivalent to a second-class Honours Division A (75%) will be accepted.

Applicants should possess excellent interpersonal skills and cross-cultural community skills, the ability to work independently as well as part of a team and excellent written and verbal communication skills.

Applicants should have a strong research idea and agreement from a supervisor or team of supervisors to support the research.

People with lived experience of the area of disadvantage or inequity that they intend to research are strongly encouraged to apply.

Please note that you will be enrolled through the faculty in which your principal supervisor is based and you should also check any specific faculty requirements. These scholarships are intended for new applications. Students currently enrolled in PhD study at the University of Melbourne are not eligible to apply.

Applications

Please complete the Expression of Interest form and include the following:

• Curriculum Vitae (up to 2 pages);
• A brief research proposal (up to 4 pages). Outline preliminary ideas, key research questions, methodologies, relevant conceptual and theoretical approaches;
• Academic transcripts;
• Evidence of in-principle support from a proposed supervisor (e.g. copy of an email); and,
• If applicable, include Masters / Honours thesis examiners’ reports.

Following an initial short-listing, you may be invited to attend an interview during the week commencing Monday 9 September.

Selected candidates will then be invited to submit a full, formal application to the relevant faculty.  Any decisions based on this Expression of Interest and subsequent interviews will be conditional on meeting all of the University’s eligibility requirements.

Melbourne Social Equity Institute reserves the right not to allocate any scholarships where, in its opinion, there are no expressions of interest of sufficient merit.

Download the EOI Form

All Expressions of Interest must be received by 5.00pm AEST on Monday 2 September 2024 . Please send your completed form to [email protected] .

If you have any questions about this PhD scholarship opportunity or the Expression of Interest process please contact us at [email protected] .

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Russian is one of the world’s major international languages: it is spoken by over 140 million people and is one of the six official languages of the United Nations.

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Alumni Series: An Interview with Dr Michael Davey

Hangyu Zhang

Dr Michael Davey is currently working as a research assistant at the Language Testing Research Centre (LTRC) at the University of Melbourne. He completed his PhD at the School of Languages and Linguistics (SoLL) in May 2022 under the supervision of Prof Carsten Roever and A/Prof Chloe Diskin-Holdaway .

Hangyu interviewed Michael to learn more about his research journey, career development, and suggestions for current PhD students at the school.

Hi Michael, thanks for sharing your experience with us. I know it’s been many years, but could you talk about what motivated you to pursue a PhD at the initial stage in 2018?

Having worked in the ESL and language testing worlds for many years, it was clear that conventional ideas about the different bits and pieces that go together to make a successful L2 (second language) communicator needed to be completed at best. I was interested in the idea of contributing to a better understanding of what it really is that goes into effective communication for L2 speakers.

Can you describe your PhD research and its significance in your academic field?

One of my main goals with my thesis was to nudge L2 IC (interactional competence) research into areas with which it had yet to fully engage, and hopefully, to thereby expand, however modestly, scholarly understanding of how social interaction works for L2 speakers. For example, despite the emphasis on (‘correct’) grammar in L2 teaching and assessment, there has been little work done on how grammar is used as a specifically interactional resource for L2-speaking participants in real-life conversations. One of the contributions of my PhD work was to demonstrate how L2 speakers use grammar to get things done (e.g., complaining, promising, criticising, being funny, etc.) in their talk. This kind of focus on what we call ‘social action’, is incredibly important as it allows us to see which aspects of formal linguistic structure are actually practically important for participants themselves when solving the real-world problems that come up at every moment in a real-life conversation.

That’s interesting and meaningful! During your PhD journey, what were your biggest challenges and how did you overcome them?

Well, I was incredibly fortunate in that I finished the data collection phase of my project about a week or so before a trickle of reports began emerging about a worrying new virus in Wuhan! Of course, within a couple of months, we were all locked down and plans for what the third year of my PhD journey was going to look like changed drastically. While I was relieved to have finished my data collection, Covid was obviously still a significant challenge. At that point, it was a matter of adapting to the new situation and making sure not to lose focus.

Yes, the pandemic did make our academic work challenging! On the other hand, have you found any aspects during your PhD journey that were especially impressive and left a wonderful memory?

The experience was an overwhelmingly positive. I was incredibly lucky to work with, and be mentored by, people like Carsten Roever, Naoki Ikeda and David Wei Dai (among many others). The SoLL professional staff were also very supportive and approachable.

How has this journey influenced your career path and professional development? Do you think your education here has prepared you well for the current position?

Enormously. Although my current role is not directly related to the specifics of the research direction I pursued in my PhD project, the skills I learnt are invaluable. For those already working who are contemplating doing a higher degree but may be worried about leaving a ‘gap’ in their career progression, all else being equal I would say go for it. Aside from being an exciting and fun way to spend a few years, it does force you into acquiring a skill set that most jobs do not offer. Some of these are reasonably obvious – preparing papers and the thesis itself is a great way to improve one’s written communication skills, not just in an academic context. But others are perhaps a little more subtle. As an example, I think that the whole process of planning, preparing, executing and then presenting a large academic project demands a very interesting mix of independence/resilience and the ability to collaborate. Smart employers would do well to recognise this when making hiring decisions!

Sounds wonderful! How do you stay connected with the academic community and contribute to your field after graduation?

Aside from working at the LTRC, I am very lucky to be working on a number of projects with different collaborators. This allows me to keep on asking, and hopefully answering, the kinds of questions that motivated my PhD. For me, this has been about making and maintaining connections with people with congruent research interests. Most PhD projects will leave you with a bunch more questions than answers! Once you reach the end of the degree, there will likely be plenty of things that you are chomping at the bit to go out and explore. 

Do you have any future goals and aspirations currently?

Yes, as I alluded to in the previous answer, perhaps the most fun thing about doing my PhD was the degree to which it showed me how little I know about my field, and how much work needs to be done to bring us closer to understanding the fascinating phenomenon of social interaction both in an L2 context as well as more generally. One question that I am currently intrigued by relates to the culture’s role when people get together and talk. What might allow us to characterise a particular interaction as an instance of “cross-cultural communication”? And are such characterizations even useful? I definitely hope to spend the next few years involved in working through these kinds of intellectual puzzles.

That’s inspiring! So, how about managing work-life balance in the academic industry? How do you balance the demands of research, work, and personal life?

I think for most people, over three or four years of a PhD, they will find periods when they are very busy indeed, but also some periods when there’s actually not all that much to do. Recognising these super busy periods is important. It’s fine to put work, friends, hobbies, family etc, on hold to some extent at these times while you dedicate yourself to your project. Then after a few weeks, you’ll often find that you have a bit more time to dedicate to these other aspects of your life. Balance is crucial, but it’s not like every individual day or week has to be balanced.

I really agree with your words. Thanks for sharing that. At last, would you like to offer some suggestions to current PhD candidates and students in the faculty?

Personally, I thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience so I hope others can be similarly lucky. Following from the previous answer, it’s important to recognise periods when you can take a bit of a break, put your project at least somewhat on the back burner and recharge. Keep things in perspective and remember that no one’s project is going to go exactly as planned. I think the most important thing is that we all go down this road because of our curiosity- the fascination of thinking about complicated things and the excitement of making progress towards understanding them a little bit better. Make sure to remind yourself of this curiosity and have fun with it!

Very insightful! Thank you so much, Michael, for sharing your impressive experience today!

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Lab on a Chip

Critical review of single-cell mechanotyping approaches for biomedical applications.

* Corresponding authors

a Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia E-mail: [email protected]

b ARC Centre for Personalised Therapeutics Technologies, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia

c Department of Biochemistry and Pharmacology, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia

d Graeme Clarke Institute University of Melbourne Parkville, Victoria 3052, Australia

Accurate mechanical measurements of cells has the potential to improve diagnostics, therapeutics and advance understanding of disease mechanisms, where high-resolution mechanical information can be measured by deforming individual cells. Here we evaluate recently developed techniques for measuring cell-scale stiffness properties; while many such techniques have been developed, much of the work examining single-cell stiffness is impacted by difficulties in standardization and comparability, giving rise to large variations in reported mechanical moduli. We highlight the role of underlying mechanical theories driving this variability, and note opportunities to develop novel mechanotyping devices and theoretical models that facilitate convenient and accurate mechanical characterisation. Moreover, many high-throughput approaches are confounded by factors including cell size, surface friction, natural population heterogeneity and convolution of elastic and viscous contributions to cell deformability. We nevertheless identify key approaches based on deformability cytometry as a promising direction for further development, where both high-throughput and accurate single-cell resolutions can be realized.

• This article is part of the themed collection: Lab on a Chip Review Articles 2024

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M. Chapman, V. Rajagopal, A. Stewart and D. J. Collins, Lab Chip , 2024,  24 , 3036 DOI: 10.1039/D3LC00978E

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Learn the Russian language and delve into its culture

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