CTS Researcher Development Scheme
Extending Researcher Development Beyond the University.
A six-month researcher development program for PhD, Master's and Doctoral students, as well as early-career researchers, providing ongoing access to mentoring, multidisciplinary expertise, practical development and community alongside existing university support.
Research is demanding – intellectually, professionally and personally. The CTS Researcher Development Scheme provides an environment where researchers can develop not only the skills they need for their research but also the capability, confidence and direction to navigate what comes next.
Designed to complement university supervision and researcher development initiatives, the Scheme provides sustained support across the research journey and beyond the thesis.
STARTS ON
September 28, 2026
DURATION
6 monthsÂ
PROGRAM FEE
$2,700 AUD
FOR
Organisations & Individuals
Researchers Are Navigating More Than the Research
Research is not simply about producing a thesis or completing a research project. Researchers navigate increasingly complex demands, often at the same time.
There is the research itself:Â Writing. Methodology. Data analysis. Publishing. Communicating research. Keeping up with emerging technologies.
There is also the human side of research:Â Confidence. Motivation. Decision-making. Resilience. Relationships. Sustainable ways of working.
And then there is the professional journey:Â Leadership. Collaboration. Networking. Career planning. Developing a professional identity.
For many researchers, these demands become particularly important during periods of transition – beginning a research degree, approaching submission, moving beyond the thesis or establishing an early research career. Universities provide essential environments, supervision and development opportunities to support researchers through these demands. But the researcher is navigating all of this as a person – not simply as a research project. The CTS Researcher Development Scheme creates an additional, ongoing development environment around that person. An environment where researchers can build capability, develop confidence, work through challenges and consider what comes next.
Why Extend Researcher Development
Universities invest significantly in creating strong research environments, developing supervisors and providing researchers with training and support. That investment matters. But researcher development is a long-term process, and researchers can benefit from having access to different forms of support at different points in their journey. The CTS Researcher Development Scheme adds a sustained layer of researcher development that complements these existing investments. By sponsoring researchers to participate, institutions can support priorities including:
âś“Â Researcher Experience
Provide researchers with an additional source of connection, community and support throughout demanding stages of the research journey.
âś“Â Research Capability & Confidence
Support researchers to become more independent, capable and confident in navigating the practical and professional demands of research.
âś“Â Progress & Completion
Help researchers identify barriers, maintain momentum and develop sustainable approaches to their research.
âś“Â Research Quality & Impact
Strengthen capabilities across research practice, methodology, writing, publishing, communication and emerging areas such as AI and innovation.
âś“Â Supervisory Capacity
Provide another source of mentoring and researcher development around the supervisory relationship.
âś“Â Career Readiness
Support researchers to develop the capabilities, confidence and direction required for the transition beyond the thesis.
âś“Â A Stronger Researcher Development Ecosystem
Extend the range of support available to researchers without replacing or duplicating existing university services. Through different roles, we build a stronger support ecosystem for researchers, leading to more skills, expertise, guidance, growth, confidence, progress, and impact.Â
Who is the Scheme for?
The CTS Researcher Development Scheme is designed around researcher development needs rather than a single point in candidature or a particular early career stage. Researchers can apply independently or participate through sponsorship or nomination by their university, faculty, research institute or organisation.
1. Masters and PhD researchers
2. Researchers approaching thesis submission
3. Recent research graduates
4. Early-career researchers
What Will Participating Researchers Receive?
The CTS Researcher Development Scheme combines multiple forms of development and support so that researchers can access what they need as their priorities evolve.
The Scheme provides a six-month development environment around the researcher with sustained support, thereby creating an environment where they can access expertise, build capabilities, connect with peers, work through challenges, and consider what comes next.
Rather than another standalone workshop or short-term intervention, the Scheme provides ongoing access to people, knowledge, resources, and development opportunities that complement the researcher's existing university environment. The focus isn't only on what the researcher needs to complete. It's on who they are becoming through the process.
Researcher Community
Researchers join a multidisciplinary community beyond their immediate institution and research discipline. They can connect with peers, share experiences, ask questions and develop relationships with researchers navigating similar and different challenges.
Development & Training
Researchers have access to live development sessions and Q&As covering topics such as: Research practice • Academic writing • Methodology • Data analysis • Publishing • Communication • AI • Career development • Sustainable success
Individual Mentoring
Researchers receive individual mentoring to work through priorities, challenges and development goals. This provides space for more personalised support alongside the broader community and group development environment.
Multidisciplinary Expertise
Researchers can access a team with expertise across research and academic development, methodology and statistics, AI and innovation, wellbeing, career development and sustainable success.
Practical Resources & Tools
Researchers have access to a growing library of practical resources, training, and tools they can apply directly to their research and professional development.
Six Months of Sustainable Support
Rather than attending a single workshop and returning to the same challenges alone, researchers have an ongoing environment in which to learn, apply, reflect, and develop.
Certificate of Completion
Receive a certificate of completion from CTS upon successful completion of the scheme.
A Development Journey
The CTS Researcher Development Scheme is not a rigid curriculum. Researchers enter at different stages and have different development priorities. The six-month experience provides a flexible pathway that allows development to evolve as their needs change. The four stages provide a simple way of thinking about that journey:
UNDERSTAND --> DEVELOP --> APPLY --> EXPAND
Researchers may move through these stages in different ways and revisit them as new challenges, opportunities and priorities emerge. It is a process that unfolds over time, again and again, as the researcher continuously grows through learning, applying, reflecting, developing and repeating.
01 — UNDERSTAND
Where is the researcher now?
Identify current challenges, priorities, strengths and development needs.
02 — DEVELOP
What capabilities will make the greatest difference?
Build practical research, professional and personal capabilities aligned with current and future needs.
03 — APPLY
How can development translate into action?
Apply new skills, knowledge and perspectives to research, decision-making and professional life.
04 — EXPAND
What becomes possible from here?
Develop greater independence, confidence and direction as researchers move toward their next stage.Â
Why CTS?
There are many places researchers can go to learn a particular skill or access a particular service. CTS is different. We look at the whole researcher – the research they are doing, the capabilities they are developing, the decisions they are making and the person they are becoming along the way.
Beyond the Thesis
Researcher development should not stop at helping someone complete a research project. CTS supports the researcher behind the research, including the capabilities, confidence, identity and decisions that shape what comes next.
Beyond the Workshop
Development rarely happens in a single session. The Scheme provides six months of ongoing access to development, community, mentoring and expertise so researchers have somewhere to return as their needs evolve.
Beyond One Discipline
Research challenges rarely stay neatly within disciplinary boundaries. CTS brings together expertise across methodology, statistics, academic development, AI and innovation, wellbeing, career development and sustainable success.
Beyond the University
Researchers can benefit from connection beyond their immediate institutional environment, thereby gaining perspectives, relationships and support from a broader multidisciplinary research community.
The result is more than researcher training. It is a multidisciplinary development environment around the researcher.Â
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A Multidisciplinary Team Around the Researcher
Researcher development rarely fits neatly into one category. A researcher may need methodological guidance one week, support with writing the next, and then be thinking about publishing, AI, career direction, confidence, or sustainable ways of working. The challenge is that these needs don't always sit with the same person – or within the same discipline. No single mentor can be expected to have every answer.
The CTS Researcher Development Scheme brings together a multidisciplinary team with expertise across research, academic development, methodology, data analysis and statistics, AI and innovation, wellbeing, career development and sustainable success.
Dr Izelle Labuschagne, PhD
Founder | Thesis & Research Mentor | Success Strategist
Izelle is a neuroscientist, researcher and founder of Complete Thesis Support, with more than 20 years of research and academic experience. She has supported researchers across Honours, Masters and PhD programs and brings expertise in research, thesis development, researcher capability and sustainable success.
A/Prof Alexandra Gorelik
Research Methodologist | Data & Statistics Expert | Thesis & Research Mentor
Alexandra is a research methodologist and data and statistics specialist with more than 20 years of research experience. She supports researchers across qualitative and quantitative research design, data management, analysis and interpretation, helping them make confident and rigorous methodological decisions.
Prof David Penn, PhD
Research Professor | Academic Mentor | Research & Career Development
David is an experienced research professor and academic mentor with extensive experience in research leadership, scholarship and researcher development. His work supports researchers to think beyond the immediate research project and develop their academic identity, research direction and career.
Katherine Anderson
Mindset Coach | Wellness Mentor | Sustainable Success Guide
Katherine brings more than 15 years of experience in high-performance environments, with a focus on mindset, wellbeing and sustainable success. She helps researchers navigate perfectionism, mental overload, confidence and the demands of building a sustainable way of working.
Dr Juliana Peloche, PhD
AI Literacy Mentor | Higher Education Specialist | Research & Teaching Innovation
Juliana is a higher education specialist with more than 20 years of experience in teaching and learning and expertise in AI literacy and innovation. She supports researchers to understand and use emerging technologies thoughtfully, effectively and responsibly in their research and professional practice.
Investment
CTS Researcher Development Scheme
$2,700 AUD per researcher
6Â months
The investment provides a researcher with six months of sustained development, community, mentoring, and multidisciplinary support.
Each participating researcher receives:
âś“ Six months of researcher-development support
âś“ Ongoing researcher community
âś“Â Weekly live development sessions and Q&As
âś“ Individual mentoring
âś“ Access to multidisciplinary expertise
âś“ Practical research and professional resources
âś“ Development across research practice, writing, methodology, publishing, AI, career development and sustainable success
âś“ A sustained environment for learning, application and development
âś“ A certificate of completion
Starts on September 28, 2026
Apply as a Individual Researcher
Flexible payment options are available.
Apply as an Organisation
Explore the Scheme for Your Researchers
Flexible Participation for Organisations
Researcher development looks different across institutions. Some universities may want to support individual researchers through existing professional development or HDR funding. Others may want to support a group, faculty or defined cohort.
The CTS Researcher Development is designed to accommodate different approaches.
- Individual sponsorship – Fund participation for individual researchers through HDR, professional development, faculty, school or research-development budgets.
- Faculty or school participation – Provide access to a group of researchers across a faculty, school or research area.
- Cohort participation – Create a dedicated cohort for a defined group of researchers, providing a shared development experience alongside the broader CTS community.
- Institutional partnerships – Explore a broader arrangement aligned with institutional researcher-development priorities and strategic objectives.
- Flexible entry – Researchers can participate at different stages of the research journey, allowing institutions to use the Scheme across a range of researcher-development needs.
Reporting & Institutional Value
The value of researcher development extends beyond the individual participant. For institutions investing in research development, it is also valuable to understand how researchers are engaging, where common needs are emerging and where additional support may be beneficial.
Where appropriate, CTS can provide institutions with program-level insights into participation, engagement and emerging development themes. This can help institutions understand:
- How researchers are engaging with the program
- Common development needs and challenges
- Areas where additional researcher support may be valuable
- Researcher-reported experiences and progress
- Themes emerging across participating researchers
Reporting can be designed to provide useful institutional insight while maintaining appropriate researcher confidentiality.
The result? Universities or organisations gain another mechanism for supporting researchers and greater visibility into the development needs emerging across their researcher community.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the Scheme replace university supervision?
Who can participate?
Can universities fund individual researchers?
Can a university sponsor multiple researchers?
Can researchers self-fund?
Will institutions receive information about researcher participation?
Can the Scheme be tailored for our institution?
