UNSW HDR Expression of Interest: How to Fill It

UNSW HDR Expression of Interest: How to Fill It

At UNSW, an HDR expression of interest (EOI) is mandatory in Arts, Design & Architecture (ADA) and in Law & Justice, and must be finished before the formal application. ADA's PhD form asks four questions, three of them capped at 200 words, plus a 1,000 to 3,000-word research proposal. Its next international scholarship EOI deadline is 12 March 2027.

Our view: at UNSW, the EOI is where you are accepted into the process or stopped, so the EOI answers deserve more drafting than the online application. The school uses it to decide whether "an appropriate supervisor and resources are available". A late EOI is not guaranteed processing in time for a scholarship round. And on the Art & Design form, the same questions return in the formal application's Research Plan Form. If your research proposal is ready, choose GradPilot's PhD research proposal rubric for a free review.

Every UNSW page and form quoted below was checked on 31 October 2026. Forms are revised often (ADA's main form is dated January 2026), so download yours again before you start. For the first email to a supervisor, see the Australian PhD expression of interest example. For what counts as proof that a supervisor agreed, see supervisor approval in Australia.

Contents

• Do you need an EOI? Faculty by faculty
• Timing for a scholarship round
• The four EOI questions, and what each is asking
• Constructed sample answers
• The research proposal: one page or 3,000 words?
• The parts of the form that stop an EOI
• After the EOI: the invitation email
• Questions about the UNSW EOI

Do you need an EOI? Faculty by faculty

UNSW's central 2025 HDR Guide says only: "Some Faculties require applicants to undertake an Expression of Interest (EOI) process prior to applying." The faculty pages say which.

Inside ADA there are three different forms, and they do not ask the same things:

• The main HDR form (January 2026) covers the PhD in Creative Practice, Education, Humanities, Social Sciences and Built Environment, Indigenous Studies, research master's programs and two professional doctorates. It caps three questions at 200 words and asks for a "Research Proposal (1000-3000 words)".
• The MPhil Arts & Social Sciences (2364) form asks the same four questions with no word limits, and a "Project Summary" of "Max. up to 2 pages". Its entry is "only offered in Term 1".
• The School of Art & Design form asks three questions, with no career-plans question, and a "Research Project Proposal (up to 3,000 words, excluding references)" that must be "approved by your nominated supervisor".

Read the program list at the top of each form before you write anything.

Timing for a scholarship round

ADA publishes dates. For international applicants, it "offered one international main award (RTPI/UIPA) scholarship round in 2026 which has now closed. The next RTPI/UIPA round will be in early 2027 for commencement in 2028."

For the July Release, ADA adds that "Applicants requesting an English waiver should submit their EOI 8 weeks before the EOI deadline" to allow for the extra processing. For CSC applicants, "You must have confirmation from your supervisor that they will top up your CSC stipend to the UNSW Living wage scholarship rate".

The other faculties publish rules, not dates:

• Law & Justice: scholarship applicants "must lodge their full EOI to the Postgraduate Administrator at least 10 weeks before the closing date of UNSW's scholarship rounds". Applicants not seeking a UNSW scholarship should submit at least "16 weeks (international) prior to the start date of their preferred commencement term".
• Engineering (MPhil Engineering Entrepreneurship): "Any EOIs received later than four weeks prior to the Graduate Research School's application deadlines cannot be guaranteed processing in time for relevant scholarship rounds."

Back-planning box for the 2027 July Release

Our arithmetic, from the dates above. Confirm your round's closing date on UNSW's key dates page before you rely on it.

Our recommendation: have the supervisor's written support by early February 2027 for the ADA deadline. ADA says EOI assessment "can take four to six weeks to complete and can only begin once all supporting documentation has been provided", so a missing document costs you weeks, not days.

The four EOI questions, and what each is asking

These are the questions on ADA's main HDR form (January 2026), verbatim. The form tells you to "discuss your answers to the questions below with your nominated supervisor(s) before submitting your EOI" and to "be specific and concise".

1. "Outline how you are eligible for admission to the program. (200 words max)" The form wants "details of prior degrees completed and the research experience that you have had that meets the minimum entry requirements". What answers it: degree names, years, grades with the scale, and the research component of each degree (a thesis, its length and its mark). No adjectives.
2. "Describe your capability to carry out high-quality research. (200 words max)" The form says this "may include research outputs, awards and other things that recognise your abilities, but can also include research experiences that you have had in your career. For example, publications, patents and awards." What answers it: a dated list of outputs and the skills each one proves. If you have no publications, list the dissertation, its methods and any presentation.
3. "Provide a rationale for why you chose this project and this supervisory team. (200 words max)" The form asks "why you decided to work in this area of research and why you have selected the supervisory team to do this work". What answers it: one sentence on how you reached the question, then one specific piece of each supervisor's work your project extends.
4. "Future career plans: Upon completion of this degree, what type of institutions (including within and/or outside academia) or organisations do you aspire to work for and in what capacity?" No limit is stated. Our recommendation: about 100 words, naming a type of institution and a role.

Our view on question 3: it is where the school checks supervision, so it should read as fit, not admiration. "World-renowned" says nothing a reader can check. A paper title and what your project adds to it does.

Constructed sample answers

Constructed example, written by us, not a real applicant statement. Context (invented): an applicant from Bangladesh with a four-year Bachelor of Social Science in Sociology and a coursework MA with a 15,000-word dissertation, applying to the PhD in Social Sciences (1272) with a supervisor in the School of Social Sciences. The supervisor, the grades, the paper and every result are invented. Square brackets mark facts to fill in from checked sources.

1. Eligibility (125 words)

I hold a four-year Bachelor of Social Science (Honours) in Sociology from [university], Bangladesh (2017 to 2021), with a CGPA of 3.71 out of 4.00, and an MA in Development Studies from [university] (2022 to 2023), with a CGPA of 3.82 out of 4.00. The official grading scale for both degrees is attached. My MA included a 15,000-word research dissertation, worth [number] of the program's [number] credits, which received an A (80 per cent or above on my university's scale). I designed the study, collected all interview data and wrote every chapter. Since 2023 I have worked as a research officer at [organisation], where I run household surveys. I meet the entry requirement through [the route on UNSW's eligibility page, to confirm with my supervisor].

2. Capability for high-quality research (119 words)

• MA dissertation (2023): 32 semi-structured interviews with women garment workers in [district] on how they send wages home. I designed the interview guide, conducted and transcribed all interviews in Bangla and coded them thematically. Mark: A.
• Conference paper (2024): "[title]", presented at [conference, city]. Sole author.
• Journal article (under review since [month] 2026): "[title]", submitted to [journal]. I am first author and wrote the analysis; my co-author designed the sampling frame.
• Research officer, [organisation] (2023 to now): I supervise a team of six enumerators on a [number]-household panel survey, clean the data and write the quarterly reports.

These outputs show I can run fieldwork in two languages, analyse qualitative and survey data, and finish a written study to deadline.

3. Rationale for this project and this supervisory team (122 words)

My dissertation found that the women I interviewed moved money through three channels, and that the choice depended on who in the household held the phone. It could not show whether that pattern held beyond one district, which is the question this project takes up across [three districts].

A/Prof [Surname]'s [year] article on [mobile money and household bargaining] built the household-bargaining frame my dissertation used, but it studied rural households. My project tests that frame on urban migrant workers. Dr [Second supervisor]'s survey methods work on [hard-to-reach populations] is why I have asked her to join as co-supervisor: the sampling in year 1 depends on it. We have met twice online, and both supervisors have read this EOI and the attached proposal.

4. Future career plans (68 words)

I want to work as a researcher in a university or a policy research institute in Bangladesh, leading studies on the financial lives of low-income workers. In the longer term I would like to lead a research group that works with [type of organisation, such as a central bank's financial inclusion unit or an international development agency], so that survey findings reach the people who design payment policy.

What the answers are doing

• Eligibility is all facts. Degrees, years, grades with scales, the dissertation's length and mark, and the applicant's own role. It ends by naming the entry route instead of claiming it.
• Capability is a dated list. Each output has a year, a status and the applicant's share of the work. The closing line names three skills the list proves, not adjectives.
• The rationale names one piece of each supervisor's work and what the project adds to it. The last sentence says the supervisors have read the EOI, which the form asks you to arrange.
• Career plans name a type of institution and a role, as the question asks.

The research proposal: one page or 3,000 words?

UNSW publishes two different lengths. The central guide's research description "should be approximately one page in length" with a title, a "Statement of the research problem", an "Outline of how you plan to address the problem" and "Details of any previous research and/or publications". Engineering lists the same four parts. ADA's main form asks for a separate "Research Proposal (1000-3000 words)" that "may include" these:

Title of research · Keywords (up to 5) · Summary (200 words) · Research aims and objectives (up to 5) · Research problems, questions or hypotheses · Literature Review · Proposed research methodologies · Main references in the research field · Proposed completion plan (including monthly plan and major milestones) · Information on any foreseeable research costs (e.g. fieldwork, transcriptions, translations)

A 1,500-word budget for the ADA proposal is below. It is our recommendation, not a UNSW rule: summary 200 (the form's number), aims and questions 200, literature review 350, methods 450, completion plan 250, costs 50 (our arithmetic: 1,500, with title, keywords and references not counted). Do not skip the completion plan: ADA asks for a "monthly plan" by name.

If you are applying to a faculty that follows the central guide, cut the same project to one page: title, the problem in two sentences, the approach in one paragraph, and your previous research in one line. Our two-page Australian proposal example shows a full version, and PhD research proposal length in Australia compares other universities.

The parts of the form that stop an EOI

The questions get the attention, but these items stop an EOI before anyone reads them. All are from ADA's main form (January 2026):

• Supervisor contact. "Name of proposed Primary Supervisor (mandatory)" and "*Contact with a supervisor is a mandatory requirement for all EoIs". The form asks how you were in contact: "Yes, email only", "Yes, via phone" or "Yes, in person or online meeting".
• English evidence. "Expression of Interest applications cannot be processed without providing evidence of meeting UNSW's English language requirements." A test must have been "taken no more than two years prior to the intended commencement term".
• Grading scales. "A copy of each degree's official grading scale must also be submitted with your documentation."
• Referees. "referees cannot be members of proposed supervisory team".
• A writing sample. "If you have completed a thesis/dissertation, please include this."
• A complete form. "If your EOI form has not been fully completed, it will be returned to you and cause delays in processing."
• One school. "you must apply to the school/centre where your proposed primary supervisor is located."

After the EOI: the invitation email

If the school decides you are eligible and supervision is available, "you will be invited to submit a formal application." Keep that email. ADA says "Your formal application must include this invitation to apply email from the school as the 'proof of contact'", and Law & Justice uses the same wording.

It is not an offer. Both ADA and Law & Justice say "an invitation to apply does not constitute an offer for admission to study at UNSW." Engineering says "a successful EOI outcome does not constitute an offer of admission to UNSW." Law & Justice adds that confirming eligibility and supervision and issuing the invitation "may take up to another month, especially if the applicant seeks a scholarship."

For what still decides the outcome after an invitation, see supervisor approval in Australia. For the first contact itself, see contacting a PhD supervisor.

Questions about the UNSW EOI

Is this the same as other UNSW expression of interest forms?

No. This page covers the higher degree by research EOI run by UNSW's faculties. Other UNSW forms with the same name, for other programs, are separate, so check that the form's program list includes your degree code.

Can I submit an EOI without a supervisor?

Not in ADA. "Contact with a supervisor is a mandatory requirement for all EoIs", and ADA says "schools/centres do not allocate supervisors to research applicants".

How long should each answer be?

On ADA's main HDR form, 200 words for the first three questions. The career-plans question has no stated limit. The MPhil (2364) form states no limits at all.

Can I reuse my EOI answers in the formal application?

On the Art & Design form, yes by design: "If invited to apply via the UNSW Graduate Research School, you will be required to answer these questions when completing a Research Plan Form via the UNSW Apply Online system." Law & Justice also asks for a research plan form at both stages.

How do I send the EOI?

By email to the admissions contact for your school or centre, listed on the form. ADA's main form says "Files for EOIs larger than 10 MB should be attached across multiple emails", and gives a subject line format. Before you fill the scholarship fields, see what PhD scholarship rankings read at Sydney, RMIT and Auckland.

For the eligibility and capability answers without an honours degree, the PhD in Australia without honours guide shows a filled research-component record.

Get a free review of your research proposal

Get a free Quick Review of your research proposal against GradPilot's PhD research proposal rubric for UK, Ireland and Australia. It reads for a research question stated early, a gap built from named prior work, methods that answer each question, a scope that fits 3.5 years, and where the project belongs in your supervisor's work. For the rationale answer (question 3), use the PhD adviser-fit rubric, which reads why this supervisor, in their own work's terms. Paste one answer at a time with its 200-word limit, or start from the PhD statement of purpose review page.

More guides for UNSW and Australian PhDs:

• PhD research proposal example for Australia: a full two-page proposal, annotated.
• Australian PhD expression of interest example: the first email to a supervisor.
• PhD essays hub: every PhD statement and proposal guide in one place.

Sources

Retrieved 31 October 2026, except where noted.

• UNSW Sydney, 2025 Higher Degree Research Guide (July 2025): some faculties require an EOI; one-page research description.
• UNSW Arts, Design & Architecture, How to apply: postgraduate research (2027 and 2028 rounds): mandatory EOI, supervisory support, timelines, invitation email, not an offer.
• UNSW Arts, Design & Architecture, Expression of Interest in Higher Degree Research form (January 2026): questions, limits, proposal contents, English, referees, checklist.
• UNSW Arts, Design & Architecture, MPhil Arts & Social Sciences EOI form (July 2026): same questions with no limits; two-page summary; Term 1 entry.
• UNSW School of Art & Design, HDR EOI form (March 2025): three questions; 3,000-word proposal; Research Plan Form.
• UNSW Law & Justice, How to apply (no year stated): mandatory EOI, draft proposal, 10 and 16 weeks, invitation email.
• UNSW Engineering, Postgraduate research application guide (no year stated): EOI only for one MPhil, four-week rule, proposal headings.