Hi, I'm Una. I'm a PhD candidate with the School of Law
and I'm here today with my supervisor Jennifer and we are here to answer some
of your questions. Thank you. So the first
question is, what's your favourite thing about
being a PhD supervisor? well there are lots of good things but
one is that I get to share the journey of
somebody who is researching in an area hopefully they're
really enthusiastic about it. Often I learn things from that but it's
really nice to see not only the growth of the research but also the growth
of the person doing the research and also there are those little occasions
where you see this student will have the light bulb
moment when they think oh 'I get it' and that's just so nice, I feel like
cheering from the sidelines sometimes.
So now it's my turn to ask you a question. Why did you choose to do a PhD?
I've always wanted to do a PhD, it's always been
the ultimate goal, that's one. Second, as an indigenous
woman I feel like it's important, my research should be so important
and so that was one of the, two of the motivators for me
to do a PhD, I want to be able to do research that means something and so I
feel with a PhD I can accomplish that. Great reasons.
Can I ask you a question now, how is your PhD different from your
undergraduate studies? Oh it's very different,
it's a personal journey, I feel like I'm
alone but I'm not alone, so really in terms of
getting the research done if i'm not meeting my supervisor I'm basically
you know I set the
goals, the timelines and I need to meet those
as compared to my undergrad where you know my lecturers set you know all
the deadlines and everything yeah so that's the biggest
difference. Why are you passionate about research?
I think one thing is that I like to solve
puzzles and one of my hobbies is cryptic crosswords
and that's really what you're doing I think when you're doing a piece of legal
research so you can look beyond what the law
says to have a look what does the law mean,
you can dig a little bit deeper to see what's
wrong with the law and of course what's right with the law
and you can also go on from that to make recommendations,
air your ideas, so those are the things that I like and I also like the fact
that you can have a positive impact so
in certain times you've got that impact where
your ideas are actually taken on board by
maybe policy makers or even governments or courts
yeah those are some of the things I like. Now let me ask you
a question, why did you choose to do your PhD at UQ?
UQ was always at the top of
my list of universities. That's what we want to hear.
I wanted somewhere where I had the
right person guiding me throughout the process the
second I did the research and I
saw that UQ's placement in terms of
universities in the world and in Australia and so I thought
I definitely have to to send my application in there and
third it's my initials. You know UQ, my second name
starts with q so I was like it's only right that I
should choose, yeah but that's more personal
decision yeah. Well I'm very glad you did.
What's the best advice you would give to somebody who is
considering doing their PhD at UQ? Well first I tell them that it's a great
place to do their PhD because it's a really nice collegial
atmosphere but I'd also say choose something that you have a passion
for because the PhD journey is a long one
and you do not want to be working on something that you're not enthusiastic
about because your interest has to
sustain you through that long journey so that would
be my advice and also to try to find a supervisor who is enthusiastic about
your topic as well so when you're in those
troughs that everybody has with their research
you've got somebody to talk to about it.
What scholarship have you been awarded
and can you tell us how you found out about it?
So I am currently on the UQ Graduate Scholarship and I found out
about it when I was putting together my
application so I went through the UQ website and
looked at all the scholarships that I thought I would be eligible for, I
submitted my proposal and put in an interest for a scholarship and I was
given that scholarship and here I am. So the next
question is, who do you think should do a PhD?
I would say anybody who's got a passion for research,
it's got to sustain you throughout your candidature so that's really
important and I think that's much more important than getting rungs on the
board for a career, that passion.
I'd also say age is no barrier and I think really the other thing is
you need to be somebody who is willing to step
up to a challenge because again during the course of your candidature
there will be challenges and you need to also have some perseverance so those are
the things I think that I would say you need. So my next question,
how do you think your PhD will benefit you
professionally and personally? Well professionally
boosts my self as an academic and as an Indigenous academic and
I would be building on work for example that you've already done
in the Pacific as an Indigenous researcher
it places me in good stead and I hope that
other Indigenous students would see me
and building on that work again personally this is an achievement
not just for me as a an Indigenous person and as a woman
this is the PhD would be celebrated by not just myself but my
clan and my people this is not just my
achievement this is an achievement for them
as well. This is a good one, what made you decide to be my supervisor?
Ah well I actually find this quite easy to answer
because here is somebody who is a talented lawyer in their own
right also of course you have a great topic
and that topic is aligned with some of my research so I
felt that I could actually
contribute to your journey and come along with you on your
journey and I also liked the fact that you
had a topic which you had a personal interest
in so obviously you have that enthusiasm to carry you through
as I'm going, as we're going along this journey together I'm going to learn as
much from you as you will for me, hoping that you'll learn something from me.
Oh absolutely. So Una, what is your PhD topic?
The PhD is on the Indigenous identity and how Indigenous people define
themselves, how state laws define Indigenous people and how international
law defines Indigenous people. Part of the
research is looking at the descendants of the new Vanuatu and Solomon Islanders
who were taken to Fiji during the period of blackbirding.
That's so interesting. Thank you. What was your own PhD topic?
It might sound boring if I give you just the title
but it was about South Pacific jurisprudence.
That involves conflict between customary laws and state laws.
In particular, looking at those small island countries in the
South Pacific. And looking at ways of reconciling those two
very different systems of laws. Okay so I've got one last question for
you, how did you pitch your topic? I didn't
have your contact but it was on the website and so i had emailed you and
we discussed you know the topic and was back and forth because I was in
Naru and you were here It was fairly simple, I
put together a proposal and then you had a look at it and you agreed to be
my supervisor, you know should I get in
and then I applied and I got the confirmation.
So yeah it was a fairly simple process.