History of eGSA

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How eGSA came into being

Six years ago, the universities in the Australian Technology Network (ATN) set about building online resources that would increase the development of their graduate students' employment possibilities - the Learning Employment Aptitudes Program (LEAP). Modules could be accessed from any of the five universities or their multiple campuses. A high level of user satisfaction led to the development of a further set of modules, this time on research methodology and design skills: Modules on Research Education (MORE).

Online approaches to benefit postgraduate students have been introduced across the network, both collaboratively and by individual universities; the e-Grad School (Australia) initiative collects these in a one-stop shop for easy access.  

The nature of the collaborative approach between the ATN universities and its use of online technology to address postgraduate research students' needs across time and distance has led to the Australian Government funding two studies - the first of generic capabilities and the LEAP innovation (2001-3), and the eGSA project - to further develop graduate student support activities and to make these widely available.

The e-Grad School project is pioneering the introduction of a federated online access and authentication system using ‘Shibboleth' middleware. This will allow participating universities to develop further means of sharing postgraduate resources. This element of eGSA - the Meta Access Management System (MAMS) project - is funded through the Australian Government's Systemic Infrastructure Initiative under the “Backing Australia's Ability” policy. Potential university participants in eGSA are encouraged to join the Shibboleth federation.