Professor Siobhan Banks is a dedicated and inspiring graduate research supervisor who supports all HDR candidates to connect their studies, and themselves, with industry.
Siobhan is one of the few academics in the world to deliver novel fatigue management solutions for 24/7 industries through multidisciplinary research combining biology (fatigue and circadian rhythms), psychological behaviour (individual and team performance), and technology (engineering/human factors/human centre design). Through this multidisciplinary research nexus, Siobhan has attracted substantial funding from global companies including NASA and Lockheed Martin and Thales, and invitations to partner with universities and training institutions in France and the USA.
These collaborations position Siobhan to strategically develop initiatives where she has been able to encourage, train and support HDR candidates to build research partnerships with industry. Siobhan has supervised to completion 13 HDR candidates (9 PhDs and 4 Research Masters; 7 as principal supervisor) and 22 Psychology Honours students; and is currently supervising 8 HDR candidates.
Siobhan instils in her students that it was possible to do excellent research that also has purpose and impact, that industry is receptive to high-quality researchers who can ‘walk in their world’, and the importance of demonstrating the quality of researcher-industry relationships.
Siobhan has 3 primary aims in mind when supervising. They are:
- Dedicated mentorship of candidates to develop both the practical skills and the passion to initiate and sustain productive “win-win” collaborations with industry
- Provision of rich network-building opportunities for candidates to start building their own independent industry research collaborations
- Academic leadership to guide HDR candidates in how to co-create outputs of significance to all parties