PhD scholarships and opportunities
Zero-Dimensional Symmetry
Closing Date: 31 March 2021 Apply Now
PhD Scholarship
Symmetry is a fundamental organising principle in mathematics and human endeavour. This project aims to advance our knowledge of zero-dimensional symmetry, a frontier in symmetry research, by developing new theoretical and computational tools.
Estimating the Topology of Low-Dimensional Data Using Deep Neural Networks
Closing Date: 30 April 2021 Apply Now
PhD Scholarship
This project will expand on the superhuman visual capabilities of deep neural networks to allow us to analyse the topology of 3- and 4-dimensional manifolds. While these spaces still count as low-dimensional, 4-dimensional manifolds typically are beyond human visual comprehension. The topology of a manifold describes its essential properties such as the number of connected components, holes, tunnels and cavities of various dimensions. The aim of this project is to achieve a better understanding of these spaces and a computationally efficient approach that can be used for their analysis in real-world applications.
Exploring Cyanobacterial Specialised Metabolism Using Heterologous Expression
Closing Date: 30 June 2021 Apply Now
PhD Opportunity
Microbial natural products have served as a major inspiration for the development of novel pharmaceuticals. Cyanobacteria are a largely untapped phylum that produces a multitude of natural products, including toxins, anaesthetics, antibiotics and sunscreens. A limitation for the exploitation of these molecules is the lack of accessibility in the natural host due to slow growth rates, relatively low production levels, and limited resources to genetically manipulate the cyanobacteria. This project will involve the isolation of cyanobacterial natural product biosynthesis genes, engineering them for heterologous expression in Escherichia coli, and gene knockouts to characterise the enzymology of biosynthesis.
KAU-TILLIKO PhD Scholarship
Closing Date: 30 June 2021 Apply Now
PhD Scholarship
The Kau-tilliko PhD Scholarship is a donor funded scholarship established by Joss De Iuliis following the success of his own innovative land management technics. The research will draw inspiration from an emerging network of people who see the need for regenerative agriculture and sustainable land management in Australia today, and believe that the knowledge and practices of Indigenous Australians will prove invaluable in that process. In the context of climate change, the engagement of Indigenous people and increasing the use of native species are both seen to be vital in the coming years.
Microbial Genomics for Assessing the Health of Water Resources
Closing Date: 30 June 2021 Apply Now
PhD Opportunity
Disruption of the chemical and physical balance of aquatic microbial communities can result in the proliferation of harmful organisms, including toxic cyanobacteria (“blue-green algae”) and opportunistic pathogens. In all ecosystems, from the human gut to rivers, these tiny organisms are the "first responders" to environmental health and disease. Characterisation of the microbial and biochemical basis for water quality in resilient and impacted ecosystems will be invaluable for establishing future guidelines for water quality and safety. The innovative approach, predictive nature and translational capacity of this research project will enable water quality managers to develop contingency plans to reduce threats to freshwater supplies.
Ramifications of Climate Change on Microbial Ecology in the Pacific Ocean
Closing Date: 30 June 2021 Apply Now
PhD Opportunity
Microbial biodiversity in the tidal zone is responsible for important biological processes such as geochemical cycling and carbon sequestration. Climate change in the Pacific Islands has resulted in the restructuring of these zones affecting local marine ecology.
Airway Epithelial Cell-Targeting Nanoparticles to Harness RNA Interference Therapeutics for Respiratory Virus Induced Diseases
Closing Date: 01 July 2021 Apply Now
PhD Scholarship
We have developed novel polymer hybrid nanoparticles that specifically target airway epithelial cells. These will delivery respiratory virus RNA targeting siRNAs to specifically degrade viral RNA, halt replication and, in vivo, prevent respiratory virus-induced diseases.
P14 – Application of Inclined Channels in Enhancing Early Gangue Rejection through Gravity and Flotation Separation
Closing Date: 31 December 2020 Apply Now
PhD Scholarship
Supervisor Laureate Professor Kevin Galvin - The ARC Centre of Excellence for Enabling Eco-Efficient Beneficiation of Minerals is seeking creative and innovative PhD applicants to join our national collaborative Centre, to develop transformational technologies to reduce energy and water consumption and increase metals recovery. This project will investigate new ways to remove coarse particle gangue from grinding circuits to reduce energy and water consumption.
P15 – Influence of Turbulence on Coarse Particle Detachment from Air Bubbles
Closing Date: 31 December 2020 Apply Now
PhD Scholarship
Supervisor: Associate Professor Elham Doroodchi - The ARC Centre of Excellence for Enabling Eco-Efficient Beneficiation of Minerals is seeking creative and innovative PhD applicants to join our national collaborative Centre, to develop transformational technologies to reduce energy and water consumption and increase metals recovery. This study uses new hydrodynamic techniques to quantify bubble-particle interaction in a turbulent environment, with the aim of determining how and why coarse particle detachment from bubble-multiparticle aggregates may occur in a flotation process.
P17 – Computer Modelling Investigation of a Novel Granular Separation Mechanism
Closing Date: 31 December 2020 Apply Now
PhD Scholarship
Supervisor: Dr Roberto Moreno-Atanasio and Laureate Professor Kevin Galvin - The ARC Centre of Excellence for Enabling Eco-Efficient Beneficiation of Minerals is seeking creative and innovative PhD applicants to join our national collaborative Centre, to develop transformational technologies to reduce energy and water consumption and increase metals recovery. This project will develop a computer model to describe a novel method for dry separation of minerals.
P18 – Water-efficient Electrostatic Beneficiation
Closing Date: 31 December 2020 Apply Now
PhD Scholarship
Supervisor: Dr Peter Ireland - The ARC Centre of Excellence for Enabling Eco-Efficient Beneficiation of Minerals is seeking creative and innovative PhD applicants to join our national collaborative Centre, to develop transformational technologies to reduce energy and water consumption and increase metals recovery. This project will explore novel electrostatic mineral processing methods using little or no water, in low gravity. Dry processing is critical to the prospective utilisation of resources on the Moon, Asteroids, and other extraterrestrial environments, as well as arid parts of Earth.
P20 – Flotation Kinetics of Ultrafine Mineral Particles using a Sparger in a Downcomer
Closing Date: 31 December 2020 Apply Now
PhD Scholarship
Supervisor: Laureate Professor Kevin Galvin - The ARC Centre of Excellence for Enabling Eco-Efficient Beneficiation of Minerals is seeking creative and innovative PhD applicants to join our national collaborative Centre, to develop transformational technologies to reduce energy and water consumption and increase metals recovery. This project investigates the enhanced bubble-particle collision kinetics of ultrafine particles in a novel downcomer.
P22 – Counter Current Washing in Flotation of Minerals to Establish the Limits of Cleaning
Closing Date: 31 December 2020 Apply Now
PhD Scholarship
Supervisor: Laureate Professor Kevin Galvin - The ARC Centre of Excellence for Enabling Eco-Efficient Beneficiation of Minerals is seeking creative and innovative PhD applicants to join our national collaborative Centre, to develop transformational technologies to reduce energy and water consumption and increase metals recovery. This project will investigate the benefits of counter current washing of flotation product using the Reflux Flotation Cell.
P24 - Hydrodynamics of Flow Regime Transition in a Reflux Flotation Cell
Closing Date: 31 December 2020 Apply Now
PhD Scholarship
Supervisor: Dr Subhasish Mitra and Professor Geoffrey Evans - The ARC Centre of Excellence for Enabling Eco-Efficient Beneficiation of Minerals is seeking creative and innovative PhD applicants to join our national collaborative Centre, to develop transformational technologies to reduce energy and water consumption and increase metals recovery. This Project aims to examine the flow regime transition in the downcomer region of the reflux flotation cell at a fixed gas flux when the gas bubbles are released as froth from the overflow at different liquid underflow fluxes.
P26 – Ultrafine Recovery of Precious Metals using Nano-scale Permeable Films of Oil
Closing Date: 31 December 2020 Apply Now
PhD Scholarship
Supervisor: Laureate Professor Kevin Galvin - The ARC Centre of Excellence for Enabling Eco-Efficient Beneficiation of Minerals is seeking creative and innovative PhD applicants to join our national collaborative Centre, to develop transformational technologies to reduce energy and water consumption and increase metals recovery. This project will investigate a novel agglomeration technology to transform the recovery of precious minerals.
P29 - Smooth Particle Hydrodynamic Modelling of Moisture Migration under Oscillatory Type Motions
Closing Date: 31 December 2020 Apply Now
PhD Scholarship
Supervisor: Associate Professor Kenneth Williams - The ARC Centre of Excellence for Enabling Eco-Efficient Beneficiation of Minerals is seeking creative and innovative PhD applicants to join our national collaborative Centre, to develop transformational technologies to reduce energy and water consumption and increase metals recovery. This project investigates the fundamental mechanisms of moisture liberation and subsequent motion through particulate ensembles. This will provide advanced knowledge to drive innovative dewatering technology design.
P37 – Ultrafine Particle Deposition and Adhesion with Permeable Hydrophobic Surfaces
Closing Date: 31 December 2020 Apply Now
PhD Scholarship
Supervisor: Dr Roberto Moreno-Atanasio - The ARC Centre of Excellence for Enabling Eco-Efficient Beneficiation of Minerals is seeking creative and innovative PhD applicants to join our national collaborative Centre, to develop transformational technologies to reduce energy and water consumption and increase metals recovery. This project will aim to demonstrate the benefits of using natural fibres to stabilise oil emulsions by allowing fluid to be exchanged across droplets surfaces.
P42 – Guiding RAFT Polymerisation with Molecular Simulations to Control Hydrophobic Mineral Surfaces
Closing Date: 31 December 2020 Apply Now
PhD Scholarship
Supervisor Associate Professor Alister Page & Laurate Professor Kevin Galvin - The ARC Centre of Excellence for Enabling Eco-Efficient Beneficiation of Minerals is seeking creative and innovative PhD applicants to join our national collaborative Centre, to develop transformational technologies to reduce energy and water consumption and increase metals recovery. This project aims to enhance mineral separation by controlling the hydrophobicity of mineral surfaces withnew RAFT polymers.
P46 – The Adsorption of RAFT Polymer Collectors for Selective Flotation of Specific Minerals
Closing Date: 31 December 2020 Apply Now
PhD Scholarship
Supervisor: Professor Erica Wanless - The ARC Centre of Excellence for Enabling Eco-Efficient Beneficiation of Minerals is seeking creative and innovative PhD applicants to join our national collaborative Centre, to develop transformational technologies to reduce energy and water consumption and increase metals recovery. In this project the adsorption of novel surface active polymers at aqueous-mineral interfaces will be assessed for their prospects as selective collectors (low molecular weight) or flocculants (high molecular weight). This will enhance value mineral flotation.
P47 – Development of Bio-inspired Polymers for Sustainable Mineral Beneficiation
Closing Date: 31 December 2020 Apply Now
PhD Scholarship
Supervisor: Associate Professor Grant Webber - The ARC Centre of Excellence for Enabling Eco-Efficient Beneficiation of Minerals is seeking creative and innovative PhD applicants to join our national collaborative Centre, to develop transformational technologies to reduce energy and water consumption and increase metals recovery. In collaboration with researchers at the Universities of Queensland and Melbourne this project will design, synthesise and deploy novel bio-inspired polymers for processing clay-based suspensions to reduce water usage in mineral beneficiation.
Progressive Voices/Movements in Islamic Theology in the (Post-)Secular Society of 21st Century
Closing Date: 31 December 2025 Apply Now
PhD Opportunity
PhD research on “Progressive Voices/Movements in Islamic Theology in the (Post-)Secular Society of 21st Century”
Recently expired PhD Scholarships
Interaction between coke and iron ore in Hydrogen Reduction Blast Furnace - Insight into Coke Quality Requirements
Closing Date: 15 February 2021 Apply Now
PhD Scholarship
Investigate the coke gasification and degradation mechanism and the interaction between cokes from Australian coals and ferrous burden under hydrogen reduction blast furnace ironmaking conditions. Collaborate with industry partners.
Laser Carrying Spider Robots (Robo-Laser) for Remediation of Marine Corrosion within Navy Ships and Submarines
Closing Date: 28 February 2021 Apply Now
PhD Scholarship
Corrosion damage to naval platforms is a leading cost driver to the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) and its allied forces such as the US Navy (USN). Corrosion damage increases maintenance requirements and creates difficulty for naval assets to achieve their expected service life.
Modelling Explosive Energy Release in the Sun’s Atmosphere
Closing Date: 28 February 2021 Apply Now
PhD Opportunity
We invite applications for a PhD Scholarship in Solar Astrophysics under the supervision of A/Prof David Pontin in the Centre for Space Physics at the University of Newcastle. The project will address explosive energy release in the Sun’s atmosphere.
Assessment of the Translation and Impact of Chronic Disease Prevention Implementation Research in Community Settings
Closing Date: 01 March 2021 Apply Now
PhD Scholarship
The PhD will involve conducting research to inform the application of a Framework to Assess the Impact of Translational (FAIT) health research within an implementation science research program, concentrating specifically on chronic disease prevention programs, policies and practices in community settings.
The University of Newcastle acknowledges the traditional custodians of the lands within our footprint areas: Awabakal, Darkinjung, Biripai, Worimi, Wonnarua, and Eora Nations. We also pay respect to the wisdom of our Elders past and present.