Australian Institute for Innovative Materials
Relaxor ferroelectric single crystals and textured ceramics: fabrication & property characterization
Ferroelectric materials are at the heart of numerous electronic devices, such as ultrasonic transducers, piezoelectric sensors and energy harvesting, to name a few. Relaxor-PbTiO3 ferroelectrics show good dielectric/piezoelectric properties, outperforming conventional ferroelectric PZTs, where relaxor-PT based ferroelectric crystals have been investigated over the last 20 years due to their ultrahigh piezoelectric coefficients and electromechanical coupling factors being on the order of >1500 pC/N and >0.9 respectively, and are at the forefront of advanced electroacoustic applications such as medical imaging and diagnostic. Following studies on relaxor-PT single crystals in the early 1990s, systematic studies on the piezoelectric properties poled along different crystallographic directions were reported in late 1990s and early 2000s. Today, relaxor ferroelectric crystals continue to be an exciting research area that promises even further discoveries, and have been commercialized with the help of the mature Bridgman crystal growth method. The project specifically seeks to build knowledge to crystal growth, textured ceramic fabrication and property characterization of relaxorPT based ferroelectric materials.
The PhD scholars will be expected to develop and carry out a project that supports the programs in developing local crystal growth foundry as well as advancing research in advanced piezoelectric materials. The project will be supervised by Professor Shujun Zhang in the Institute for Superconducting and Electronic Materials (ISEM), Australian Institute for Innovative Materials (AIIM), University of Wollongong. Professor Shujun Zhang is also the NSW Premier's Prize for Excellence in Mathematics, Earth Sciences, Chemistry or Physics 2021 winner. The PhD scholars will be supported through the active research programs and have the opportunity to interact with other researchers in ISEM, AIIM/UOW, University of Monash, UNSW, University of Sydney and local industry.
Scholarship Value
The successful candidate will receive a stipend of $45,000 p.a. (tax free) for the duration of the award. The duration of the award shall be for 3.5 years.
Entry Requirements
To be eligible for this scholarship the applicant must:
- have completed a Bachelor/Master’s degree in Material Science, Solid State Chemistry Science, Physics Sciences, or a related discipline with First-Class Honours, or be regarded by UOW as having an equivalent level of attainment
- be able to commence full-time higher degree by research by March 2022
- be an Australian Citizen or a permanent Residents
Application process
Applicants wishing to be considered for this scholarship should submit to Professor Shujun Zhang (shujun_zhang@uow.edu.au).
- a letter of application outlining your thematic interest in relation to ferroelectric materials, relevant experience and expertise in materials (maximum 2 pages)
- a CV with relevant academic transcripts
- a one-page summary of the proposed project
Upon successful outcome of application, the applicant will need to proceed with a full Higher Degree Research (HDR) admission application through the University of Wollongong.
For all questions about the project and scholarship opportunity, and to apply for this scholarship contact Professor Shujun Zhang.
Closing date
When the position is filled.
Faculty of the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities
AI, Robots and Agriculture: Social and ethical issues
This project aims to investigate the social and ethical issues raised by the use of artificial intelligence and robotics in agriculture. By combining social science research methods and philosophical analysis, the project aims to generate new knowledge in bioethics and applied ethics. Expected outcomes of this project include an account of the social and ethical issues farmers, rural communities, and consumers anticipate arising from these technologies, improved understanding of these issues, and an account of how these groups would like to see these issues addressed.
This scholarship will support PhD scholars to devise and develop their own deliberative projects in collaboration with A/Prof Degeling, Dr Chris Mayes and Prof Rob Sparrow. Exploring a topic related to social and ethical issues raised by the use of artificial intelligence and robotics in agriculture. The successful candidate will be supported to develop cutting edge social research methodologies with leading researchers using citizens’ juries. Outcomes will include conceptual development in field of deliberative research as well as extensive public engagement with effected communities on technological transformation in Australian agriculture.
Candidates who wish to work remotely will be considered.
Scholarship Value:
This scholarship is comprised of an RTP Tuition Fee Offset and a Living Allowance Stipend. Successful candidates will receive $29,863 per annum, indexed annually.
Entry Requirements:
To be eligible for this scholarship the applicant must:
- Have a minimum of Honours 2:1 result in Geography, Sociology, Applied Philosophy or an equivalent and relevant social science discipline.
- Be a citizen or permanent resident of Australia or a citizen of New Zealand.
- Additional relevant research experience and/or peer-reviewed research activity is preferred.
Application Process:
For further information on the application process, applicants wishing to be considered must contact Chris Degeling at christopher_degeling@uow.edu.au or +61 02 4298 1224.
Closing date
1 May 2023
Early Start
PhD scholarship opportunity: ‘First Bite – Get it Right’. An intervention program to encourage healthy eating from the early years.
In 2022, Early Start at the University of Wollongong was awarded funding under the NSW Ministry of Health’s Prevention Research Support Program (PRSP), in collaboration with the Centre for Population Health and five Local Health Districts, to support children and young people to optimise their health and wellbeing, particularly through healthy eating and physical activity.
One of the projects to be conducted as part of the PRSP program is the "First Bite - Get it Right” intervention, which aims to improve children’s (aged 2-5 years) healthy eating behaviours in early childhood education and care services (ECEC) and at home. The program seeks to improve children’s nutrition literacy and behavioural intentions to consume healthy foods through hands-on experiential learning and the reinforcement of this learning at-home. Proposed strategies will include:
- hands-on experiential learning activities at ECEC;
- a daily vegetable break at ECEC;
- parent-targeted nutrition promotion messaging via ECECs; and
- reinforcement of experiential eating and healthy food practices at home
The project will be undertaken in collaboration with the Centre for Population Health and multiple local health districts. It will involve development, implementation and evaluation of an evidence-based, co-designed program.
Your supervisors will be A/Prof Bridget Kelly (UOW), Dr Megan Hammersley (UOW) and Dr Jennifer Norman (ISLHD and UOW). These supervisors are the lead researchers on the First Bite program with expertise in public health nutrition and childhood nutrition, and experience in working with ECECs.
Scholarship Value
Successful candidates will receive a living allowance of $29,863 per year (indexed annually). The duration of this scholarship is 3 years full-time (PhD) starting in March 2023.
Entry Requirements
To be eligible, the applicant must:
- Have completed a Bachelor Degree in Public Health, Education, Nutrition, Dietetics or a related discipline.
- Direct entry into the PhD will require a Bachelor’s degree with Honours or a Master’s degree with a substantial research component.
- Other forms of research experience may be considered, such as research undertaken in a Health Promotion Officer position.
- Alternatively, candidates without the required research training or experience may enter the PhD program by first enrolling in the Master of Philosophy. Transfer to the PhD program may occur after successful completion of the coursework component and at least nine months of the thesis component.
- Both domestic and international students are welcome to apply, however, you will be expected to be based at the Wollongong campus during standard office hours.
Application Process
If you are interested, please apply by completing the application form. For any questions please contact the PRSP Program Manager: Sarah Ryan sarah_ryan@uow.edu.au.
Closing Date
14 November 2022
Early Start
PhD scholarship opportunity: Sit, sleep, play, repeat? An international database to understand movement behaviours in early childhood – the Sleep and Activity Database for the Early Years (SADEY)
An exciting 3-year PhD scholarship opportunity on our ARC Discovery Project is available at Early Start University of Wollongong for international and domestic candidates who are interested in researching associations between movement behaviours – including physical activity, sedentary behaviour and sleep – and health and developmental outcomes during early childhood. The successful candidate will have the opportunity to work with leading researchers nationally and internationally, including Professor Timothy Olds (University of South Australia), Professor Ian Janssen (Queen’s University), Dr Esther Van Sluijs (University of Cambridge), Professor Mark Tremblay (CHEO Research Institute) and other SADEY collaborators. Supporting the development of a large international database known as the Sleep and Activity Database for the Early Years (SADEY). We are open to potential candidates from a range of disciplinary backgrounds including physical activity and public health, data science/statistics, informatics/programming or related areas.
The project will be supervised by Associate Professor Dylan Cliff (Early Start, Faculty of the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities, University of Wollongong).
Scholarship Value:
The duration of this scholarship is 3 years. Successful candidates will receive a tax-free stipend of $29,863 p.a.
Responsibilities of the candidate:
In conjunction with the research team, the PhD candidate will be responsible for recruiting collaborating researchers and developing the international database, data re-processing (e.g., accelerometry and demographic data) and analysis, written and oral reporting of the findings, and dissemination of results.
Entry Requirements:
To be eligible for this scholarship the applicant must:
- Be from one of the following disciplinary backgrounds: physical activity and public health, data science/ statistics, informatics/ programming or related areas.
- Have strong quantitative research and statistical analysis capabilities.
- Good written and verbal communication skills.
- Good organisational skills.
- Have the ability to work independently and as part of a team.
Application Process:
Applicants wishing to be considered for this scholarship should email a cover letter and their latest CV (including qualifications, relevant experience and authored publications) to Devan Antczak. (devan_antczak@uow.edu.au).
Closing Date
31 March 2023.
School of Education (Early Start)
‘Healthy Bytes’: Supporting healthy digital media use in young children.
Students are invited to apply for a Doctor of Philosophy in the area of ‘Healthy Bytes’: Supporting healthy digital media use in young children.
In 2022, Early Start at the University of Wollongong was awarded funding under the NSW Ministry of Health’s Prevention Research Support Program (PRSP), in collaboration with the Centre for Population Health and five Local Health Districts, to support children and young people to optimise their health and wellbeing, particularly through healthy eating and physical activity.
One of the projects to be conducted as part of the PRSP program is the "Healthy Bytes” project. In partnership with South Western Sydney LHD and in consultation with families, the “Healthy Bytes” project will be guided by a social marketing approach, which involves the application of marketing knowledge, concepts and techniques to enhance social as well as economic ends, as well as the analysis of the social consequences of marketing policies, decisions and activities. The project will involve preliminary research to guide the development of a marketing and health promotion intervention to reduce unhealthy screen time in preschool-aged children (aged 3-5 years), with a particular focus on the transition to school. This project will focus on COVID-19 recovery in the most heavily affected populations within South Western Sydney. This project is designed to ensure our vulnerable populations are supported to “live life well after lockdown.
The project will use a mixed-methods approach to understand:
i) population levels of screen time among children in South Western Sydney;
ii) the family screen time context following COVID-19 lockdown, and
iii) parents' perspectives on the most desirable intervention approaches and the acceptability of developed intervention materials and strategies.
An exciting PhD opportunity with an excellent team. Supervised by Associate Professor Dylan Cliff (School of Education), Senior Prof Tony Okely (School of Health and Society) and Dr Nadia Zainuddin (School of Business).
Scholarship Value
The scholarship is for three and a half (3.5) years full-time for doctoral candidates and two (2) years for Master of Philosophy with a stipend of $AUD 29,863 p.a. (2023 stipend rate) (tax free and indexed annually).
Entry Requirements
To be eligible for this scholarship the applicant must:
- Have completed a Bachelor's Degree in public health, education, nutrition, dietetics or a related discipline.
- Direct entry into the PhD will require a Bachelor’s degree with Honours or a Master’s degree with a substantial research component.
- Other forms of research experience may be considered, such as research undertaken in a Health Promotion Officer position.
- Alternatively, candidates without the required research training or experience may enter the PhD program by first enrolling in the Master of Philosophy. Transfer to the PhD program may occur after successful completion of the coursework component and at least nine months of the thesis component.
Application Process
Applicants wishing to be considered for this scholarship must complete the official application form.
For any questions please contact Sarah Ryan, the PRSP Program Manager at sarah_ryan@uow.edu.au.
Application Closing Date
When the position is filled.
Faculty of Engineering & Information Sciences
Cooperative operation of UAVs and other types of vehicles considering energy constraints and uncertainty
Defence Innovation Network (DIN) has awarded multiple PhD Scholarships to projects that address current or emerging Defence or industry needs, allowing PhD students an opportunity to receive practical, hands-on research experience in a defence setting. These collaborative projects will bring fresh, innovative ideas to Defence and industry strengthen their relationships with NSW universities and promote STEM job creation in the State.
This C-UAV project "Cooperative operation of UAVs and other types of vehicles considering energy constraints and uncertainty" aims to integrate capacities of UAVs and other types of vehicles to achieve complementary and coordinated effects to overcome energy constraints and uncertainty, with applications in freight logistics and disaster management.
The project will be supervised by Dr Bo Du (Theme Leader of Future Transport & Mobility, SMART Infrastructure Facility), Dr Jun Shen (Theme Leader of Smart Applications, School of Computing and Information Technology) and Jackie Dujmovic (Founder and CEO Hover UAV).
Scholarship Value
The duration of this scholarship is 3 years, the successful candidate will receive $28,854 per annum (2022 rate, indexed annually) and $29,863 per annum (2023 rate, indexed annually) provided by UOW and $5,500 annual top-up stipend provided by DIN.
Entry Requirements
To be eligible for this scholarship the applicant must:
- Have Australian citizenship or permanent residency.
- An Honours degree with 2nd class Division 1 or higher or a Master’s degree in a discipline relevant to the research topic. Such as, Transport Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Control Engineering, Computer Science, Applied Mathematics, Data Science or Automation.
- Relevant skills such as mathematical modelling, optimisation, algorithm design, simulation and/or data analysis.
- Experience in Vehicle Routing Problem (VRP), Two-Echelon Capacitated VRP (2E-CVRP) and computational intelligence based on optimisation methods is preferred.
Application Process
Applicants wishing to be considered for this scholarship should contact Dr. Bobby Du (bo_du@uow.edu.au) or Dr. Jun Shen (jun_shen@uow.edu.au) with:
- Their CV: Clearly outlining education qualifications with GPA, research and work experiences.
- Copies of academic transcripts.
- List of publications (if any).
Closing date
31 December 2022
ARC future grids ITTC - Leading the transformation to a clean energy future
ARC Future Grids ITTC PhD scholarship program aims to develop future leaders in power and energy with a strong commitment to advancing the transition to a clean energy future. These scholarships provide unique opportunities to tackle critical global challenges, and to receive world-class training and professional development from world-leading researchers.
The ARC Future Grids Industrial Transformation Training Centre (ITTC), led by the University of Wollongong, is a 5 year, $8.5m research and training program, bringing together 6 Universities and 15 industry partners across five Australian states to deliver innovative research that will advance Australia’s transition to a clean energy future. The centre is offering 20 scholarships across 5 universities over the 5 year period.
Working within a large research entity (60 people including 20+ PhDs, 5+ post-Docs), the appointee will work closely with the industry partner organisation to undertake applied, industry-focussed research, as well as collaborating with the ARC Future Grids ITTC team. The successful appointee will be supported through additional mentoring, training, and personal development and will also have an opportunity to take on a 12-month industry placement.
Research projects range from challenges in energy generation, transmission, and distribution, to consumer behaviour and hydrogen energy. The position will be responsible for conducting research within a specific program related to that field. The role will also involve planning, experimentation, data analysis, report writing and the communication of results to industry and through peer-reviewed journal articles.
Research Programs:
- Improving frequency response of the grid using grid-forming inverter-based generation
- High-performance zinc-ion batteries for grid-scale energy storage
- Design of a phase-locked loop for inverters to avoid grid synchronisation instability
- Optimal mix of generation in power grid rich with renewables to maximise economic benefits under uncertainty
- Progressive model predictive control for the management of grid-connected energy and water resources
Scholarship Value
The scholarships are paid within a range, successful applicants will receive a stipend of $29,863 - $36,161 p.a. In addition to this, the ARC Future Grids ITTC is offering top-up scholarships valued up to $7,000 for suitable candidates. The duration of the award shall be for 3.5 years (full-time study).
Entry Requirements
To be eligible for this scholarship the applicant must:
- Have an academic qualification. Applicants should hold a Masters by Research, or an Honours 1st class undergraduate degree in electrical engineering or equivalent combination of professional experience and academic qualifications.
- Be based at the Wollongong campus or other listed partner university and at times at Industry Partner Organisations.
- Communication skills in both in writing and orally, presenting research work and outcomes to different audiences.
Highly desirable experience:
- Experience in research in the area of the research program.
- Industry experience and academic publications.
- Simulation modelling experience and laboratory hardware experience.
Application Process
- Applicants should submit a cover letter detailing relevant experience and research interest; CV with names and addresses of two referees; and Academic transcripts.
- Applicants should indicate the Research Program(s) for which they are interested in.
- Both domestic and international prospective candidates are encouraged to apply. International applicants should include valid IELTS or TOEFL score.
For more information, contact ARC Future Grids ITTC future-grids@uow.edu.au or Kashem Muttaqi kashem@uow.edu.au
Closing date
First intake of applications closes 5 March 2023.
Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health
Developing and applying computational modelling to study the structure-dynamics function in complex molecular systems
A PhD position is now available in the groups of Associate Professor Haibo Yu and Dr Richmond Lee at the University of Wollongong.
This computational chemistry and biophysics PhD project involves developing and applying computational modelling to study the structure-dynamics function in complex molecular systems.
Scholarship Value
The scholarship duration is 3 years, successful applicants will receive $29,863 (non-taxable) per annum. International students can also apply for an International Postgraduate Tuition Award (IPTA) to cover the HDR student tuition fee.
Entry Requirements
To be eligible for this scholarship the applicant must:
- Have a Masters by Research (international) or Honours Class 2:1 or above (domestic) in Chemistry, Biophysics, or a related field.
- Experience in computational chemistry and molecular simulations, coursework in physical chemistry and statistical mechanics and experience with Linux/Unix and HPC is preferred but not required.
- IELTS or TOEFL if applicable; see UOW language requirements.
Application Process
Applicants wishing to be considered for this scholarship should contact Associate Professor Haibo Yu (haibo_yu@uow.edu.au) to express their interest, along with:
- A cover letter or statement articulating why you would like to do a PhD with us (maximum 1 page).
- CV (maximum 2 pages).
- IELTS or TOEFL if applicable.
- Contact details for 2-3 references. Don’t attach pre-written letters.
Closing date
When the position is filled.
