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Schoolarship Title: Northern Research Futures Collaborative Research Network Scholarships
Be a part of Australia's Northern Research Future – Exciting PhD Opportunities
Charles Darwin University is calling for Expressions of Interest for PhD Scholarships under the Collaborative Network Program with partners the Australian National University, James Cook University and the Australian Institute of Marine Science.
Charles Darwin University's Research Standing
Research is a major strength of Charles Darwin University, focused on environment, human health and well-being, Indigenous knowledges and social and public policy.
Research by both staff and postgraduate students is mostly applied and targeted at significant real-world problems in northern Australia and Asia.
Research results provide input to public policy formulation, private sector decision-making, and the work of Non-Government Organisations. Publications from this research contribute to the development of academic disciplines both in Australia and internationally.
The quality of research at CDU has been recognised in the 2010 SciMago World Report which ranks CDU at the top of the Australian University sector on the quality of publications, with 63.41% of CDU's outputs (2004-2008) appearing in the top quartile of ranked journals.
On the measure of normalised citations, the 2010 SciMago World Report ranks CDU 13th in the Australian University sector.
Most recently (Oct 2011) Times Higher Education has also placed CDU at number 13 in the rankings of Australian universities.
The Commonwealth Government's Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) initiative saw CDU receive scores of four out of a maximum of five in several research areas: Environmental Science and Management, Zoology, Agriculture and Veterinary Sciences, Medical Microbiology and Clinical Sciences.
As further evidence of the University's standing in environmental research in Australia, a recent analysis of Australia's and New Zealand's top research institutions for Environmental Sciences and Ecology by Thomson Reuters placed CDU fourth in Australia and 123rd in the world for research quality.
Northern Research Futures Network
Charles Darwin University, the Australian National University, James Cook University and the Australian Institute of Marine Sciences have been funded under the Australian Government's Collaborative Research Network to form a partnership that creates a national program of collaborative social, coastal/marine and environmental research in the north Australian region.
Primarily located at Charles Darwin University, this collaboration will build on the existing strengths and relationships to establish a research focus on issues of national importance that face northern Australia and its immediate regional neighbours.
PhD Scholarships
To assist in the development of this capacity, the Collaborative Research Network has up to 7 PhD scholarships, valued at $33,000 per annum, available to high quality candidates who wish to contribute to a cross-disciplinary understanding of the impacts of migration, urbanisation and industrialisation on northern Australia's environmental resources.
Supervision will be drawn from across the partner institutions to provide a high-quality training environment that will enable scholars to achieve high standards of success in their chosen fields whilst contributing to the future planning and development of northern Australia.
Where appropriate, candidates may consider a joint PhD degree experience with both Charles Darwin University and the Australian National University, benefiting from the opportunity to spend time studying at both universities. Scholarship opportunities may also be provided through the Cairns Institute at James Cook University, Cairns.
Applicants should have completed a Bachelors degree (Hons, 1st Class or 2A) or a Masters degree with a significant research component; or demonstrated equivalence.
Tenure is for three years fulltime, subject to satisfactory progress.
Key Research Themes
The Collaborative Research Network has two key theme areas in which it is seeking to generate future capacity:
Urbanisation, infrastructure development and social impacts
Population movement follows (and creates) infrastructure development and job creation.
The current national debate about the growth of regional cities offers the Northern Research Futures Network a unique opportunity to begin to track and evaluate such growth demands and challenges.
Some of these include:
the impact of urbanisation and industrialisation such as mining, refining and LNG; expansion of port, road and rail infrastructure; protection of Indigenous cultures; and the realisation of the National Broadband Network, on regional Australia.
Further information regarding research projects within this theme is available from: Ms Ruth Wallace, Director, The Northern Institute.
Further information regarding research being conducted by The Northern Institute.
Migration, security and climate change
The expansion of urbanization and infrastructure development will result in increased migration to northern Australia.
The resulting impact on the environment needs to be better understood to inform development of public policy and regulation that will enable government to support migration whilst ensuring the environmental sustainability of Australia's northern resources.
The protection of biodiversity and the impact of climate change will be explored in the context of future exploitation of northern Australian natural resources.
For more information about the details of the scholarships and how to apply:
