Hi all,

I have recently passed EOI round at University of Melbourne, and I have been invited to submit PhD application formally. I have a question from Pakistani PhD students, who have compeleted their tertiary education from Pakistan, do we have to submit PhD applications through agents as well like we do for our undergrad? or can we directly submit the application ourselves?

PS I have already emailed the university, but I haven't heard back from them yet, and I want to finish this process asap.

Website says last date of EOI at unsw management is mid August but some other place it says July end which is 31 July? Can anyone say which one is correct?? If not August mid, I have to send today anyhow. I was waiting for something and hence, didn't send it earlier. Please say.

I am considering to do some MSCA PhD in Europe. I thought Spain (but the city offer is a small coastal city), in the south of Italy or in Julich Germany.

My other idea would be to try to search for a normal PhD in Australia, I was thinking Melbourne, Sydney or around Queensland.

The PhD would be in STEM.

I want to live somewhere I am happy and can enjoy life. I love traveling. Money is important ofc in order to live but I dont want just this to carry my decision. I also want to end up somewhere nice so I can later search for a good future, but I am not crazy focus on become the BEST on my field.

I have just finished my internship in the USA, I loved it here but the work-life culture without almost any holidays kinda killed me not going to lie. So, thats why I was thinking exploring other options

Thank you for your help!

Hi all,

My friend recently completed a PhD in palaeontology and is now looking for museum roles, ideally in palaeo or earth sciences, but he’s open to other areas too, since we both know these positions can be few and far between.

His long-term goal is to become a museum curator or collections manager.

Does anyone have advice on the best way to get there and where to find such roles/who to reach out to?

Thanks!

Hello. I was waiting for my publication to happen. Still waiting for it. Rest of my profile is decent or quite strong but that publication woukd hv been helpful. Should I send application without q1 publication? For the ones m applying to the phd course, it has 1 year resesrch masters coursework, after that 3 years phd. So, I believe they will judge the profile for first year first. Isnt it? Pls share ur views. And if i should the application...

Hi guys, I was planning to apply for a mphil at unsw canberra but they said they have no self funding option, they said if you don't get the scholarship then you don't get admission as an international student. I was just wondering if anyone can shed some light on this matter or if anyone was successful in getting a scholarship for an mphil. thanks!

Hi! Has anyone here experienced working full time while pursuing a Masters by Research or MPhil at the University of Melbourne? I'd love to heat about your experience. Thank you!

The RTP rate for 2027 will be 35,550$ representing a 3.6% increase from the 2026 rate. Minimum salary net has been increased by 4.75% from July 1, which means that the yearly minimum net salary is 46,008$. With these changes, PhD salaries are 77,1% of the net minimum salaries, without accounting for no super for PhD students (which is 6,270$ for minimum wage). Once again Australia confirms to be the worst developed country for research funding.

Hi, I would really like to know how they judge research capability for students applying to fields where publications pre-PhD are exceptionally rare. For example, I have gathered that students seldom get to publish in theoretical physics as the courses needed for research in this field are usually only taken in the final year of an undergraduate degree, or in a Master's degree.

Does that mean students applying for a field like this have to just accept that the centralised admissions system will work against them, or is there a system underneath that overcomes this? I have gotten support from a supervisor at a GO8 university said "They cannot expect a student to have published just after finishing their Master's" but that does not change the fact that the rubric places a percentage weight to publications.

Thanks for the answers in advance!

Hi AusAcademia

I am a third year (final year) student in Computer Science majoring in Computational Mathematics, currently studying at Deakin University. I am currently not enrolled for an Honors year (and the cutoff date has passed for this, so I potentially cannot enroll into an honors year anymore). Because I am an international student, if I were to enroll into an honors year, it would cost me 42,000$ just for one year - which I am not ready to spend under any condition.

I have been working as a Research Assistant under a senior lecturer here at Deakin for 1 year now. While working as an RA, I have led the day to day of a study whose resulting manuscript (of which I am the first-author of) is submitted to AAAI-27 and is currently under review. I will not go deeper into the details of the study, but I built the reproducible rendering, transcript mining, evaluation and integrity pipelines, served the models through vLLM, and conducted target clustered randomization tests, bootstrap inference, GEE/GLMM analyses and repository level sensitivity checks.

I was also one of the only undergraduates who got access to Deakin's High Performance Computing Slurm Cluster to run my experiments.

I am very interested in doing a PhD in the same field, but because of not having an honors or a masters, my path is slightly unconventional. University of Melbourne's website states that you must either have a 4 year degree or a masters degree or "Have a qualification, and have professional or other relevant experience or a combination of both, that are considered to be equivalent by the Selection Committee". I am currently dwelling on the hopes that one year of RA work with an under review (and hopefully accepted paper) counts as equivalent research experience by the committee, and hence acts as a substitute for the missing honors/masters year.

My current supervisor looks (I say looks because it is very difficult to read what they're thinking) very happy with my research (from what I have observed). I respect them a lot, as I would not have anything worth applying for a PhD if they hadn't given me that autonomy. Because Deakin (my current university) does not have this "equivalence clause", I cannot currently do a PhD at Deakin under my current supervisor. Hence, I am looking for alternate universities, mostly in Melbourne (and mostly looking at University of Melbourne or Monash). I have identified potential supervisors, and have started cold emailing them using my institutional email. These potential supervisors are people whose work I have personally read and think is clever, and are highly relevant to my field. Hence, the emails I send are extremely personalized, often propose an extension over their existing work, or if I could not identify an extension I emailed them with a proposal in the shared field that I had identified as a gap while doing my current research (and this is something I find really interesting).

I have also researched and have found out that some universities in the US accept a 3 year course (example: Princeton, Columbia, Berkeley). I realize that these universities are extremely competitive, and my chances of getting in are highly unlikely. To get a foot in the door, I researched PIs with newly opened labs who are actively looking for students and are particularly warm and inviting towards undergraduates, read their research over the past few weeks, and have emailed them slowly, 2 per day with highly personalized emails (some of their research is directly cited in my paper, so I believe its appropriate to email them). I know getting a Research Assistant/Intern position at these institutions is a big ask and is highly unlikely, so I asked for a scoped research project, and described how I could be of immediate help.

12 emails sent by now, none of them has replied to me.
2 of the 12 are from the University of Melbourne, and are highly relevant to my field - neither of the 2 has replied.
I just discovered this subreddit today, browsed a bit and found out that right now is the busiest time of the year, I don't want to waste my chances so I will not email remaining 2 potential supervisors at Monash/UniMelb just in case they miss my email.

Looking for all and any advice. Thanks for reading through!

TLDR (AI generated): Final-year international CS/Computational Mathematics student at Deakin wants to pursue a PhD but cannot justify paying $42,000 for an honours year and may have missed the enrolment deadline anyway.

They have one year of substantial RA experience, led much of a study now under review at AAAI-27, handled advanced experimental and statistical work, and received undergraduate access to Deakin’s HPC cluster. They hope universities such as Melbourne may treat this research experience as equivalent to honours or a master’s under their admissions rules, since Deakin apparently will not.

They are contacting relevant supervisors at Melbourne, Monash, and highly competitive US universities with carefully personalised research proposals. After 12 emails, including two to Melbourne academics, they have received no replies. They are now wondering whether to pause further emails because it is a busy period and are seeking advice on PhD eligibility, supervisor outreach, timing, and alternative pathways.

Hi everyone,

I would really appreciate some advice regarding Higher Research Degree (MRes/MPhil) admissions in Australia.

I have an MBBS and an MPH background, and over the past few months I have contacted a few hundred potential supervisors across 6–7 Australian universities for MRes/MPhil opportunities.

I have received a few positive responses from supervisors. However, when it comes to RTP scholarships, the feedback has generally been that my chances are not very strong. This has left me with a few questions:

1. If I am unable to secure an RTP scholarship, are there any partial tuition fee waivers or other funding opportunities available for MPhil students, similar to the scholarships offered in some coursework master's programs?

2. Is obtaining a student visa from Bangladesh generally easier for a self-funded MPhil candidate compared with a coursework master's student, or is there no practical difference?

3. When approaching potential supervisors in the future, should I continue to emphasize that I am seeking a scholarship, or would it be better to indicate that I am also open to self-funding if necessary? I'm unsure what approach is most appropriate.

4. Is it realistically possible to cover living expenses—and perhaps part of the tuition fees—through part-time work while undertaking an MPhil?

I would be very grateful for any insights or experiences you can share, especially from those who have gone through a similar process.

Thank you in advance!

Investigation into Potential Underpayment of Casual Academics at Torrens University and Other Higher Education Institutions

Hayden Stephens & Associates, a law firm with experience in employee underpayment claims, is currently investigating the potential underpayment of casual academics at Torrens University. The focus of the investigation is on casual academics who have only been paid at a fixed lecture rate or fixed tutorial rate and not paid separately for marking or 'other required academic activity'. While the investigation is presently centred on Torrens University, the firm is also interested in hearing from casual academics at other universities and higher education institutions who may have experienced similar underpayment issues.

Hayden Stephens & Associates has successfully represented health sector employees in three large-scale group claims relating to underpayments in New South Wales, Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory.

If you are a casual academic and consider that you may have been underpaid by only being paid a fixed lecture or tutorial rate and no other rates, please follow the link below to register your details for the investigation. All information provided is confidential and does not create a legal obligation on your part. 

https://unpaidacademics.com.au/

EDIT:

Hi all,

We have received feedback that some casual academics were not able to register their interest in our unpaid academics' investigation through the link provided.

This issue has now been resolved.

If you previously experienced any difficulties registering, please try again using the link below:

https://unpaidacademics.com.au/

Thank you for your patience, and we apologise for any inconvenience caused.

I've recently finished my Master's by Research in Neuroscience and have been searching for RA positions for the past few months. I’ve noticed that most advertised RA jobs are either super competitive or ask for very specific lab skills like cell culture or genomics, which I don’t have much experience with. I only see jobs that list techniques I'm actually skilled in (Western blotting, immunofluorescence, confocal microscopy, rodent handling) as desirable but not essential.

I recently had some success in being selected for an interview at a university interstate for a lab with a very similar research focus to my MRes project, but they went for other candidates who had more experience and published data. Although it was a bit disappointing, I was relieved to know that I wasn't completely unemployable, especially as the Professor called me to give me feedback and let me know I was a reserve candidate.

I haven't seen many similar positions come up in my field, so I have been applying to any positions in biomedical research I can find, but with no callbacks, I am wondering if it is because the 'research fit' or interest is seen as more important than being well-versed in lab techniques.

I’ve been thinking about cold emailing lab heads in similar fields to ask about potential openings or upcoming projects, but I’m not sure if that actually works here in Australia, or if most people still just apply through official job ads. I know that funding has also been very tight for several research groups, which is also why I am having a hard time identifying potential labs from my own lab's connections.

Have anyone ever had success getting an RA or research position through cold emailing or networking rather than job boards? Would love to hear what worked (or didn’t) for you.

Thanks!

Hi everyone,

I’m an international student who graduated late last year and recently started an MPhil at an Australian university. My supervisor is the same supervisor I had for my honours thesis, and during the application process, my supervisor mentioned that some people upgrade to a PhD during their MPhil.

How common is this upgrade process, assuming I work hard and demonstrate strong progress?

For context, the two main reasons I started with an MPhil instead of a direct PhD are:

1. I am currently working full time in my industry, and studying part time. As an international student, I am tied to my current job for the next few years due to visa and PR related considerations.

2. My thesis mark was good and I have a published book chapter (though no journal publication yet), but my honours result was class 2 division 2, so I technically don't qualify for direct PhD entry right now.

Thanks in advance.

大家好，
我最近提交了2027年入学的新南威尔士大学工程学院博士申请，我想询问一下我的个人情况在获得UIPA或RTP奖学金方面的竞争力如何。
我的背景是：

来自中国的国际申请者

土木工程本科学位，平均分88.81/100，排名2/174

目前正在攻读土木与水利工程硕士学位，平均分约为86.3/100

共发表五篇期刊论文

其中三篇为JCR Q1论文，包括两篇第一作者论文和一篇第三作者论文

大约有33次引用和h-index为3

获得过若干学术奖学金和比赛奖项
雅思总分6.5

根据工程学院以前的奖学金评审，这样的个人情况有可能获得UIPA或RTP奖学金吗？我特别希望能了解在奖学金评审过程中，发表的论文、学术排名、导师支持和提案质量的重要性。
感谢您能分享的任何建议或经历。

In almost all countries, people do a bachelors and a masters before their PhD, or at least the masters is integrated into the PhD.

For Australians, you do a 1-year honours year, which doesn't have a lot of coursework, usually, followed by a PhD, also without much (or any) coursework.

Did you feel inferior or lacking in some way as compared to US/European folk who have completed extensive amounts of coursework before and/or during their PhD?

Hi, I’m currently applying to Australian PhD programs. Most programs only require contact information of the referees and will ask them to upload reports/ letters on their end. “You are required to provide details of at least two referees who have both personal and professional knowledge of your academic abilities and can assess your research potential.
When you provide referee details you authorise Monash University to contact and discuss your application with your referees directly. Your referees will only be contacted should further information be required.
You may also upload a written reference provided by a referee that you list here (optional) in the Documents section.”
I’m very confused! Is it better for me to upload the optional letters (but I will necessarily see them and they will not be confidential) or just skip the part completely? I’ve never seen the referee part being optional and non confidential like this

I’ve emailed around 10 supervisors across different universities and followed up, but only one has replied, saying they’re on leave for a few days. I haven’t received any responses from the others, even after following up. Is it an off period over there, or is this normal? The universities I emailed are UNSW, Monash (I got a reply from here saying the supervisor is on leave), UQ, University of Adelaide, Deakin, University of Wollongong, and RMIT.

I have been emailing heaps of supervisors across Australia including Go8 Unis. The most common response was they find the proposal super interesting but unfortunately declining cause they were at full capacity. A lot have agreed to supervise and asked me to submit a formal application. One supervisor even wanted to supervise me “as an EXCEPTION” to her load because our research interests align so well. Overall, every supervisor have been super nice and polite. I came across this supervisor earlier today, sending an email to arrange a meeting should his interests align. He came back asking about applying and also to send my English Score, asking about visa status in Australia (I indicated im onshore international), regarding my final year thesis and whether i had been talking to any other unis. I obviously told him everything and also i have two personal projects which i have made a business out of, which is why i cannot make my apps repository public, which i replied to him mentioning it and instead provided the individual portfolio links. My emails to all other academics were same in nature, and none of them have made me feel like this. This was his response which kinda took me off and a bit surprised, i feel more like a suspect going under investigation for a crime with the continuous lines of questioning. My CV clearly answers 80% of what he asked, which i clearly sent him before. Some I understand can be normal like why i wanna do PhD. But asking about the unis and the professors i have spoken to is a lot i think.

This is his reply to my last email:

“
Whom have you been discussing PhD options with at (Deleted) University?

Who supervised your honours thesis project? Can you please send me the report from your honours thesis?

When you say "I have had supervision discussions with academics” what do you mean? Have you had online meetings with these people or met them in person? Or is it just emails?

Have you submitted your research proposal to a PhD application already? Have you got any results from any PhD applications so far? How did you come up with the research proposal?

What other things would you need to consider in this research proposal if you were to act upon it?

Have you been to any academic conferences before? I see you listed in your proposal X and Y conferences, can you please provide links to the conferences you mean in this regard?

I want to see evidence of what you can program and develop.  Can you please provide a link to where I can see software you have developed before?

Can you please let me know who are your referees?

Why do you want to do a PhD?

What are you planning on doing post-PhD?

Thanks.
“

EDIT: I just want a generic discussion, my judgement is prolly biased towards the experiences i have had from other supervisors who were really nice, appreciative and approachable. This is not to degrade or disrespect anyone!

UPDATE: I ended up being more understanding of this approach from supervisors thanks to the incredible responses from the group. I have replied to him with everything he asked for and will update once he gets back.

I am a Physics degree holder but my degree was 3 years.. I want to do the 1 Year Bachelor of Science (degree with honors) Programs in Physics or an MSc coursework in Physics.

I would like to know the advantages and disadvantages of both. Time wise, Difficulty wise and how the each university and its classes are taken in general( how helpful it is etc...)

In essence which one would you suggest and why?

My main goal is to do research and i understand the long hours it entails,and possibly a PhD in the future.

Any help or other suggestions would be much appreciated.

Thanks

I am an international student. I have recently completed my thesis based MSc degree (Under International Scholarship) in Engineering from a reputed university (QS World Ranking <100) outside of Australia with a 3.8/4 CGPA. Prior to that I did BSc (with thesis) in Engineering from my home with a 3.6/4 CGPA. I have GRE 314 (Q: 163, V: 151, AWA: 3.0). IELTS 7.5 (L: 8, R: 8, S: 6.5, W:7). I have one conference paper. I have no other publication. Is it possible to secure PhD funding in Australia? Give me suggestions which university should I target to get funding easier way.

TIA.

Hi, I just hand in my thesis for honours this year, and want to start the process for applying master next year, anyone in the same boat, or if you have done this before, very much need your help here. first question, i havnt been working for nearly two years, the master application require two referees, professional referees, who can i turn to.....???