International Stipend and Fees Research Scholarship (DPHD)

Benefits & funding

• Living stipend of AUD 39,000 per year.
• Tuition fees paid by UniSQ for up to three years of full-time equivalent study; PhD study already completed is deducted from that period.
• Paid leave while the scholarship runs: 20 university business days of recreation leave and 10 days of sick leave each year.
• Parental leave of up to 60 working days for a primary carer, or 10 working days for a partner, where candidature runs longer than 12 months; paid parental leave extends the scholarship beyond its normal tenure.
• An optional Industry Stream, which adds a compulsory 60-day industry internship.
• The scholarship page lists no separate allowance for overseas student health cover, travel, or relocation.

Eligibility

• Hold a Bachelor degree with First Class Honours, or an equivalent qualification.
• Be eligible to enrol full-time and on-campus in the UniSQ PhD program.
• Be an international student: Australian citizens, New Zealand citizens and Australian permanent residents are not eligible for this award and apply through UniSQ’s domestic PhD stipend scholarship instead. No further nationality restriction applies.
• Commence or continue PhD study in 2027.
• Continuing students applying through the Industry Stream must be within 18 months of starting full-time study, or 36 months part-time.
• Admission to the PhD itself, which is assessed separately, asks for an Australian-university bachelor honours degree at First Class or Second Class Division A with a thesis, or a masters degree with a thesis, or an equivalent qualification, plus English proficiency of IELTS Academic 6.5 overall with at least 6.0 in each of the four components.

Application process

1. 1
   Settle a research topic and approach a potential UniSQ supervisor with a project outline of roughly 500 words and the HDR Preliminary Research Thesis Topic Proposal form.
2. 2
   Apply separately for admission to the UniSQ PhD program through the international student portal, allowing up to 25 working days for processing.
3. 3
   Prepare the scholarship documents: a “Statement of Claim” completed with the supervisor, a CV covering publications and conference presentations, the preliminary research thesis topic proposal, proof of citizenship, and testamurs and academic transcripts.
4. 4
   Industry Stream applicants also obtain a “Letter of Support” from their industry partner on the UniSQ template; the underlying agreements must be settled before study begins.
5. 5
   Submit everything through the UniSQ Scholarship Application Management System by 27 September 2026. One application covers both the stipend and the fee support.
6. 6
   Await the outcome, normally within six weeks of the closing date. An awarded scholarship stays valid for 12 months from the date it is granted.

Program timeline

1. Application closing date

   Sep 27, 2026

2. Within six weeks of the closing date

   Scholarship outcomes issued

3. 2027

   Scholarship holders commence or continue PhD study; UniSQ runs research intakes in January, February, April, May, June, August, September and November