Applications open for next Industry PhD program round


David McClure
Contributor

The Education department has opened applications to PhD candidates and businesses for the fifth round of the National Industry PhD program, seeking ideas for turning research into new products and services.

The program aims to connect companies with real-world industrial challenges with potential PhD candidates through scholarships, with the aim to create a researcher workforce that have had direct exposure to what it takes to turn research into commercial outcomes.

The fifth round of the program will add to the 70 projects that have been set underway since the National PhD Industry program began in 2023. The scholarships delivered under the new round will build on more than $13.3 million allocated so far.

Empowering researchers through the program’s scholarships would make it easier for industry to tap into a talent pool of PhD candidates, or for industry employees to undertake PhD training,” Assistant Minister for Education Anthony Chisholm said on Wednesday.

Ultimately this would help turn those ideas into Australian inventions, Mr Chisholm said, contributing to a “more productive economy.”

“It’s been really encouraging to see how the previous four rounds of this program have supported innovators from academia and industry with a passion for big ideas,” he said.

“Projects recently kick-started include improving the safety of self-driving vehicles through better driver interaction, improving the lives of people with dementia, and supporting the medical profession to predict a patient’s response to therapy.”

About 20 projects are expected to funded through the fifth round of the National Industry PhD program, which is a part of a $296 million Department of Education initiative aimed at creating workforce opportunities for turning research into commercially successful products and services.

Four PhD students at Griffith University are among the latest researchers to commence their study through the support of the program.

The students’ work with renewable energy startup RedX is aimed at building improvements in energy storage and grid stability. Each of the four PhD students have also been brought on board by RedX to integrate their research findings into the startup’s operations.

Griffith University’s head of the School of Information and Communication Technology Professor Alan Liew said that “when academia and industry join forces the pace of innovation accelerates” and that the RedX collaboration was a good example of this potential at work.

RedX chief executive Jonathan Chen said the program supports employees to pursue a PhD “with guidance from a world-leading university, allowing them to explore innovative ideas and create something beneficial for society.”

PhD Student and Director of Software Engineering at RedX Chois Cai said: “The support and structure provided by the National Industry PhD program has been instrumental in driving this research forward.”

Applications for Round 5 close on 14 March 2025. Further information about the program and application process can be found here.

Do you know more? Contact James Riley via Email.

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