Western Sydney University Project Scholarships 2026/27 - Full List & How to Apply

Project scholarships provide a stipend and other benefits to support higher degree candidates undertaking research in a predefined project.

You are required to submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) for review by the relevant School or Institute.

Please submit your EOI at least 5 business days before the scholarship closing date to allow enough time to submit your full application.

Only full applications submitted before the deadline will be considered.

Scholarship Summary

Host University: Western Sydney University
Host Country: Australia
Category: Postgraduate Research Scholarships (PhD)
Eligible Countries: Domestic and International (varies by project)
Reward: Tax-free stipend ranging from $35,188 to $45,811 AUD per annum for up to 3 years, plus Research Training Program (RTP) Fee Offset, conference/fieldwork support, and additional benefits depending on the project
Deadlines: 30 September 2026 and 31 October 2026
Application Process: Submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) at least 5 business days before the scholarship closing date, then submit a full application before the deadline
Note: The list of available project scholarships is updated monthly

Life Cycle Analysis of Horticulture Food Systems

Institute: Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment
Lead Supervisor: Professor Oula Ghannoum (o.ghannoum@westernsydney.edu.au)
Stipend: $40,000 AUD per annum for up to 3 years (domestic candidates), plus RTP Fee Offset
Focus: Sustainability impact analysis of horticulture supply chains, including smart glasshouses, vertical farming, and conventional farming.
Eligibility: Australian First Class Bachelor (Honours) or equivalent; strong academic performance in optimisation, analytics, and supply chain management; experience with statistical methods and large datasets.

The Genomics of Mango Fruit Colour and Quality

Institute: Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment
Lead Supervisor: Associate Professor Chris Cazzonelli (c.cazzonelli@westernsydney.edu.au)
Stipend: $35,550 AUD per annum for up to 3 years (domestic and international; fee waiver for strong track record)
Focus: Genomics, molecular biology, and genetic engineering of mango fruit colour and quality.
Eligibility: Honours or Masters with research component; background in plant molecular biology, genomics, biochemistry, or horticulture; English proficiency for international applicants.

Healing the Lungs with Australian Indigenous Plant Medicines

Institute: NICM Health Research Institute
Lead Supervisor: Dr Keshav Paudel (k.paudel@westernsydney.edu.au)
Stipend: $38,707 AUD per annum for up to 3 years (domestic and international; fee waiver for strong track record)
Focus: Biological activities of Australian native plants for inflammatory and chronic lung diseases; advanced drug delivery.
Eligibility: Honours or Masters with research component; background in drug delivery, pharmaceutics, pharmacology, immunology, or microbiology.

BugEye: Automated monitoring of Australia’s priority insects with AI

School: School of Science
Lead Supervisor: Assoc. Prof Kate Umbers (k.umbers@westernsydney.edu.au)
Stipend: $38,707 AUD per annum for up to 3 years (domestic candidates), plus RTP Fee Offset
Focus: AI algorithms and training datasets for monitoring Australian priority insects.
Eligibility: Honours or Masters with research component; interest in insect conservation, AI, and biodiversity monitoring.

Plant tissue lifespans: Solving a fundamental mystery in plant ecology

Institute: Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment
Lead Supervisor: Professor Ian Wright (ian.j.wright@westernsydney.edu.au)
Stipend: $35,188 AUD per annum for up to 3 years (domestic candidates), plus RTP Fee Offset
Focus: Plant functional ecology, tissue lifespans, and ecosystem carbon storage.
Eligibility: Background in plant sciences, ecology, ecophysiology, or statistical modelling; driver’s licence required for fieldwork.

Hybrid nanoreinforced recycled concrete for sustainable building

School: School of Built Environment & Design
Lead Researcher: Distinguished Professor Vivian Tam (v.tam@westernsydney.edu.au)
Stipend: $35,188 AUD per annum for up to 3 years (domestic candidates), plus RTP Fee Offset
Focus: Nanotechnology for durable recycled concrete with thermal energy storage.
Eligibility: Background in civil engineering, materials engineering, or construction management.

Digital Platform for Net-Zero Building Ecosystem Lifecycle (NOBEL)

School: School of Built Environment & Design
Lead Researcher: Distinguished Professor Vivian Tam (v.tam@westernsydney.edu.au)
Stipend: $35,188 AUD per annum for up to 3 years (domestic candidates), plus RTP Fee Offset; exceptional candidates may receive an extra $5,000 top-up per annum
Focus: Digital platform for net-zero building lifecycle.
Eligibility: Background in civil engineering, material engineering, or construction management.

Understanding the mastery of multiple languages and dialects: A computational approach

Institute: MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour and Development
Lead Supervisor: Professor Paola Escudero (paola.escudero@westernsydney.edu.au)
Stipend: $35,188 AUD per annum for up to 3 years (domestic candidates), plus RTP Fee Offset
Focus: Computational and corpus linguistics, multilingual mastery.
Eligibility: Background in computational, statistical, and corpus linguistics; programming skills.

Vocal mimicry in the Toothbilled Bowerbird

Institute: Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment
Lead Supervisor: Dr Anastasia Dalziell (a.dalziell@westernsydney.edu.au)
Stipend: $35,188 AUD per annum for 3 years (domestic students only), plus RTP Fee Offset
Focus: Vocal mimicry in toothbilled bowerbirds, combining fieldwork and data analysis.
Eligibility: Background in behavioural ecology; ability to work in remote tropical conditions.

Fathers experiences of birth and care provided to their partners

School: School of Nursing & Midwifery
Lead Supervisor: Professor Hannah Dahlen (h.dahlen@westernsydney.edu.au)
Stipend: $38,707 AUD per annum for 3 years, plus RTP Fee Offset
Focus: Impact of respectful maternity care training on fathers and non-birthing partners.
Eligibility: Honours or Masters in midwifery, nursing, psychology, public health, social work, or related field; mixed-methods research skills.

Industry PhD in Blockchain-Enabled Supply Chain Finance (Agriculture Focus)

Institute: Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment
Lead Supervisor: Professor Oula Ghannoum (o.ghannoum@westernsydney.edu.au)
Stipend: $37,000 AUD per annum for up to 3 years (domestic and international; fee waiver and OSHC for strong track record)
Focus: Blockchain, IoT, and AI for agricultural supply chain finance.
Eligibility: Interdisciplinary background in blockchain, supply chain systems, and finance; interest in agri-finance.

Bio-inspired toughening of composite wind turbine structures

School: School of Engineering
Lead Supervisor: Dr Anil Ravindran (a.ravindran@westernsydney.edu.au)
Stipend: $40,109 AUD per annum for up to 3 years (domestic candidates), plus RTP Fee Offset
Focus: Bio-inspired composites for offshore wind turbine structures.
Eligibility: Engineering background in mechanical, aerospace, civil, or materials; interest in composite materials and fracture mechanics.

Neuromorphic Algorithms for Maritime Sensing

Institute: MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour and Development
Lead Supervisor: Dr Ying Xu and Professor Gregory Cohen (ying.xu@westernsydney.edu.au; g.cohen@westernsydney.edu.au)
Stipend: $45,811 AUD per annum for up to 3 years (domestic candidates), plus RTP Fee Offset; access to internal funding opportunities
Focus: Neuromorphic sensing and computing for maritime perception.
Eligibility: Background in electrical engineering, computer science, robotics, signal processing, machine learning, or physics.

3D Printing of Recycled Thermoplastic Nanocomposite: Design, Modelling, Fabrication and Testing

School: School of Engineering
Lead Supervisor: Professor Richard Yang (r.yang@westernsydney.edu.au)
Stipend: $40,188 AUD per annum for 3 years (includes $5,000 top-up), plus RTP Fee Offset
Focus: Fused Granular Fabrication for recycled plastic nanocomposites.
Eligibility: Background in engineering mechanics, computational mechanics, mechanical engineering, or materials science.

Instrumented Composite Infusion Rig for Digital Twin Flow Monitoring and Defect Mapping

School: School of Engineering
Lead Supervisor: Distinguished Professor Brian Falzon (b.falzon@westernsydney.edu.au)
Stipend: $35,188 AUD per annum for up to 3 years (domestic candidates), plus RTP Fee Offset
Focus: Experimental program for digital twin in resin infusion.
Eligibility: First-class Honours or Master’s in mechanical/aerospace/manufacturing engineering, materials science, or mechatronics.

Next-Generation PFAS Management: Separation, Detection and Treatment

School: School of Engineering
Lead Supervisor: Dr Zuhaib Siddiqui (z.siddiqui@westernsydney.edu.au)
Stipend: $35,188 AUD per annum for up to 3 years (domestic candidates), plus RTP Fee Offset
Focus: Separation, detection, and treatment of PFAS.
Eligibility: Bachelor’s Honours or Master’s in physics, chemistry, materials science, environmental science, or chemical engineering.

Deciphering the role of functional foods and nutraceuticals in keeping blood vessels healthy

School: School of Science
Lead Supervisor: Dr Sunil Panchal (s.panchal@westernsydney.edu.au)
Stipend: $35,188 AUD per annum for up to 3 years (domestic candidates), plus RTP Fee Offset
Focus: Davidson’s plum anthocyanins and vascular calcification.
Eligibility: Honours or Master’s in molecular biology or related areas.

Sustainable recovery, characterisation and functional applications of food waste-derived anthocyanins

School: School of Science
Lead Supervisor: Dr Sunil Panchal (s.panchal@westernsydney.edu.au)
Stipend: $35,188 AUD per annum for up to 3 years (domestic candidates), plus RTP Fee Offset
Focus: Recovery of anthocyanins from food waste for functional foods.
Eligibility: Honours or Master’s in Food Chemistry or related areas; analytical chemistry experience preferred.

Supercharging Soils: Engineering the Soil Microbiome to Revive Marginal Lands

Institute: Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment
Lead Supervisor: Assoc Prof. Jonathan Plett (J.Plett@westernsydney.edu.au)
Stipend: $38,707 AUD per annum + $10,000 top-up per annum for up to 3 years, plus RTP Fee Offset
Focus: Ectomycorrhizal fungi and soil microbiome health.
Eligibility: Background in plant/fungal biology, soil science; experience with glasshouse or field experiments.

Mechanics and Shape Memory Behaviour of Origami-Inspired Structures

School: School of Engineering
Lead Supervisor: Dr Jianjun Zhang (jianjun.zhang@westernsydney.edu.au)
Stipend: $35,188 AUD per annum for up to 3 years; domestic RTP Fee Offset or international tuition fee waiver
Focus: Origami-inspired smart structures and shape memory behaviour.
Eligibility: Background in mechanics, mechanical engineering, structural engineering, or materials.

Scholarships Closing 31 October 2026

Legal needs, access to justice and intersecting inequalities

Institute: Institute for Culture and Society
Lead Researcher: Catherine Hastings (C.Hastings@westernsydney.edu.au)
Stipend: $45,188 AUD per annum (domestic students only), plus RTP Fee Offset
Focus: Inequalities in legal problems and access to justice.
Eligibility: Background in sociology, law, human geography, psychology, public health, social work, or cultural studies.

Culturally responsive primary healthcare for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in prison

Institute: Translational Health Research Institute
Lead Researcher: Professor Penny Abbott (P.Abbott@westernsydney.edu.au)
Stipend: $40,000 AUD per annum for 3 years, plus RTP Fee Offset
Focus: Culturally responsive primary healthcare for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in custody.
Eligibility: Background in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health, primary care, public health, nursing, medicine, social work, or psychology. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander applicants strongly encouraged. Domestic students only.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I apply for more than one scholarship at a time?

You can only create one application at a time in the application portal. You should apply based on your first preference of project and supervisor. However, you may be considered for multiple opportunities at the discretion of the relevant School/Institute. To apply for multiple project scholarships, attach a cover letter identifying the project scholarships in order of your preferences, plus a letter of support from the Lead Researcher for each project scholarship. If your application is unsuccessful, you can submit a new application for a different scholarship.