Scholarships

CSIRO Industry PhD Program (iPhD) Scholarship

At a glance

The Program includes:

• Admission to a university PhD program.
• Supervision by the participating university, CSIRO, and an industry partner.
• A four year scholarship package totalling approximately $47,000 per annum tax exempt (2025 rate).
• A four year Project Expense and Development package of $13,000 per annum.
• A 60 day Industry Engagement component with the industry partner.
• A structured professional development and training program to develop your applied research skills.

Successful students are subject to the policies, procedures and guidelines of the participating university in addition to the CSIRO Industry PhD Program terms and conditions. Students will receive a standard PhD on completion.

Project Details

Title: Biological heap leaching of a Western Australian nickel laterite with elemental sulphur and native halophilic acidophiles

Description: This project seeks to extract nickel, cobalt and other valuable minerals from a weathered nickel laterite ore deposit in Western Australia. The expected outcome is the development of a technical process to heap leach nickel laterite ores using indigenous microbes and utilising saline process water. This may increase Australia’s production of nickel and cobalt.

Primary location: Edith Cowan University, 270 Joondalup Drive, Joondalup WA 6027

Eligibility guidelines

The student must:

• Be an Australian citizen or Permanent Resident, or a New Zealand citizen.
• Meet participating university PhD admission requirements.
• Meet university English language requirements.
• Not have previously completed a PhD.
• Be able to commence the Program in the year of the offer.
• Enrol as a full-time PhD student. Part-time arrangements may be considered if approved by the supervisory team and in accordance with university policy.
• Be prepared to be located at the project location(s) that the host university has approved and, if required, comply with the host university’s external enrolment procedures.
• Be prepared to undergo onboarding to CSIRO, which will include passing mandatory government background checks (allow for between 4 to 8 weeks) and complete any other CSIRO requirements.

Selection criteria

Ideal student skillset:

• Academic Qualifications: A relevant Master’s Degree (Research), or Bachelor Degree with Honours (First or Upper Second Class), or demonstrated capacity to undertake original PhD-level research.
• Industry Experience: 3 or more years of relevant experience in the mining or metallurgical fields, with an emphasis on process engineering and innovative problem-solving.
• Biological Processing Knowledge: Familiarity with agglomeration and biological heap leaching processes and an understanding of their applications in base metal extraction.
• Research and Development Skills: Ability to conduct research, including experimental design, data analysis, and interpretation of results.
• Project Management and Collaboration: Managing projects, collaborating with multidisciplinary teams, and communicating findings to stakeholders.

How to apply

• Applicants are required to submit an expression of interest (EOI)
• The EOI is assessed by the supervisory team and shortlisted applicants are interviewed.
• The supervisory team nominates a preferred applicant and informs iPhD office.
• The nominated applicant will be instructed to apply.
• The application is then assessed by the host university against PhD admission criteria.
• The university will issue a letter of offer for the program if all conditions have been satisfied.

Terms and conditions

Please refer to the Industry PhD Terms and Conditions.

Supervisory team

Further information

• Contact the nominated supervisors for the project listed above.
• For full guidelines and further information, please visit CSIRO's Industry PhD (iPhD) Program.
• Alternatively, questions about this scholarship can be directed to iPhD team or ECU Graduate Research School.
• Subscribe to the newsletter for up-to-date program information and announcements.