Partner with ACU to engage in research and development projects that allow industry partners to access emerging talent, accelerate innovation, and explore real world challenges. Industry partners also gain access to ACU's academic experts and state of the art research facilities and infrastructure.
ACU Industry PhD Scholarships support ACU PhD candidates to undertake a research project in collaboration with an industry partner. By working with industry, candidates can apply their high-level research skills to help solve real-world problems.
PhD candidates are supported with a funding package for up to 3.5 years including:
The scholarship conditions align with the ACU Research Training Program Scholarship Policy.
The stipend rate set by the university aligns with the Australian Government Research Training Program Stipend Scholarship base rate.
PhD candidates have high-level analytical and research skills and are independent and critical thinkers who could kick-start innovation within your organisation.
A scholarship is a great way to identify future employees and offer your current staff mentoring, leadership and supervision experience.
Connect and collaborate on some of the latest research across a wide variety of areas and help shape future leaders of industry and research.
We will manage the recruitment process, and you might be eligible for the Australian Government Research and Development tax incentive to support your costs.
We offer two options for industry to support an ACU Industry PhD Scholarship:
|
Industry partner contribution |
ACU contribution |
|
|---|---|---|
|
Fully funded by industry |
$40,000 p.a. for 3.5 years. This funding covers a stipend scholarship, including annual indexation and other allowances and benefits, as outlined in the ACU Research Training Program Scholarship Policy. |
ACU will contribute a Tuition Fee Scholarship valued at $30,000 p.a. (2025). |
|
Co-funded by industry |
$20,000 p.a. for 3.5 years. This funding contributes to a stipend scholarship, including annual indexation and other allowances and benefits, as outlined in the ACU Research Training Program Scholarship Policy. |
ACU will match your stipend scholarship contribution with a further $20,000 p.a. for 3.5 years and include a Tuition Fee Scholarship valued at $30,000 p.a. (2025). |
The stipend value set by ACU aligns with the Australian Government Research Training Program Stipend Scholarship base rate and is indexed annually. Industry partner contributions are reviewed annually in line with this figure.
All amounts are in Australian dollars and are paid to ACU PhD candidates in Australian dollars.
The scholarship conditions align with the ACU Research Training Program Scholarship Policy.
Industry contributions cover the cost of the stipend for the lifetime of the scholarship and include a contingent for project costs.
Stipend values are indexed annually. Industry contributions are fixed for the life of the scholarship.
If your contribution exceeds the cost of the stipend over the duration of the scholarship, the surplus funds are used to offset project costs.
If your contribution does not meet the cost of the stipend over the duration of the scholarship, ACU will cover the difference.
Industry PhD scholarships provide a stipend scholarship to support the living costs of the PhD candidate for the duration of their PhD program at ACU.
This funding covers a stipend scholarship, including annual indexation and other allowances, and benefits as outlined in the ACU Research Training Program Scholarship Policy.
Surplus funds are used to offset project costs. Examples include, materials or equipment costs, conference or research data collection travel, or publication costs.
If your agreed contribution does not meet the cost of the stipend over the duration of the scholarship, ACU will cover the difference.
Industry partners can be involved in the PhD project in various ways, for example:
Subject to meeting ACU admission and scholarship entry requirements, scholarships can be awarded to domestic or international candidates, studying either full-time or part-time. International candidates can usually only be enrolled full-time for visa purposes.
PhD candidates are recruited via a competitive process. All graduate research scholarships are advertised on the ACU graduate research scholarships webpage.
We recommend allowing at least three months to recruit and select a domestic candidate and up to six months to recruit an international candidate for commencement.
The recruitment process will include:
While ACU reserves the final decision on candidate admission and scholarship awarding, when sponsoring an ACU Industry PhD Scholarship, the industry partner may nominate a representative to participate in the assessment process.
Not-for-profit organisations are welcome to engage with ACU via our Stakeholder Engaged Scholarship Unit (SESU). The SESU provides scholarly expertise and research assistance to organisations working in areas that are central to ACU’s mission and ethos as a Catholic university. Through the facilitation of partner-initiated research projects, SESU can help inform, shape, evaluate and develop your programs and services.
To express interest or find out more, please contact the Graduate Research School.
grs.partnerships@acu.edu.auAn Associate Supervisor (End-user) is a specialist external to ACU who can provide expertise to the supervision of a research candidate and who will directly use or directly benefit from their research.
Learn moreThe National Industry PhD Program supports PhD candidates to undertake industry-focused research projects and translate university research into commercialisation outcomes.
Learn moreAn internship is a tightly focused, three-month research and development project undertaken in collaboration with an ACU PhD candidate.
Learn moreThe CSIRO Industry PhD Program brings together an industry partner, a university and Australia’s leading science agency – CSIRO – to co-develop a 4-year industry-focused PhD project.
Learn more