The successful applicant's supervisory team will include:

• Associate Professor Laura Scholes
• Associate Professor Michael Nagel
• Professor Teresa Cremin

Institute for Learning Science and Teacher Education

The PhD candidate will be situated in the Institute of Learning Sciences and Teacher Education (ILSTSE) at ACU. Established in 2014, the Institute has driven ACU's research excellence in the priority area of Education, contributing to ACU's current standing as second in Australia and 32nd in the world for education (Shanghai Ranking, 2023). In ERA 2018, ACU received one of only four top scores (well above world standard) out of 93 assessments at the 4-digit level in Education. The Institute is supported by 41 funding partners and 28 university collaborators, with funded projects totalling $15.5 million and national competitive grants worth $10.4 million. It hosts 19 highly esteemed academics, and 30 research, administrative, IT, and research support personnel. ILSTEs record of ARC grant success in education is $9,709,439 including a Future Fellowship (CI Mills), 15 Discovery grants, 6 DECRAs, and 8 Linkage grants.

ILSTE provides world-class research infrastructure that facilitates large-scale research studies. The research environment is outstanding in terms of resources (world- class research facilities, infrastructure support, research support staff with experience in collecting data for large-scale projects), intellectual capital (critical mass of world-class researchers, postdoctoral researchers, international visiting scholars and collaborators, external linkages), and research mentoring and PhD supervision.

Visit the ILSTE website

The successful applicant will be awarded:

• A Stipend Scholarship of $33,511 per annum (indexed annually) for up to 3.5 years,
• A Tuition Fee Scholarship valued at c. $30,000 per annum for up to 3.5 years, and
• An RTP Allowance Scholarship for a single Overseas Student Health Care Policy and relocation allowance (up to $2,000) for international candidates.

The scholarship package is subject to satisfactory progress and full-time study mode. The scholarship conditions align with the ACU Research Training Program Scholarship Policy.

• This opportunity is open to domestic and international applicants.
• The eligibility criteria for the PhD program at ACU can be found in the Higher Degree Research Regulations.
• The eligibility criteria for research scholarships can be found in the ACU Research Training Program Scholarship Policy.

The scholarship package is available for a high-performing candidate who has a particular interest in literacy research with opportunities to design the project within the broader ARC Linkage project (e.g., gender and reading; reading for pleasure; digital texts; pedagogical practice).

Essential requirements

• Highly motivated, with a strong interest in improving reading experiences for young people.

Desirable skills

• Experience working in schools.
• Experience in writing publications in peer-reviewed journals.
• Experience with technology associated with digital reading (eBooks, digital gaming texts).