POSTGRADUATE SCHOLARSHIPS

PhD Postgraduate Scholarships in Materials Science and Engineering
Ready to go!
Immediate start!

The Department of Materials Engineering at Monash University, Melbourne, has an international reputation for research excellence in a wide range of areas including processing, properties and characterization of materials characterization including: nanomaterials, light metal alloys, polymers, ceramics, biomaterials, composites, nanocomposites, functional materials, corrosion, and mathematical and computer modeling of materials and properties. It has excellent research facilities and is a key member of a number of major Australian Research Centres. As of September 2009, many of these Centres, as well as individual academics, have full tax-free postgraduate PhD scholarships available for Australian or New Zealand citizens or people with Australian or New Zealand Permanent Resident status, most with an immediate start possible in the areas listed below.

1. Synthesis of Conducting Polymers for Use in Dye Sensitised Solar cells
2. New Biodegradable Biocomposites Based on Bacterial Cellulose (with CSIRO)
3. Dye sensitised solar cells on Flexible Polymer Substrates
4. Synthesis and properties of Light Responsive Photoplastic Crosslinked Polymers
5. Various projects on Polymer Processing, Blends, Composites and Thermosets (CRC for Polymers)
6. Corrosion Control of Mg Alloy stents
7. Creep in Mg Alloys
8. Durability, Corrosion and Deterioration Modeling of Pipelines (start in Jan, 2010)
9. Atomic structure of Nanostructured Materials using Advanced Microscopy ($5k/yr top up only, requires own scholarship)

You should have studied Science or Engineering, and should have at least Honours 1 or Honours 2A ranking, or equivalent, or a Masters degree.  If you have any questions about these projects, please direct them to the Head of Department, Professor George Simon, george.simon@eng.monash.edu.au, phone: +61 3 9905 4936.

If you are interested in applying for these scholarships send a brief letter, resume and a copy of your Student Record to: Ms LeeAnn Hilborn, Department of Materials Engineering, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia, 3800 email: leeann.hilborn@eng.monash.edu.au, FAX: 03 9905 4934 as soon as possible. Please also nominate which of the above scholarships interest you.

• University Guidelines for Scholarship Application
• Faculty of Engineering Scholarships

Departmental Scholarships

ARC Linkage Project - APAI postgraduate scholarship
Improved Management of Australian Port Infrastructure by Development of Predictive Ageing Simulation

This project incorporates several industry partners including: Maunsell, Geelong Port and Sydney Port. It also is linked with the Department of Civil Engineering at Monash, and RMIT University (City campus). This is a highly interdisciplinary program that will involve contact with industry partners; in particular, there also exists the possibility of site work and co-location from time to time.
The Ph.D candidate may work on one or more of the following aspects:

Qualifications:- First class or high IIA degree in materials engineering, civil engineering, mechanical engineering, materials science, or physics. Graduates in other engineering or science disciplines with a strong interest in the project may also be considered.
Applicants must be citizens or Permanent Residents of Australia or citizens of New Zealand.

Closing date for applications:- Open indefinitely, please contact Dr. Nick Birbilis

PhD Scholarship

Location: Melbourne (Monash University, Clayton Campus)

A PhD scholarship is currently available within Associate Professor Dan Li’s nanomaterials group at the Department of Materials Engineering, Monash University in Melbourne, Australia.

The PhD student will be appointed to work on a three-year ARC Discovery project. The student will be involved in the synthesis, assembling and characterization of graphene-based materials.  In collaboration with our national or international partners, the student will be encouraged to explore this new class of nanomaterials for use in solar cells, batteries, chemical and biomedical sensing, drug delivery, membrane separation, tissue engineering or biomimetics.

Please refer to our recent publications (Science 2008, 320, 1170; Nature Nanotechnology 2008, 3, 101; Advanced Materials, 2008, 20, 3557) for more information about our research.
Highly motivated individuals in a relevant discipline (e.g. chemistry, chemical engineering, materials science and engineering, physics) and with a strong interest in interdisciplinary research are encouraged to apply.

Essential criterion: First class Honours degree (or HIIA equivalent).
The PhD stipend rate is $25,000 p.a. (tax exempt) for three years.
Applications or enquiries should be directed to: Dr. Dan Li.

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PhD Project - Bioresorbable implants

This project investigates the utility of magnesium alloys as bioresorbable / biodegradable implants. Materials used for implants in the human body must be chemically and mechanically biocompatible. Chemical biocompatibility requires that the material is either inert in the body or exhibits physiologically tolerable levels of toxicity. 
Magnesium and its alloys have been shown to be both chemically and mechanically compatible and possess the added advantage of being bio-resorbable, whereby the material is absorbed into the body without adverse effects. Bio-resorbable implants are an attractive solution because they eliminate the need for a second operation to remove the implant, and in some cases – e.g. in pediatric patients, when the scaffolding is required for a limited time only and using permanent implants has no advantage – it is the only acceptable option.
Pure magnesium exhibits a degradation rate that is far in excess of healing rates. This project will thus investigate and develop magnesium-based alloys in the framework of a more fundamental and quantitative understanding of the effect of microstructure and chemistry upon bio-dissolution rate - with a view to development of alloys with customised dissolution rates.

Qualifications:- First class or high IIA degree in materials engineering, chemistry, chemical engineering, materials science, or physics. Graduates in other engineering or science disciplines with a strong interest in the project may also be considered.

Closing date for applications:- Open indefinitely, please contact Dr. Nick Birbilis
For all enquiries, please contact Dr. Nick Birbilis

PhD Project - Electrochemistry / Scanning Probe Microscopy

In conjunction with CSIRO Minerals an opportunity exist for a highly motivated student to undertake a project in electrochemical atomic force microscopy, scanning probe microscopy, or electrochemistry. 
Qualifications:- First class or high IIA degree in chemistry, materials engineering, chemical engineering, materials science, or physics. Graduates in other engineering or science disciplines with a strong interest in the project may also be considered.
Closing date for applications:- Open indefinitely, please contact Dr. Nick Birbilis
For all enquiries, please contact Dr. Nick Birbilis

Postgraduate Scholarships in Materials Science and Engineering

Location: Melbourne (Monash University, Clayton Campus)

Solid-state phase transformation is still one of the most effective and efficient way of producing nano- and micro-structures in bulk materials for desired properties. Typical examples include ultra-high strength steels, ultra-high temperature superalloys, ultra-light aerospace alloys, and smart materials (e.g, transformation toughened ceramics and shape memory alloys). The shape, orientation and distribution of phase transformation products are important factors in determining important properties of these advanced materials. All these features are intimately related to the crystallography of phase transformations. It is now well recognised that the crystallographic matching of the precipitate and matrix phases defines not only the shape and orientation of the precipitate phase, but also the structural constraints to the nucleation and growth, and therefore the final distribution, of the precipitate phase. While some crystallographic theories have been established to account for the precipitation crystallography, there are still some crucial questions to be answered. Recently, the Australian Research Council has provided two PhD scholarships to a research group at Monash University to study plate- or lath-like constituents in model two-phase materials and those representative planar interfaces that are associated with plates/laths in rational or near-rational orientation relationships. One PhD project involves theoretical comparison of similarities and differences between a recently developed edge-to-edge matching approach and the phenomenological theory of martensite crystallography, while the other PhD project involves computer simulation of precipitate microstructures by combining the crystallographic theory with the phase field microelasticity approach. These two PhD projects involve collaboration and potential travelling to the Ohio State University in USA. The PhD scholarship is $25,000/year (tax exempt) for three years. Potential applicants should have First class Honours degree (or HIIA equivalent) in a relevant discipline (e.g. materials science, materials engineering, metallurgy, or physics). Further information can be obtained from Dr Jian-Feng Nie.
Monash University is Australia’s largest university with more than 50,000 students across ten faculties and eight campuses. It is a member of the prestigious Group of Eight research-intensive universities in Australia. The Department of Materials Engineering at Monash has an outstanding record of research performance and an exceptional record in fundamental research in metallic materials.

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Atomic Structure of Nanostructured Materials

(Top up scholarships of $5,000 per annum - Several projects in materials science and physics)

The important and unique properties of nanostructured materials are often governed by a handful of atoms located at key positions within the material, such as at interfaces. Computer chips are famous examples. The integrity of just one or two atomic monolayers at the gate oxide interface can change its electrical resistance by one hundred fold.     
If we are to understand and manipulate the properties of nanostructured materials, it is critical to understand the local atomic structure. However, determining the arrangement and bonding of small numbers of atoms has hitherto been extremely difficult to do.
Several pure and applied PhD projects addressing this problem are on offer. They all involve the application of the world class “Double aberration corrected Titan” transmission electron microscope recently installed in the Monash Centre for Electron Microscopy. This is the first instrument of its type outside North America. It has a range of advanced diffraction and imaging capabilities and has a spacial resolution better than 0.8Angstrom, one of the highest resolution microscopes worldwide.
Specific project areas include:

1. The development of a new method for the determination of the atomic structure of nanoparticles.
2. The application of new ultrahigh resolution electron diffraction and microscopy methods to determine the atomic structure, and hence structure-property relationships, in strategically important nanostructured materials (such as cuprate superconductors and core-shell nanoparticles).
3.  The development of the theory of electron scattering using ultrasmall electron beams (<1Angstrom) and its application to the interpretation of diffraction and imaging experiments of nanostructured materials at the highest spatial resolution.

Some projects may involve visits to international collaborators at the University of Cambridge, the Canadian Centre for Electron Microscopy and Oxford University.
Top-up scholarships of $5,000 pa area available to candidates with APA or equivalent scholarships.
To discuss project details, please contact A/Prof Joanne Etheridge by email or on (03) 9905 1836.

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ARC Centre of Excellence for Design in Light Metals PhD Scholarships

Location: Melbourne

Expressions of interest are sought from suitably qualified candidates by The Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Design in Light Metals to enrol in its PhD program. 

Comprising six Australian universities (Monash University, University of Queensland, Deakin University, University of New South Wales, University of Sydney, University of Melbourne), the ARC Centre of Excellence coordinates internationally-competitive research strengths furthering a strategic fundamental research platform for expansion of the light metals industry.  It embraces a novel ‘design-directed’ approach to the systematic identification of strategic research initiatives that maximise the competitiveness of light alloys and light metal hybrid materials based on aluminium, magnesium and titanium.  Combined with participant contributions, the Centre operates on an annual budget of $3.8m until 2013.    

The Centre is seeking to appoint postgraduate research students on projects in the research areas of: nucleation and solidification, materials processing and characterisation, corrosion, mechanical properties, sintering, thermomechanical processing, rapid manufacturing, alloy design, modelling, composites, coatings and surfaces.

Applications are encouraged from students with a background in a broad range of relevant disciplines including:
- materials science and/or engineering
- metallurgy
- chemistry
- physics
- nanotechnology
- mechanical engineering
- process engineering
- mathematics or computational modelling

Conditions: Research scholarships will pay an annual tax-free stipend of up to $26,700 for up to three and a half years.  Applicants who are not Australian/New Zealand citizens or Australian permanent residents will need to pay tuition fees. Applicants must have a First class Honours degree (or HIIA equivalent). 

Application Process: Applications should be made using the Monash University, Postgraduate Research Scholarships 2010 Application form available from http://mrgs.monash.edu.au/ . Eligible applicants for an Australian Postgraduate Award (APA) or a Monash Graduate Scholarship (MGS) will be automatically considered for a Centre of Excellence scholarship.

For enquiries and further information regarding research projects, please contact: Professor Barry Muddle, Research Director, ARC Centre of Excellence for Design in Light Metals (+61 3 9905 4908 or barry.muddle@eng.monash.edu.au )

Closing date: 31 October, 2009

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Linkage Project- Structure and Properties of Aircraft Alloys Subjected to Equal Channel Angular Processing
Industrial partner:- Boeing Corp, Phantom Works, St Louis, USA

The project below is available under the Linkage Scheme as a Ph.D. project.

Project

Outline

1. Perform ECAP of aluminium alloys based on the Al-Mg system. These may include commercially available 5xxx alloys and/or alloys with additions of elements such as Sc. The purpose is to delineate the effects of solid solution hardening and its effects on the stabilisation of substructure with particular emphasis on the influence of the development of texture.
   
2. Evaluate microstructure, mechanical properties (static, fatigue, fracture), and corrosion properties with specific emphasis on the metallurgical understanding of the mechanisms of development of microstructure and texture and the influence on properties.
   
3. Evaluate microstructure, mechanical properties, and corrosion properties of friction welded joints of the above materials, with particular emphasis on the stability and restoration mechanisms during joining and post-joining treatments.

Stipend:- Currently $31,140 p.a. – for three years, including a supplement of $6,000 p.a.) with an expectation of renewal for a further six months as necessary.
A thesis allowance is payable and removal expenses may be payable.
Qualifications:- First class or high IIA degree in materials engineering, materials science, or physics. Graduates in other engineering or science disciplines with a strong interest in the structure and processing of materials may also be considered.
Applicants must be citizens or Permanent Residents of Australia or citizens of New Zealand.
Closing date for applications:- 19 December, 2008 (EXTENDED)
Enquiries:- Dr Peter Thomson, Department of Materials Engineering, Monash University, Wellington Rd, Clayton Vic 3800. (Tel: + 61 3 9905 4914. Fax: + 61 3 9905 4940. Email: peter.thomson@eng.monash.edu.au).

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