Dark Political Communication (PhD scholarship)

Applications close

21 June 2024

• You'll receive a stipend scholarship of $32,192 per annum for a maximum duration of 3.5 years while undertaking a QUT PhD. The duration includes an extension of up to 6 months if approved for your candidature. This is the full-time, tax-exempt rate which will index annually.
• You will receive a tuition fee offset/sponsorship, covering the cost of your tuition fees for the first 4 full-time equivalent years of your doctoral studies.
• As the scholarship recipient, you will have the opportunity to work with a team of leading researchers, to undertake your own innovative research in and across the field.

We are seeking to recruit a student to take up the scholarship in early 2025.

You should:

• meet the entry requirements for a QUT Doctor of Philosophy , including any English language requirements
• have recently completed a first-class honours degree, a research master degree, or a coursework master degree with a significant research component from a recognised institution and in a cognate discipline (e.g. journalism, political communication, digital media)
• have a strong interest in the global political media landscape
• have demonstrated capacity to undertake research independently, as well as part of a team.

Apply for this scholarship at the same time you apply for admission to a QUT Doctor of Philosophy .

This PhD will be directly affiliated with the Australian Research Council Discovery Project “Understanding and Combatting ‘Dark Political Communication’”. The project, led by QUT researchers, and including a team based at Deakin University in Melbourne, aims to better understand the rapidly-evolving, and increasingly sophisticated, tactics deployed by political actors to manipulate public attention and opinion.

This PhD project will focus on the phenomenon of Dark Political Communication in a global context, paying particular attention to how it is affecting democratic processes in one or more countries beyond Australia, and especially those with differing parliamentary, party or media systems.

In addition to your own PhD research, you will also have the opportunity to work with the larger project team to help achieve its goals and engage more broadly with the QUT School of Communication and Digital Media Research Centre. The successful candidate will be supervised by Associate Professor Stephen Harrington , who is the project’s lead Chief Investigator.

The closing date for applications is 21 June 2024.