CSIRO PhD Top-Up Scholarship - Dark Taxa of Australia - Ecosystem Monitoring Using Megadiverse Flies

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The Opportunity

• Are you passionate about a career in research?
• Want to access CSIRO's world-class facilities and staff?
• Apply for a CSIRO PhD Top-Up Scholarship now!

CSIRO PhD Top-Up Scholarships provide enhanced opportunities in science and engineering for outstanding graduates enrolling in a PhD at Australian tertiary institutions. Collaborating with us to complete your PhD degree will give your research the edge. We offer you access to our leading scientists, engineers and mentors, the opportunity to take your research to the next level in our first-class facilities and first-hand experience in an environment where our innovative research really is changing the world for the better.

A CSIRO PhD Top-Up Scholarship is a supplementary award, which adds to the student’s support from a principal scholarship awarded by another body, e.g. RTP scholarship.  In all respects recipients of awards will be regarded as students of the University at which they are registered, and all rules relating to degree candidature and the primary award will apply. In particular, recipients will undertake research at CSIRO as a student of the university concerned and will not be employees of CSIRO.

National Collections and Marine Infrastructure’s goal is to solve Australia’s greatest challenges by leading Australia’s landmark marine and biodiversity infrastructure and carrying out innovative science.  For more information please see our website at National Collections and Marine  Infrastructure.  The Australian National Insect Collection (ANIC) is critical research infrastructure in NCMI housing the world’s largest collection of Australian biota. The Research School of Biology (RSB) at the Australian National University (ANU) offers an excellent research environment and provides students with a high level of support as they work on their research project. There is a long successful track record of co-advising students between RSB and ANIC.

Project Details:

Knowledge of the highly endemic and megadiverse Australian invertebrate fauna could be highly informative for understanding the community structure of threatened ecosystems. Novel trapping regimes have amassed thousands of specimens representing hundreds of undescribed species of phorid flies. New approaches leveraging AI/ML trait extraction from images and species delimitation with high-throughput DNA barcoding data will be used to circumscribe this vast and unstudied insect group. Effects of seasonality and altitude on community composition can be assess with unprecedented robustness. This approach will complement ecological monitoring and conservation efforts in the Australian Alps.

Contact:  For more information on the research project please contact:
Keith Bayless on phone +61 2 6246 4487 or via email on keith.bayless@csiro.au
Megan Head on phone +61 2 6125 8436 or via email on megan.head@anu.edu.au

Location: Canberra, ACT – ANU and ANIC
Scholarship: Top-Up Scholarship of $10,000 per annum, plus a learning and development budget of $5,000 over the term of the studentship
Tenure: 3 years
Reference: 94277

Eligibility:

To be eligible to apply you must have (or expect to gain):

• first or upper second-class honours or equivalent in a relevant research area;
• admission to an Australian University as a PhD student;
• hold an appropriate visa to study in Australia (if international)*
• be no further than one year (FTE) into a PhD on commencing at CSIRO
• hold a primary scholarship; for example, a Research Training Program (RTP) scholarship or other primary scholarship of similar value
• not be in receipt of any other Top-Up Scholarship
• a university supervisor who is willing and able to supervise you; and
• be available to commence with CSIRO no later than 30 June 2024.

* International applicants must be residing in Australia and have the appropriate immigration approvals to allow them to take up the scholarship. 

Applications will be assessed on:

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How to apply:

You will be required to:

If you experience difficulties applying online call 1300 984 220 and someone will be able to assist you. Outside business hours please email: careers.online@csiro.au .

Applications Close

1 November 2023, 11:00pm AEDT