Student Management ServicesGraduate Research Scholarships

Eligibility Requirements

Eligibility for Scholarship Consideration

This section outlines the eligibility requirements to be considered for a scholarship to undertake a research higher degree (RHD). The requirements to be considered for a Fay Marles Scholarship or a Human Rights Scholarship to undertake a graduate coursework program are specified in the graduate scholarship benefits and conditions.

Academic Requirements

To be considered for scholarship, applicants need to have completed, at a high level of achievement, a tertiary course that is at least equivalent to an Australian four-year honours degree.

Tertiary courses that meet this minimum requirement are those that:

Examples include:

Academic merit is the primary selection criterion for research higher degree scholarships. To be considered for an APA or IPRS, First Class Honours results are required. To be considered for a MRS/MIRS or MIFRS, Second Class Honours, Division I (i.e. H2A) results are the usual minimum. Demonstrated research potential is also taken into account.

Citizenship Requirements

Subject to meeting all eligibility criteria, Australian and New Zealand citizens and Australian permanent residents may be considered for the APA, MRS, FMS, and prestigious (and other major) scholarships. To be considered for an APA, these citizenship/residency requirements must be met by the APA closing date.

All other applicants are regarded as international applicants. Subject to meeting the other eligibility criteria, international applicants may be considered for the fee remission scholarships (i.e. IPRS and MIFRS), the MIRS and the Human Rights Scholarship.

Closing Dates

To be considered for an APA, IPRS, FMS, or the prestigious (and other major) scholarships, the application and all of the required documents must be submitted to the University by the relevant closing date Applicants are strongly encouraged to submit their application and the required documents by the closing date as late applications will only be considered for any unallocated MRSs, MIRSs, and MIFRSs.

Course/Enrolment Requirements

  1. Applicants must intend to undertake a research higher degree (RHD) at the University of Melbourne. In RHD courses, the research component accounts for at least 66% of the course requirements.

    MPsych/PhD and SJD students are only eligible for an APA or MRS/MIRS in the second and subsequent years of their course. DEd students are only eligible for an MRS/MIRS.
  2. International students will only be considered for a scholarship if they have received an unconditional course offer for entry into a RHD. Note that receipt of an unconditional course offer includes meeting the University's English language requirements.
  3. A scholarship will not be offered if the applicant has already completed a qualification at the same or higher level. Students who have completed a research masters cannot receive a scholarship to complete another research masters, and students who have completed a doctorate cannot receive a scholarship to complete another degree at the doctorate level.

    If the student currently holds a masters by coursework they can be considered for a scholarship for masters by research studies.
  4. A scholarship that provides a living allowance (i.e. a stipend such as an APA, MRS or MIRS) will not be offered to students currently enrolled in the course for which they seek scholarship support unless there is a minimum of twelve months (full-time equivalent) candidature remaining for the completion of the research higher degree.

    A stipend will also not be offered to a student who, as a result of prior candidature and/or prior scholarship, would be entitled to a maximum tenure of less than 12 months.
  5. International students cannot normally be considered for fee remission scholarships (i.e. IPRS or MIFRS) if they have commenced the course for which scholarship support is sought. An exception exists if the applicant commenced their RHD but, due to timing of their application and subsequent enrolment, was unable to be considered for a fee remission scholarship in the previous round of scholarship offers.
  6. Recipients must normally be enrolled as a full-time student upon commencement of their scholarship. Local students may apply for a part-time award if socially compelling reasons (e.g. a medical condition and/or care responsibilities for a pre-school child or an invalid or disabled partner, child or parent etc) preclude a full-time enrolment. Section 15.2 (Postgraduate Scholarships 2006 Conditions Booklet) provides additional information about part-time scholarships.

    Visa requirements usually preclude a part-time enrolment for international students.
  7. Applicants will only be considered for scholarship in one department at any one time. Applicants who are interested in applying for a scholarship in more than one department should discuss research and scholarship options with the departments of interest before lodging their application for scholarship.

Receipt of Other Scholarships or Salaries

A scholarship that provides a living allowance (e.g. APA, MRS, MIRS, FMS) will not be awarded if the applicant is receiving another equivalent award, scholarship or salary to undertake the proposed study. An ‘equivalent' stipend/salary is deemed to be = 75% of the base APA or MRS/MIRS rate.

International applicants cannot be considered for a fee remission scholarship (i.e. IPRS or MIFRS) if they already hold, or will receive, a scholarship that covers tuition fees.

Miscellaneous Requirements

  1. An APA cannot be awarded if the applicant has previously held an APA, APA(Industry) or an Australian Government-funded Postgraduate Research Award for six or more months. Students in this situation could be considered for a MRS.
  2. A student who currently holds a MRS cannot apply for an APA unless they were unable to be considered in the previous round of APA offers.
  3. Students who have previously held a MRS or MIRS (including Faculty MRS/MIRS) cannot be considered for another MRS/MIRS.
  4. Students who have held a FMS (or PES) cannot be considered for a MRS or another FMS.
  5. Applications will only be considered by the Postgraduate Scholarships Committee if the nominated academic department supports the application for scholarship.
  6. Scholarship recipients who are enrolled in a masters by research who wish to either convert to a PhD, or to complete the masters and then commence a PhD, should refer to section 5 (Postgraduate Scholarships 2006 Conditions Booklet) for information about continuing to hold their scholarship for their PhD studies.
  7. International applicants must comply with any contractual obligations that are owed to an employer or sponsor (e.g. AusAid), including obligations relating to the time to be spent in the home country following completion of undergraduate study.
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