Blog icon

CSIRO’s Industry PhD (iPhD) Program brings together an industry partner, a university and CSIRO to co-develop a four-year industry-focussed PhD project. The shortlisting, selection and recruitment of the PhD student is conducted jointly by CSIRO, the university partner and the industry partner based on the needs of the research project, the program’s eligibility criteria, and the PhD admission requirements of the participating university.

If successful, you will undertake a co-designed research project to develop your ability to translate research into commercial outcomes. You'll get real-world experience, develop transferable professional skills, and be well-positioned to work at the cutting edge of industry focussed research while accessing specialised expertise, equipment and training.

View our current student scholarships

You'll receive:

  • admission to a university PhD program
  • a four-year scholarship package of $46,000 per annum (2024 rate)
  • a four-year Project Expense and Development package of up to $13,000 per annum
  • a three-month or 60-day full-time equivalent Industry Engagement component
  • professional development training to develop your applied research and career skills
  • supervision by the host university, CSIRO and an industry partner.
I would say to anyone considering doing a PhD definitely go for the industry PhD because it's just an ordinary PhD but with a whole lot of advantages the scholarship and funding has really allowed me to dedicate a lot more time into the ph.d program a PhD often gets quite stressful and especially if you have things running alongside it it can be even more stressful so I've been able to work long hours and be completely at ease that the scholarship has supported me the facilities that have been offered at UNSW CSIRO and industry has given me a pretty good advantage because equipment and availability becomes a really big issue in the ph.d program so me knowing that I was able to access these
instruments and facilities and people at three different locations was really big plus points the industry ph.d program offered a lot of structured career development workshops and especially an industry launch camp offered at the end of last year that helped really tailor my research towards customer and focus and consider the value proposition of what I was researching on my supervisors at CSIRO and industry and uni have definitely taken on a very supportive and mentor ship position in my ph.d program especially the fact that they're from very different fields I'm able to get advice from very different sources and that helps me with my research I'm very happy to know that at the end of my ph.d program I will be quite set apart from the other PhD graduates based on the the professional development that I've gotten and also the fact that my industry involvement has already integrated me into the workplace as an AI PhD you need to have very strong communication skills and you need to be able to coordinate a lot of things at the same time as long as you are motivated and you like what you work on and you see how industry challenges need to be integrated into academia you'll do well in the program.
Hear from one of the students in our program.

Share & embed this video

Link

https://www.youtube.com/embed/B5hUQn5YdHE?autoplay=1&start=0

Copied!

Embed code

<iframe src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/B5hUQn5YdHE?autoplay=1&start=0" width="640" height="360" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Copied!

Key benefits

  • Deliver greater impact by conducting research relevant to an industry partner.
  • Develop a broad range of industry-focussed skills.
  • Strengthen knowledge in entrepreneurship, innovation and translation of research.
  • Grow transferable professional skills such as communication, teamwork, management and organisational skills.
  • Gain access to specialised expertise, equipment and training from university, CSIRO and industry.
  • Deepen networks with industry, university and CSIRO.
  • Boost employability and broaden future career opportunities.

Eligibility requirements

You must:

  • be an Australian citizen or permanent resident, or a New Zealand citizen
  • meet host university PhD admission requirements
  • meet university English language requirements
  • have not previously completed a PhD
  • be able to commence the program in the year of the offer
  • enrol as a full-time PhD student
  • be prepared to be located at the project location(s) that the host university has approved and, if required, comply with the host university’s external enrolment procedures.

Download a copy of the Student T&Cs PDF (136 KB)

Projects and supervision

Projects will address an industry problem while complying with the host university's requirements for a Doctor of Philosophy Degree. Degrees will be assessed through the regular schedule of higher degree by research milestones. Alongside the university supervisory team, you will also be mentored by an industry and CSIRO supervisor, who will provide specialist guidance on the project throughout the candidature.

Research projects are generally instigated by collaboration between an industry partner, university supervisor and CSIRO supervisor.

View our current scholarship projects.

However, if you are a student with a project idea in mind, please contact your supervisor to submit an enquiry on your behalf via iPhD@csiro.au. Please note, projects must not have yet commenced, and an open recruitment process for the project must still occur.

Training and industry engagement components

You will receive a three-month or 60-day full-time equivalent Industry Engagement component hosted by your industry partner. This will provide you with exposure to the broader work environment and provide opportunities to develop work-ready skills and business acumen.

You will also receive a structured professional development package delivered by CSIRO. This package will help foster essential professional skills including leadership, entrepreneurship and innovation, to support your future career goals and progression.

How to apply

The program has yearly intakes with most projects planned to commence in February or March. Project opportunities, including how to apply, will be advertised on the iPhD current scholarships page as they become available.

For more information and scholarship opportunities as they become available, sign up to our eNewsletter.

Frequently asked questions

For more information, please see out FAQ page.

Contact us

If you have any further questions about the iPhD program, please contact us.

Subscribe to our Industry PhD scholarship newsletter

Be the first to hear the news and updates from our Industry PhD scholarship program.

Join our mail list

Contact us

Find out how we can help you and your business. Get in touch using the form below and our experts will get in contact soon!

CSIRO will handle your personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and our Privacy Policy.


First name must be filled in

Surname must be filled in

I am representing *

Please choose an option

Please provide a subject for the enquriy

0 / 100

We'll need to know what you want to contact us about so we can give you an answer

0 / 1900

You shouldn't be able to see this field. Please try again and leave the field blank.