Description

We are seeking an outstanding candidate for a PhD scholarship to undertake a program of research within a broader MRFF Grant entitled “The power of parents: co-designing health communications to reduce adolescent drinking”. This exciting project is led by Professor Jacqueline Bowden, Director of the National Centre for Education and Training on Addiction (NCETA) at Flinders University.

The overall project aims to target harmful adolescent alcohol consumption by co-designing and testing a suite of health communications to reduce parental supply (the main suppliers) of alcohol to adolescents. Within this project, the PhD student will investigate the impacts on sub-populations within the study samples and identify characteristics that promote or hinder the outcomes of a secondary supply prevention intervention.

This PhD scholarship will be based at NCETA, Flinders University, Adelaide (principal supervisor Prof Jacqueline Bowden). Associate supervision will be provided by national alcohol policy research expert Dr Ashlea Bartram, NCETA and two senior chief investigators from the team.

Benefits

The scholarship includes:

• a stipend valued at $35,010* per annum tax free (2025 full-time rate, indexed annually)
• The scholarship will be awarded for three years
• a Research Training Program Fee Offset Scholarship to cover tuition fees for Australian Citizens, NZ Citizens and Permanent Residents.

Eligibility

To be eligible for the award of this scholarship a student must:

• Be an Australian citizen; or New Zealand citizen; or have been granted permanent resident status; and
• meet PhD admission requirements including: have an Australian Honours degree Class 1 or 2A or equivalent qualification (at least AQF Level 8), including a research component of at least 6 months’ full-time study achieving Distinction (75%) OR including evidence of equivalent research experience, such as a substantial first-author refereed publication or track record as an investigator on a competitive grant; and
• be available to commence as a full-time PhD student at Flinders University in semester 1, 2025;

It is desirable for applicants to have:

• Experience in quantitative data analysis
• Experience in public health and/or drug and alcohol research.

Application Information

ADMISSION to HDR

Those who apply for the scholarship opportunity that have not already applied for admission to a relevant HDR must also apply. Instructions on how to apply for admission can be found here: https://www.flinders.edu.au/study/apply/apply-research-degree/how-to-apply

By lodging this separate application, applicants acknowledge:

• The applicant is successful in being awarded the scholarship

• The ‘supervisor confirmation’ must refer to the application for this scholarship
• The application for PhD admission will only be assessed where:

APPLICATION

Prior to submitting an application for the scholarship, prospective applicants are advised to contact the Flinders University Project lead, Prof Jacqueline Bowden, via email ([email protected]) to discuss your interest and eligibility in the opportunity. The Project lead may invite you to apply and request a copy of your CV together with a covering letter outlining your relevant qualifications, experience, research experience and reasons for applying for the scholarship.

The successful candidate will ideally begin by July 2025, or sooner subject to negotiation.