Research and collaboration opportunities

MCF Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship

MCF is pleased to offer three 2023 Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarships to domestic students undertaking a PhD or joint PhD at the University of Melbourne.

The scholarship is aimed at students undertaking collaborative research aimed at addressing the climate crisis.

To be selected for the scholarship, the recipient must:

Have completed tertiary studies that are at least equivalent to a four-year honours degree at an Australian university with a minimum result equivalent to a first-class Honours (80%)
Have not completed a PhD previously
Be made a PhD course offer to study at the University of Melbourne
Commence their PhD in the calendar year noted above
Meet at least one of the following allocation principles:
- Have a named co-supervisor or collaborator from a partner institution* outside Australia and intend to either spend at least two months during their PhD at the international collaborating institution or undertake research overseas
- Have a named co-supervisor from an academic division different to the primary supervisor where this deepens or creates collaboration
- Work on a research project connected to “Place” as articulated in Advancing Melbourne.

Applications are due 30 June 2023. Contact Melbourne Climate Futures for more information.

Read the terms and conditions

Call for papers: Australian Centre 2023 international conference

A call for papers is now open for the Australian Centre 2023 international conference, titled ‘A Profound Reorganising of Things', which will take place 13 to 15 November. The conference will delve into how contemporary injustices are enmeshed in colonial power relations, focusing on the co-constitutive relationship between climate change and colonialism.

The Australian Centre is inviting proposals for papers that explore the following broad topics:
- Sovereignty, Country and climate
- Flood and fire, food and medicine
- A profound reorganising of relations to land (and each other)
- Economy and Innovation – renewable energy on Country
- Climate justice, climate and justice
- Futures, futurity and the next generation

Submission deadline: 26 June 2023.

Co-Designing Climate Justice

This PhD project will examine community co-design as a means of improving climate justice and community resilience in Melbourne. It will evaluate recent and on-going co-design projects and may include the delivery of novel co-design methods with communities, depending on the availability and consent of community partners. The project will focus on heat as a priority risk for Melbourne.

City Diplomacy: A Melbourne Masterclass

The City Diplomacy Masterclass is an online professional short course offered in two streams: one for early career city diplomats and the other for established leaders. It is delivered by research and practice experts from the Melbourne Centre for Cities over a one-month period (total time commitment 48 hours) with four days of live interactive course delivery, combined with peer-to-peer learning and practical application of skills and knowledge.

The course will provide participants with access to world-leading evidence on the landscape of city diplomacy and global urban governance, develop skills relevant to their everyday practice, such as strategic international engagement and international negotiation, and support peer exchange of city diplomats across global North and South, for cities large and small.

Melbourne Climate Action Scholarship

The Melbourne Climate Action Scholarship is offered to students from Pacific Small Island Developing States who intend to pursue a University of Melbourne graduate coursework or research degree in the fields that address the effects of climate change in the Pacific. The scholarship was established by the University of Melbourne as part of a joint initiative with the University of Cambridge, University of Toronto, University of Montreal, and McMaster University which received the endorsement from HRH Prince of Wales, a life-long supporter of sustainable causes and climate-change action.

Office for Environmental Programs – Climate Change specialisation

The OEP offers flexible, multidisciplinary graduate degrees that will develop your knowledge and skills for professional practice in climate change and improve your capacity to work across disciplines for environmental decision-making. The specialisation is designed for students from a wide range of academic backgrounds who are seeking an interdisciplinary perspective on climate change for work in policy-making or business advisory roles.