Prospective honours students @ Monash See list of suggested projects. If your interests in behavioural ecology or genetics coincide roughly with mine, come and see me and we can tee up an exciting project for your honours year. The mutual goal here will be to give you a research experience that:
· Gives you the best opportunity to succeed in your Honours research, and score a high grade.
· Allows you to experience high quality research, and to decide whether you like it enough to go on to do a research-based PhD.
· To kick-start your science career with a quality publication in a scientific journal.
Such projects will typically involve lots of lab work. For instance, you could expect to spend a fair amount of time observing and counting animals (typically insects or fish), collecting sperm samples and conducting experiments in which you manipulate one variable to determine its effect on a focal behaviour or phenotype.
Prospective PhD students
If your interests in evolutionary biology coincide with mine, there will be plenty of scope to tee up an exciting PhD project at Monash University. The School of Biological Sciences at Monash University is an exceptionally well-funded and well-equipped place to do research, and will provide a highly interactive learning environment on your path to academic independence. The school boasts several Australian Research Council Research Fellows, Monash University Research Fellows, and a broad range of academics with expertise spanning the fields of behaviour, ecology and genetics. It is a great environment to nurture research excellence.
Australian honours graduates can apply for PhD stipends in the form of an Australian Postgraduate Award, or a Monash Graduate Stipend. The general requirement for these is a First-Class Honours degree, or equivalent.
International students can apply for a PhD scholarship, in the form of a Monash Graduate Stipend, or an Endeavour International Postgraduate Research Scholarship. These scholarships are awarded based on previous academic performance (indicated by transcripts of undergraduate, Honours or Masters course and project results).
Prospective post-docs
The School of Biological Sciences at Monash University provides a highly interactive and stimulating environment for post-doctoral research in evolutionary biology. The school is home to several research fellows funded by the Australian Research Council, Swedish Research Council, Marie Curie - European Commission Scheme and Monash University to name just a few. Brief details of some of these schemes follow below. Once here, there are internal grants for funding, travel and equipment available to post-docs, ensuring that you will have the necessary support – intellectually, financially and technically - to make your post-doc research program a success. Evolutionary biologists (students and staff) at Monash are part of the Evolutionary Biology Forum – which meets biweekly to discuss new ideas and research advances within the field. The EBF provides a very friendly environment to get to know your fellow researchers at Monash and to talk about evolutionary biology on a regular basis. As for Melbourne itself, the city is consistently ranked as one of the world’s most livable cities, being a cultural paradise (great food, music, nightlife, sport, shopping and beaches), and is the gateway to some of Australia’s most spectacular National Parks.
Various fellowships and grants are available that will allow you to come to Monash University as a post-doctoral researcher. Some of these are detailed below:
The Australian Research Council awards post-doctoral fellowships and research grants as part of its Discovery Projects scheme. Applications are due in February each year.
Monash University has its own fellowship schemes, which typically come with salary and generous amounts of research funding.
Depending on where you are from, you are likely to be eligible for postdoctoral schemes in your countries/regions of origin that can be hosted by Monash University. For instance, if you are European you might be eligible for a Marie Curie Fellowship. |
