Indigenous PhD scholarships in Law & Justice

Purpose

As part of its Indigenous strategy and to ensure UNSW can achieve the mission to Grow our Own, our scholarships help create a pathway to careers in academia and research. We aim to increase opportunities for Indigenous research degree candidates to join the UNSW research community through pathway programs to a PhD, funded by scholarships at a minimum of $43,000+ per annum.

UNSW Law & Justice seeks expressions of interest from Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander applicants with substantial research potential wishing to pursue a PhD in any area of law or criminology. Successful applicants will be nominated by the faculty for a university-funded Indigenous scholarship.

Ranked as the 13th best law faculty in the world, UNSW Law & Justice is a dynamic institution, with some of the world’s leading academics and a well-established international reputation for research excellence. As a PhD candidate, you will join a collegiate community of scholars who are doing groundbreaking work across a number of fields, from refugee law to the rule of law, international economic law to Indigenous law, private and public law to international law, and from criminology to corporate and commercial law. All our research places law and criminology in its social context and endeavours to explore the relationship between law and social justice.   

UNSW Law & Justice is home to a number of centres and institutes with whom PhD researchers may be affiliated and are known for our research strengths across a breadth of areas.

Our research strengths are underpinned by three concerns: social justice, technological transformation, and the global dimensions of legal thought and practice. We are seeking applicants who are inspired by and will contribute to our vision and by whom we will, ourselves, be inspired.

Deadline

Applications currently open.

Amount

The scholarship stipend will be a minimum of $43,000 per annum. 

Tenure

Up to four years, subject to confirmation of candidature and satisfactory progress.

Eligibility 

Applicants must be Australian Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islanders and must not already be enrolled in a PhD program at UNSW or elsewhere. 

Scholarships are for study on a full-time basis only unless there are exceptional personal or medical circumstances that require study on a part-time basis for all or part of the PhD program. 

Residency requirement 

Applicants must normally pursue their PhD research in Sydney. External enrolments may be permitted in exceptional cases where justified and where appropriate supervisory arrangements can be made. Candidates enrolled externally will nevertheless be required to spend at least one year of their candidacy in Sydney.

Selection criteria

All applicants must possess:

•    an undergraduate degree in law, criminology or a related discipline with a minimum Honours Class II, Division (I) that includes a substantial research component (or equivalent); or  
•    a postgraduate qualification in law, criminology or a related discipline (including a substantial research component) with an average that equates to a minimum Distinction average at UNSW (75%); or 
•    equivalent research or professional experience in law, criminology or a related discipline, supported by references and a detailed CV. 

Previous research experience, including completion of a research thesis and/or publications, will be highly valued. 

Selection will be based on: 
a) the applicant’s academic qualifications 
b) their written communication skills 
c) the quality of their research proposal 
d) their research experience and potential as supported by references and a detailed CV 
e) the fit between the applicant’s proposal and the research strengths in the faculty (visit our research strengths for more information)  
f) an interview. 

Details of the scholarships

Indigenous PhD scholarships are available to Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander applicants who are interested in undertaking research in any area of law or criminology. Interdisciplinary projects will be considered; however, the primary supervisor must be in the faculty of UNSW Law & Justice.  

Recommendations for award of a scholarship will be contingent on the availability of appropriate supervisory expertise within the faculty.