Postgraduate Scholarships

Overview

Scholarships are awarded for a maximum period of three years full time equivalent (FTE) for a PhD degree, and two years for a Research Masters degree. Part-time Scholarships (0.5-0.9 FTE) are available under certain conditions. Refer to section 3.2.2 of the Guidelines (page 8).

Research, Innovation & Commercialisation (RIC) has a submission procedure for Major NHMRC grants rounds. Please review the scheme specific details prior to submitting your application as it will be strictly adhered to.

Funding

The NHMRC Postgraduate Scholarships grant opportunity has previously offered different stipend amounts according to scholarship categories. All stipend categories will now receive the same amount. The stipend rate for funding commencing in 2025 is $50,000 per annum.

Stipend amounts are updated annually on the NHMRC Personnel and Salary Support Packages website.

Additional funding of $11,000 is available for researchers who identify as being of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander descent to support travel to international conferences and/or short term international collaborative activities. The funding to facilitate international Indigenous researcher networks (FIIRN supplement) must be requested at the time of application. Refer to section 3.1.2 of the Guidelines (pages 7-8).

Eligibility

Refer to section 4.1 Who is eligible to apply for a grant? of the Guidelines (pages 9-10) to check eligibility.

How to apply

1. Submit a Notice of Intent (NOI)

   The NOI should be completed early to provide RIC with applicant (CIA) contact details.

2. Complete/update Sapphire Profile

   The applicant will need to obtain access to Sapphire to complete this step. Applicants are required to submit a registration form available on the Sapphire landing page.

3. Review the funding documents and eligibility criteria

   The applicant should read the NHMRC Postgraduate Scholarships 2024 grant opportunity Guidelines (available on Grant Connect - GO6881) and review the UoM Authority to Submit form (DOCX 4.1 MB).
   
   We strongly urge potential applicants to review the NHMRC Guidelines thoroughly before commencing an application to ensure they are eligible to apply for the scheme. If you are unsure whether you are eligible, please contact nhmrc-people-support@unimelb.edu.au as soon as possible.

4. Complete draft application in Sapphire

   In addition to the Sapphire application, the applicant should download the pre-formatted Microsoft Word template for the Grant Proposal from Grant Connect (GO6881). Applicants must use this template to complete their Grant Proposal without changing the formatting in any way as this could render applications ineligible.

5. Email a 'Review Ready' application to RIC

   Send a draft application (Grant Proposal PDF, and Application Report and Application Summary from Sapphire) to RIC via email nhmrc-people-support@unimelb.edu.au for review by 10am Monday 6 May 2024.  A hardcopy of the application is not required.

   To obtain your Sapphire application preview documents, click the "Preview" button at the top right-hand corner. A zip folder consisting of the preview documents will be downloaded automatically.

6. Complete the application after feedback

   After taking feedback from RIC into consideration, complete the application in Sapphire. It is suggested that advice is sought from Supervisors, Faculty Mentors, etc. before finalising the application.

7. Applying for Heart Foundation or MS Research Australia co-funding?

   If applying for co-funding with either of these organisations, a separate application must be submitted to them in addition to ticking the co-funding option in your NHMRC Scholarship application.

   The review and submission of Heart Foundation and MSRA applications will be managed as a separate process due to the variation in application deadlines. If you wish to have your application considered for co-funding, please contact ric-medapps@unimelb.edu.au as soon as possible for more information.

8. Conversion of Overseas Academic Transcripts

   Academic transcripts must be submitted as part of your application. Where the academic transcript is in a language other than English, a translation provided by a National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters (NAATI) certified translator (or its equivalent organisation outside of Australia) must be included. Where the academic transcript contains ratings from overseas institutions, these ratings must be converted to an equivalent rating used in Australian institutions.

   Please ensure your transcript is translated for English and/or grade equivalency before it is uploaded into Sapphire. It is strongly encouraged that applicants make a start on this at least one month before the submission deadline for the scheme. Further information including obtaining a conversion is available on the Victorian state government's Overseas Qualification Unit website.

9. Certify the application in Sapphire

   Certify the application via the ‘Certification’ function in the left panel of your Sapphire application. The applicant will be given the opportunity to download their application and attachments prior to the two-stage confirmation prompt before submission. The application will be locked once certified and the status then will be 'Submitted to RAO'.
   
   You do not need to send a copy of your final application to RIC.

   Please note that we have observed delays within Sapphire where the approvals tab to submit applications is taking ~15 minutes to load, as such there is a risk to the timely submission of your application if it is received after the RIC Final Submission Deadline. To minimise any delays or issues with the submission of your application we advise adhering to the RIC final submission deadline for this scheme.

10. Submit the UoM Authority to Submit form

    Submit a fully completed and signed UoM Authority to Submit form (DOCX 4.1 MB) to RIC via email nhmrc-people-support@unimelb.edu.au before 10am on the internal final submission date, Monday 3 June 2024. A hardcopy is not required. The form should be one PDF document and should include:

    • Completed compliance and eligibility section
    • Signature of the applicant
    • Signature of Head of Department/Institute Director

    Note that this is an NHMRC requirement and the application cannot be submitted to NHMRC until RIC receives this form.

11. RIC will submit the application

    Once the application has been submitted to NHMRC, the applicant will receive a Sapphire notification.

Supporting documents

NHMRC

• Download all NHMRC documentation relating to this scheme (including the proposal template) from Grant Connect (GO6881). If you don't already have an account, you will need to create one for Grant Connect.

RIC

• UoM Authority to Submit form (DOCX 4.1 MB) required once application is certified in Sapphire.
• Copies of previous successful NHMRC Scholarship applications are held in the RIC Grants Library (UoM login required). If you do not have a UoM login contact RIC via nhmrc-people-support@unimelb.edu.au or obtain assistance from your supervisor who has a UoM login.
• Guidance document for supervisors (PDF 247.1 KB) on completing the NHMRC Postgraduate Scholarship Supervisor Report.

NHMRC Open Access Policy

From 1 January 2024, all NHMRC grant holders must comply with NHMRC’s Open Access Policy. The policy requires full and immediate open access for NHMRC-funded research outputs.

For more information on how to comply refer to the UoM webpage on funder open access policies.

NHMRC Policy on Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence in Grant Applications

NHMRC has released some key advice regarding the use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) in grant application and peer review. Please refer to the NHMRC policy page and note the following:

• Application drafting Information provided to generative artificial intelligence (such as natural language processing models and artificial intelligence technology tools) becomes part of a public database and may be accessed by unspecified third parties. If you use generative artificial intelligence to assist with the drafting of your application, you must ensure you are aware of the potential risks involved, such as those related to security, confidentiality, intellectual property, privacy, the accuracy of information generated and possible plagiarism.
• Peer review Use of generative artificial intelligence in peer review Information provided to generative artificial intelligence (such as natural language processing models and artificial intelligence technology tools) becomes part of a public database and may be accessed by third parties. Peer reviewers must not input any part of a grant application, or any information from a grant application, into a natural language processing and/or artificial intelligence technology system to assist them in the assessment of applications. Use of generative artificial intelligence may compromise the integrity of NHMRC’s peer review process and be in breach of its Principles of Peer Review, the Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research and the confidentiality undertaking of peer reviewers.

Contacts

Manage Your Grant