Researching Water Security Challenges in Australia

Description

We are seeking two outstanding candidates for PhD scholarships for two new ARC projects: a Linkage project studying water security challenges in the Murray-Darling Basin (MDB); and an ARC discovery project Sustainable farming and groundwater usage behaviour in a climate-stressed world – Comparisons across Australia, the United States and New Zealand.

Finding a sustainable balance between human and environmental uses of freshwater is probably Australia’s most critical challenge. We are looking for candidates with strong economics training as a background, though other relevant disciplines (such as data science, statistics and social sciences) will be considered. A mix of qualitative and quantitative research questions is possible.

Project partners for the ARC Linkage project include South Australia’s (SA) Department of Environment and Water (DEW); SA Water; and the Murray-Darling Conservation Alliance (MDCA). Other universities involved in the project include ANU and UTAS. Partners included in the ARC Discovery include Toulouse School of Economics, University of California Riverside and Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research.

Both projects will be based at the Centre for Social Impact, College of Business, Government and Law, Flinders University (Principal supervisor Professor Sarah Wheeler, and co supervisors will include others from Flinders, or other partner universities, depending on the thesis topic).

Benefits

• A stipend valued at $36,061 per annum (2026 rate) tax free 
• The scholarship will be awarded for 3 years, with possibility of extension
• a Research Training Program Fee Offset Scholarship to cover tuition fees for Australian Citizens, NZ Citizens and Permanent Residents.
• Outstanding international students may be considered, and eligible candidates will be supported by the supervisor to apply for a potential Research Training Program Fee waiver. 
• Being part of wider ARC projects, and hence having funds available in the project to support data collection, training, networking and conference attendance.

Eligibility

• 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 2, 2026 or semester 1, 2027. 
• International students may be considered, and eligible candidates will be supported by the supervisor to apply for a Research Training Program Fee waiver.