Optimal Ageing PhD Scholarships

Federation University is pleased to offer 4 PhD scholarships in the areas of (1) digital literacy for workers in ageing health workforces and workforces supporting older people and their older adult clients; and (2) improving wellness in ageing health workforces and workforces supporting older people’ and their older adult clients.

Scholarship details

Stipend Scholarship: $35,013 per annum (indexed annually)
Fees: Up to $26,800 per annum covered by a Research Training Program Fee-Offset Scholarships (domestic students)
Project support: Up to $5,000 per annum (e.g. travel, accommodation, recruitment expenses, publication fees)
Funding length: 3 years (with option to apply for a six-month extension for unforeseen or exceptional circumstances)
Location: Mt Helen, Berwick or Gippsland
Placement: The student will spend up to 48 weeks across our four industry partner organisations (both physically and remotely/electronically) over the course of their PhD project.

This opportunity is open to Australian/NZ Citizens and Permanent Residents.

In addition, students will receive additional support from the Centre-based Research Scientist (i.e., Senior Software Engineer) and Research Assistant (e.g., assist in coding and programming work of training and wellbeing digital tools, assist with developing content and facilitating workshops).

Applications close: Open until filled

Opportunities for PhD study in Digital Integration for Optimal Ageing

Key stakeholders of the funding

The ARC Industrial Transformation Training Centre (ITTC) for Optimal Ageing will train a workforce that is skilled in the development, translation and implementation of digital and robotic systems to optimise cognitive, physical and mental wellbeing in middle-aged and older adults. The Centre is led by Monash University in collaboration with Federation University, and our industry partners; Flourish Australia, WellAware, the City of Ballarat and the Latrobe Health Assembly.

The outline of the opportunities

The PhD students will work with an expert team of researchers in the fields of digital health and ageing, working closely with our industry partners to solve key issues to promote optimal ageing. There will be considerable opportunity for Federation enrolled students to interact with Monash enrolled students and Monash staff in the Industrial Transformation Training Centre (ITTC) for Optimal Ageing through our joint PhD training program.

Project Outlines

(1) Literacy and Training: Digital literacy & training needs of ageing health workforces and workforces supporting older people and their older adult clients (Two scholarships)

In order for technology to be useful, it needs to be user-friendly and acceptable to stakeholder end users. The end goal of this research is to understand current digital literacy levels and related training needs of ageing health workforces and workforces supporting older people and their older adult clients and then co-develop and prototype tailored solutions, ready for future roll-out.

Two PhD students will work on these research program sub-projects. One focusing on the workers in ageing health workforces and workforces supporting older people and the other on their older adult clients.

(2) Wellbeing: Increasing wellness with ageing health workforces and workforces supporting older people and their older adult clients through co-developing and prototyping a digitally-based wellbeing tool(s) (Two scholarships). Digital technology can provide workers in ageing health workforces and workforces supporting older people with an array of tools to enhance work-based processes and activities (e.g., reminder tools); however, it also has the capacity to improve wellness (e.g., increase social connectedness, improve self-care practices) amongst key ageing-related sector stakeholders (i.e., ‘workers in ageing health workforces and workforces supporting older people’ and their ‘older adult clients’).

Supervisory Team

We have a large supervisory team and following successful application the student will be allocated supervisors appropriate for their project. The Two Chief Investigators managing the projects are Professor Britt Klein and Professor Colette Browning.

Principal Supervisors:

Professor Britt Klein

Professor Britt Klein is internationally recognised for her digital mental health work. Britt has been awarded or co-awarded over $40 million of funding as Chief or Co-Investigator and has published extensively in the mental health and digital health areas. Britt has a Doctorate of Clinical Psychology, is an APHRA registered psychologist with clinical endorsement, sits on a number of digital health expert advisory committees and has worked in community health anxiety, mood, alcohol and other drug settings, as well as aged care.

Britt leads the FedUni Health Innovation and Transformation Centre’s Digital Health and Models of Care research stream.

See Professor Britt Klein’s profile page for more information.

Professor Colette Browning

Professor Colette Browning is a recognised leader in psychology and health. Colette holds Honorary Professorships at Peking University and the Australian National University and is a Fellow of the Australian Psychological Society. Colette has international research and policy expertise in ageing, primary care, behaviour change and implementation research. Her research focuses on healthy ageing, chronic disease management, mental health and consumer involvement in health care decision-making. She has over 260 publications and has held research grants to the value of $20 million.

Colette leads the FedUni Health Innovation and Transformation Centre’s Population Health research stream.

See Professor Colette Browning’s profile page for more information.

Conditions

Students are expected to commit to full-time study for the duration of their candidature.
Scholarships are for a period of three years with the option to apply for one 6-month extension for unforeseen or expectational circumstances.
Successful scholarship applicants must study on campus for part of the time.
Successful scholarship applicants must participate in industry-based placements (both onsite and electronically) for up to 48 weeks across our four industry partners.
Successful scholarship applicants must formally assign, in advance, all rights, title and interest they may have in any IP developed to the University prior to commencing a project.

View the general conditions for Federation University HDR scholarships on the Graduate Research School website. Where these conditions differ to those on this form, the conditions outlined for this specific scholarship take precedence.

How to apply

Applicants who do not complete all steps will not be considered.

Step 1: Follow the application process outlined at: How to apply

Step 2: Provide a copy of your CV and a 300-word statement covering the following areas:

Discuss your motivations for applying for this PhD scholarship, and your intended research outcomes (both for yourself and for the project)
Discuss some of the key existing research literature which impacts this topic area
Discuss your relevant research background, experience and outcomes as they are relevant to the project
Discuss your plan/proposal to run the project along with the required resources
Discuss potential challenges and how you might overcome them

For Further Information

For further details on the research projects, please contact:

Professor Britt Klein b.klein@federation.edu.au

Professor Colette Browning c.browning@federation.edu.au