THRIVE Project Scholarship

PHD Scholar Opportunity

Come and join our THRIVE (The Healthy Regions InterVEntion) program and work in Neurodiversity

In partnership with the Victorian Department of Health

Scholarship details:

Stipend: $35,000 per annum (paid fortnightly) tax-free stipend
Top up: $23,000 per annum (paid fortnightly) tax-free top-up
RTP Fee-offset Scholarship: Up to $32,000 per annum to cover the cost of tuition fees
Project support: $9000 over three years to cover project costs 
Funding length: 3 years
Location: Mt Helen or Berwick

Applications close: Friday 12th July 2024

Project details:

The opportunity is offered in conjunction with the Department of Health Victoria and Federation University and its global partners.

The THRIVE program currently has approximately 80 researcher and clinician/ clinical agency participants headed by Professors Shane Thomas, Colette Browning, Fadi Charchar and Britt Klein. We work globally with high ranking university and agencies in Australia, the UK and US.

Chronic illnesses are a major threat to global population health through the lifespan. Our THRIVE program focusses on effective chronic disease prevention and management.

Our team includes senior behavioural and biomedical scientists with a strong interest in community mental health and neurodiversity.

We wish to recruit a high quality PhD scholar to work with our team in neurodiversity. The nature of the research will be co-designed with the Victorian Department of Health (DH) and SaferCare Victoria (SCV). This partnership with DH/SCV in the pilot Translational Research PhD Fellowship Program offers $23,000 top-up funding per student per year for 3 years, homing in an appropriate DH program area to facilitate data access, with public health support and subject matter expertise via an additional DH/SCV industry supervisor.

As a joint program with the Victorian Department of Health, we wish to perform translational research that facilitates the provision of a best practice health system to meet the healthcare needs of rural and regional Victorians living with neurodiversity (and their carers) by addressing the following translational research priorities:

  • the Implementation of home and integrated models of care for priority populations (co-design with community with lived experience) and
  • the implementation of a Learning Health System for continuous improvement (co-design with community with lived experience).

The research topics must include at least one of the following four areas or similar by agreement.

1. Using a case study and co-design approach to investigate the lived experience of regional and rural Victorians living with neurodiversity that impacts their experience and access to the healthcare system, recommend or develop quality improvement implementations or a pilot program to ensure appropriate access to care, support and an adaptive and learning healthcare system.

2. Using digital health methodologies, digital tools and partnering with consumers, investigate innovative ways for regional and rural Victorians living with neurodiversity and a chronic disease to communicate their care and access needs to clinicians prior to and during healthcare episodes.

3. Investigate the access and diagnosis pathways for regional and rural Victorians seeking assessment and support of neurodiversity, incorporating lived experience, and provide innovative solutions

4. Investigate the prevalence of social media, gaming and/or other behavioural addictions and their health impacts on rural and regional Victorians living with neurodiversity and provide quality improvement solutions addressing the impacts and providing evidenced-based accessible support pathways in collaboration with community.

We will arrange access via partner services and local government to communities and stakeholders to facilitate the success of the project. We are engaged with local and global cognate projects which will provide important collaboration opportunities.

Supervisors

Application Process

  1. Applicants are required to submit a full application via the HDR candidate application form with all necessary documents, along with a 250-word summary that describes why you would be suitable for this project.
  2. The application is assessed by the supervisory team and shortlisted applicants may be interviewed.
  3. The supervisory team nominates a preferred applicant.
  4. The application is then assessed by the Graduate Research School against PhD admission criteria.
  5. Federation University will issue a letter of offer for the program if all conditions have been satisfied.

Eligibility Requirements

Applicants must:

  1. Be an Australian citizen or Permanent Resident, or a New Zealand citizen.
  2. Be eligible to undertake a PhD. Verify you can meet eligibility requirements outlined on the Graduate Research School website. If you are applying for ‘Honours equivalence,’ please ensure that you provide detailed information to support your case.
  3. Meet Federation University English language requirements.
  4. Not have previously completed a PhD.
  5. Be able to commence the Program in the year of the offer.
  6. Enrol as a full-time PhD student.