Applications open for latest round of PhD top-up scholarships

Wine Australia’s PhD top-up scholarship program plays an important role in attracting postgraduate students to wine, viticulture and wine business research needed to help improve the sustainability and profitability of the Australian grape and wine sector.

While the latest round of top-up scholarship applications is open to PhD candidates delivering innovative research aligned to the themes of the One Grape & Wine Sector Plan which are addressed in Wine Australia’s Strategic Plan 2025-2030, this year several priority topics have been identified.

Preference may be given to applicants who address one of the following topics:

• novel strategies for pest, disease and virus management in Australian vineyards
• plant breeding and gene target identification
• novel mid-strength wine production processes
• non-chemical control of disease, for example using UV-C and autonomous technology
• Environmental, Social and Governance challenges as outlined in Wine Australia’s ESG Investment Plan
• novel strategies across waste circularity, treatment, safe reuse of secondary materials and circular markets
• consumer insights, with a focus on moderation and health, export and emerging markets, macro and external drivers, value perception
• development and adoption of digital, data and artificial intelligence.

Eligibility criteria

Wine Australia offers supplementary scholarships for up to 3.5 years full-time study.

Candidates must:

• be enrolled in, or have applied for, full-time PhD study
• hold, or have applied for, an Australian Government Research Training Program (RTP) Stipend Scholarship or another equivalent stipend scholarship through their host university.

Scholarships are awarded based on:

• academic excellence and research ability
• research feasibility and methodology
• industry alignment, considered against the priority topic areas of interest
• industry impact, considered against industry partnerships and engagement with industry, research outputs path to market or adoption by industry
• expertise of the proposed supervisor(s) and supervisor support, with the supervisor affirming that the project is feasible and that the candidate has a good track record
• quality of an applicant’s Curriculum Vitae, and perception of the likelihood for ongoing involvement in the Australian wine sector, and
• funding availability.

Key dates

Applications close on Friday 14 November at 5pm (Australian Central Daylight Savings Time).

For eligibility criteria and instructions on how to apply, refer to the PhD top-up scholarships application guide.