1. Background
a. This Scholarship has been established to provide financial assistance to a PhD student who is undertaking research in statistical approaches for spatial genomics at single cell resolution.
b. This Scholarship is funded through the ARC grant for the project Statistical approaches for spatial genomics at single cell resolution.
2. Eligibility
a. The Scholarship is offered subject to the applicant having an unconditional offer of admission or being currently enrolled to study full time in a PhD within the School of Mathematics and Statistics, Faculty of Science at the University of Sydney.
b. An Applicant without an unconditional offer of admission may apply and be selected, however, no scholarship offer will be sent until the applicant has an unconditional offer of admission.
c. Applicant must be willing to conduct research into in statistical bioinformatics and data science in single cell spatial genomics as part of the Sydney Precision Data Science Centre.
d. Applicant must be a domestic student.
e. Applicant must also hold at least one of the following degrees in Mathematics:
I. an Honours degree (First Class or Second Class Upper) or equivalent in a relevant discipline, or
II. Masters degree with a substantial research component.
f. Applicant’s research or auxiliary supervisor must by Dr Shila Ghazanfar.
3. Selection Criteria
a. The successful applicant will be awarded the Scholarship on the basis of:
I. academic merit,
II. curriculum vitae,
III. previous research experience.
IV. personal statement demonstrating (i.) willingness to conduct interdisciplinary research in the interface of statistics and computational biology; (ii.) excellent skills in data analysis and coding in R.
b. The successful applicant will be awarded the Scholarship on the nomination of Dr Shila Ghazanfar and Professor Jean Yang.
4. Value
a. The Scholarship will provide a stipend allowance equivalent to the University of Sydney Research Training Program (RTP) Stipend rate (indexed on 1 January each year) for up to three years, subject to satisfactory academic performance.
b. The PhD recipient encouraged to complete their PhD in 3 years but may apply for an extension of the primary stipend allowance for up to 6 months.
c. Periods of study already undertaken towards the degree prior to the commencement of the Scholarship will be deducted from the maximum duration of the Scholarship excluding the potential extension period.
d. The Scholarship is for commencement in the relevant research period in which it is offered and cannot be deferred or transferred to another area of research without prior approval.
e. No other amount is payable.
f. The Scholarship will be offered subject to the availability of funding.
5. Eligibility for Progression
a. Progression is subject to attending and passing the annual progress evaluation.
6. Leave Arrangements
a. The Scholarship recipient receives up to 20 working days recreation leave each year of the Scholarship and this may be accrued. However, the student will forfeit any unused leave remaining when the Scholarship is terminated or complete. Recreation leave does not attract a leave loading and the supervisor’s agreement must be obtained before leave is taken.
b. The Scholarship recipient may take up to 10 working days sick leave each year of the Scholarship and this may be accrued over the tenure of the Scholarship. Students with family responsibilities, caring for sick children or relatives, or experiencing domestic violence, may convert up to five days …….