The Sea Around Us – Indian Ocean under the lead of Professor Dirk Zeller at the University of Western Australia is looking for outstanding PhD candidates interested in conducting ‘big-data’ and meta-analysis research on fisheries and fisheries conservation issues at the ocean-basin scale. If this is of interest to you, then consider applying for a PhD Scholarship at the University of Western Australia (UWA) in Perth. The mid-year 2018 round for domestic (Australian) candidates opens from 1 June 2018 until 13 July 2018, while the international candidates only round 1 for 2019 opens from 2 July 2018 until 31 August 2018. Please only apply after consultation with Professor Zeller.

The UWA offers a limited number of these scholarships to PhD candidates working with leading researchers to address some of the world’s growing challenges, such as that of over-exploitation of ocean resources. Candidates should be academically outstanding students who are eager to advance meaningful research, and who have not completed a PhD elsewhere. Scholarships are awarded over three years, subject to satisfactory progress. This is the normal duration of PhD programs in Australia, as there is normally no graduate course work required.

Beyond being an outstanding scholarship opportunity, this is a great way to work closely with Professors Dirk Zeller and Jessica Meeuwig of the Sea Around Us – Indian Ocean and the UWA Marine Futures Laboratory. Emphasis is on big-data science at the ocean-basin scale and globally, and research projects focus on high written output in the scientific literature, accompanied by public and media outreach. The Sea Around Us does not conduct fieldwork, although international training and workshop/conference opportunities may develop. Sea Around Us – Indian Ocean team members are also part of the global collaboration network of the Sea Around Us at the University of British Columbia (Vancouver, Canada). Besides being part of this global network of leading researchers, you also get to live very close to great beaches in the beautiful city of Perth.

The Sea Around Us – Indian Ocean was launched in July/August 2017 and is therefore not yet listed under the “current research projects and possible supervisors” links listed. Please contact Dirk Zeller directly (dirk.zeller@uwa.edu.au) for potential suitability and likely projects. Suitable candidates will be encouraged to apply for scholarships after extensive discussions with candidates, and after a proposal has been agreed upon. Note that Dirk Zeller will have limited availability for discussions between 19th June and 6th August, thus early contacts are essential. Relevant background information on the purpose of and research conducted by the Sea Around Us can also be found via the material at www.seaaroundus.org and Dirk’s publications profile at http://www.seaaroundus.org/dirk-zeller/.

For more information, see http://www.scholarships.uwa.edu.au/futurestudents/postgrad. Prospective international candidates may also wish to consider the Australian Endeavour Scholarships.