PhD top-up Scholarship in developing advanced in vitro Lung models of porcine for zoonotic diseases

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The Opportunity

• Are you passionate about a career in research?
• Want to access CSIRO's world-class facilities and staff?
• Apply for a CSIRO PhD Top-Up Scholarship now!

CSIRO PhD Top-Up Scholarships provide enhanced opportunities in science and engineering for outstanding graduates enrolling in a PhD at Australian tertiary institutions. Collaborating with us to complete your PhD degree will give your research the edge. We offer you access to our leading scientists, engineers and mentors, the opportunity to take your research to the next level in our first-class facilities and first-hand experience in an environment where our innovative research really is changing the world for the better. 

A CSIRO PhD Top-Up Scholarship is a supplementary award, which adds to the student’s support from a principal scholarship awarded by another body, e.g. RTP scholarship.  In all respects recipients of awards will be regarded as students of the University at which they are registered, and all rules relating to degree candidature and the primary award will apply. In particular, recipients will undertake research at CSIRO as a student of the university concerned and will not be employees of CSIRO. 

This CSIRO PhD Top-Up Scholarship is being offered by the Australian Animal Health Laboratory (AAHL).  AAHL is located at the Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness  - ACDP facility in Geelong, Victoria. The ACDP helps protect Australia’s multi-billion dollar livestock and aquaculture industries, and the general public, from emerging infectious disease threats. It is a high-containment facility designed to allow scientific research into the most dangerous infectious agents in the world. 

Project Details

The PhD candidate will be working in the Advanced ex vivo Biosystems laboratory at the Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness (ACDP), CSIRO based at Geelong, Victoria. The candidate will be working on establishment of porcine in vitro lung model system using piglet primary lung tissue. The work involves the establishment and characterisation of the in vitro model using flow cytometry and/or confocal microscopy and gene expression analysis. The student will then use this model to translate into more advanced organ-on-a-chip system which permits the co-culture of different cells. The student will finally use this model to understand the host-pathogen interactions in the later part of the PhD.

The PhD candidate will gain in-depth expertise in developing advanced in vitro lung models for swine through hands-on training. In collaboration with the Advanced Ex Vivo Biosystems laboratory and other researchers from ACDP, the candidate will leverage the latest innovations in 3D tissue culture and microfluidic technologies. 

Contact:  For more information on the research project please contact Dr Chia-Chi Chien on +61 (0)3 5227 5066 or email to Chia-Chi.Chien@csiro.au 

Location:  Geelong, Victoria

Scholarship:  Top-Up Scholarship of $10,000 per annum, plus a learning and development budget of $5,000 over the term of the studentship

Tenure:   3 years

Reference:  98351

Eligibility: 

To be eligible to apply you must

• be enrolled at an Australian university; 
• hold an appropriate visa to study in Australia (if international*); 
• be no further than one year (FTE) into a PhD candidature; 
• hold a primary scholarship; for example, a Research Training Program (RTP) scholarship or other primary scholarship of similar value; 
• not be in receipt of any other Top-Up Scholarship; 
• be available to commence with CSIRO by end of March, 2025.

* International applicants must be residing in Australia and have the appropriate immigration approvals to allow them to take up the scholarship. 

Applications will be assessed on:

1. Quality and relevance of student project:  The primary assessment criterion for a CSIRO PhD Top-Up Scholarship is the quality and relevance of the project being proposed.  The research must be aligned with the advertised priority research area.
2. Academic calibre of the student:  The quality of the student is also critical to the assessment of a scholarship and candidates must hold (or expect to gain) a relevant first or upper second class honours (or equivalent) degree from a recognised university.
3. Availability of appropriate university supervision:  The relevance of the university supervisor’s research background and their willingness to supervise the student in collaboration with the CSIRO supervisor should also be made clear. 

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How to apply:

You will be required to:

1. submit a Resume/CV and Cover Letter (as one document) in the ‘Resume/CV’ field which includes:
   • the names and contact details of two previous supervisors or academic/professional referees; and
   • a one-page proposal stating how your research interests align with the project aims.
2. upload your academic results in the ‘Cover Letter’ field.

 If you experience difficulties applying online call 1300 984 220 and someone will be able to assist you. Outside business hours please email: careers.online@csiro.au.

Applications Close

2 February 2025, 11:00pm AEDT

We strongly encourage you to apply early as we will be reviewing applications as they come through. CSIRO reserves the right to withdraw this ad prior to the closing date if required.