La Trobe University - Sheffield Hallam University Joint PhD Program Scholarship

La Trobe University is offering a graduate research scholarship for students to undertake a joint PhD with Sheffield Hallam University, UK.

Applications for this scholarship are now open to Australian or New Zealand citizens or Australian permanent residents newly enrolling in a PhD. 

Students undertaking the joint PhD program will be enrolled in a PhD at both institutions. Your supervisory team will comprise of academic staff from both institutions who will provide support and guidance throughout your research. As a student enrolled at both La Trobe and Sheffield Hallam, you will have access to services and support provided by both institutions, including a range of professional and personal development programs.

You will begin your studies at La Trobe University where you will spend the majority of your time, but with an expectation that you will spend typically 12 months at Sheffield Hallam University. Travel to and study at the host institution will be subject to the usual immigration requirements.

The joint PhD includes a tailored program of progress monitoring to fulfil the requirements of both institutions. All candidates will write and submit a thesis for defence by oral examination. On successful completion of the program requirements, you will be awarded a PhD jointly by both institutions.

The successful applicant can commence at any time with the support of your supervisor, at a La Trobe University campus, and willing to spend typically 12 months based in Sheffield, UK.

Projects will remain open until filled, and new opportunities will be posted below as they become available.

Benefits of the scholarship

• a Research Training Program (RTP)  stipend for up to three and a half (3.5) years for a doctoral degree, with a value of $35,000 per annum (2025 rate)
• a Research Training Program (RTP) Fees Offset scholarship for up to four years for a doctoral degree
• a travel allowance to assist with travel between Melbourne and Sheffield, and personal expenses while residing in the UK
• an allowance to relocate to Melbourne to commence the degree and publication/ thesis allowance
• opportunities to work with outstanding researchers at La Trobe and Sheffield Hallam universities, and access to our suit of professional development programs

Available projects

There are a number of joint PhD scholarship available to applicants from the range of projects listed below, competitively awarded and selection is based on academic merit and suitability to the selected project. Please contact the primary supervisor for more information about these projects.

SHU-25020 - COVID-19 Amyloid Proteins: Decoding the Mechanisms of Neurotoxicity, Accumulation and Impaired Clearance

Primary supervisor: Dr Sarah Annesley

Other supervisors: Dr Nick Reynolds (LTU), Dr Caroline Dalton (SHU), Dr David Smith (SHU), Dr Seb Dworkin (LTU), Dr Ashely Mansell (LTU)

SARS-CoV-2 is primarily a respiratory virus but many of the symptoms are neurological including headaches, loss of sense of taste and smell, seizures and dizziness. The virus has also been shown to cause long term effects in a proportion of infected individuals and this has been termed Long COVID. Neurological symptoms such as brain fog is one of the most reported symptoms by Long COVID patients. These neurological symptoms are shared by neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. The things that these diseases have in common is the accumulation and aggregation of toxic proteins in the brain. The proteins tend to have similar sequences and physical properties making them more likely to aggregate. The protein open reading frame 6 (ORF6) from SARS-CoV-2 has been identified to also possess these properties and we believe that the accumulation and aggregation of these proteins may be the cause of the neurological symptoms associated with COVID-19 infection and Long COVID. Here we want to identify the mechanisms of cellular toxicity and the role inflammation plays in this process. We want to identify how the proteins accumulate and how they are cleared from the brain. One mechanism of clearance is via a cellular waste disposal system in our brain called the glymphatic system. This system is most active at night when we are asleep. COVID-19 infection and Long COVID are both associated with disturbed sleep patterns and therefore may impair the ability of the glymphatic system to remove the toxic proteins. By characterising the mechanisms of toxicity and clearance of the COVID-19 proteins we may be able to identify ways to manipulate these processes so that we can reduce or eliminate the neurological consequences of infection with the virus. 

SHU-25021 - Decoding Success in Football: A Multidisciplinary Sports Analytics Approach to Performance Metrics Across Leagues and Contexts

Primary supervisor: Dr Matthew Varley

Other supervisors: Dr David Carey (LTU), Associate Professor Joseph Stone (SHU), Dr John Kelley (SHU)

Success in football occurs at multiple levels—from winning key match actions within games to achieving long-term dominance in leagues and championships. The pathways to these outcomes vary significantly between teams, with different technical and tactical strategies shaping success. However, much of the existing research focuses on isolated teams or leagues, often relying on basic descriptive statistics, limiting its ability to uncover broader patterns.

This PhD project aims to advance our understanding of football performance by analysing large-scale datasets such as StatsBomb, which provide detailed technical and tactical data across multiple leagues and seasons. By applying advanced analytical and machine learning techniques, the research will explore how performance measures interact across different contexts to drive success at immediate, short-term, and long-term levels.

The successful candidate will work with a multidisciplinary supervisory team from La Trobe University and Sheffield Hallam University, gaining expertise in data-driven performance analysis, statistical modelling and machine learning. This research will enhance our ability to quantify and interpret the factors driving success in football, making it ideal for candidates with a background in sports analytics, data science, or related fields.

SHU-25022 - The Political Economy of the Pharmaceutical Innovation System in the UK and Australia and Access to Medical Products for Pandemics

Primary supervisor: Associate Professor Deborah Gleeson

Other supervisors: Dr Tarryn Phillips (LTU), Dr Craig Paterson (SHU), Dr Luciano Bottini Filho (SHU)

This PhD project will involve comparative in-depth case studies of the pharmaceutical innovation systems for pandemic-related medical products in Australia and the United Kingdom. Drawing on the disciplines of public health policy, anthropology and human rights law, the candidate will interrogate the structure and dynamics of the pharmaceutical innovation system in each country and the political and economic factors that shaped the way the system operated during COVID-19. This will enable levers to be identified for governments to harness pharmaceutical innovation systems to deliver more equitable access to pandemic-related products in future.