PhD Scholarships
PhD Expression of Interest
Microcredentials
Positions Available

PhD Program

Industry Doctoral Program

Play a Leading Role in Solving Plastic Waste

The Solving Plastic Waste CRC (SPW CRC) offers a dynamic PhD program designed to build the research and industry leadership knowledge and skills that are needed to transform the Australian plastics sector.

Undertaking a SPW CRC PhD enrolled at one of our Partner Universities will provide you with the platform to become a future sustainable materials and plastic waste leader able to integrate science and engineering research and knowledge with real world application, innovation management and leadership in order to drive lasting, systems wide transformation.

SPW CRC Doctoral Student Development Program (DSDP)

The SPW CRC offers a unique Doctoral Student Development Program (DSDP) designed to build your knowledge, skills and networks to play a leading role in Solving Plastic Waste.

In the first year all SPW CRC Doctoral students will:

  • Undertake training in the SPW CRC Core Skills Microcredential online courses (applied research, communication, innovation management and leadership)
  • Participate in a Doctoral student morning at the Annual SPW CRC Conference designed to build critical skills to ensure all SPW students become effective innovators and change makers
  • Create an individual development plan in collaboration with the SPW CRC Education and Training Lead and University Academic Supervisor to target the specific research, innovation, change and leadership skill areas of relevance to them
  • Be coached through the implementation of that plan as part of a broader group of SPW CRC PhD students.

Every subsequent year SPW CRC PhD students will benefit from:

  • Participating in the Doctoral student morning at the Annual SPW CRC Conference
  • Updating their individual development plan
  • Being coached through the implementation of that updated plan.

In addition, all SPW CRC PhD students will be provided with:

  • An Industry Placement spending at least 60 days with their industry partner
  • Membership of the Sustainable Plastics Future Network and be able to participate in community of practice events designed to foster linkages between students and professionals from across the whole plastics value chain nationally
  • Take part in at least 1 Annual Industry Design Challenge where competing mixed industry-research teams generate solutions to a complex plastics waste problem in a hack-style event with pre-event preparation and team building.
SPW CRC PhD Scholarship Brochure

SPW CRC PhD Scholarship Brochure

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Core Skills Microcredentials:

We are focussed on developing the Solving Plastic Waste leaders of the future by offering you the opportunity to develop and practice core skills. In the first year of your PhD, you will complete four Core Skills microcredential courses online in the areas of:

  1. Applied Research Design and Delivery.
  2. Communication Skills.
  3. Innovation Management.
  4. Leadership and Influence.

You are also supported throughout the following 3 years through our mentoring program to build the skills to develop further and to network with industry partners.

In addition, the SPW CRC will be developing a wide range of microcredentials as industry-focussed training courses which will be available to Doctoral students as well as industry professionals.

Industry Engagement and Placement:

Through the SPW CRC, your PhD will be directly related to an industry or government relevant issue or project that tackles real issues along the plastics value chain.

You will benefit from direct involvement and placement with an industry stakeholder, gaining insights into organisationally and sector-specific challenges and contributing to impactful research outcomes.

Our partnerships with over 25 industry and end-user organisations will ensure that your research stems from, and is directly connected to, addressing current industry needs, with the opportunity for real-world application.

Annual Industry Design Challenge:

Annual Industry Design Challenge (AIDC) is a collaborative hack-style 1-2 day solution design event that the SPW CRC will run with and for its researchers, PhD students and SPW CRC Partners, and other industry professionals where mixed teams from these groups will be provided with a complex value chain challenge and asked to design a solution.

There will be an AIDC every year using a real partner or industry-driven context and set of problems, with real data curated and provided. The AIDC will both catalyse learning in researchers and PhD students about the practicalities of industry, and in industry professionals about new research ideas and options. 

Network Development

Your immediate and longer-term ability to influence change in the plastics value change will directly benefit from having a significant professional network. The CRC will help you network with other sustainable plastics and materials Doctoral students from the CRC and beyond, and with key industry and government professionals through the SPW CRC Annual Conference, academic and industry conferences and the face-to-face component of the Core Skills Program.

PhD Scholarships available

See our PhD Scholarships page for the list of PhD scholarships available. You can read the full description by downloading the PDF and contact us for more information.

Learn more

Interested in doing your PhD with SPW CRC?

If you have a PhD project concept that aligns with one of our four Research Program areas, please contact us by completing a PhD Expression of Interest form here.

Express your interest

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