University of Melbourne Graduate Research Scholarships 2027
Fee offset, a living allowance and health cover for a PhD or research Master's at the University of Melbourne, with no separate application
- Funder
The University of Melbourne- Study in
- Australia
- Level
- PhD
- Funding
- Full
- Closes
- Varies by country or course Each faculty sets its own scholarship rounds for 2027. Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences closes Round 1 on 31 October 2026, then 31 January and 15 May 2027. Engineering and IT's round for starts in the first half of 2027 closed on 11 October 2026. Science's next round closes on 1 February 2027. Check your course page for its dates.
- Official site
- scholarships.unimelb.edu.au
Checked on scholarships.unimelb.edu.au by Farouk Yahaya, 12 October 2026. Scholarly Dream is independent and not affiliated with this funder.
The University of Melbourne groups its main research degree funding under one name: Graduate Research Scholarships. For international students, these are the Melbourne Research Scholarship and the Australian Government Research Training Program (RTP) Scholarship, offered to the highest-ranked applicants for a PhD or a Master’s by Research. The university says it offers more than 300 of these to international graduate researchers each year.
There is no scholarship form. When you apply for a graduate research course by the closing date for a scholarship round, you are considered automatically, and the university says you will be told within ten business days that a scholarship application has been added to your record (checked 9 October 2026 on the official scholarship page).
What a full scholarship provides
| Item | Value (2027 rates, checked 9 October 2026) |
|---|---|
| Tuition | Full fee offset for up to four years of a doctorate, or two years of a Master’s by Research |
| Living allowance | A$41,100 a year, pro rata, for up to 3.5 years of a doctorate or two years of a Master’s by Research |
| Relocation grant | A$3,000 if you move from outside Australia |
| Health cover | Overseas Student Health Cover, single membership, for students on a student visa |
| Leave | Limited paid sick, maternity and parenting leave |
The living allowance may be indexed each year. To give a sense of what the fee offset is worth, the university lists the 2027 international fee for the PhD in Science at A$58,272 for the first year. Some applicants receive a fee offset without the living allowance. If that happens, you would need to cover living costs another way, so read your offer carefully. Our study cost calculator can help you test a budget for Melbourne.
The fee offset lasts six months longer than the living allowance. If your doctorate runs to the full four years, the last six months carry no stipend unless you find other funding.
Who gets one
Selection panels rank eligible applicants on their previous academic results and their research potential in their field. There is no nationality restriction, and international students must study full-time to meet Australian student visa rules.
The academic bar is set by the course you apply to. The PhD in Science is a typical example. It asks for either a four-year honours degree with a research component worth at least a quarter of a year’s full-time study and a weighted average mark of 75% in the last two years, or a Master’s with a similar research component and a 75% average, or an equivalent combination of qualifications and experience. Because these are University of Melbourne marks, your own grades are converted, and what counts as 75% depends on your university’s scale.
Being eligible and being funded are not the same. The Faculty of Engineering and IT says applicants who succeed in gaining both admission and a scholarship typically have strong supervisor support, a place in the top 5% of their graduating class, a research project completed in the final year of their degree, and a qualification from a university with a recognised research profile.
Scholarship rounds for 2027
| Faculty | Closing date | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Engineering and IT, Round 2 (starts January to June 2027) | 11 October 2026 | 20 December 2026 |
| Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, Round 1 | 31 October 2026 | 18 December 2026 |
| Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, Round 2 | 31 January 2027 | 26 March 2027 |
| Science, Round 2 | 1 February 2027 | Early May 2027 |
| Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, Round 3 | 15 May 2027 | 16 July 2027 |
Science’s first round closed on 1 October 2026, and Engineering and IT’s rounds for starts in the second half of 2027 are still to be announced. Other faculties publish their dates on the How to apply tab of each course page. Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences says most of its scholarships go in the first two rounds, and that your final results must be in at least two weeks before the outcome date or you move to the next round. It also requires successful applicants to start by 31 October of the year of the offer.
How to put the application together
All international graduate research applications go through the university’s online portal, or through an authorised education agent. Applicants who last studied in some countries must use an agent so their documents can be verified.
- Choose the course. Decide between a PhD and a research Master’s (an MPhil or Master’s by Research) and read the course’s entry requirements.
- Find a supervisor. Use the university’s Find an Expert directory to search for academics open to supervision, or apply for a project a supervisor has advertised. Send transcripts, a CV and a short outline of your research idea when you write.
- Get written support. Most courses need evidence of supervisor support at application, either an email or the university’s signed form.
- Write the proposal. Most courses ask for one. In Science it is up to 500 words, covering your topic, objectives and proposed thesis title.
- Line up referees. Two are needed. If your last course ended less than five years ago, both should be academics. They receive an online form once you submit.
- Submit before the round closes. Include transcripts, your CV and your publications in the format the university specifies.
Science also interviews applicants, and its panel looks at prior study, motivation, the research proposal, interview performance and whether the faculty has the supervision and resources your project needs.
The second email gives the academic something to judge in under a minute. Our guide to emailing a potential PhD supervisor goes into more detail, and the examples above are invented.
If you plan to apply with funding from another body, such as a government scholarship, say so in your application. In Science, applicants who do this are not considered for a faculty Graduate Research Scholarship and receive their outcome outside the standard rounds.
Before you apply
Start with the course page for your subject, which lists the closing dates, entry requirements and proposal format for that faculty. If you are weighing Australia against other destinations, our guide to studying in Australia covers visas and living costs. The eligibility checker will show other doctoral awards that fit your profile, and the official scholarship page has the current terms.