Scholarship details

Study levels

Research and PhD

Student type

Future students

Study area

Engineering and Science

Eligibility criteria

Academic performance

Citizenship

Australian or New Zealand

What you'll receive

The CSIRO Industry PhD Program (iPhD) aims to produce the next generation of innovation leaders with the skills to work at the interface of research and industry in Australia.

The program will include:

  • admission to QUT's PhD program
  • supervision by QUT, CSIRO, and Grape Energy (industry partner)
  • a four-year scholarship package totalling $46,000 per annum (2024 rate)
  • a four-year Research Training Program (RTP) Fee-Offset
  • a four-year Project Expense and Development package of $13,000 per annum
  • a three-month industry engagement component with Grape Energy
  • a structured professional development and training program to develop your applied research skills.

Successful students are subject to the policies, procedures and guidelines of QUT in addition to the CSIRO Industry PhD Program terms and conditions. Students will receive a standard PhD on completion.

Eligibility

The applicant must:

  • be an Australian citizen or Permanent Resident, or a New Zealand citizen
  • meet the entry requirements for a QUT Doctor of Philosophy, including any English language requirements
  • not have previously completed a PhD
  • be able to commence the Program in the year of the offer
  • enrol as a full-time PhD student; part-time arrangements may be considered if approved by the supervisory team and in accordance with QUT's policy
  • be prepared to be located at the project location(s) that QUT has approved and, if required, comply with QUT's external enrolment procedures
  • be prepared to undergo onboarding to CSIRO, which will include passing mandatory government background checks (allow for between 4 to 8 weeks) and complete any other CSIRO requirements.

Ideally, the applicant will have:

  • a bachelor’s degree in chemistry, chemical engineering, material science or engineering or relevant fields.

Preference will be given to an honours student or master by research student.

How to apply

Apply for this scholarship at the same time you apply for admission to a QUT Doctor of Philosophy.

To apply:

  • The first step is to email Professor Deepak Dubal detailing your academic and research background, your motivation to research in this field and interest in this scholarship, and include your CV.
  • If nominated to apply, you will then submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) to QUT following the advice at How to apply for a research degree.
  • In your EOI, nominate Professor Deepak Dubal as your proposed principal supervisor, and copy the link to this scholarship website into question 2 of the financial details section.

What happens next?

  • your application will be assessed by the supervisory team and shortlisted applicants are invited for an interview
  • the supervisory team nominates a preferred applicant and informs CSIRO's iPhD office
  • the nominated applicant will be instructed to formally apply to QUT
  • the application is then assessed by QUT against the PhD admission criteria
  • QUT will issue a letter of offer for the program if all conditions have been satisfied.

About the scholarship

Project details

The rapid adoption of lithium-ion batteries (LIB) in electric vehicles and energy storage globally is generating a significant volume of waste end-of-life lithium-ion batteries. The battery separator, 5% of the battery mass, is a soft plastic in every LIB cell to prevent short circuits. The current state-of-the-art LIB recycling plant primarily focuses on recycling the precious metal from waste LIBs. The separator waste is either landfilled or burnt, which translates to about 10,000 ton of toxic emissions per year from each single standard recycling plant. The situation can only get worse with the increasing uptake of LIBs.

Sodium battery is a promising alternative for energy storage if precious metal prices for making LIB remain high. This project will mainly focus on the recovery of LIB separator material and explore economic applications of the recovered separator materials, such as turning it into high-value hard carbon for making sodium battery anode material.

The project will help increase the material recovery rate in the LIB recycling process and reduce waste and carbon footprint in the battery value chain. By returning waste to battery manufacturing, the project will make the battery value chain more sustainable. The technology may be transferable for transforming other types of soft plastic into high-demand valuable products.

If the project encounters major technical difficulty in pursuing a recovery separator and making useful products from recovered separator material, the parties may agree to shift the Project to recovery and utilisation of other valuable material from LIB.

The supervisory team

General program information

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