19 December 2025

AGRS e-News

Message from the Dean

Dear All,

As we conclude an extraordinary year, I want to extend my sincere gratitude to each of you for being an essential part of our research community. Your passion, innovation, and commitment to supporting one another are truly inspiring, and I am excited about the wonderful opportunities that lie ahead as we embark on the opening of Adelaide University.

On behalf of the AGRS team, I wish you a joyful festive season and a happy, healthy start to 2026. We look forward to supporting you in achieving your goals and delivering an exceptional graduate researcher experience at Adelaide University—let’s make 2026 a

year of curiosity and discovery, impactful collaborations, and a strong, connected graduate research community.

Kind regards,

Professor Carolin Plewa

Pro Vice Chancellor (Researcher Education and Development) and Dean of Graduate Studies

Division of Research and Innovation

Adelaide Graduate Research School Holiday Closure

The Adelaide Graduate Research School office will be closed for the holiday break from 5pm Tuesday 23 December 2025 and will reopen at 9am on Monday 5 January 2026.

All enquiries submitted to graduate.research@adelaide.edu.au during the closure period will be responded to the week of the 5 January 2026.

2025 HDR Celebration

A huge thank you to all the HDR students who joined us at the 2025 HDR Celebration, with nearly 400 students coming together to mark this special occasion. It was a wonderful opportunity to connect, celebrate your achievements, and take a well-earned pause from busy schedules.

You have all worked incredibly hard, and we hope you feel proud of everything you have accomplished so far.

As we mark the end of an era at the University of Adelaide, we look forward to seeing where your journeys take you next. We can’t wait to follow your achievements in 2026 and beyond.

Transition to Adelaide University

Some final updates for 2025 are below but please keep watching your email in 2026 as there will continue to be changes to look for such as the launch of new websites and changes to where you will access information and University services.

Changes to tax for half-time scholarships

Half-time scholarships are considered income by the ATO and taxed accordingly. If you are a transitioning half-time scholarship holder you are advised that Adelaide University will not be withholding tax from your fortnightly stipend payments and you should seek independent advice regarding tax.

Handbook

The 2026 Adelaide University Graduate Research Handbook This is a pre-release of version 1 of the Handbook and as we are still waiting for websites to go live the links within this document are not active and updates are still being made but it will give you a great overview of the changes coming in 2026. The Handbook will take effect 5 January 2026.

Q&A Session

Read the latest Graduate Researcher Q&A document which brings together questions that were asked at the Q&A session held earlier this month.

Tip of the Month

Important Library Changes

As part of the transition to Adelaide University, there are a range of changes to Library services during December and early January that may impact you. While we’re working hard to keep disruptions to a minimum, some changes will require your action to ensure your preferences and saved content are retained.

Check out this guide and complete any steps to stay up to date.

Of particular interest to Graduate Researchers are changes to databases, online learning and Endnote. Find out more here.

Celebrating Student Success

Dean's Commendation for Research Excellence - November 2025

We are delighted to announce the exceptional achievements of the students who have been honoured with the Dean's Commendation for Research Excellence for the month of November 2025. These individuals have demonstrated exemplary dedication, innovation, and scholarly excellence in their respective fields of study.

Congratulations to these exceptional students, whose achievements not only reflect their dedication to academic excellence but also their remarkable contributions to research. We look forward to witnessing the continued success and impact of these scholars in their respective fields.

Xintong Gao – School of Chemical Engineering
Yingjie Gao – School of Chemical Engineering
Meijun Guo – School of Chemical Engineering
Nicholas Herriot – School of Humanities
Jessica Judd – School of Public Health
Quang Tue Le – Adelaide Business School
Yanqiu Lyu – School of Chemical Engineering
Deepak Singhal – Adelaide Medical School
Nuttakorn Taewcharoen – School of Biological Sciences
Jianqiao Zheng – School of Computer and Mathematical Sciences

Message from the Associate Director

Dear students, colleagues, friends,

It is with very mixed feelings I advise that this will be my last week with our University. I have elected to take up a voluntary redundancy on 19 December after more than 25 years of service, the majority of which has been in Graduate Research. It has been a privilege to be part of such a dedicated and passionate team for

so long and I will sincerely miss being part of this wonderful institution.

I have seen a lot of changes over the years, starting with the formation of the original Graduate Centre in 2000 from three separate administrative areas: research education policy, graduate studies and scholarship administration to the comprehensive service provider for graduate research matters that is our now Adelaide Graduate Research School. Over the years, the AGRS has taken on responsibility for an increased range of functions including domestic and international graduate research admissions, Career and Research Skills Training, industry engagement, internships and research partnerships and faculty outreach including events, conferences and student forums; all of these activities being designed to provide opportunities and a fabulous student experience to our growing cohort of Higher Degree by Research students.

I am proud of the role I have played and the work that the Graduate School has achieved in collaboration with many wonderful colleagues in Faculties and Schools together with our industry and student partners and I wish you all every success as you transition to the new Adelaide University.

Very best wishes,

Donna Gould

Associate Director | Adelaide Graduate Research School

Division of Research and Innovation

Australian Government Department of Education’s National Industry PhD Program

We are delighted to announce that the University of Adelaide has secured funding for eight exceptional PhD projects in Round 6 of the Australian Government Department of Education’s National Industry PhD Program. Prospective applicants for the following projects are encouraged to contact the Adelaide Graduate Research School.

Jared R. Dmello and Department of Human Services SA: ‘Crossing the Threshold: Rethinking Service Responses to Coercive Online Violent Extremism in Australia’
Wei Zeng and Adelitics: ‘Advanced machine learning for leak detection in smart water networks with IoT acoustic sensors’
Feifei Tong and Aurora Offshore Engineering Pty Ltd: ‘Cable in Trench Under the Sea (CiTrUS): Hydrodynamics of Subsea Power Cables’
Frank Neumann and Optimatics Solutions: ‘Feature-based Transfer for Optimization of Water Infrastructure’
Hemanth Saratchandran and the Commonwealth Bank of Australia: ‘Transaction-Aware Transformers: Tailoring Deep Learning for Financial Modeling’
Hemanth Saratchandran and the Commonwealth Bank of Australia: ‘Confidential by Design: Transformer Architectures Tailored to Fully Homomorphic Encryption’
Simon Lucey and the Commonwealth Bank of Australia: ‘Data-Efficient Transformers: Effective Training from Small Datasets’
Simon Lucey and the Commonwealth Bank of Australia: ‘Enhancing Parameter Efficiency in Large-Scale Transformer Models through Low-Rank and High-Frequency Representations’

Congratulations to all researchers, industry partners, and teams involved in these exciting and impactful projects!

Postgraduate Scholarship Opportunities

The Adelaide Graduate Research School maintains a searchable database of available scholarship opportunities (both full scholarships and supplementary scholarships), funded by both the University of Adelaide and external funding bodies. While the majority of available scholarships are awarded as part of the standard admission and scholarship rounds for domestic and international students, some are awarded at different times throughout the year, and may have a separate application process.

Visit the Postgraduate Scholarships website regularly for up to date information on current scholarship opportunities.

Playford Trust PhD Scholarships

This year the Playford Trust will offer four (4) PhD scholarships for students planning to carry out research in its priority areas. Two (2) scholarships will be offered by the Playford Trust, one (1) by the family of Donald Laidlaw AO and one (1) by the Lang Family Foundation.

The scholarships are intended to supplement an existing Australian Government Research Training Program Stipend Scholarship (RTPS) or similar institutional PhD stipend scholarship.

Students must be undertaking their research with Adelaide University or Flinders University in the following priority areas for the Trust:

Advanced manufacturing and new technologies
Water, energy and climate change
Agriculture, aquaculture and food production
Space and defence technologies
Resources, energy and sustainability
Health sciences and enabling technologies.

The scholarships are valued at $26,250 and are paid at the rate of $7,500 per annum for three-and-a-half years.

Students must be commencing their PhD in the year the scholarship is awarded or have commenced their PhD no earlier than August of the preceding year. Further information on selection criteria can be found here https://playfordtrust.com.au/project/playford-trust-phd-scholarships/

Apply here https://playfordtrust.com.au/scholarships-and-awards/

Applications close Friday 16 January 2026.

Healthy Development Adelaide (HDA) & Department of Human Services (DHS) PhD Excellence Award 2026

Here’s an exciting top-up scholarship opportunity for graduate research candidates in the areas of Healthy Development.

Funded by Healthy Development Adelaide (HDA) & Department of Human Services (DHS), this scholarship provides a top-up scholarship of $7,500 p.a. for up to 3 years and up to $5,000 in travel support to attend conferences.

For further information, see https://health.adelaide.edu.au/healthy-development-adelaide/news/list/2025/11/13/hda-department-of-human-services-phd-excellence-award-2026-now-open.

Applications close Thursday 22 January 2026.

Lumley Top-Up Scholarship

The Kathleen Lumley Foundation is a perpetual foundation that seeks to advance cross-disciplinary study on issues that contribute to the creation of social, cultural, economic, and environmental prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region.

The Foundation has generously established a 3.5-year PhD top-up scholarship for graduate researchers valued at $18,000 per annum. The Foundation is seeking to support individuals from any discipline undertaking research on a topic that aligns with three or four of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.

Candidates from all disciplines commencing at Adelaide University in 2026 are eligible to apply for the “Lumley Top-Up Scholarships” Program.

More information about this exciting opportunity is available at Lumley Top-Up Scholarships | Adelaide University

Applications close 31 January 2026.

University Library

Library Resources and Access During the Holiday Period

Access to online resources will remain available 24/7 between the 24-31 December 2025 via our foundation university library website; from 1-4 January 2026 from the Adelaide University library website. See Library website for more information.
Ask Library service will be unavailable from Tuesday 23 December 2025 at 5pm and will reopen on Monday 5 January 2026 at 8.30am
Access to the Barr Smith, Brookman, Law, Magill, Mawson Lakes, Roseworthy, and Waite physical libraries will close at 5pm, 23 December 2025
Jeffrey Smart Building levels 1-4 will be open 24/7 (from 24 – 31 December 2025 a UniSA ID card will be required, 1 – 4 January 2026 an AU access card will be required)
Barr Smith Library (level 3 only) will be open 24/7 from 3-4 January 2026 with a valid ID card
Adelaide University’s eight libraries will fully reopen on 5 January 2026 at 8am (except Waite which reopens at 9am). See website for full details on opening times.

See Library website for more information on resources and access.

AI bootcamps: February 2026

Register your interest in Intersect's South Australian AI bootcamp starting February 2026. These bootcamps are intensive programs designed to equip researchers with cutting-edge AI skills, comprised of four specialised modules: Generative AI & Large Language Models; Machine Learning Operations (MLOps); Computer Vision; and Reinforcement Learning. Each bootcamp consists of five full days of hands-on training, led by research data scientists and AI experts, over seven weeks. Contact marium@intersect.org.au for more information.

Respect. Now. Always.

The University seeks to promote an inclusive, respectful and fair environment for all people whilst engaged in University-related activities. A range of services are available to assist students who have safety concerns or have experienced bullying, sexual harassment or assault. For further information, help, or to report an incident, please visit the Safer Campus Community website.

As a student of the University, you can help to keep your campus safe by looking out for your own safety, and the safety of others and by conducting yourself in a manner consistent with the Student Charter. Remember that unacceptable behaviours such as Harassment, Discrimination, Bullying and Victimisation are not tolerated at the University.

Free, independent and confidential Counselling Service

Did you know that as a Postgraduate Student you are entitled to access counselling services provided to students at The University of Adelaide. To find out more information visit the Counselling Centre website.

Free and confidential Disability Service

As a Postgraduate Student you are also eligible for assistance from the Disability Service if you have a disability or ongoing medical condition. Information about the nature of your disability is not disclosed – information obtained from you about the functional impact of the disability is shared with academic staff solely for the purpose of assisting you with your studies. Details relating to the Disability Service and the on line registration process can be found on the Disability website.

Useful resources for staff can be found at the staff section of the Disability website.