Domestic PhD Stipend Scholarship Opportunity - BloodCare Centre of Research Excellence (CRE) - Improving supportive care for patients with blood cancer

Job No.: 697704

Location: 509 St Kilda Road, Melbourne 

Contract Type: Full-time (part-time considered)

Duration: 3-year fixed-term appointment

Supervisors: Professor Zoe McQuilten (plus co-supervisors to be confirmed based on project alignment) 

Remuneration:  A stipend of up to $46,000 per annum (pro rata for part-time) is available for 3 years, which may be converted to top-up funding if candidates receive a university or national PhD scholarship. Reasonable additional support is available for project resources and conference attendance. 

The Opportunity:

The NHMRC-funded BloodCare CRE is offering an outstanding PhD scholarship opportunity in supportive care for patients with blood cancers. We welcome applications from candidates across a diverse range of professional backgrounds and career stages—from recent Honours or Masters graduates to experienced researchers, allied health professionals, biostatisticians, and newly qualified medical Fellows. Whether you arrive with a fully developed research proposal or are looking to co-design a project around your existing clinical or methodological strengths, this opportunity is structured to adapt to your unique career goals.

Research Areas and Project Design:

Candidates have the flexibility to align with existing CRE research initiatives or take advantage of a unique opportunity to design their own PhD project alongside our investigator team. This ensures your research directly leverages your current background while allowing you to tailor the project to your preferred methodologies, new skills you wish to develop, and your long-term career goals.

The broader program of the BloodCare CRE (www.bloodcarecre.org) focuses on several key pillars of supportive care. Your project can span one or more of these core areas focused on blood cancers:

• Optimising transfusion support
• Preventing and managing infection
• Investigating nutrition and the microbiome
• Improving symptom control and psychological support

Indicative PhD Projects (Examples Only):

To illustrate the scope, data access, and clinical impact of the CRE, candidates could choose to align with, expand upon, or pivot from existing initiatives such as:

Example 1: Big Data & Infection Risk Prediction (Stream: Infection Prevention)

• The Scope: Leverage large, linked datasets from national blood cancer registries and the National Health Data Hub (NHDH) to identify disease- and treatment-specific risk factors for healthcare-associated infections (HAIs), and opportunities for prevention. A primary focus will be evaluating the impact of vaccination protocols on infectious outcomes, assessing vaccination coverage, and estimating vaccine effectiveness.
• Potential Focus Areas: Characterising national sepsis risk using linked hospital, ICU, and immunisation data; quantifying the burden of vaccine-preventable infection and identifying opportunities to improve vaccination coverage in immunocompromised populations; and providing evidence to inform national health policy.
• Ideal For: Candidates with an interest or background in biostatistics, epidemiology, data science, or public health registry data.

Example 2: Clinical Trial & Implementation Science (Stream: IVCare Adaptive Platform Trial)

• The Scope: Embed your research within the world-first IVCare adaptive platform trial, designed to evaluate interventions to prevent Central Line-Associated Bloodstream Infections in patients with blood cancers.
• Potential Focus Areas: Mapping and addressing variation in clinical practice across sites; developing guidelines to better inform device selection; investigating implementation challenges to understand barriers to evidence adoption; or evaluating novel device interventions.
• Ideal For: Candidates with a background or interest in clinical trials, nursing, implementation science, or qualitative/mixed-methods research.

⚠️ Note: These projects are examples only. Candidates will have the opportunity to work with the supervisory team to co-design a project within the CRE's core pillars – transfusion support, preventing and managing infection, investigating nutrition and the microbiome and improving symptom control and psychological support.

What We Offer:

• Generous Financial Support: Access top-tier scholarship funding (up to $46,000 p.a.) alongside dedicated financial support for conference travel, open-access publication fees, and essential project infrastructure.
• Access to Rich, World-Class Datasets & Trials: Work directly with national clinical registries, the National Health Data Hub (NHDH), and cutting-edge adaptive platform trials like IVCare, giving your research immediate real-world translational reach.
• World-Leading Collaboration: Join a vibrant, multidisciplinary network of internationally recognised biostatisticians, clinical trialists, haematologists, infectious disease specialists, and implementation scientists.
• Dynamic & Flexible Academic Culture: Benefit from flexible working arrangements (including full-time or part-time options and hybrid working) designed to support work-life balance and ongoing clinical commitments.
• A Top-Tier Research Environment: Be based at Monash University’s School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine at 509 St Kilda Road—a premier, highly collaborative research precinct in Melbourne with access to comprehensive professional development and methodology workshops.

Selection criteria:

Prospective applicants must satisfy Monash University’s PhD entry requirements as outlined in the Monash Graduate Research Admission Procedure, including:

• Valid and current Australian work rights (Domestic applicants only).
• A bachelor’s degree of at least four years in a relevant discipline, including a research thesis or project, with a minimum overall average grade equivalent to First Class Honours (H1).

OR a master's degree in a relevant discipline including a research thesis or project equivalent to at least 25% of one year of full-time study, with a minimum overall average grade equivalent to First Class Honours (H1).

OR a combination of qualifications and relevant professional/research experience deemed equivalent by the Graduate Research Committee.

• Preferred: A background or experience in clinical research, public health, or health economics or mathematical modelling.
• Preferred: Availability to commence in Q1 2027 (or by arrangement).

How to apply

We are seeking Expressions of Interest (EOI) from exceptional candidates who wish to contribute to improving supportive care for patients with blood cancers. This position involves a two-stage selection process:

Stage 1: Expression of Interest (EOI)

Please submit your EOI directly to the BloodCare CRE via email at BloodCare (bloodcare.cre@monash.edu) with the subject line "PhD Application - BloodCare CRE". Your application must include:

Cover Letter (max. 500 words): Outlining your suitability, why you want to pursue a PhD with the BloodCare CRE, and your broad areas of research interest.

Curriculum Vitae: Including a list of any peer-reviewed publications, conference presentations, and relevant work/research experience.

Academic Transcripts: Scanned copies of all relevant undergraduate and postgraduate transcripts.

Stage 2: Formal Monash Candidature Application

Candidates shortlisted during the EOI stage will be formally invited to interview and collaborate with supervisors to draft a project proposal, before submitting a full application for Monash PhD candidature due the 31^st of October.

Applications Close for EOI: Friday 25 September 2026, 11:55pm AEST