The Statistical Society of Australia will award up to four top-up scholarships to PhD or Masters students in Australia who are current members of the Society. Scholarships will be offered as a one year $2,500 award (part-time students can spread their award over two years). Awards will be per calendar year. A list with the names of previous top-up scholarship recipients can be found here.

Up to one of the top-up scholarships awarded is funded by the Partnership Agreement between the SSA and the Australian Bureau of Statistics. If you would like your award to be considered by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, please describe (max ½ page) how your work relates to enhancing statistical methods and/or developing new methods which could be used to support the sustainable production of official statistics. This may include methods to produce insights and data products derived from an expanding suite of data sources, including traditional sources such as sample surveys, and/or other sources such as administrative and digital data.

Eligibility

To be eligible students must:

• Be a current student member of the society who joined before 1 January 2024 .
• Be currently enrolled in a recognised masters or PhD course in Australia, whether full-time or part-time.
• Be completing a project in the development of statistical or data science methodology, in the assessment of statistical or data science methodology, or in the development of statistical/data science software.
• Have at least one year left before the completion of their degree.
• Be working in paid employment for 40 hours per fortnight or less.

Students can be domestic or international. Successful applicants will be allowed to apply in future rounds. Students will be awarded a maximum of three scholarships.

The application

To apply please complete this short application form and detail:

1.        Your undergraduate and postgraduate degrees (if any).

2.     Proof of current enrolment.

3.      Your gender for stratification purposes (see below).

4.     A description of your work:

·         A brief summary of your PhD/Masters, including the supervisory team, main aims and how it will contribute knowledge to statistical theory and/or improve practice.

·         Your progress to date on your PhD/Masters.

·         A brief summary of your career to date.

·         Your plans for a career in statistics.

The deadline is 5pm AEST, 12 May 2024 for the 2024 round. The awards will be announced in June 2024. 

Applications must be two pages or less, or 2.5 pages for applicants for the Australian Bureau of Statistics-supported scholarship. Any applications longer than this will have their additional pages deleted before being sent to the reviewers.

The selection process

Applications will be reviewed by two or three senior statisticians and judged as either suitable or not. Suitable applications are those that meet the key criteria of supporting a student working on a statistical/data science project who aims to build their career in statistics/data science. Projects can be applied, theoretical or computational. All applicants judged as eligible will be entered into a draw with the four winners chosen at random with at least two from non-male applicants.

Expectations on the winning students

The winners must agree to being named on the SSA website together with their supervisory team, their project title and a summary paragraph. Students would be expected to write a brief article (preferably with a photo) towards the end of their scholarship to be included in the Society’s newsletter. Students would be expected to present at the national conference if their scholarship covers a conference year. Students should acknowledge the scholarship funding in any related publications or presentations.