Scholarship for Honours Students in Statistics

Applications for 2025 are open

The Western Australian Branch of the Statistical Society of Australia offers annually a competitive scholarship for Honours students in Statistics.

Applications are open to students enrolled in the upcoming semester who are expecting to complete their course by the end of that calendar year, i.e., within 12 months.

Value and Number of Awards

The scholarship comprises a single cash award of $1,000 and complimentary membership of the Statistical Society of Australia (SSA) for one year. At the discretion of the Selection Panel, instead of a single award two individuals may each receive a prize of $500 and one year’s complimentary SSA membership. Should no applications of sufficient merit be received, the Branch reserves the right to award no scholarship or open applications for a second round later in the year.

Scholarship recipients are expected to deliver a seminar to the Society that clearly communicates how they have used and benefited from their award. This usually occurs during the Early Career & Student Statisticians evening held in May of the following year.

Eligibility

Applicants must reside in Western Australia and must be enrolled (or plan to enrol) in Semester One in an Honours degree majoring in Statistics or a related discipline, e.g., Econometrics, Biometrics, Data Science.

To be eligible for this Scholarship round, applicants must be expecting to complete their course by 31 December.

Applicants’ major focus of study must be statistical methodology and its applications.

Selection Criteria

Applicants must provide the Selection Panel with a written synopsis detailing the subject area and topic of their Honours thesis.

Applications will be judged according to the following criteria:

• Quality of academic record.
• Concentration of past studies on statistical topics.
• Orientation towards real-life applications of statistics and/or study of methods needed to make these feasible.
• Strength of referees' recommendations.

How to Apply

Applicants for the Scholarship must write a Letter of Application with the following enclosures:

• Statement addressing the Selection Criteria.
• A curriculum vitae.
• An academic Statement of Results from your course or any other relevant tertiary studies.
• The names and contact details of two (2) referees.

• Each referee must send a Letter of Reference commending your application directly to the WA Branch Secretary.

Applications and Reference Letters should be sent to the WA Branch Secretary (ssa.wa.secretary@gmail.com) by the closing date. Receipt of applications will be confirmed by email.

Closing Date

Applications close on Monday, 31 March 2025 at 9:00AM AWST.

Late applications will not be considered.

Past Recipients

• 2020: Lachlan Robinson (UWA)
  
• 2021: Michael Gerrard (UWA), Tinula Kariyawasam (UWA)
  
• 2022: Sophie Giraudo (UWA)
• 2023: George Malone (Curtin)
• 2024: Jecinta Jaarola (Curtin), Maxwell Dix-Matthews (UWA)
  

Queries

Please direct any queries to the WA Branch Secretary (ssa.wa.secretary@gmail.com).