Scholarship details
Study levels
Postgraduate
Student type
Future students and Current students
Study area
Science, technology and engineering and mathematics
Eligibility criteria
Academic performance
Citizenship
Australian or New Zealand and International
Application dates
- Applications close
- 15 December 2026
How to apply
The first step is to email Professor YuanTong Gu via email yuantong.gu@qut.edu.au providing a CV detailing your academic performance (GPA), research experience and skills, publications/reports, and English language test result if you are an international student.
If supported to apply, you will then submit an expression of interest (EOI) following the advice at how to apply for a research degree.
About the scholarship
The candidate will be supervised by Professor YuanTong Gu and an expert team to conduct innovative research on interpretable AI-driven smart design of next generation construction materials.
In Australia, brick production has been a major manufacturing sector with a projected market value of $668.7M in 2025, producing more than 600 million bricks annually. However, formulation design and quality control in the brick industry still largely rely on empirical, trial-and-error methods, resulted in high defect rates, considerable economic losses and unnecessary CO2 emissions due to wasted energy during production.
Under the support of Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage Project and local brick industry, this project will revolutionise the brickmaking industry by integrating mineral science with machine learning to overcome persistent challenges in quality, efficiency, and sustainability. Machine learning based models will be developed to predict the performance of bricks, taking into consideration of material sources and manufacturing condition. AI-driven smart design approach will be adopted to interpret the underpinning mechanisms.
On top of new scientific discoveries, the outcomes will directly support Australian manufacturers through improved quality control and production efficiency, data-driven innovation, and more sustainable, scalable production of one of the world’s most essential construction materials.