Scholarship details
Study levels
Research and PhD
Student type
Future students and Current students
Study area
Communication and Data science
Eligibility criteria
Indigenous Australian, Academic performance, Migrants or refugees and Women
Citizenship
Australian or New Zealand and International
Application dates
- Applications close
- 13 March 2026
What you'll receive
- You'll receive a stipend of $37,010 per annum for a maximum duration of 3.5 years while undertaking a QUT PhD. The duration includes an extension of up to 6 months (PhD) if approved for your candidature. This is the full-time, tax‑exempt rate which will index annually.
- You will receive a tuition fee offset/sponsorship, covering the cost of your tuition fees for the first 4 full-time equivalent years of your doctoral studies.
- As the scholarship recipient, you will have the opportunity to work with a team of leading researchers, to undertake your own innovative research in and across the field.
Eligibility
- You need to meet the entry requirements for a QUT research degree / Doctor of Philosophy, including any English language requirements.
- Enrol as a full‑time, internal student (unless approval for part-time and/or external study is obtained).
- You must commence your degree by 14 August 2026.
- Have a completed Master of Philosophy, Honours degree, or equivalent postgraduate qualification in media and communication, political communication, digital communication, or a closely related field.
- A strong interest in qualitative research methods, including interviews and the analysis of online discussions, and a willingness to engage with quantitative content analysis approaches as part of a mixed-methods project.
How to apply
- Apply for this scholarship at the same time you apply for admission to a QUT research degree / Doctor of Philosophy.
- The first step is to email Dr Katharina Esau detailing your academic and research background, your motivation to research in this field and interest in this scholarship, and include your CV.
- If supported to apply, you will then submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) following the advice at How to apply for a research degree.
- In your EOI, nominate Dr Katharina Esau as your proposed principal supervisor, and copy the link to this scholarship website into question 2 of the financial details section.
About the scholarship
This PhD project will investigate how public opinion is formed in online spaces, with a particular focus on the deliberative quality of discussions, social influence dynamics, and platform affordances and governance across major digital platforms (Facebook, Reddit, and Wikipedia). It examines how citizens engage with contentious public issues such as climate change and immigration, how opinions emerge, stabilise, or change through interaction with others, and how argumentative exchanges, reciprocity, and majority–minority dynamics shape these processes. The project further identifies the conditions under which online discussions support constructive deliberation and resilient democratic debate in digital environments.
The successful candidate will work within the Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) project Democratic Resilience Online: Strengthening Public Opinion Formation Amid Digital Threats. The PhD will be supervised by Dr Katharina Esau and based at the Digital Media Research Centre (DMRC) at Queensland University of Technology. The candidate will join a vibrant interdisciplinary research environment and have opportunities to engage with national and international collaborators, develop advanced mixed-methods skills (including qualitative, computational, and AI-assisted analysis), and contribute to policy- and public-facing research outputs.