Scholarship details
Study levels
Research and PhD
Student type
Future students and Current students
Study area
Engineering, Science, technology and engineering and mathematics
Eligibility criteria
Academic performance
Citizenship
Australian, Australian or New Zealand and International
Application dates
- Applications close
- 31 July 2026
What you'll receive
- You'll receive a stipend scholarship 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 six 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 four full-time equivalent years of your doctoral studies or the first two full-time equivalent years of your master degree 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 must:
- meet the entry requirements for QUT's 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)
- have completed a bachelor degree (honours) or master degree by research in either:
- mechanical engineering
- biomedical engineering
- chemical engineering
- civil engineering
- applied mathematics
- applied physics
- related disciplines.
- Demonstrated knowledge/experience in:
- multiphase flow
- porous media flow
- microfluidic fabrication and experiments
- 3D printing
- surface chemistry
- Demonstrated programming skills in:
- Matlab
- C++
- Python
- CAD modelling
- CFD
- Demonstrated ability to work independently and to formulate and tackle research problems.
- Demonstrated academic research experience as evidenced by publications in high quality research journals or conferences.
How to apply
The first step is to email Professor Emilie Sauret detailing your academic and research background, your motivation to research in this field and interest in this scholarship, and include your CV.
Shortlisted applicants will be contacted to arrange a short discussion/interview.
If you are nominated as our preferred scholarship recipient, you will be asked to submit an expression of interest (EOI) following the advice at how to apply for a research degree.
About the scholarship
We are seeking a PhD candidate to investigate how fluid behaviour can be programmed through the structural design of porous materials. The project sits at the intersection of capillarity, porous media, microfluidics, and advanced manufacturing, with a particular focus on how 3D-printed architectures and surface properties can be engineered to control the transport and separation of immiscible fluids.
Inspired by emerging advances in structural capillarity and open fluidic systems, this research will explore how geometry, wettability, and fluid properties can be harnessed to achieve passive and energy-efficient liquid manipulation. The candidate will combine experiments and theoretical analysis to uncover the governing physical mechanisms and establish design principles for next-generation porous materials.
A key application focus of the PhD is spontaneous fluid separation, especially for mixtures such as oil and water. Efficient fluid separation is central to wastewater treatment, food and pharmaceutical processing, and petrochemical systems, yet many current technologies remain energy-intensive, chemically demanding, and operationally complex. By developing porous structures that enable fluids to separate naturally through capillary and interfacial effects, this project aims to advance a more sustainable and scalable alternative.
The PhD candidate will be supervised by Professor Emilie Sauret, Professor Yi-Chin Toh, and Dr Zhongzheng Wang.