About this scholarship

These scholarships include a living stipend to support you as you complete a research project for your Doctor of Philosophy, Master of Philosophy or a research-focused professional doctorate at Universities in collaboration with AUFIN.

Students can be offered RTP scholarships for one or more of the following:

• tuition fees offset
• a stipend for general living costs
• allowances related to the ancillary cost of HDRs.

RTP scholarship periods of support

RTP scholarships are available for a minimum of 3 years and up to a maximum of 4 years at the discretion of the HEP for students undertaking a research doctorate at a full-time student load, and for a minimum of 6 years up to a maximum of 8 years for research doctorate students studying at a part-time student load.

For students undertaking a research masters, RTP scholarships are available for up to 2 years for students studying at a full-time student load, and for up to 4 years for those studying at a part-time student load.

RTP scholarship applications

RTP scholarships are administered by individual HEPs who each have their own application and selection processes. Students need to contact AUFIN to discuss how to apply for an RTP scholarship. Prospective students may choose to apply for an RTP scholarship at more than one HEP.

Acknowledgement of RTP funding

The RTP now has a digital object identifier (DOI): doi.org/10.82133/C42F-K220.

RTP scholarship supported students, their supervisor or other parties that produce material relating to the student’s HDR project are encouraged to include the RTP DOI in their acknowledgment of RTP funding for any material produced through their RTP supported HDR study. An example acknowledgement is: 

This research was supported by an Australian Government Research Training Program (RTP) Scholarship doi.org/10.82133/C42F-K220.

RTP scholarship supported students that have an Open Researcher and Contributor ID (ORCID) profile are encouraged to include the RTP DOI in their profile.

In accordance with the Commonwealth Scholarships Guidelines (Research) 2017, RTP Scholarships include RTP Fees Offset, RTP Stipends and RTP Allowances provided to a HDR student through the RTP.

HEPs and HDR students are not prevented from also using other relevant persistent identifiers, including DOIs.

Guidelines, conditions and calculations

Australian Government funding is provided through annual block grants to eligible Australian HEPs in accordance with section 46–20 of the Higher Education Support Act 2003 (HESA) and the Commonwealth Scholarships Guidelines (Research) 2017.

2025 RTP grant amounts allocated to eligible HEPs are based on a formula that reflects the relative performance of each HEP in attracting research income and supporting students to complete HDRs.

A detailed guide to calculating RTP grant amounts is available.

RTP stipend rates

The RTP base and maximum stipend rates are indexed each year, effective from 1 January. The base and maximum RTP stipend rates for the following year are announced by 1 October each year. The table below details current and recent RTP stipend rates.

A time series of historical stipend rates for postgraduate research scholarships is available.

Eligibility

You’re eligible if you’re:

• nominated by an enrolling school or institute at Universities in collaboration with AUFIN
• assessed by the Graduate School as meeting all conditions for admission to the higher degree by research program.
• not be receiving a living allowance award, or scholarship providing a benefit greater than 75% of the RTP Scholarship living allowance rate to undertake the higher degree by research program

How to apply

You apply for this scholarship when you submit an application for a PhD or an MPhil. You don’t need to submit a separate scholarship application.

In your application, under the ‘Scholarship and Collaborative study’ section:

• Select I would like to be considered for (Partner universities of AUFIN) scholarship to cover a living allowance stipend and tuition fee expenses.

Due to the volume of applications, shortlisting processes occur as part of the selection process. If you are not shortlisted, you will receive an unsuccessful email to allow you time to apply for other funding opportunities. Unsuccessful emails can occur at any stage of the process once a decision is made.

Application dates

You can apply at any time for admission; however, our scholarship rounds have opening and closing dates that must be followed. Please check the dates below to ensure you meet the closing dates for your preferred scholarship round.

International applicants – for all 2026 Research Quarters

Applications for this round have closed.

Research Quarter 1, 2, 3 or 4, 2026 start

• Monday, 31 March 2025 – Applications open.
• ​Sunday, 18 May 2025 – Applications close –all documents should be submitted by this date.
• ​Thursday, 11 September 2025 – Outcomes from this date.
• Sunday, 5 October 2025 – Acceptances due.

If you have pending documentation, such as Honours or Master’s results, you can still apply. In your application, include information about when your results will be available. We will advise you if it is possible to consider your application in the round.

Domestic Applicants – for Research Quarter 1 or 2, 2026 (Round 2)

This round is for domestic applicants and those onshore international students who have completed a program at the Universities in collaboration with AUFIN in Semester 2 2025. Applicants must be onshore at the time that offers are issued.

• Monday, 25 August 2025 – Applications open.
• ​Monday, 22 September 2025 – Applications close – all documents should be submitted by this date.
• Monday, 15 December 2025 – Outcomes sent from this date.
• Wednesday, 7 January 2026 – Acceptances due.

If you have pending documentation, such as Honours or Master’s results, please still apply with information on when those results will be available.

International applicants – 2026/2027 Round

Research Quarter 4 2026 or early 2027 start

• Monday, 3 November 2025 – EOIs open in StudyLink.
• ​Monday, 15 December 2025 – EOIs close.
• ​Saturday, 31 January 2026 – Applications close.
• Tuesday, 28 April 2026 – Offers sent from this date.
• Sunday, 31 May 2026 – Acceptances due.

If you have pending documentation, such as Honours or Master’s results, you can still apply. In your application, include information about when your results will be available. We will advise you if it is possible to consider your application in the round.

Selection criteria

Our Partner universities will consider your application against the key areas in the scholarship selection criteria matrix (DOCX, 47.12 KB) (Example in the University of Queensland), which include:

• your academic performance, evidence of research capability, quality of research project
• the quality of your proposed research environment including resourcing
• the quality of your proposed advisory team including record of successful supervision, appropriate advisory load, complementary expertise.

What happens next

We’ll email you to let you know the outcome of your application. If you’re offered a scholarship, you’ll need to accept by the due date.

If you’re a current student in one of Universities that have partnered with AUFIN, you won’t receive an email until after the final results from your program have been published.

Rules

A domestic part-time student with carer’s responsibilities, a medical condition or a disability, which prevents them from studying full-time may be eligible for scholarship consideration, on a case-by-case basis. When applying to hold the living stipend scholarship part-time, please provide evidence of your carer’s responsibilities, medical condition or disability. Though not specifically requested by the portal, you may upload these under ‘Additional documents’.