PhD Scholarship in the Law of the Sea

Purpose

The Faculty of Law, UNSW Sydney, wishes to offer a PhD Scholarship to support a student with outstanding research potential in the Law of the Sea. It is intended that the successful applicant will commence their studies in Term 2 or 3 of 2020. The scholarship is to support a specific Faculty member and their projects (see details below).

Deadline

Monday, 4 February 2020 by 10am (AEST)

Amount

The stipendiary component of the scholarship shall be equivalent to the value of the yearly RTP Scholarship rate (for 2018, this rate is AUD $28,092 p.a.), together with Faculty top-up (AUD $5,000 p.a.). Where an international applicant is selected for a scholarship, the Faculty will support an application for a Tuition Fee Scholarship (TFS) to meet the cost of international tuition fees, provided the applicant meets the criteria for the award of a TFS. The award of the Scholarship will be conditional on the award of the TFS.

Tenure

Up to 3.5 years, subject to satisfactory progress.

Eligibility

Applicants may be Australian citizens, permanent residents or international. Students currently enrolled in or holding an offer to commence a full-time PhD in the UNSW Faculty of Law in 2019 may apply, provided that, by the application deadline, they shall have been enrolled for no longer than 12 months and they are not already holding or have been offered a scholarship for study at UNSW. The scholarship is for study on a full-time basis only, unless there are exceptional personal or medical circumstances that would require study on a part-time basis for all or part of the PhD programme. This scholarship is not open to students already enrolled in a PhD programme elsewhere.

Residency requirement

Applicants must pursue their PhD research in Sydney. External study is not permitted. The Law Faculty reserves the right to discontinue the scholarship in the event that the successful applicant ceases to be resident in Sydney. International applicants are responsible for securing any necessary visas to enable study based in Sydney.

Selection criteria

All applicants must possess:

• an undergraduate degree in Law or a related discipline at a 2i honours level (or equivalent); or

• a postgraduate qualification in Law or a related discipline with an average that equates to a Distinction average at UNSW (75%); or

• equivalent research or professional experience, supported by references and a detailed CV. International applicants must also meet UNSW English language requirements.

Previous research experience, including completion of a research thesis and / or publications is strongly encouraged.

Selection will be based on (a) the applicant’s academic qualifications, (b) the quality of their research proposal, (c) the applicant’s prior research experience and potential, and (d) the fit between the proposal and the focus areas of the scholarship.

Details of available scholarship

This PhD scholarship is available to participate in a project, led by Professor Natalie Klein, addressing the enhancement of maritime security through informal law-making. Proposals would be particularly welcome considering informal law-making in different areas of the law of the sea. Preference will be given to proposals that have a multilateral or regional perspective rather than focusing on the law and policy of one particular country. Multidisciplinary perspectives on the issues being assessed are encouraged.