The Centre for Coastal Biogeochemistry at Southern Cross University (Lismore, Australia) is
offering two PhD scholarships valued at $23,000 per year. The scholarships are tax free to
both Australian and international students. Tuition and fees will be waived.
The two projects should focus on the following:
1) Influence of submarine groundwater discharge on carbon cycling in coastal waters,
supervised by Dr. Isaac Santos
2) Investigating the transformation and fate of dissolved organic carbon and nitrogen in
coastal sediments using stable isotope tracers, supervised by Dr Joanne Oakes.
Field sites for PhD projects can be negotiated, and include hydrothermal fields, sand beaches,
mangroves, coastal embayments, estuaries, and coral reefs.
Shortlisted candidates will be requested to prepare a 2-page research proposal and to perform
a telephone interview. Starting dates can be negotiated, but ideally the candidates should start
in August 2012. Candidates from non-English speaking countries may be required to
demonstrate English language proficiency. International cooperation will be encouraged.
The Australian Research Council recently ranked the geochemistry group at SCU the highest
rank of 5 for “outstanding performance well above world standards”. The Australian
education system differs from the American system in that no course work is required for
PhD students, allowing the student to engage in full time research from the start. Our Centre
is equipped with cutting-edge instrumentation, has full technical support, and has well-funded
projects all over Australia and overseas.
For applications, please email your preferred supervisor with a two-page CV by 30 May.
Applicants may include up to two supporting scientific documents (i.e., conference abstract,
thesis, technical report, etc) that demonstrate relevant research experience.
Additional scholarships may be offered to outstanding students interested in joining our
Centre. Information about our research can be found at http://www.scu.edu.au/coastal-
More information can be obtained via email to Dr Isaac Santos (Isaac.santos@scu.edu.au) or
Dr Joanne Oakes (Joanne.Oakes@scu.edu.au)
