Delivery mechanisms for emerging livestock cattle feed supplements into extensive grazing systems in Australia (CSIRO Industry PhD Scholarship)

The CSIRO Industry PhD Program (iPhD) is a four-year research training program, focusing on applied research that benefits industry by solving real-world challenges. It aims to produce the next generation of innovation leaders with the skills to work at the interface of research and industry in Australia.

The program includes:

• admission to a university PhD program
• supervision by the participating university, CSIRO, and an industry partner
• a four-year scholarship package totalling about $48,000 per annum tax exempt (2026 rate)
• a four-year project expense and development package starting from $13,000 per annum
• a 60-day industry engagement component with the industry partner
• a structured professional development and training program to develop your applied research skills.

Successful students are subject to the policies, procedures and guidelines of the participating university in addition to the CSIRO Industry PhD Program terms and conditions. Students will receive a standard PhD on completion.

The student must:

• be an Australian citizen or Permanent Resident, or a New Zealand citizen
• meet participating university PhD admission requirements
• meet university English language requirements
• not have previously completed a PhD
• be able to commence the program in the year of the offer
• enrol as a full-time PhD student. Part-time arrangements may be considered if approved by the supervisory team and in accordance with university policy
• be prepared to be located at the project location(s) that the host university has approved and, if required, comply with the host university’s external enrolment procedures
• be prepared to undergo onboarding to CSIRO, which will include passing mandatory government background checks (allow for between four to eight weeks) and complete any other CSIRO requirements.

Refer to about the scholarship for further details on ideal student skillsets.

Apply for this scholarship at the same time you apply for admission to QUT's Doctor of Philosophy .

To apply:

• the first step is to email Professor Phil Pope detailing your academic and research background, your motivation to research in this field and interest in this scholarship, and include your CV
• if nominated to apply, you will then submit an expression of interest (EOI) to QUT following the advice at how to apply for a research degree
• in your EOI, nominate Professor Phil Pope as your proposed principal supervisor, and copy the link to this scholarship web page into question two of the financial details section.

• Your application will be assessed by the supervisory team and shortlisted applicants are invited for an interview.
• The supervisory team nominates a preferred applicant and informs CSIRO's iPhD office.
• The nominated applicant will be instructed to formally apply to QUT.
• The application is then assessed by QUT against the PhD admission criteria.
• QUT will issue a letter of offer for the program if all conditions have been satisfied.

This project will investigate several methods for delivery or co-delivery of cattle feed supplements. The expected outcome is studying and improving stability at various environmental conditions during supplement manufacturing, encapsulation options, slow-release technologies and improvement of efficacy and water treatment technologies. This project will improve delivery systems as one of the bottlenecks identified for adoption of methane reducing supplements has been delivery in extensive systems.

Consideration will be given to applicants with either set of expertise:

A PhD student with bioinformatics experience will generate and analyse complex microbiome sequence data to complement existing rumen microbiome datasets. Via multi-omics analyses, they will create an inventory of microbial genomes and lists of expressed metabolic features that are signature for the keystone microorganisms that drive rumen function. It is expected that this project will formulate a dedicated 'wish-list' of cultivation targets and will engage other project partners in guiding cultivation work that uses CMR’s world leading high-throughput cultivation platform.

• Honours/Msc degree in microbiology/bioinformatics, with specific emphasis on functional microbial multi-omic data analysis.
• Knowledge of a programming language e.g. Python/R.

• Molecular laboratory, bacteriology and/or cultivation-based experimental work.
• Network-based analysis of multi-omics data.

A PhD student with molecular lab experience will primarily engage in the high throughput cultivation and characterisation of core microbiota. To characterise core microbiota, they will design and implement synthetic consortia to focus on core metabolic features that drive rumen digestion and methane formation. They will collaborate with project partners and utilize meta-omic technologies to characterize microbiota of interest and additionally verify the importance of their cultivation targets against global datasets from European consortiums.

• Honours/Msc degree in microbiology/bacteriology/biochemistry with specific emphasis on molecular techniques.

• Anaerobic microbiology.
• Single-cell sorting/sequencing.
• Bioinformatic analyses of microbial functional omic data.
• Knowledge of a programming language e.g. Python/R.