Interested in undertaking higher-degree-by-research (HDR) studies at RMIT University under the supervision of one of the Network’s world-leading researchers?
Please review this page to ensure you meet RMIT’s admissions standards, that you have the relevant materials gathered that you’ll need to share, and that you’ve adequately considered how complementary your research interests and skills are with the Network’s leaders and with the Network’s four themes:
- News, digital platforms and cultures
- Journalistic production and news audiences
- News literacies, information integrity and fact-checking
- Media governance, policy and guidelines
1. Am I eligible to undertake PhD studies at RMIT?
RMIT’s minimum requirements for admission to the PhD program are either:
- a bachelor’s degree requiring at least four (4) years of full-time study in a relevant discipline awarded with honours. The degree should include a research component comprised of a thesis, other research projects or research methodology subjects that constitute at least 25% of a full time (or part time equivalent) academic year. The applicant must have achieved at least a distinction average (70% or higher) in the final year; or
- a master’s degree that includes a research component comprised of at least 25% of a full time (or part time equivalent) academic year with an overall distinction average (70% or higher) or a master’s degree without a research component with at least a high distinction average (80% or higher)
If the answer to one of these is “yes,” please proceed to step two.
2. Am I from a non-English-speaking country?
International applicants from non-English speaking countries must also show evidence of meeting RMIT’s English language requirements. Information is available here.
If you meet these requirements, please proceed to step three.
3. Am I competitive for a scholarship?
Internal guidance suggests that prospective HDR students are more competitive for a scholarship if they have at least one English-language publication in a quality (Q1 or Q2) journal or one or more book chapters published by a quality book publisher.
If you already have one or more quality research outputs published in English, please proceed to step four.
4. Do my research interests and aspirations align with NTS Network themes and the Network leadership’s expertise areas?
The NTS Network is organised into four themes: News, digital platforms and cultures; Journalistic production and news audiences; News literacies, information integrity and fact-checking; and Media governance, policy and guidelines. Please consider the alignment between your research ambitions and these themes as well as the subject matter and research methods expertise of the Network’s leadership.
(If you are successful in your bid to undertake graduate studies, you’ll have a supervisory team with different backgrounds and skills. While it’s not necessarily the case that your principal supervisor will have the same research methods experience as you, their research topics should align with your aspirations and at least one person on the supervisory team should have expertise in the research methods you want to learn or deploy.)
If this is the case, please proceed to step four.
5. Do I have all the materials needed to signal my interest to undertake HDR studies at RMIT under one or more of the Network’s leaders?
If you’ve completed the previous steps, please next email the Network ([email protected]) to introduce yourself and include the following elements with your email:
- An up-to-date copy of your CV
- Copies of your tertiary academic transcripts that evidence you meet or exceed RMIT’s admissions requirements for both grades and a degree with a sufficient research component
- Official IELTS results, if applicable, ideally with scores of 7.0 or above
- 3-5 research questions that you would like to explore in your postgraduate studies and/or discuss further with the NTS leadership team
- A copy of the English-language research output you’ve published or co-published in a quality venue.
The NTS Network leadership team will review these initial materials and will let you know if its members have interest and capacity to take your initial expression of interest further. If so, we will invite you to prepare a full research proposal based on RMIT’s guidelines, which one or more of the Network’s leadership team members will review.
You will also be invited to a video chat where you can further discuss your research interests, research proposal, and interpersonal fit.
If all of this is positive, one of the Network’s leaders will invite you to submit a formal application for PhD admission to RMIT. You can use this email as confirmation that you have provisional supervisory support should your PhD scholarship and admissions applications be successful.
Please note: scholarships are highly competitive and completing an expression of interest for a scholarship does not guarantee that one will be offered. Due to the volume of enquiries received, we are not able to respond to every expression of interest.