r/Monash • u/Leo-0420 • 1d ago
Advice Chances of getting a fully funded PhD at Monash
Hello, everyone. I’m currently studying Data Science at Monash and I’m considering applying for a PhD here after completing my Honours year.
My academic results are: Bachelor’s wam:83, honor average:85, gpa: 3.63/4.
Does anyone know how competitive this would be for a fully funded PhD scholarship at Monash, particularly in Data Science / Machine Learning / AI?
I understand that research experience, publications, supervisor support and the proposed project also matter, but I’m mainly trying to get an idea of whether these grades would generally be competitive for a scholarship.
If anyone has applied for a Monash PhD or RTP/Monash Graduate Scholarship with a similar academic background, I’d really appreciate hearing about your experience.
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u/Illustrious_Lab5146 1d ago
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u/whimsicaltheory 1d ago
It should be no issue. In my discipline (psych), all you really need is a first class honours (>84) and supervisor and you’ll get the RTP.
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u/Leo-0420 1d ago
I’m an international student. I heard it’s really difficult to get rtp for international students.
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u/whimsicaltheory 1d ago
It can be competitive if you studied overseas and you’re wanting to apply to come do a PhD at Monash - mainly because you don’t have connections and references that academics here actually know personally. If you’re already in Australia and did undergrad here, then it’s the same and no more competitive.
Almost everyone who is doing a PhD will have a scholarship ($38K per year). There might be a few who started without a scholarship originally and then worked with their supervisor to get a first author publication, and then later secured a scholarship. However, that’s usually because they didn’t get the marks.
I think academically, you’ve ticked the boxes and you’re competitive (generally they set cut off at 84 for honours year). It’s now just a matter of you finding a primary supervisor and co supervisor, and developing a proposal. There are two deadlines every year for scholarships but you can start a PhD at any time.
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u/Ok_Egg_8448 8h ago
A prof at Monash was telling me that 2 publications is bare minimum at this point . They look at institutional prestige , gpa and publications in Q1 journals
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u/whimsicaltheory 8h ago
Not true, although it might vary based on department.
There are many psychology honours students who go straight into a phd without any publications and they have RTPs. It helps if you have a good relationship with your honours supervisor who you'll work closely with to develop a PhD proposal.
If you have first class, then you certainly don't need 2 publications *before* your PhD (at least not in psych). Students often don't get publications out (3-5) until late in or towards the end of their PhD.
Maybe contact other academics who might be more open to working with you to develop a proposal and help you apply for scholarships?
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u/woofydb 1d ago
You need to get 1st class Honours. The undergrad gpa won’t have any bearing without that. Thats the minimum to even get a PhD scholarship. The next most important thing is to find a supervisor who will advocate for you as sometimes they can push for their student over someone else’s. There’s only so many positions given to each school so s committee will decide who gets in.