Vision and Objectives

UQIDAR will attract the best global talent, including elite students, academics, researchers and scientists to work on goal-directed, cross-disciplinary grand challenges that are of interest to Australia, India and the global community and that also align with The University of Queensland (UQ) and Indian Institute of Technology (IITD) research strengths. UQIDAR will enable UQ and IITD to enrol the brightest and most talented students in a joint PhD with joint supervision from both institutions. It is anticipated that the majority of students (i-students) will be recruited into the joint-PhD program in Delhi, and there will be a small cohort of Australia-anchored scholars (q-students).

  • i-students will spend 3 years in India and a minimum of one year in Australia while
  • q-students will spend 3 years in Australia and one year in India.

It is expected that candidature will be a maximum of 4 years in all disciplines, depending on a students progress, with scholarships offered for a maximum of 4 years. Both i-students and q-students will be expected to undertake some coursework. Upon successful completion of the program, students will be offered a PhD degree from both UQ and IITD. Students of the Academy will:

  • Gain a joint global qualification from two institutions (UQ and IITD) in 4 years;
  • Receive a generous scholarship;
  • Be in a position to take advantage of world-class facilities and resources and gain exposure to a new research ecosystem, network and environment; and
  • Benefit from global expertise via dual supervision between UQ and IITD as well as possible industry input.

The collaboration will involve strong industry linkages whereby industry will be involved in supporting PhD students. Industry supported PhD scholars will work on challenging research problems posed and defined by industry partners of the UQIDAR. Industry supervisors will co-guide the students along with UQ and IITD supervisors. The collaboration will also enable the establishment of a mobility or fellowship scheme to enable academics and postdoctoral fellows to spend time at each institute, expanding research linkages and offering career development opportunities for early career researchers.