University of Melbourne Graduate Research Scholarships 2027: Stipend, Fee Offset and Deadline

The University of Melbourne Graduate Research Scholarships pay for a PhD or research master’s at Melbourne. For international students the package is a full tuition fee offset, a tax-free living stipend, a relocation grant of AUD 3,000 and single Overseas Student Health Cover. Melbourne’s scholarship page lists the stipend at AUD 38,500 a year on the 2025 rate, and the university’s own 2026 PhD adverts quote AUD 39,500. About 600 awards are made each year, and you do not fill in a scholarship form: applying for a graduate research degree by the closing date puts you in the running.

For 2027 entry the first deadline is close. The Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences closes Round 1 on 31 October 2026, with outcomes on 18 December 2026, and later rounds close on 31 January 2027 and 15 May 2027. Other faculties publish their own dates on each course’s “How to apply” tab, so the deadline that applies to you depends on the faculty.

University of Melbourne Graduate Research Scholarships at a glance

What the scholarship pays, in real numbers

Melbourne describes the award as a 100% fee remission plus up to AUD 135,000. That second figure is the stipend: 3.5 years at AUD 38,500 comes to AUD 134,750. The fee offset is worth even more, because international PhD fees at Melbourne are high.

The fee totals multiply the first-year fee by four, so treat them as rough. Fees rise each year, and the offset rises with them. The stipend is normally tax-free for full-time students because it is paid for study, and it includes limited paid sick, maternity and parenting leave. Part-time students have tax withheld, but international students on a student visa must study full time anyway.

Notice the gap between the fee offset (4 years) and the stipend (3.5 years). If your PhD runs past three and a half years, the last months are unpaid unless your supervisor has a grant to cover them. Melbourne says scholarships are usually awarded for the maximum length and cannot be extended, so plan a thesis timeline that finishes inside 3.5 years.

Who is eligible for the Melbourne Graduate Research Scholarships

The rules are short. You must either:

• have applied for, and meet the entry requirements of, a graduate research degree at the University of Melbourne, or
• be currently enrolled in a graduate research degree at Melbourne.

There is no nationality list. Applicants from Africa, Asia, Latin America, Europe and the Middle East compete in the same pool. Entry to the degree itself needs a qualification Melbourne assesses as at least equal to an Australian honours degree, or comparable research experience, and most programmes want in-principle support from a supervisor before you apply. Each course sets its own English requirement on its course page, and research programmes can ask for more than coursework degrees.

Domestic and international students get different deals

Every domestic student offered a Masters by Research or PhD gets the RTP fee offset automatically. International students do not. For you, the fee offset and the stipend both depend on how you rank, and the ranking is competitive.

How Melbourne selects scholarship winners

Stipend scholarships are merit based. Melbourne scores and ranks applicants on two things:

1. Your most recent completed degree: the grades in your honours, master’s or equivalent, with weight on the research component.
2. Your research potential: judged from your proposal, your supervisor’s support and your record.

Melbourne also lists other factors that can count: a degree at the same level as the one you are applying for, relevant professional experience, refereed publications, specialist medical qualifications and, for music, original compositions. In practice a first-class or high upper-second honours degree, or a master’s with a strong thesis, plus one or two publications, puts you in a good position. A thin proposal with no named supervisor does not.

Your final results must reach the university in time. The Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences faculty says results must be available at least two weeks before the outcome date, or your application moves to the next round.

Melbourne Graduate Research Scholarships 2027 deadlines

The Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences publishes the clearest calendar, so I use it here as the example. It applies to PhD and MPhil courses in that faculty.

Some faculties take applications at any time and others assess them only on fixed dates. Melbourne’s general rule is that you must apply for your course by that course’s closing date to be considered for a scholarship, so open your course page and check the “How to apply” tab. If you win, you must start by 31 October of the year of your offer, or the offer can be withdrawn.

How to apply for the University of Melbourne Graduate Research Scholarships

1. Pick your course: find the PhD or MPhil in your faculty on study.unimelb.edu.au and read its entry requirements, fees and closing dates.
2. Find a supervisor: search Melbourne’s Find an Expert tool or advertised projects. Most courses need at least two supervisors, with a principal supervisor who is an expert in your area.
3. Get written support: upload an email from the supervisor stating in-principle support, or the signed supervisor support form.
4. Write your research proposal: state the problem, your objectives or hypotheses, why it matters and your methods.
5. Gather documents: transcripts, CV, proof of completion or provisional results, a publication list (most recent first, works in progress marked “in preparation”), and contact details for two referees.
6. Submit online: apply through Melbourne’s application portal or an authorised agent. Applicants who last studied in certain listed countries must use an agent.
7. Answer requests fast: Melbourne may ask for more information with an upload deadline, and may check the Genuine Student requirement.
8. Wait for two offers: the course offer and the stipend scholarship offer arrive separately, at around the same time.

You receive a student ID and application reference by email after you submit, and you can track your file in the portal. Verified digital copies of academic documents speed things up.

How to contact a supervisor

Your supervisor’s support decides whether you get in, and a supervisor who wants you can argue for your ranking. Keep the first email short:

• One line on who you are: your degree, university and grade.
• Two or three lines on the project you want to do and why it fits their recent papers. Name one paper.
• One line on your research experience: your thesis topic, methods you know, any publication.
• Attach your CV and a one-page project outline.

A sample opening: “I completed an MSc in Public Health at the University of Ghana with a thesis on malaria testing in rural clinics, and your 2025 paper on point-of-care diagnostics is close to what I want to study for a PhD.” Send it to one academic at a time, and follow up once after two weeks if you hear nothing.

Writing a research proposal that ranks well

Melbourne scores research potential, and the proposal is where you show it. Aim for two to three pages unless your faculty sets a length.

1. Problem: what is unknown, in one paragraph, with two or three recent references.
2. Objectives or hypotheses: three at most, each one testable.
3. Significance: who uses the answer, and what changes if you find it.
4. Methods: data, sample, tools and analysis. Be specific enough that a reader could judge whether it can be done in 3.5 years.
5. Fit: why Melbourne and this supervisor, such as a lab, dataset or cohort you need.

Selectors read many proposals that describe a big area without a question. A narrow, answerable question with a realistic method reads as research potential.

Common mistakes

• Looking for a scholarship form: new applicants have none. The course application is the scholarship application, and it has to be complete by the course closing date.
• Applying without a supervisor: most programmes will not assess a file without in-principle support.
• Missing final results: provisional documents can be accepted, but your final results must arrive in time or you move to a later round.
• Assuming international students get the fee offset automatically: only domestic students do.
• Planning a five-year PhD: the stipend stops at 3.5 years and is not normally extended.
• Deferring without a plan: deferred offer holders must reapply for a scholarship through the online form by 31 October.

What happens after you are selected

Accept both the course offer and the scholarship offer. Then apply for a student visa (subclass 500). The visa requires you to study full time, meet health and character checks and hold OSHC, which the scholarship pays for you as a single member. The stipend counts towards the funds you must show, but the Department of Home Affairs sets its own living-cost figure (AUD 29,710 a year at the last check), and you need extra money if you bring a family.

The relocation grant helps with the move. Stipend payments are made during your candidature, and changes such as leave or a switch to part-time study can change your payments, so talk to the graduate research office before changing your enrolment.

Costs the scholarship does not cover

• Health cover for a spouse or children, since the OSHC is a single membership.
• Living costs for dependants, which the student visa requires you to prove.
• The student visa application fee and health checks.
• Flights beyond what the AUD 3,000 relocation grant covers.
• Months after the 3.5-year stipend ends, if your thesis runs late.
• Agent fees, if you choose or are required to use an agent.

How it compares with other research scholarships

Melbourne pays more than Deakin each year and covers a longer fee period than many universities. If you are weighing several countries, the scholarships for African students list and our scholarships with no application fee roundup list more funded options.

Who should apply and who should not

Apply if you have a strong honours or master’s degree with a research thesis, a supervisor at Melbourne willing to back you, and a project you can finish in three and a half years. Publications help, but many winners have one or none.

Wait a year if you have no research experience, no supervisor contact yet, or a lower second-class degree with nothing to offset it. A year spent as a research assistant or finishing a paper will raise your ranking more than an early application with a weak file.

FAQs about the University of Melbourne Graduate Research Scholarships

Is the University of Melbourne PhD scholarship fully funded for international students?

Yes, if you win the stipend scholarship. It covers tuition through a fee offset, pays a tax-free living stipend of about AUD 38,500 to 39,500 a year, and includes single OSHC and a AUD 3,000 relocation grant.

Do I need a separate application for the Melbourne Research Scholarship?

No. New applicants are considered automatically when they apply for a graduate research course by its closing date. Current students and deferred offer holders use an online form by 31 October.

What is the Melbourne Graduate Research Scholarship deadline for 2027?

In the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, Round 1 closes on 31 October 2026, Round 2 on 31 January 2027 and Round 3 on 15 May 2027. Other faculties publish their own dates on each course page.

Can I get the Melbourne Graduate Research Scholarship for a coursework master’s?

No. It is only for research degrees: the Masters by Research (MPhil) and the PhD.

Sources and updates

Award values, the 600-award figure, eligibility, selection criteria and the 31 October form date come from the University of Melbourne’s Graduate Research Scholarships page. Tax and extension rules come from Melbourne’s graduate research scholarships information. The 2026 stipend of AUD 39,500 is the figure in Melbourne’s own 2026 PhD scholarship adverts. Round dates and the AUD 60,992 fee come from the PhD in Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences fees page, and the AUD 64,000 fee from the PhD in Engineering and IT course page. Application steps and documents come from Melbourne’s international graduate research application pages. The visa living-cost figure is from the Department of Home Affairs. Scholars4Dev’s listing was used as a starting point and checked against these pages. Checked on 25 October 2026; I will update the stipend once Melbourne posts its 2027 rate.

Jude Chinecherem

I am Jude Chinecherem, a final-year MBBS student at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. I know what it feels like to want an education your family cannot afford. When my parents could not pay for my schooling, I had to learn how to find scholarships and work the system out on my own, with nobody to guide me. I came out the other side, and now I share everything I learned so the next student does not have to figure it out alone. This is the advice I wish someone had given me back then.