RTP Scholarship 2027 for International Students: 2026 Stipend Rates and University Deadlines

The Research Training Program (RTP) scholarship is the Australian Government’s main funding for PhD and research master’s students, and international students can get it. You do not apply to the government. The Department of Education gives each university a block grant, and the university runs its own scholarship round, sets its own deadline and decides who wins. A full RTP package covers your tuition fees, pays a tax-free living stipend and adds allowances such as relocation and health cover.

For 2026 the government’s base full-time stipend is AUD 34,315 a year and the maximum is AUD 53,608. Most universities pay well above the base: AUD 35,489 at Charles Darwin University, AUD 39,220 at the University of Queensland and AUD 42,754 at the University of Sydney. The 2027 base rate, already published, is AUD 35,550. Deadlines run all year, so the right date depends on the university and the term you want to start.

What the RTP scholarship is and how it works

The RTP started on 1 January 2017. It replaced three older schemes: the Australian Postgraduate Award (APA), the International Postgraduate Research Scholarship (IPRS) and the Research Training Scheme. If you see an old listing that tells you to apply for the IPRS, it is out of date by almost ten years.

Funding goes to universities on a calendar-year basis, under the Higher Education Support Act 2003 and the Commonwealth Scholarships Guidelines (Research) 2017. The size of each university’s grant depends on its research income and its number of research degree completions. That is why large research universities such as Sydney, Melbourne, UNSW and Monash have more RTP places than smaller ones.

Universities can give the money in three forms, and they can combine them:

1. RTP Fees Offset: pays the tuition fees you would otherwise owe. It is not cash in your hand.
2. RTP Stipend: a living allowance paid fortnightly. Full-time stipends are tax exempt; part-time stipends are usually taxable.
3. RTP Allowances: help with costs linked to your degree, such as relocation, thesis printing, publication costs and Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC) for you and, at some universities, your dependants.

Many international students receive a stipend from the RTP and a tuition scholarship from the university’s own funds, or the other way round. The university decides the mix, so check that the package in your offer letter covers both tuition and living costs before you accept.

RTP scholarship stipend rates for 2026 and 2027

The government sets a base rate and a maximum rate. Universities must pay at least the base and cannot pay more than the maximum from RTP funds. Rates are indexed every 1 January, and the Department of Education announces the following year’s rates by 1 October.

University rates for 2026, with 2027 figures where they are already published:

For a sense of scale, the Australian Government expects student visa applicants to show living funds of AUD 29,710 a year. A stipend near AUD 40,000 covers a single person in most cities, but rent in Sydney and Melbourne eats a large share. If you plan to bring a partner or children, budget extra, because the stipend does not rise for dependants at most universities.

How long RTP funding lasts

In practice most universities pay the PhD stipend for 3 or 3.5 years and cover tuition for up to 4. International students on a student visa must study full time, so the part-time column rarely applies to you.

RTP scholarship rounds for international students: university deadlines

Each university runs its own round. The table shows the international rounds I checked on official university pages on 25 October 2026. Where a round has already closed for this cycle, the date shown is the same date one year later (based on this year’s date; confirm on the official page when the call opens).

Two rounds above are for specific groups only. UNSW runs a China Scholarship Council round closing 15 January 2027, and Adelaide University has a CSC partnership round open from 1 October 2026 to 1 February 2027; both are for Chinese nationals. The full list of universities that receive RTP funding is published by the Department of Education as the list of providers eligible for research block grants.

We cover some of these universities in more detail. Sydney’s international stipend works the same way as its RTP award, explained in our University of Sydney International Stipend Scholarship guide. For coursework options at the same universities, see our posts on UNSW international scholarships and the Adelaide Global Academic Excellence Scholarship.

Who is eligible for an RTP scholarship

The national rule is short: you must be a domestic or overseas student enrolled in an accredited research degree at an eligible Australian university. Every university then adds its own conditions. These are the ones you will meet almost everywhere:

• Admission first: you must meet the entry requirements for the PhD or research master’s and hold, or be applying for, a place.
• Research background: usually a bachelor’s degree with first-class honours or a master’s with a substantial research component (often a thesis worth at least a quarter of the degree). Griffith, for example, states this directly.
• No degree at the same level: if you already hold a PhD, you cannot get RTP funding for another one.
• Limited prior candidature: many universities refuse a new stipend if you have already used more than about 12 months of the same degree.
• No duplicate funding: you cannot hold the RTP alongside another major award for the same purpose, and recent holders of an Australia Award usually need DFAT approval.
• English: you must meet the university’s English requirement, and at UNSW you must meet it before the scholarship deadline.

There is no list of eligible countries. Applicants from Africa, Asia, Latin America, Europe and everywhere else compete in the same pool at each university. What decides the result is your academic record, your research output and how well your project fits the supervisor and school.

How to apply for the RTP scholarship as an international student

1. Shortlist universities by round: use the deadline table to pick two to four universities whose rounds you can meet. You may apply to more than one university.
2. Find a supervisor: search each school’s researcher profiles and email two or three academics whose work matches yours. Attach a CV and a one-page project outline. Many schools, including those at UNSW and UQ, will not progress your file without a supervisor’s support.
3. Write the research proposal: usually 1,000 to 3,000 words with a research question, background, method, timeline and expected contribution. Follow the length your university asks for.
4. Gather documents: transcripts and degree certificates (with certified English translations), CV, publication list, English test results, passport and contact details for two referees.
5. Apply for admission and tick the scholarship box: at most universities the scholarship is part of the admission form. ANU asks you to select “ANU – Other Scholarship”; UNSW asks you to choose a scholarship round; Monash considers you for every scholarship automatically; Sydney asks for a separate RTP form after the admission application.
6. Chase your referees: they receive an online link after you submit. A file without both reports is incomplete and will not be ranked.
7. Wait for the outcome and accept: results arrive two to four months after the round closes. Sydney’s September round, for example, sends outcomes from 10 November. Once you accept, apply for your student visa (subclass 500).

How to write a research proposal that ranks well

Scholarship committees rank international applicants mostly on grades and research outputs, but the proposal is where a supervisor decides to back you. A supervisor who argues for you in the ranking meeting is worth more than half a grade point.

• Open with the problem: one paragraph on what is unknown and why it matters, with two or three recent references.
• Tie it to the group: show you have read the supervisor’s recent papers and explain how your project extends them.
• Be specific on method: data sources, sample size, lab techniques or field sites. Vague methods suggest you have not done research before.
• Show it fits 3.5 years: a simple year-by-year plan answers the question committees ask most often.

Here is a made-up example of an opening that works: “Anaemia in pregnancy is common in my district, yet no study has tested whether community health workers can improve iron adherence at scale. This project will run a cluster trial across 20 clinics to find out.” It names the problem, the gap and the method in two sentences.

Common mistakes that cost applicants an RTP scholarship

• Writing to the government: the Department of Education does not accept applications. Apply to the university.
• Missing referee reports: the deadline applies to the complete file, not just your part.
• Applying without a supervisor: mass emails to dozens of academics rarely work. Write fewer, better messages.
• Ignoring the research component: a coursework master’s with no thesis often scores low, even with strong grades.
• Taking a stipend-only or fees-only offer without a plan: international PhD tuition runs to tens of thousands of dollars a year, so check what the offer actually covers.
• Applying too often: Griffith limits applicants to two attempts in five years. Apply when your file is strong.

Costs the RTP scholarship does not cover

• Student visa fee: paid when you lodge the subclass 500 application.
• Flights and settling in: relocation allowances are small, from AUD 505 at Swinburne and UTS (per adult) to AUD 3,000 at Melbourne for people moving from overseas.
• Family health cover: many universities pay only a single OSHC policy. Dependants usually cost extra.
• Rental bond and first rent: often four weeks’ rent as bond plus rent in advance before your first stipend payment.
• Application costs: English tests, certified translations and document couriers.

RTP compared with other research scholarships

If you want a taught master’s rather than a research degree, the RTP is the wrong scheme. Look at university coursework awards instead; our guide to Deakin University scholarships shows how Australian tuition reductions work.

Who should apply and who should not

Apply if you have first-class honours or a research master’s, at least one paper or a strong thesis, and a project that matches a named supervisor in Australia. The scheme rewards people who already look like researchers.

Hold off if your only postgraduate study is coursework without a thesis, or if your grades sit near the pass mark. I would spend a year on a research assistant role or a publication first, then apply into a later round with a stronger file. Each university keeps a record, and at some of them repeat attempts are capped.

FAQs about the RTP scholarship

Can international students get the RTP scholarship?

Yes. The RTP funds domestic and overseas research students, and universities such as Sydney, ANU, Monash and UQ run international rounds every year.

How much is the RTP stipend in 2026?

The government base rate is AUD 34,315 a year and the maximum is AUD 53,608, tax free for full-time students. Universities choose a rate in that range, from about AUD 35,500 to AUD 42,754 at Sydney.

What is the RTP scholarship deadline for 2027?

There is no single deadline. Upcoming international dates include Adelaide on 2 November 2026, Sydney on 18 December 2026, Monash on 28 February 2027 and ANU on 15 April 2027.

Do I need a separate application for the RTP scholarship?

Usually not. Most universities assess you through the admission application when you tick the scholarship option, though Sydney also asks for a short RTP form.

Sources and updates

The scheme description, components and durations come from the Australian Government Department of Education’s Research Training Program page, and the base and maximum stipend rates from its historical stipend rates table. University rates and rounds come from official pages at the University of Sydney, UNSW, ANU, Monash, the University of Queensland, Adelaide University, the University of Melbourne, UTS, Griffith, Swinburne and Charles Darwin University. The visa living-cost figure is from the Department of Home Affairs. Checked on 25 October 2026. I will update the table when universities publish their 2028 rounds.

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.