I am receiving numerous emails from prospective master/PhD students and postdocs inquiring about open positions and scholarships. It is becoming overwhelming and time-consuming to respond to each of you thoroughly. Therefore, to make things easier for all of us, I made the guideline below to save you and myself some time.

It is a simple tool to follow. I believe 99% of you will get an answer to your inquiry using this tool. Therefore, unless the outcome for you is to contact me directly, I don't expect an email from you and I am afraid won't be able to respond to your email. That will save you time from writing the email and me to answer. Please read and follow the guideline carefully. If you don't meet certain conditions, writing an email to me will not help. So, it is better that you stick to the outcome you receive from the tool.

If you like to know more about our research, the school of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, the University of Adelaide, and the city of Adelaide, please read the document that I prepared here.

E1 (relevant research areas)

For overseas candidates: Please start by reading my research page carefully to learn about ongoing research projects and interests in my team. Research interests are changing dynamically, faster than I can keep that page up to date. So, I would also suggest you look at our current publications to get a better picture of our ongoing research projects.
There are two sides to this:

1. your research experience in a specific subject, e.g., electric vehicle V2G and G2V pricing
2. your expertise in using specific methods/techniques, e.g., stochastic mathematical optimisation

Your research experience is relevant to ours when at least one of the two criteria is satisfied. For instance, if you are using stochastic/deterministic optimisation in expansion planning, it could be relevant to our research not because of the subject (expansion planning), but due to using specific techniques/tools (mathematical optimisation) that we regularly use in our research studies.

For domestic candidates: If you are a domestic candidate with an honour degree, you don't need to be worried about relevant research experience. Please check the rest of the flowchart.

E2 (eligibility criteria for undergrad degree holder)

For overseas candidates: Since you don’t have a master’s degree, you need to apply for a wildcard scholarship in which you need to compete based on the following criteria:

1. World ranking of your undergrad institution
   • Typically, wildcard scholarships go to candidates from a top 100 universities worldwide according to QS or THE global ranking.
2. Being among the top three students in your class in terms of overall GPA
3. Having high-quality publications (one Q1 journal paper according to Web of Science journal ranking) to show your research experience and competency. Other journal rankings are not accepted.
4. International and national awards and achievements
5. Meeting English language requirements
   • Check out the requirements and minimum overall and band scores here.
   • You MUST meet the minimum English requirements (band scores and the time since you sat in the test). The English test requirements will not be deferred or waived by the Adelaide Graduate Centre.

Of course, it is rare for a candidate to fulfil all these criteria, but these are the criteria used to rank your application against others. You meet the eligibility criteria only if you fulfil at least three criteria. Note that wildcard scholarships are incredibly rare in general. Also, check out the dates for the international scholarship rounds here.

For other applicants: If you are an AU/NZ citizen OR a permanent resident OR you have obtained an honour degree from the University of Adelaide, AND

• If you hold an honour/master by coursework degree from the University of Adelaide with a 6.5+ GPA and you graduated recently, you could have a chance to win a University of Adelaide Research Scholarship. There are two major rounds every year. Please check more details here.
• If you are AU/NZ citizen or permanent resident, you would be considered as a domestic applicant. If you have a 6.5+ GPA, you could have a great chance to win a University of Adelaide Research Scholarships. There are two major rounds every year. Please check more details here.

E3 (eligibility criteria for masters degree holder)

For overseas applicants: The University of Adelaide offers international PhD scholarships twice a year, which is very popular and competitive. Typically, the scholarship winners have at least three journal papers in Q1 venues (according to Web of Science journal ranking). Other journal rankings are not accepted. The expectations might be higher based on the number of years since graduation. Other criteria are as follows:

1. World ranking of your undergrad university according to QS or THE global ranking.
2. Being the top students in your class in terms of overall GPA
3. Having high-quality publications (at least three Q1 journal papers according to Web of Science journal ranking) to show your research expertise and competency. Other journal rankings are not accepted.
4. International and national awards and achievements
5. Meeting English language requirements
   • Check out the requirements and minimum overall and band scores here.
   • You MUST meet the minimum English requirements (band scores and the time since you sat in the test). The English test requirements will not be deferred or waived by the Adelaide Graduate Centre.

Of course, it is rare for a candidate to fulfil all these criteria, but these are the criteria used to rank your application against others. You meet the eligibility criteria only if you have three Q1 journal papers OR you got your masters or honours degree from a top 100 global university OR a combination of at least three items from the above. Check out the dates for the international scholarship rounds here.

For other applicants: If you have obtained a master by coursework degree from the University of Adelaide, AND

• you have a 6.5+ GPA and you graduated recently, you could have a chance to win a University of Adelaide Research Scholarship. There are two major rounds every year. Please check more details here.

E4 (eligibility criteria for other requests)

• Are you a PhD student looking for a hosting university for an external stay (sabbatical)?
  I may be able to support you if
  • your current research is aligned with our group research projects (please read E1), AND
  • you have financial support from your institution, AND
  • you have published at least one Q1 journal paper (according to Web of Science journal ranking)
• Are you going to apply for a PhD scholarship from your government and looking for a hosting institute?
  I may be able to support your application for admission from The University of Adelaide if
  • your current research is aligned with our group research projects (please read E1), AND
  • you have financial support from your government for the period of PhD, AND
  • your current and past GPAs are 75% or above.
• Are you looking for a hosting institute to apply for ARC DECRA?

  The Australia Research Council (ARC) offers a DECRA scheme that provides focused research support for early career researchers in teaching and research and research-only positions. It is EXTREMELY competitive. You should have at least 10+ Q1 journal papers and a great idea to stand a chance. If that’s the case, we can discuss it further.

• Are you a master/PhD student or a postdoc looking for a collaborator on your research projects? Please read my statement.

O1 (contact me directly for announced positions)

Please read the job adverts carefully to ensure that you meet the “essential” and/or “desired” criteria. If so, you can contact me. Please prepare your email based on the following instructions:

• Email subject: Enquiry about the announced position – POSITION_NAME_OR_NUMBER
  • Replace POSITION_NAME_OR_NUMBER with the position number (postdoc) or position name (PhD)
• Email body: Only a one-paragraph statement of why you are the right person for the job in terms of technical aspects. Nothing else is needed in the email body.
• Attachment: Please attach your most recent CV, and a copy of your undergrad and postgrad transcripts of marks. Unofficial copies are accepted. Please note that a good CV will contain your GPAs, years of graduation, alma mater, research/coursework/industry experience relevant to the opportunity, list of publications, honours and awards. Read more about how to prepare a good CV here.

O2 (contact me directly for scholarships)

Please read the scholarship criteria carefully to ensure that you meet the minimum requirements. If so, you can contact me. Please prepare your email based on the following instructions:

• Email subject: Enquiry about UoA Wildcard/PhD scholarships
• Email body: Only a one-paragraph statement to justify that you meet the specific criteria. Nothing else is needed in the email body.
• Attachment: Please attach your most recent CV, and a copy of your undergrad and postgrad transcripts of marks. Unofficial copies are accepted. Please note that a good CV will contain your GPAs, years of graduation, alma mater, research/coursework/industry experience relevant to the opportunity, list of publications, honours and awards. Read more about how to prepare a good CV here.

O3 (contact me directly for other requests)

Please check out our ongoing research projects and interests carefully to ensure that your research experience matches ours. If so, you can contact me at email address following the structure below:

• Email subject: Enquiry about OTHER_REQUEST
  • Replace OTHER_REQUEST with either “sabbatical leave”, “home-country-offered PhD scholarship”, or “ARC DECRA”
• Email body: Only a one-paragraph statement about your request, potential research topics, and any deadline. Nothing else is needed in the email body.
• Attachment: Please attach your most recent CV, and a copy of your undergrad and postgrad transcripts of marks. Unofficial copies are accepted. Please note that a good CV will contain your GPAs, years of graduation, alma mater, research/coursework/industry experience relevant to the opportunity, list of publications, honours and awards. Read more about how to prepare a good CV here.