Wine Australia PhD top-up scholarships
- Enrolment status
- Current UQ student
- Student type
- Domestic, International
- Study level
- Postgraduate research (HDR)
- Study area
- Agriculture and animal sciences, Business and economics, Environment, Science and mathematics
- Scholarship focus
- Academic excellence
- Funding type
- Top-up
- Scholarship value
- Top-up to UQ's RTP stipend to the value of $39,315 annually.
- Scholarship duration
- Up to 3.5 years full-time PhD study
- Number awarded
- May vary
- Applications open
- 16 October 2025
- Applications close
- 6 November 2025
About this scholarship
Wine Australia is the single Australian Government statutory service body for the Australian grape and wine community. We support a prosperous Australian grape and wine sector by investing in research and development, building the international and domestic markets, disseminating knowledge, encouraging adoption and protecting the reputation of Australian wine.
We are funded by grape growers and winemakers through levies and user-pays charges, and by the Australian Government, which provides matching funding for research, innovation, extension and adoption investments.
We focus on extracting the full value of our investments for the benefit of our levy payers, the Australian Government, and the wider community. Our investments are guided by the priorities within the One Grape and Wine Sector Plan (OGWSP) which are captured in six themes:
- Our place and product
- Our markets
- Our consumers, customers and community
- Our sustainability
- Our people, and
- Our systems and infrastructure.
Wine Australia’s 2025-2030 Strategic Plan has been framed around these OGWSP themes.
Wine Australia offers a PhD scholarship program to help attract postgraduate students to the fields of wine, viticulture and wine business research. We are committed to supporting academic endeavour and encouraging the enthusiasm of the future leaders of oenology, viticulture and wine business researchers to support a prosperous Australian grape and wine community.
About this Scholarship
Wine Australia offers a PhD top-up scholarship program to help attract postgraduate students to the fields of wine science, viticulture and wine business research. The aims are to:
- encourage high-achieving PhD candidates whose research explicitly aligns with Wine Australia’s priority topic areas,
- boost research capacity and capability in the wine and grape sector to address strategic challenges, and
- supplement the RTP stipend to attract high quality candidates and accelerate impact.
The program is an important component of Wine Australia’s investment in developing researcher capacity and ability, ensuring we have researchers developing the skills and expertise needed for working on opportunities that will help improve sustainability and profitability of the Australian wine sector. This program is supported by Wine Australia with levies from Australia’s grape growers and winemakers and matching funds from the Australian Government.
Topics of interest
While this opportunity is open to applications from PhD candidates delivering innovative research aligned to the One Grape and Wine Sector Plan themes addressed in Wine Australia’s Strategic Plan 2025-2030, this year we have identified several priority topic areas of interest. Preference may be given to applicants addressing a topic from the below list:
- Novel strategies for pest, disease and virus management in Australian vineyards.
- Plant breeding and gene target identification.
- Novel mid-strength wine production processes.
- Nonchemical control of disease, for example using UV-C and autonomous technology.
- Environmental, Social and Governance challenges as outlined in the ESG Investment Plan.
- Novel strategies across waste circularity, treatment, safe reuse of secondary materials and circular markets.
- Consumer insights, with a focus on moderation and health, export and emerging markets, macro and external drivers, value perception.
- Development and adoption of digital, data and Artificial Intelligence.
More information and a copy of the PhD top-up scholarship application guide 2025 is available on the Wine Australia website.
Eligibility
Wine Australia offers supplementary scholarships for up to 3.5 years full-time PhD study.
Candidates must:
- Be enrolled in, or have applied for, full-time PhD study.
- Please include your PhD start date, applicants who have already commenced their PhD may apply.
- Hold, or have applied for, an Australian Government Research Training Program (RTP) Stipend Scholarship or another equivalent stipend scholarship through their host university.
- A statement to this effect should be included in the online application and if the Scholarship has already been awarded, a copy of the letter of offer should be included with the application.
Only supplementary funding may be requested from Wine Australia.
Not eligible:
- Domestic candidates enrolled at an overseas university.
- International candidates enrolled at an Australian university.
- International candidates enrolled at overseas universities.
How to apply
To apply for a Wine Australia Scholarship, you must complete an application online through the Clarity Investment Management System (CIMS). A log in and password can be obtained by emailing your full name, address, contact phone number and name of University where you will be studying to applications@wineaustralia.com.
Applications should be completed in the Wine Australia online portal by 6 November to allow time for the Graduate School to review and endorse for submission to Wine Australia by 14 November 2025.
| Key dates | |
|---|---|
| Monday 13 October 2025 | Applications open |
| Thursday 6 November 2025 | Application must be finalised in the system for review and endorsement by Graduate School |
| Friday 14 November 2025 at 5pm (Australian Central Daylight Savings Time) | Applications close (Wine Australia portal) |
| November-December | Candidates will be advised of the assessment outcome as soon as practicable |
| 1 January 2026 or at a later subsequent agreed date | Scholarship commences Wine Australia Scholarships are not paid retrospectively |
Selection criteria
Scholarships are awarded based on:
- academic excellence and research ability
- research feasibility and methodology
- industry alignment, considered against the priority topic areas of interest
- industry impact, considered against industry partnerships and engagement with industry, research outputs path to market or adoption by industry
- expertise of the proposed supervisor(s) and supervisor support, with the supervisor affirming that the project is feasible and that the candidate has a good track record
- quality of an applicant’s Curriculum Vitae, and perception of the likelihood for ongoing involvement in the Australian wine sector, and
- funding availability.