3 PhD Scholarships in Australian Archaeology

Monash • Clayton, NC

19d • Onsite

About The Position

Up to 3 PhD scholarships are offered as important parts of an ARC-funded project Katungal: Managing Archaeological Sites Threatened by Sea Level Rise , conducted by a team of transdisciplinary researchers co-ordinated by Elder Uncle Russell Mullett of the GunaiKurnai Land and Waters Aboriginal Corporation (GLaWAC) and Professor Bruno David of Monash University. These PhD projects will be part of the broader ARC project that aims to investigate the deep-time Aboriginal occupation of the shoreline and near-shore environments of Gippsland, GunaiKurnai Country, Victoria. The successful PhD candidates will each be expected to archaeologically excavate, analyse and write-up for their PhDs the results one or more ancestral cultural sites such as shell “middens” in GunaiKurnai Country. The successful PhD candidates are expected to have reasonable excavation experience, but will be mentored into fine-grained excavation methods approved by both GLaWAC and Professor David at Monash. Applications that focus on specialised topics such as those relating to archaeological faunal remains, geoarchaeology, stone artefact analysis, the specialised use of the coast and/or offshore islands, impacts of people and/or climate change on coastal landscapes, and/or the archaeology of settlement systems are welcomed. Undertaking these PhDs as part of a larger project has several advantages. First, the successful candidates will be integrated into an already successful research agenda that has been requested and approved by the GunaiKurnai Land and Waters Aboriginal Corporation and funded by the Australian Research Council, and will have access to funding to support fieldwork and archaeological analysis such as radiocarbon dating. Second, the candidates will benefit from expert supervision from research leaders in Indigenous archaeology, and from entering their PhDs with a pre-existing structure. Thirdly, at the Monash Indigenous Studies Centre the candidates will be part of an exciting cohort of postgraduates and Early Career to more senior researchers committed to researching in community-requested and community-led research in a range of inter-related disciplines. Finally, the candidates will benefit from being part of outcomes from the research, which may include funded Australian conference participation, and co-authored publications (where the candidates’ contributions will be recognised through co-authorship) and future grant applications. The successful candidates will be strongly encouraged to lead publications on the topic of their PhD theses, under the mentoring of GLaWAC, Professor David and Dr Ashleigh Rogers and/or Dr Jessie Birkett-Rees as additional supervisors.

Requirements

• excellent academic track record in archaeology and related disciplines
• preferably also some undergraduate training in social anthropology or Indigenous studies
• Competence in both quantitative and qualitative research methods is desirable
• hold an Australian (or equivalent international) Honour’s or Master’s degree (both in a relevant field), with a significant research component and with first-class Honours/H1 awarded
• Scholarship holders must be enrolled full-time and on campus
• applicants who already hold a PhD in archaeology will not be considered

Responsibilities

• archaeologically excavate, analyse and write-up for their PhDs the results one or more ancestral cultural sites such as shell “middens” in GunaiKurnai Country
• abide by GunaiKurnai cultural protocols as guided by the GunaiKurnai Land and Waters Aboriginal Corporation when undertaking this research, and by the Monash and AIATSIS Codes of Ethics

Benefits

• Research Living Allowance, at current value of $37,145AUD per annum 2026 full-time rate (tax-free stipend), indexed plus allowances as per RTP stipend scholarship conditions
• access to funding to support fieldwork and archaeological analysis such as radiocarbon dating
• expert supervision from research leaders in Indigenous archaeology
• funded Australian conference participation
• co-authored publications
• future grant applications

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Education Level: Ph.D. or professional degree