PhD Scholarship in Disability History

Monash • Clayton, NC

8d • $37,145 • Onsite

About The Position

This PhD scholarship is funded as an important part of an ARC funded project 'Australia’s first history of disability: Making a more inclusive Australia'. The project aims to uncover the lived experience of disability in Australian families between 1945 and the Disability Royal Commission of 2019–23, using innovative methods to co-produce data with people with disability and their families. The project expects to develop the first comprehensive, national history of disability in Australia. The successful applicant will join the research team and contribute to the wider project but will also undertake their own distinct PhD project. The details of the PhD project are open to negotiation, but it may involve a focus on particular historical sources such as memoirs, or on a particular theme such as the impacts of post-war deinstitutionalisation on people with disability and their families, or on disability and the family in relation to Culturally and Linguistically Diverse families, Indigenous families or LGBT+ families. Scholars with disability are particularly encouraged to apply. Undertaking this PhD as part of a larger project has several advantages. First, the successful candidate will be integrated into an already successful research agenda that has been funded by the Australian Research Council. Second, the candidate will benefit from expert supervision from an interdisciplinary team of research leaders in History and disability studies, and from entering a PhD with a pre-existing structure. Finally, the candidate will benefit from being part of outcomes from the research, which may include co-authored publications (where the candidate’s contributions will be recognised through co-authorship), funded symposia, and future grant applications. Monash University is the largest university in Australia and regularly ranks in the top 100 universities worldwide. Monash has six globally networked campuses and international alliances in Europe and Asia. The applicant will be based in the School of Philosophical, Historical and Indigenous Studies (SOPHIS) at the Clayton campus in Melbourne.

Requirements

• Excellent academic track record in History, and preferably the history of the family and/or disability.
• Hold an Australian (or equivalent international) Honours or Masters degree, with a significant research component and with first-class honours/H1 awarded.
• Lived experience of disability (prioritized).
• Familiarity with eligibility requirements, including English-language proficiency skills, to undertake a PhD in the Faculty of Arts.
• Must be enrolled full-time and on campus.
• Discuss research proposal with Dr Kate Murphy before submitting an application.
• Submit a cover letter that includes a brief statement of the applicant’s suitability.
• Submit a brief research proposal not exceeding 750 words in length that fits within the broad project aims and objectives, and demonstrates some understanding of the area of research.
• Submit a curriculum vitae, including a list of any published works, conference presentations and relevant work experience.
• Submit a full statement of academic records, degree certificates and official grading system (if available), supported by scanned copies of relevant certified documentation.
• Submit English language proficiency test results (if applicable).
• Provide names and contact details of 2 academic referees.

Nice To Haves

• Scholars with disability are particularly encouraged to apply.

Responsibilities

• Contribute to the wider project 'Australia’s first history of disability: Making a more inclusive Australia'.
• Undertake their own distinct PhD project.
• Potentially focus on particular historical sources such as memoirs.
• Potentially focus on a particular theme such as the impacts of post-war deinstitutionalisation on people with disability and their families.
• Potentially focus on disability and the family in relation to Culturally and Linguistically Diverse families, Indigenous families or LGBT+ families.
• Co-author publications with the research team.

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.
• Tuition fee scholarship (for international awardees).
• Single Overseas Health Cover (OSHC) (for international awardees).
• Expert supervision from an interdisciplinary team of research leaders in History and disability studies.
• Entry into a PhD with a pre-existing structure.
• Benefit from outcomes from the research, which may include co-authored publications, funded symposia, and future grant applications.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level