Who is eligible for a Bionics Institute Griffin Swann Scholarship?

The Bionics Institute Griffin Swann Scholarship awards $55,000 per year for four years to a high-achieving student, supporting them to complete their graduate research studies at the Bionics Institute.

Preference will be given to those applying for our Alzheimer’s disease PhD project, however applications are open to students interested in a wide range of varied and impactful PhD projects available at the Bionics Institute.

Students from any branch of Neurosciences, Psychology, Engineering, or Biomedical Science are eligible for this scholarship, provided they have achieved First Class Honours (minimum average grade of 80%) or equivalent.

Students will be supervised by our world-leading experts and enrolled through the Medical Bionics Department at The University of Melbourne.

Both domestic and international students will be considered, provided the applicant is currently residing in Australia.

Scholarships are offered based on a track record of academic excellence, relevant professional experience, any refereed publications, and a commitment to academic success.

All students applying for a PhD with the Bionics Institute will be automatically considered for the Bionics Institute Griffin Swann Scholarship.

To register your interest in completing a PhD with the Bionics Institute, please complete the registration form.

About our Alzheimer’s disease PhD project

Developing Novel Therapeutics: A multimodal investigation of dysfunctional connectivity in Alzheimer’s disease 

Supervisors: Professor Kate Hoy, Dr Oscar Murphy, Dr Sung Wook Chung, Dr Mehrnaz Shoushtarian.

Research theme: Brain Research

Enrolling university: The University of Melbourne

There is increasing evidence that dysfunctional connectivity is the likely proximate cause of cognitive impairment in Alzheimer’s disease. However, there is inconsistency with respect to findings across different imaging modalities and across different stages of illness.

The proposed research program will conduct a comprehensive multimodal cross-sectional investigation of dysfunctional connectivity. It will look at resting state connectivity from fMRI, EEG and fNIRS in 120 people (40 people with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s, 40 people with MCI and 40 healthy older adults) and investigate the association between these imaging measures and cognitive and functional assessments.

The proposed research will greatly increase our understanding of the brain activity underlying cognitive impairment in Alzheimer’s disease, contributing to the development of novel therapeutic targets for this devastating illness.

Suitable background of students: Experience in analysing EEG, fMRI and/or fNIRS data, experience in recruiting and interviewing participants and preferably a psychology or neuroscience student.

General methods to be used in the project: EEG, fMRI, fNIRS, Cognitive and Functional assessments.

*Bionics Institute supervisors are affiliated with the University of Melbourne. However we welcome collaborative efforts with external supervisors from other enrolling universities.