The Postgraduate Research Travel Awards enable postgraduate research students to enhance and to gain new perspectives on their work through travel in Australia or overseas.
The Awards were established to mark the 75th Anniversary of the University, and have since been supported by the generous donations of graduates, with assistance from the University Research Committee and the Postgraduate Students' Association.
Postgraduate Research Travel Awards allow recipients to defray up to $3000 of travel costs related to their research.
The award is paid as a reimbursement upon presentation of original receipts.
The recipients of the Convocation Postgraduate Research Travel Awards are going places!
A combined 50 times around the world over the past 5 years.
Hear what former winners say about how the Awards have helped them:
Viviene Brown is a Masters student in Archaeology. She was awarded a Postgraduate Research Travel Award in 2012, and used the funds to bring together members of the Wajarri community for a consultative workshop.
"Moving into the future, I'd really like to do a PhD, and the Convocation Research Travel Award has helped to make that a possibility," she said.
"I need to maintain the collaborative partnership that I've developed with the Wajarri traditional owners, and that's what the Convocation Travel Award has given me."
Zarin Salter, having completed a Marine Science (Honours) degree at UWA in 2006 followed by a PhD at UWA in 2012, first appreciated the significance of Convocation when she won a Postgraduate Research Travel Award in 2011.
"It was an incredibly valuable experience receiving the Award from Convocation," she said.
So impressed was she with Convocation’s role at UWA, Zarin decided to stand for Convocation Council and was elected a Councillor in March 2013.
Foteini Hassiotou won a Postgraduate Research Travel Award in 2011 which allowed her to travel to the University of North Carolina, where she spent a few months working on different aspects of breast milk stem cells and breast cancer, expanding her research at UWA.
"That was a great experience, a really enriching experience, so I am really grateful to Convocation that I was able to do that through this Award," she said.
2008 Winner Holly Clifford Applications for the Postgraduate Research Travel Awards are now open! To be eligible to apply for an award, an applicant must have been enrolled for a higher degree by research at this University for at least six months and have had their research proposal accepted by the Board of the Graduate Research School. Applications must be submitted on the form below before 4:00pm on Friday 6 June 2014.
Applications for the Postgraduate Research Travel Awards Open on 4th April 2016 and close on 3rd June 2016.
To be eligible to apply for an award, an applicant must have been enrolled for a higher degree by research at this University for at least six months and have had their research proposal accepted by the Board of the Graduate Research School.
Applications must be submitted on form below before 12:00 noon on Friday 3rd June 2016.
Official regulations of the Awards
Applicants must include in their application:
Application addressing the following points:
These 8 points form the Selection criteria for the Awards
Applicants must provide the originals of the above, along with six copies of all application materials, and a single passport photo.
An Awards Ceremony is held each year for the presentation of the Postgraduate Research Travel Awards and the Matilda Award for Cultural Excellence.
The Awards Ceremony for 2015 was held on the 15th of August 2015 in the Banquet Hall of the University Club of WA. Twelve Postgraduate Research Travel Awards were awarded.
School of Earth and Environment, Geography
Geoffrey Kennedy Award
"Research of flood adaptation projects in Sao Paulo, Brazil, examining how they are conceived, implemented, and contested by multiple stakeholders in a context of uneven power relations".
Funds will be used to travel to Brazil to conduct fieldwork, interviews, observations and to visit the National Institute for Space Research to present research and to attend a course on Spatial Analysis of Geographic Data.
Plant Energy Biology, ARC Centre of Excellence
Alexander Cohen Award
"Study of plant RNA editing factors for the development of precise gene modification tools with agricultural and therapeutic applications".
Funds will be used to attend the Gordon Research Conference on RNA Editing in California; Visiting the Barkan Laboratory at University of Oregon.
Ear Sciences Centre, School of Surgery
Ken & Julie Michael Award
"Development of a clinical survey evaluating hearing aid handling and management will facilitate identification of deficits in hearing aid skills, leading to improved training programs and higher rates of hearing aid success".
Funds will be used travel to Vancouver to present her work at the World Congress of Audiology and to meet with and to further develop her relationship with one of her PhD collaborators.
Business School – Economics Discipline
Sue Baker Award
"To examine economic policies that reduce the negative impacts of petroleum price volatility in oil exporting economies through economy-wide modelling".
Funds will be used to attend two conferences and to present two papers. Also to visit other institutions in UK and Kuwait.
School of Sports Science, Exercise and Health
PSA Postgraduate Research Travel Award
"The role of stress and relaxation in the regulation of appetite, and the consumption of energy-dense, nutrient-poor food".
Funds will be used to attend teacher training programs in Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (9-day intensive Practicum in MBSR) held in New York and Massachusetts.
Graduate School of Education
PSA Postgraduate Research Travel Award
"Research of primary school leadership in the Republic of Serbia as a society undergoing democratization with a particular reference to the historical background, recent developments and current concerns of primary school principals".
Funds will be used to conduct fieldwork in the Republic of Serbia and collect data in the form of documents and interviews. Also to take part in the biennial conference hosted by the European School Heads Association in Maastricht, the Netherlands.
School of Earth and Environment, Geography
Geoffrey Kennedy Award
The importance of indigenous knowledge and practice in managing freshwater resources and freshwater ecosystems; 2 case studies from the Dampier Peninsula, Northern Western Australia.
School of Chemistry & Biochemistry, Atmospheric Chemistry
Alexander Cohen Award
α-phellandrene – indoor smog chamber measurements and modelling.
School of Physics
Ken & Julie Michael Award
Studying magnetically activated drug release.
School of Earth and Environment
Sue Baker Award
Investigating the physical drivers of water exchange in reefs
School of Medicine and Pharmacology, National Centre for Asbestos Related Diseases.
Postgraduate Students' Association Award
The identification of tumour neo-antigens in malignant mesothelioma using next generation sequencing.
School of Physics
Postgraduate Students' Association Award
Stabilised transmission of high-precision reference signals for use in high-precision space-science and fundamental physics research.
School of Paediatrics and Child Health
Barry Marshall and Robin Warren Award
Defective cell migration as a mechanism of dysregulated asthmatic airway repair.
School of Surgery, Ear Science Centre
Postgraduate Research Travel Award
Using new automated technology to improve access to hearing services in rural and remote areas of WA.
School of Surgery and Centre for Genetic Origins of Health and Disease
Postgraduate Research Travel Award
Verification of genetic risk factors for sarcoma.
School of Plant Biology
Postgraduate Research Travel Award
To explore the physiological, biochemical and molecular mechanisms of delayed leaf greening in a phosphorus-use efficient plant Hakea prostrate, in order to increase the sustainability of farming systems.
School of Sports Science, Exercise and Health
Postgraduate Research Travel Award
Assessment of musculoskeletal properties in children with cerebral palsy and the impact of botulinum toxin type A.
School of Women’s and Infants’ Health
Postgraduate Research Travel Award
How do your genetics and your experience of stressful life events impact, your stress response and chance of depression/anxiety in later life?.
School of Earth and Environment, Marine Science.
Postgraduate Research Travel Award
Governance of marine protected areas and prospects of marine ecosystem-based management in the Arctic.
School of Physics, Medical Physics
Postgraduate Research Travel Award
Modelling urinary toxicity following external beam radiotherapy of the prostate.
School of Physics
Postgraduate Research Travel Award
Project aims to measure and model the energy output of the universe over the last 7 billion years.
School of Medicine
Postgraduate Research Travel Award
Novel pharmacological therapy for pleural infection.
School of Physics
Postgraduate Research Travel Award
Observations of acoustic reflections in an ultra shallow water environment of depth less than 2 M using a compact phased array.
School of Earth and Environment
Postgraduate Research Travel Award
Payment for eco-systems services and the Brazilian ICMS-E: an exploration of environmental policy outcomes.
School of Architecture in the Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Visual Arts
Postgraduate Research Travel Award
The feedback loop between the space industry and popular culture through a study of relevant institutional and private archives, to articulate the cultural role that space exploration has played upon modern culture, spawning new fields of research, such as space architecture.
Centre for Forensic Science, Molecular Forensic Entomology
Geoffrey Kennedy Award
Applying next generation DNA methodologies to the discipline of forensic entomology which will aid in the crime solving ability of law enforcement agencies.
School of Psychology
Alexander Cohen Award
The transdiagnostic theory of eating disorders and associated enhanced cognitive behavioural treatment.
School of Mechanical and Chemical Engineering
Ken & Julie Michael Award
Registration of whole-body CT images using the non-linear patient-specific biomechanical modelling.
School of Physics, Astrophysics
Postgraduate Students' Association Award
Study of star formation in different environments of nearby galaxies, specifically low stellar-density regions, to gain a better understanding of the formation and evolution of galaxies.
School of Animal Biology
Postgraduate Students' Association Award
Investigating population genetic structure and health husbandry of the pygmy hippopotamus and reproductive issues faced by this endangered species in captivity.
School of Computer Science & Software Engineering
Computational methods for determining how agents (e.g. people, computer systems, etc) can reach desired knowledge through the communication of information.
School of Medicine and Pharmacology
How to optimize the role of indwelling pleural catheters in the treatment of malignant pleural effusion.
School of Sport Science, Exercise and Health: Motor control and Learning
Exploring the potential neurological mechanisms of developmental coordination disorder and more specifically, a behavioural and fMRI investigation of mirror neuron system activation.
School of Animal Biology
Investigating how pulsed magnetic field stimulation affects the brain and the mechanisms underlying its clinical effects as a treatment for various neurological disorders.
School of Sports Science, Exercise and Health
Upper limb function in Parkinson’s Disease after neuromodulation.
School of Plant Biology
How Hakea Prostrata metabolically adapted to extremely low phosphorus availability.
School of Social Sciences
Analyses how ‘success’ is constituted in Singaporean women’s commercial lifestyle blogging through persona, femininity projects and intimacy.
School of Earth and Environment, Geology
Investigating the late Permian in Eastern Australia; a magnetostratigraphic profile across the Permian-Triassic boundary and implications for global correlation.
School of Animal Biology
Effects of plant secondary compounds on reproduction in female sheep.
School of Plant Biology
Geoffrey Kennedy Award
Investigating carbon cycling dynamics in mangrove sediments and how they might respond to climate change and coastal development.
School of Psychology
Alexander Cohen Award
Implementing cognitive bias modification training procedures at the onset of heightened anxiety as a means of reducing symptoms.
Centre for Legumes in Mediterranean Agriculture
Ken & Julie Michael Award
Studying the genetic adaptation of Yellow Lupin to dryland conditions.
School of Paediatrics & Child Health
Postgraduate Students' Association Award
Identifying, describing and treating voice abnormalities in preterm children at school age.
School of Paediatrics & Child Health
Postgraduate Students' Association Award
Determining the relative roles of viruses and bacteria in acute lower respiratory infections in young African children.
School of Animal Biology
Examining the cellular and molecular aspects of the testes in underfed rams.
School of English & Cultural Studies
Examining the science fiction novels of Jeff Noon from an edocritical (environmental) perspective.
School of Psychiatry & Clinical Neuroscience
Investigating how ambiguous loss associated with mental ill health is perceived and managed by those affected.
UWA Business School
Deriving the consequences of the removal of the statutory individual bargaining stream, like the Australian Workplace Agreements (AWAs), for those in the Western Australian context.
School of Women's & Infants' Health
Identifying predictive markers of human ooctyte developmental competence, by comparing treatment outcomes between in vitro maturation and traditional in vitro fertilisation, for women with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome.
School of Sport Science, Exercise & Health
Investigating trunk and hip neuromuscular control during change of direction sporting tasks and their implications for knee loading and injury prevention.
Centre for Offshore Foundation Systems
Developing robust design approaches for spudcans (foundations for mobile drilling rigs) directly from cone penetration test data in multi-layer soils.
School of Psychology
Geoffrey Kennedy Award
Investigating the ability of those with Parkinson's disease to understand the facial expressions of others.
School of Earth and Environment
Alexander Cohen Award
Developing a novel geothermal or waste heat-driven desalination technology for an economic freshwater production.
Centre for Child Health Research
Ken & Julie Michael Award
Investigating the effects of Vitamin D deficiency on airway remodeling in asthma.
School of Mechanical and Chemical Engineering
BankWest Award
Modeling brain tumour growth using hybrid cellular automata and its effect on the surrounding brain tissue.
School of Environmental Systems Engineering
Postgraduate Students' Association Award
Studying the effects of salinity on the distribution of blue whales and the prey off southern Sri Lanka.
School of Social Sciences
Postgraduate Students' Association Award
Investigating the strategies employed by the Wajarri people to manage resource availability in the Weld Range, Murchison WA.
School of Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering
Developing an optical imaging technique that creates high-resolution images based on the mechanical properties of tissues.
School of Plant Biology
Identifying the community effects of climate change on coastal reef ecosystems.
School of Animal Biology
Determining the effect of muscle accretion on the reproductive performance of merino ewe lambs.
School of Psychology
Examining the role of objectification in the development of body shame and eating disorder symptoms in young children.
School of Plant Biology
Assessing the effectiveness of periodically-harvested marine reserves in Fiji to conserve local fish stocks, with particular focus on how the duration of harvests impact on this effectiveness.
School of Plant Biology
Developing a drought-tolerance screening test of Brassica rapa seedlings at reproductive stage.
School of Animal Biology
Geoffrey Kennedy Award
Investigating the evolutionary history and population connectivity of coral reefs in WA to provide reef managers with the scientific information necessary to plan the placement of Marine Protected Areas.
School of Sport Science, Exercise and Health
Alexander Cohen Award
Developing quantitative muscle ultrasonography for assessment of muscle pathology in children with spastic cerebral palsy.
School of Mechanical and Chemical Engineering
Ken & Julie Michael Award
Developing a process of efficient computational model generation for image-guided brain surgery.
School of Environmental Systems Engineering
BankWest Award
Investigating how rocky structures on beaches can protect and/or make coasts more vulnerable to climate change over a range of spatial and temporal scales.
Centre for Forensic Science
Postgraduate Students' Association Award
Elucidating the association between the responsiveness to therapy and genetic variations in gene families (e.g. dopamine genes) that are involved in the reward mechanisms or metabolising pathways in patients addicted to illicit drugs (e.g. heroin) with different ethnicity.
School of Psychology
Postgraduate Students' Association Award
Assessing and modifying biases in cognitive processes that underlie addictive behaviour.
School of Surgery
Researching techniques for achieving limb alignment in total knee replacement surgery, comparing conventional techniques with computer-assisted surgery.
School of Animal Biology
Investigating the direct and indirect consequences of landscape modification and alien plant invasions on ecosystem processes and biodiversity across the increasingly blurred interface of managed landscapes and natural forest fragments.
Telethon Institute for Child Health Research
Defining the natural history and clinical management of the CDKL5 disorder.
School of Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences
Investigating ocular imaging as a potential technique for early detection and monitoring of Alzheimer's Disease.
School of Biomedical, Biomolecular and Chemical Sciences
Examining the properties of stem cells isolated from human milk and their potential to be used in regenerative medicine and treatment of neonate diseases.
Graduate School of Education
Investigating the impact of whole school sustainability education on the attitudes, behaviours and environmental knowledge of upper-primary student.
School of Animal Biology
Investigating reproductive physiology in the white rhinoceros, towards new insights for enhanced breeding success in captivity.
School of Physics
Geoffrey Kennedy Award
Testing Einstein's theory of relativity using microwave frequency standards.
School of Humanities, Discipline of History
Alexander Cohen Award
Performing a study of medieval intellectual history, namely the symbolism of water in medieval thought.
School of Psychology
Ken & Julie Michael Award
Investigating the reorganisation of motor areas of the brain associated with the restriction of sensory input to the brain.
School of Physics, Biophysics Research Group
BankWest Award
Developing a highly sensitive, quantitative and cost-effective method to detect malaria-transmitting cells in human blood.
School of Social and Cultural Studies
Postgraduate Students' Association Award
Researching Post-Cold War politics in the Asia-Pacific and the rise of globalisation: an ethnographic exploration of Filipino transnational activism.
School of Plant Biology
Postgraduate Students' Association Award
Characterising and managing fungal pathogens associated with crown and root diseases of strawberries in Western Australia.
School of Biomedical, Biomolecular and Chemical Sciences
Understanding how the herpes virus persists within the host.
Centre for Offshore Foundation Systems
Performing numerical modeling of pipeline seabed interactions.
School of Biomedical, Biomolecular and Chemical Sciences
Investigating the structure and function of mechanosensitive ion channels using spectroscopy and simulations.
School of Medicine and Pharmacology
Improving treatments for patients with malignant pleural effusions.
School of Computer Science and Software Engineering
Evaluating public health containment strategies for control, prevention and surveillance of infectious diseases using an individual-based simulation model.
School of Humanities
Performing semiologic analysis of geographical markers in popular songs as representation of national identity.
School of Sport Science, Exercise and Health
Conducting an integrated study of personality dispositions' motivation processes in exercise with the goal to develop more effective exercise interventions.
School of Biomedical, Biomolecular and Chemical Sciences
Studying indoor reactive chemistry through computer modeling using the MCM protocol adapted by inputs from field study observations.
School of Plant Biology
Visiting California to learn state-of-the-art techniques for studying the reproductive ecology of kelps.
School of Women's and Infants' Health
Investigating the influence of genetic and environmental effects in the developmental origins of health and disease with respect to the insulin-like growth factor (IGF) pathway.
School of Primary, Aboriginal and Rural Health Care
Developing and validating a family history screening instrument to support chronic disease prevention in primary care.
School of Social and Cultural Studies
Exploring the theatrical works of Don Delillo.
School of Medicine and Pharmacology
Investigating the potential role of fibroblast growth factor (FGF-9) in malignant pleural mesothelioma.
School of Earth and Environment
Geoffrey Kennedy Award
Identifying mechanisms underlying treatment efficacy for remediation of bauxite residue deposits with a view to improving environmental outcomes.
School of Sport Science, Exercise and Health
Alexander Cohen Award
Integrating optimisation methods with empirically validated knee modelling techniques to estimate risk of ACL injury at the subject level.
School of Biomolecular, Biomedical and Chemical Sciences
Ken & Julie Michael Award
Investigating the structure and function of mechanosensitive ion channels using spectroscopy and computer simulations.
School of Computer Science and Software Engineering
BankWest Award
Devising an adaptive approach for electronic fraud detection in highly dynamic environments.
School of Social and Cultural Studies
Postgraduate Students' Association Award
Researching children's theatre and the role of the imagination.
School of Earth and Environment
Postgraduate Students' Association Award
Combining geological and geophysical modelling tools to improve understanding of geothermal systems.
School of Paediatrics and Child Health
Investigating the immunogenetics of asthma exacerbations in children.
School of Population Health
Identifying prognostic features of melanoma in the Western Australian melanoma health study.
School of Sport Science, Exercise and Health
Using computational modelling to estimate muscle forces and joint loads to predict risk of injury.
School of Psychology
Investigating the effects of advertising prescription antidepressant medications direct to the public.
School of Plant Biology
Identifying adaptation mechanisms of grass peas to water-deficit conditions.
School of Biomedical and Chemical Sciences
Investigating the role of pentatricoptide repeat proteins in organelle gene expression in plants.
School of Population Health
Evaluating the implementation and health impacts of the Western Australian Government's "Liveable Neighbourhoods Community Design Code".
School of Psychology
Investigating the psychological factors that maintain eating disorders.
School of Sport Science, Exercise and Health
Creating realistic 3-dimensional visual environments for accurate assessments of how visual cueing affects movement patterns and knee injury risk.
School of Medicine and Pharmacology
Investigating the role of micro-RNAs in the progression and metastatic spread of colorectal cancer, using both cell-like and human tissue models.
School of Paediatrics and Child Health
Investigating the link between early life exposure to arsenic via drinking water and non-malignant lung disease.
School of Psychology
Geoffrey Kennedy Award
Evaluating the effectiveness of a system for monitoring wellbeing in inpatient psychiatric care.
School of History
Alexander Cohen Award
Investigating the representation of changes to Finnish national identity in the films of Aki Kaurismaki.
School of Animal Biology
Ken & Julie Michael Award
Investigating sperm competition and the evolution of sperm storage organs in male anurans.
School of Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering
BankWest Award
Assessing muscle pathology using optical coherence tomography.
School of Physics
BankWest Award
Developing magnetic fluids for the treatment of retinal detachment.
School of Paediatrics and Child Health
Postgraduate Students' Association Award
Investigating the immunogenetic determinants of impaired measles vaccine responses in young children.
School of English and Cultural Studies
Postgraduate Students' Association Award
Exploring shamanistic elements in the works of Zimbabwean writer Dambudzo Marechera.
School of Sport Science, Exercise and Health
Developing an exercise program which incorporates goal-setting techniques and motivational interviewing to increase physical activity levels.
School of Microbiology and Immunology
Investigating the interaction of Neisseria meningitidis with host cells, focusing on the role of the lipooligosaccharide of the bacteria and receptors found on the human nasopharyngeal epithelium.
School of Plant Biology
Investigating the roles of alternative oxidase in plant growth and development.
School of Physics & School of Music
Investigating the effect that auditory feedback has on the horn player’s production of sound.
School of Sport Science, Exercise and Health
Developing a full body kinematic model that can empirically test and determine if and how upper body biomechanics influence knee loading and risk of ACL injury.
Graduate School of Education
Examining the management competencies required by employers of business undergraduates in Australia and UK, how these align, if at all, with the views of tertiary educators, and the extent to which graduates typically possess the required levels of these attributes.
School of Chemistry
Investigating the evolution and ecological importance of olfaction (i.e. smell) in seabirds and its implications for conservation.
School of Plant Biology
Investigating abnormal meiosis in Brassica-interspecific hybrids.
School of Population Health
Investigating the impact of timing, dose and pattern of prenatal alcohol exposure on fetal development and health.
School of Plant Biology
Investigating the function and significance of the growth of aquatic adventitious roots in response to inundation for plant survival during flooding.
School of Chemistry
Performing baseline chamical measurement of atmospheric composition and air quality in WA.
School of Biomedical, Biomolecular and Chemical Sciences
Geoffrey Kennedy Award
Synthesising novel analogues of 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) for evaluation as drug candidates for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease and Burkitt’s lymphoma.
School of Paediatrics and Child Health
Alexander Cohen Award
Studying innate immune responses of preterm infants to coagulate-negative staphylococci and related Toll-like receptor agonists.
School of Civil and Resource Engineering
Ken & Julie Michael Award
Investigating the application of penetrometers in characterization of deep water soft soils.
School of Plant Biology
BankWest Award
Studying white rust disease of Brassica juncea caused by Albugo candida in Australia
Centre for Offshore Foundation Systems
Postgraduate Students' Association Award
Accurately modeling riser-seabed interaction and subsequently safely predicting the fatigue lives of steel catenary risers.
School of Medicine and Pharmacology
Postgraduate Students' Association Award
Undertaking an in-depth study of Sporadic Inclusion Body Myositis (SIBM), attempting to deepen our understanding of susceptibility genes, genotype-phenotype correlations and ultimately, the pathogenesis of disease.
School of Civil and Resource Engineering
Studying responses of skirted shallow foundations under combined transient and sustained uplift loading for offshore applications.
Centre for Neuromuscular and Neurological Disorders
Investigating the effects of the clinical use of a method of brain stimulation (tDCS) that has therapeutic potential for enhancing rehabilitation of patients following brain injury, with movement disorders and/or neurological deficits.
School of Earth and Geographical Sciences
Investigating the location and distribution of nickel and other metals in the structures of iron oxides, and the effects of heating on the location and distribution of nickel.
School of Medicine and Pharmacology
Investigating the protective roles of dietary polyphenols and their metabolites against atherosclerosis in both human and animal models.
School of Computer Science and Software Engineering
Examining properties of our new logic ROTCL*, such as its computational complexity.
Centre for Child Health Research
Discovering unrecognized cat allergens to accurately define the full spectrum of cat allergens and determine their clinical significance in order to improve the diagnosis of cat allergy and subsequent immunotherapy.
School of Paediatrics and Child Health
Investigating the effect of glucose on neurocognitive functioning in adolescents.
School of Plant Biology
Isolating and chemically elucidating mycotoxins produced by toxigenic Western Australian Fusarium species associated with cereal and pasture species.
School of Plant Biology
Examining seed ecology and biogeography of vernal pool ecosystems in Western Australia.
School of Plant Biology
Identifying the causal agent and conditions conducive towards strawberry root and crown disease in Western Australia.
Centre for Forensic Science
Studying parasitic wasps associated with decomposing remains in Western Australia and their potential as indicators of post-mortem interval in forensic investigations.