The Melbourne India Postgraduate Academy (MIPA) is a joint initiative consisting of established researchers and joint PhD candidates from the University of Melbourne and a group of India’s elite research universities. Collaborative research teams from Melbourne and India are engaging in projects that address key issues in science and technology.
Call for Joint PhD Projects - 2024/2025
The Indian institutes and Melbourne are collectively calling for project proposals from engineering, IT, science, medicine, dentistry and health sciences to establish up to fifteen (15) pairs of supervisors, with each supervisory team supporting one (1) joint PhD candidate. Each Indian institute will support three (3) pairs of supervisors, with each supervisory team supporting one (1) joint PhD candidate. Candidates participating in the program are jointly supervised by academics from Melbourne and the Indian institutes.
For more information and how to apply: Melbourne India Postgraduate Academy (MIPA): Call for Joint PhD Projects
The MIPA joint PhD candidates working on these projects benefit from being part of a collaborative international research community. They will receive mentorship from global experts, learn how to adapt to new cultural and research environments, and gain access to the best facilities and resources from two universities. The MIPA bi-annual conference provides further opportunities for researchers to network, share knowledge and partake in professional development opportunities. (View the MIPA Conference 2023 page here.)
MIPA public panel event series 1–5 April 2024
During the first week of April 2024 the University of Melbourne and partner universities in India jointly hosted a series of four public panel events in India.
The events brought together thought leaders from academia, industry and government to discuss high-profile issues related to four pertinent topics, provide evidence-based insights and contribute to raising the quality of debate in both countries.
MIPA Report 2023
The Melbourne India Postgraduate Academy Report 2023 has been released.
Read messages from our Melbourne and India leadership teams, meet the PhD candidates, explore our summary activities, outreach, and conferencing, and a comprehensive list of publications from MIPA candidates 2019-2023.
Joint PhD opportunity
Extracting the semantics of places from natural language descriptions
The ability of artificial intelligence like Siri and Alexa to extract information from human speech has progressed tremendously in the last decades. However, challenges still remain. One such challenge is the difficulty for AI to process spatial language and contextualised language about places. For example, the phrase "at the back of the store" may appear clear to a human listener, but to an AI, such language is ambiguous. This project aims to investigate conversational patterns about places and represent them in a database so that we can ultimately further the development of artificial intelligence. To view this joint PhD opportunity (and others) in detail, click on the button below.
Project spotlight
Transport phenomenon of surface modified bimetallic nanoparticles
Nanoparticles are solid particles engineered to be the size of a molecule or an atom. They are useful in the field of nanotechnology, an advanced field of technology with many real-life applications. A bimetallic nanoparticle is a nanoparticle created from two different types of metals. This project examines the movement of bimetallic nanoparticles thorough porous media. Research outcomes will help scientists apply nanotechnology to environmental remediation, generating a tangible impact on our society.
Meet our director and faculty leads
Associate Professor Jagannath Aryal is honoured to serve as the Director of the Melbourne India Postgraduate Academy. Established in research partnership, MIPA operates as an International Collaborative Research Academy that fosters rigorous, shared research endeavours across continents, and fosters transformative, interdisciplinary research programs spanning fields such as engineering, information technology, science, medicine, dentistry, and health sciences. These research programs have brought researchers together sharing ideas in developing scalable solutions for real-world challenges.
He is deeply grateful for the unwavering support of the leadership at the University of Melbourne and our partner institutions in India, which has enabled these research collaborations to flourish. He also extends his heartfelt appreciation to his academic colleagues whose commitment and world class expertise have been pivotal in driving the success of MIPA’s collaborative research mission.
Professor Willa Huston is the Melbourne India Postgraduate Academy (MIPA) Faculty Lead, and the Associate Dean, Global Engagement, at the Faculty of Science. She is a microbiologist with an international reputation in the field of Chlamydia and sexually transmitted infections. Her research has included bacterial pathogenesis, diagnosis and novel therapeutics. She has also held previous leadership roles in International Education and Learning and Teaching in her previous institution prior to joining The University of Melbourne in April 2025.
Keep reading
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Joint PhD opportunities
See which joint PhD projects are currently open for enrolment in Melbourne India Postgraduate Academy joint PhD program.
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Find a supervisor or research project
Discover how to find a supervisor and learn how they can support your graduate research, or search available research projects.
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Life as a researcher
Read the stories of current and past graduate researchers. Find out about their experiences at the University and where their degrees have taken them.
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Research degrees
Become a graduate researcher at the University of Melbourne.