Our world’s environment is facing some urgent challenges – from climate change to species extinction. That’s the bad news. The good news is that your research can help safeguard the future of our environment – whether you’re a scientist, policy specialist or urban planner.
Wherever your talents lie, there are vital opportunities to apply your abilities as a graduate researcher exploring environment-related research.
Explore our research
As a graduate researcher, you can make your mark on the environment in a range of academic fields.
We conduct environment-related research in many Faculties.
You can use this list to find projects and supervisors in your area of interest:
- Architecture, Building and Planning: sustainable housing and planning, urban greening and climate adaptation.
- Arts: environmental social science.
- Business and Economics: environmental economics and sustainable business.
- Engineering: environmental engineering, sustainable technologies, sustainable energy systems and waste management.
- Law: resource, energy and environmental law.
- Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences: environmental psychology.
- Science: soil, water and atmospheric sciences, climate modelling, conservation, ecology, sustainable energy systems, environmental policy and management, environmental social science and psychology, natural resource management, urban greening and climate change adaptation, and sustainable food systems.
Learn how we're making a difference
Pioneering environmental research covers both the theoretical and the practical. Across the board, it’s benefiting communities both in Australia and internationally.
Through our environmental research, we are:
- Learning how to make houses more resistant to bushfires – finding out which urban planning and building design decisions give buildings the best chance of survival.
- Studying the relationship between climate change and flooding. What impact is climate change having on our weather? And what can we expect in future?
- Improving the quality of urban landscapes. Using Australian shrublands as inspiration, we’re coming up with low-cost green infrastructure for cities.
- Providing insights into farming in an era of climate extremes. Using global data and machine learning, we’re showing where agriculture will be affected most by extreme climate events.
This is just a snapshot. We’re continuing to push the boundaries of environmental inquiry on a global scale.
Growing greener cities
Collaborate with other disciplines
As a graduate researcher, you will work in a vibrant, collaborative research community with talented peers and supervisors who will challenge you to extend your ideas.
You could join one of our collaborative research initiatives or centres, including:
- BioInspiration Hallmark Initiative
- Future Food Hallmark Initiative
- Melbourne Energy Institute
- Melbourne Climate Futures
- ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes
- Centre for Market Design
- Centre for Resources, Energy and Environmental Law
- Climate Systems Hub
- Victorian Drought Resilience Adoption and Innovation Hub
- Peter Cook Centre for Carbon Capture and Storage Research
- Primary Industries Climate Challenges Centre.
Partner with an overseas institution
Our international joint PhD opportunities allow you to access expertise, training and resources from two institutions, and spend a minimum of 12 months studying overseas. Joint PhD projects within the themes of engineering and information technology. These have included:
- Research into decarbonising future transport with ammonia-fuelled engines, with Shanghai Jiao Tong University (China).
- Research into cyclic soil-structure interaction framework for the foundations of offshore renewable energy structures with KU Leuven (Belgium).
Explore more fully-funded joint PhD projects.
Meet our researchers
Find out more about some of our graduate researchers exploring the environment.
Next steps
- Search for a supervisor in your field of research
- Find out more about how to apply.
- Read about the latest research findings in environmental science.
Banner image: Getty Images