The ARC Centre of Excellence Undergraduate Summer Scholarships in Climate System Science are highly competitive scholarships intended to provide undergraduate students from Australian universities an introduction to cutting-edge climate science research at one of our five universities, or our national partners- CSIRO, Bureau of Meteorology and Department of Environment.
Students should be in their second, third, or post-honours year and interested in pursuing honours or a postgraduate degree in climate system science.
Scholarships are available for students to conduct supervised research for a six-week period during the summer break from November to February, with a break around the holidays. The scholarships are valued at $3,800 for the six-week research project.
Scholarships are open to Australian and New Zealand citizens, Australian permanent residents, and international students currently enrolled in an Australian university.
Applications for summer 2017/18 scholarships are now closed.
If you have any questions about our undergraduate summer research scholarships please contact Graduate Director- Dr. Melissa Hart
Summer 2017/18 projects
Based at UNSW Sydney
Students interested in projects based at UNSW are encouraged to also apply through the UNSW Faculty of Science vacation scholarship scheme.
- UNSW01- Australian vegetation dynamics: the role of water [More information] Supervised by: Dr Anna Ukkola and Dr Martin De Kauwe
- UNSW02- Exploring the mid-Holocene Green Sahara [More information] Supervised by: Professor Steve Sherwood and Dr Vishal Dixit
- UNSW03- Physical drivers of extreme marine heat waves [More information] Supervised by: Dr Alex Sen Gupta, Dr Angela Maharaj and Dr Markus Donat
- UNSW04- Siting of instruments for urban climate and air quality research in Sydney [More information] Supervised by: Dr Melissa Hart, Dr Angela Maharaj and Dr Giovanni Di Virgilio
- UNSW05- Australian east coast lows in satellite wind data [More information] Supervised by: Dr Alejandro Di Luca and Associate Professor Jason Evans
- UNSW06- Modes of variability in Southern Hemisphere climate and oceans [More information] Supervised by: Dr Agus Santoso
- UNSW07- Where’s NEMO now? Dynamics of the East Australia Current [More information] Supervised by: Dr Alejandro Di Luca and Dr Paul Spence
- UNSW08- Assessing future changes in extreme surface fire weather and atmospheric instability [More information] Supervised by: Dr Giovanni Di Virgilio and Associate Professor Jason Evans
- UNSW09- Optimization: Can land durface models benefit from adapting current practices in hydrological models? [More information] Supervised by: Dr Mark Decker and Professor Andy Pitman
- UNSW10- Estimating sensitivity in a variable climate [More information] Supervised by: Dr Leela Frankcombe
- UNSW11- The propagation of Kelvin and Rossby waves in a shallow water ocean [More information] Supervised by: Dr Ryan Holmes
Based at the University of Tasmania
- UTAS01- Antarctic Bottom Water change at Heard Island [More information] Supervised by: Dr Helen Phillips
- UTAS02- Subtropical Front dynamics in the Tasman Sea and its biogeochemical implications [More information] Supervised by: Dr Joan Llort and Associate Professor Pete Strutton
- UTAS03- Southern Ocean Clouds, Radiation and Aerosol Transport Experimental Studies (SOCRATES) field experience [More information] Supervised by: Dr. Simon Alexander, Dr. Yi Huang and A/Prof Steve Siems
Based at the University of Melbourne
- UMelb01- Unique aerosol measurements over the Great Barrier Reef [More information] Supervised by: Dr Claire Vincent, Dr Robyn Schofield, Dr Alain Protat
- UMelb02- Impact of changing climate on Southern hemisphere tropical cyclone formation rates [More information] Supervised by: Professor Kevin Walsh and Dr Sharmila Sur
Based at the Australian National University
Students interested in projects based at ANU are also encouraged to apply through the ANU summer research program.
- ANU01- The dynamics of wind-forced internal waves [More information] Supervised by: Dr Callum Shakespeare
Based at CSIRO Aspendale (This project is supported by The Department of Environment)
- CSIRO01- Relationships between stratospheric ozone depletion, chlorine and polar clouds in models and observations [More information] Supervised by: Dr Matt Woodhouse, Dr Robyn Schofield and Dr Andrew Klekociuk
Based at Monash University
(Please apply for Monash based projects directly through the Monash University vacation research scholarship scheme. Applications for this scheme close October 7th.)
- Monash01- Understanding trends in tropical upper-tropospheric temperature [More information] Supervised by: Dr Martin Singh
- Monash02- Exploring relationships between lightning, radar-derived hail diagnostics, and hail damage [More information] Supervised by: Dr Rob Warren
- Monash03- Reassessing the initiation and predictability of El Nino events [More information] Supervised by Dr Shayne McGregor
Details of projects undertaken during previous summers can be found here.