Frequently asked questions

Click the “Apply Now” button on the homepage where you will be directed to the applications portal. This link will only be made available when scholarship rounds are open.

All applications must be submitted online through the Forrest Research Foundation application portal. If you experience any issues submitting your applications through the portal, contact the Forrest Research Foundation here as soon as possible.

The Forrest PhD Scholarship round for 2021 commencement opens 1 August 2020 and closes midnight Western Australian Time (GMT +8) Saturday 31 October 2020.

Applicants are required to provide contact details for three academic referees (required) and one personal referee (optional). You should ask people who will best support your application. Where possible this should include your academic supervisors, colleagues, and key contacts who can provide relevant information about your academic achievements and professional attributes, especially in relation to the selection criteria. You are encouraged to provide referees that are not all from the same organisation, school or faculty. If you choose to nominate personal referees, they should be persons able to comment on personal characteristics and strengths as displayed, for example, in your extra-curricular activities at university, or in your previous employment. Personal referees should not be related to you.

Referees may be contacted directly by the Forrest Research Foundation after the application round has closed.

A Forrest Scholarship may not usually be deferred. The Governors of the Forrest Research Foundation may consider applications to defer the start date of a Forrest Scholarship. This will depend on a variety of factors such as the circumstances of the applicant at the time and reasons for the deferral.

There is no “formula” for a successful application. Each application should be about the particular candidate and the proposed research, while ensuring you also address the selection criteria and submit all formal requirements including uploading the documentation.

It is also a requirement that each applicant contact their proposed supervisor to discuss making their Forrest Scholarship application. The Selection Committee will seek the views of proposed supervisors prior to interviewing short-listed candidates.

In order to be eligible to apply for a Forrest Scholarship applicants will need to have a bachelor’s degree of first class honours or equivalent such as a grade point average (GPA) of at least 3.8/4.0. Applicants will typically be in the top 5% of their graduating class, and you are encourage to bring to the attention of the Selection Committee evidence of your academic achievement. The average GPA of current Forrest Scholars is greater than 3.95/4.00

The Forrest Scholarship is open to domestic and international students. International students must ensure they have been offered and accepted an International Research Training Program (RTP) Fees Offset Scholarship or equivalent university international fee scholarship awarded by the nominated university before taking up the Forrest Scholarship.

The Forrest Scholarship Conditions stipulate that in order to be eligible applicants must have applied for PhD enrolment as an internal student based at a Western Australian campus of one of the five specified Western Australian universities and not have been enrolled in the proposed PhD or previously undertaken research towards a PhD or other research doctorate.

No. Forrest Scholarships are open to applicants from all disciplines.

No. Forrest Scholarships applications are a separate scholarship and therefore a separate application needs to be completed for each. Applicants need to make sure they contact their nominated university to discuss making a PhD and RTP Scholarship application. Contact details for the different scholarships office can be found here:

• Curtin University
• Murdoch University
• Edith Cowan University
• Notre Dame University
• The University of Western Australia

Your success will not be determined based on your choice of supervisor or university. It is recommended that you nominate your proposed university and supervisor based on the research environment and facilities that are most relevant to your proposed PhD.