Domestic and international candidates, including Ugandan citizens, are explicitly eligible. Applicants must qualify for direct-entry PhD study and demonstrate solid foundations in statistics, information theory and optimisation, strong programming ability and quality research outputs.

This scholarship supports foundational research combining variational, decentralised and deep learning. The project investigates distributional discrepancy, non-IID data, model vulnerability, stylistic uncertainty and new decentralised learning frameworks.

Benefits
The scholarship provides a tuition-fee offset plus an indexed living allowance of AUD 40,900 per year for three years.

Requirements
The expression of interest must include selected publications, a CV and evidence of research foundations and achievements. Candidates without demonstrated research outputs and the required quantitative foundations are not eligible. Successful EOI candidates must also meet Macquarie University\'s formal PhD and English-language requirements.

How to apply
Submit the required expression of interest to the project supervisor listed on the official scholarship page. If invited to proceed, lodge the complete Macquarie University PhD and scholarship application with all academic and research documentation by 2026-10-31.