ANU-CSIRO Digital Agriculture PhD Supplementary Scholarships provide funding to support outstanding candidates to pursue a PhD program at ANU, where the focus of their research is on a collaborative project between CSIRO and ANU in the field of information science relevant to agriculture.

Funding for this award has been provided by CSIRO’s Data61 – Australia’s leading data innovation group. Their mission is to create Australia’s data driven future by building the world’s leading data-focused research and innovation powerhouse.

Digital agriculture is ag done differently. What does that mean?

In the future, agriculture will have to address new and complex challenges. Technology, and particularly emerging digital capability, impacts how things are done across the entire value chain. To ensure food security and sustainability for the future, agriculture needs experts in traditional farming practice, as well as experts in new technologies.

If you plan to do a PhD in the field of information science on a topic relevant to agriculture (including, but not limited to, plant sciences, synthetic biology, biochemistry, ecology, environmental studies, robotics, AI, machine learning, data modelling, remote sensor technology, or any other field based at ANU), you may be eligible for this award.

This is a unique opportunity to work with some of the best minds across CSIRO and ANU and play an important role in the future of digital agriculture.

Scholarship details

Supplementary scholarship ($15,000 per year for 3.5 years plus availability of 6 month extension), plus a research support allowance ($5000)

Eligibility

To be eligible to apply for this award students must be undertaking one of the approved projects below. An additional requirement is to have applied for, or be the recipient of a base PhD scholarship from ANU.

More information about eligibility to apply for the award is available here.

How to apply

To apply for this award candidates must first be accepted for an approved project topic. To register your interest in one of the projects, candidates must:

• Complete the Expression of Interest form by 3 October 2025
• EOI will be reviewed by the project supervisors
• Shortlisted students will be contacted to develop the full application

Applicants wishing to be considered for more than one project should complete and submit separate EOI forms for each topic of interest.

List of Projects

Integrating Climate Change Projections with Machine Learning for Predictive Modelling of Food Security Risks in Australia

Machine learning approaches for developing Farm Emulators

Multiple Motif Matching Automata to Explore Genome Language Model to predict the protein 3D structure

Large language model (LLM) enhanced digital representation of smell for food manufacturing

Generative AI for Precision Livestock Agriculture: Enhancing Health, Welfare, and Sustainability

Nutrient balance strategies to build soil carbon in farming systems

Sensing the next step change in water productivity in dryland agriculture

Optimisation and Enhanced Rock Weathering (ERW) in Rainfed Agriculture: AI for monitoring reporting and verification (MRV) Frameworks under Uncertainty

AI-Driven Farming: Next Generation Crop and Yield Forecasts with Advanced Deep Learning

AI-Enhanced Seasonal Climate Forecasts for Agriculture: Generating Skillful Daily Precipitation Ensembles with Advanced Generative Models

Key dates

Contact

Questions about the scholarship may be directed to agrifood@anu.edu.au