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Purpose

The Faculty of Law & Justice, UNSW Sydney, wishes to offer up to three PhD Scholarships for applicants with outstanding research potential and a demonstrated interest in comparative constitutionalism and studies of law and society. The scholarships are for a doctoral topic related to the ARC Future Fellowship project of Melissa Crouch on ‘Defending Constitutional Democracy: The Military and the Constitution in Asia’. Applicants should focus their thesis on one country. The topic of the thesis should broadly relate to the military as a constitutional actor, the role of the military in constitution-making and/or the role of military in constitutional practise either past and/or present. While this may include military regimes, it may also include states that are considered civilian and democratic, and yet are places where the military plays a role in law and politics (eg Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Thailand, Bangladesh, Myanmar etc). Applicants with an interest in socio-legal methods are encouraged to apply. The country of focus does not need to be limited to Asia but could be of comparative relevance to countries in Asia, such as some countries in Latin America or Africa. The scholarship will commence at a mutually agreed date between July 2025 and May 2026 (ie T2 or 3 2025, or T1 or 2 2026).

Deadline

Applications are open until 13 January 2025 or until positions are filled.

Amount

The scholarship stipend will be equivalent to the value of a Research Training Program Scholarship (for 2024, this rate is $28,854 p.a.), plus Faculty top-up ($9,584p.a.). These scholarships generally receive favourable tax treatment and entitle candidates to apply for a fee waiver.

Duration

Four (4) years, subject to confirmation of candidature and satisfactory progress. It is anticipated that candidates will commence the program either in Term 2 (May) 2025, Term 3 2025 (September), Term 1 2026 (February) or Term 2 2026 (May).

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Applicants may be Australian citizens, permanent residents or international.

The Scholarship is for study on a full-time basis only, unless there are exceptional personal or medical circumstances that would require study on a part-time basis for all or part of the PhD program. This Scholarship is not open to students already enrolled in a PhD program elsewhere.

Residency requirement 

Applicants must pursue their PhD research in Sydney. International applicants are responsible for securing any necessary visas to enable study based in Sydney.

Some field work overseas may be possible as part of the PhD program, and there may be university and faculty funding schemes that candidates could apply for to support such fieldwork.

Selection criteria

Applicants must possess:

• strong academic credentials and a demonstrated interest in studies of law and society, and comparative constitutionalism; and
• an undergraduate degree in Law or a related discipline with a minimum Honours Class II, Division (I) that includes a substantial research component (or equivalent); or
• a postgraduate qualification in Law or a related discipline (including a substantial research component) with an average that equates to a Distinction average at UNSW (80%); or
• equivalent research or professional experience, supported by references and a detailed CV.

Previous research experience, including completion of a research thesis and/or publications will be highly valued. Applicants with knowledge of the military and constitutionalism in a country in Asia (particularly Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Myanmar, Thailand), or countries in Latin America or Africa are especially invited to apply.Selection will be based on:

(a) the applicant’s academic qualifications,

(b) their written communication skills

(c) the quality of their research proposal,

(d) their research experience and potential,

(e) the fit between the applicant’s proposal and the focus areas of the Future Fellowship Project,

(f) any language skills relevant to their proposed project

(g) the applicants’ interest in studies of law and society, qualitative research methods and comparative constitutionalism

Details of Available Scholarship

The ARC Future Fellowship (FT240100384) on ‘Defending Constitutional Democracy: The Military & the Constitution in Asia’ is led by Professor Melissa Crouch. Responding to the United Nations' calls to end military rule, this project aims to investigate the legal challenges that the military poses to constitutional democracy in Asia and beyond. The project expects to develop rigorous qualitative, comparative law and society research to explain how the military rules through constitutions in authoritarian regimes. It will explore how constitutions empower the military, the role of the military as a constitutional actor, and constitutional design strategies to subordinate the military to civilian control.

Successful candidates will be supervised by Professor Melissa Crouch and a second supervisor and focus primarily on their own PhD projects. They will also have the opportunity to participate in any activities held at UNSW under the ARC Future Fellowship. Candidates will be enrolled in the School of Global and Public Law at UNSW Law & Justice.