Advancing digital inclusion in low income Australian families (PhD Scholarship)

What you'll receive

You'll receive:

An extension of up to 6 months may be considered, subject to satisfactory progress.

The successful candidate will be based in QUT's Digital Media Research Centre, which provides a stimulating and supportive research training environment, where Higher Degree by Research (HDR) students work alongside senior researchers to address emerging challenges and help solve practical problems.

To apply for this scholarship, you must:

Beneficial, but not essential, is demonstrated experience in any of:

Before submitting an expression of interest, contact Professor Michael Dezuanni to discuss your application.

If you're invited to apply, you can follow our steps to apply for a research degree.

When submitting your expression of interest, include:

The expression of interest must indicate that you are applying for this scholarship and must have Professor Michael Dezuanni listed as your proposed supervisor.

This scholarship will remain open until a suitable candidate is found.

For more information about the scholarship or application process, contact Professor Michael Dezuanni.

This scholarship will be governed by the QUT Postgraduate Research Award rules.

We are seeking a full-time, highly motivated PhD candidate to lead research into issues affecting digital inclusion in Australian families.

The PhD project will be affiliated with the Australian Research Council-funded Linkage project Advancing digital inclusion in low income Australian families (LP190100677) and the Digital Inclusion and Participation research program in the Digital Media Research Centre.

The project focuses on children, school leavers and parents/caregivers in low- income families as having specific digital inclusion challenges. As social, government, education and commercial services move rapidly towards ‘digital by default,’ digital inclusion and particularly digital ability become ever more critical for these groups for social and economic participation. Digital ability and digital inclusion have been linked to a range of social and economic benefits and Australians who have adequate, affordable access to digital technologies and the knowledge and skills to use them, have better outcomes across life spheres including education, work, finance, health, and well-being.

The candidate will lead a research project that addresses challenges around digital inclusion in families and aligns with the larger Linkage project.

Topics could include:

The role of social infrastructure (education providers, charities, libraries) in supporting the development of low-income families’ digital abilities, including how aspirations are translated to practical resources and policy.

The complex sociotechnical factors that affect affordability for digitally excluded families.

Privacy as a luxury commodity – how do low income family members negotiate privacy in digital contexts?

The proposed PhD project should connect with the central lines of inquiry of the project yet remain distinct. The proposed project can explore these issues within Australian society or conduct comparative work in another national context.

The successful candidate will be working under the direct supervision of Professor Michael Dezuanni and co-supervised by Professor Marcus Foth and Dr Amber Marshall.

The candidate will be based within the vibrant research culture of QUT’s Digital Media Research Centre.