PhD scholarship on violence against women and displacement contributing to the Centre of Excellence on the Elimination of Violence Against Women (CEVAW)

A funded opportunity to be part of a network of leading displacement scholars and to contribute to building the global evidence-base for preventing and responding to violence against women and girls. 

A scholarship is available at ANU for an outstanding domestic[1] or international[2] student to undertake a PhD on the topic of violence against women and displacement. The successful candidate will be enrolled full-time in a program of study for the degree of PhD in the ANU Department of International Relations, Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs, College of Asia and the Pacific.  The student will also become part of a cohort of PhD scholars within the Australian Research Council’s Centre of Excellence for the Elimination of Violence Against Women (CEVAW[3])

This Centre aims to transform our understanding of the problem by examining the structural drivers that cause and compound violence against women, and pioneering new, evidence-based approaches to radically improve policy and practice across Australia and the Indo-Pacific. The CEVAW network comprises 13 Chief Investigators from six Australian universities, and at least 45 Australian and international partner organisations. The Centre mobilises Indigenous and survivor-centred approaches, interdisciplinary collaborations, and Indo-Pacific partnerships to deliver scalable approaches to eliminate violence against women across the legal, security, economic, health, and political systems of Australia and the region.

Applicants with lived experience of displacement, Pasifika, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and/or other First Nations Peoples and/or those from the region are prioritised and strongly encouraged to apply. 

Working collaboratively with diverse stakeholders across the Pacific regions, Asia and in Australia, this funded PhD position is supported through the Australian Research Council (ARC)  CEVAW  and the Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs, as part of the research stream on violence in the context of Migration, Displacement and Trafficking – led by Chief Investigator  Professor Bina D'Costa.  

The successful applicant will develop and carry out a project that aligns with the broader purpose of CEVAW, developing up the academic evidence base on violence against women and displacement.  This project may include research on prevention of conflict-related sexual and gender-based violence or violence against women in the context of climate-induced disasters in the region. 

The research approach is to foreground Indigenous methodologies, that empower Indigenous women and victim-survivors of violence in all research and partnerships. As well as meeting the standards for a PhD at ANU, we envisage that the thesis will provide rigorous evidence to enhance community, organisational and/or government decision-making and program implementation, such as approaches to understanding, preventing, mitigating and responding to gender-based violence and enhancing protection.  

Undertaking this PhD as part of CEVAW has several advantages: 

• the successful candidate will be integrated into an already successful Centre of Excellence, where they will have access to a tailored research ethics and training program focused on Indigenous-centred and feminist research principles.
• an exciting opportunity to undertake cutting edge research as part of a team of academics, practitioners and community partners, and a cohort of other students and research fellows working on violence prevention.
• they will have access to CEVAW’s network of research and industry leaders, which includes 13 chief investigators at six Australian institutions, 15 partner investigators worldwide and 33 partners organisations, and cross-discipline mentoring opportunities to broaden their research expertise and knowledge.
• the candidate can also benefit from being part of research outcomes from CEVAW, which may include co-authored publications, symposium and other engagement activities.
• Dynamic, talented committed and kind supervisory team.  As part of the CEVAW experienced team based at the ANU the PhD scholar can learn from and engage with kind, supportive, compassionate and creative colleagues as well as the global displacement and protection research network.   

Learn more here: Humanitarian emergencies, protection, and displacement projects 

Supervisor  Professor Bina D'Costa (CEVAW  Chief Investigator).

The student will also be supported by the Associate Investigators and the CEVAW research team.