Sheep Industry Scholarships program open
The Sheep Industry Business Innovation (SIBI) Scholarships are open for expressions of interest (EOI) for projects to begin in semester 1, 2019.
The SIBI Scholarships program is designed to support and encourage individuals who wish to pursue further study by addressing key industry questions relevant to the sheep industry supply chain in Western Australia.
Since beginning in July 2017, the SIBI Scholarships program has approved five vocational and internship, four Honours and four PhD projects.
These projects cover a range of topics and research areas including:
- agricultural engineering to detect fly strike, mechanical and software packages for multi-lane autodraft systems, and sensor technologies to measure crop biomass for grazing management
- economic analysis of a supply chain to produce heavy out-of-season lamb
- production research including the role of dam water as a source of infection, effects of infectious disease in reproductive wastage, increasing lamb survival of multiple born lambs, and reducing mortality and reproductive wastage in young ewes
- understanding producers' attitudes towards industry change.
The program offers financial support of up to $5000 for Honours, up to $38 000 per annum for two years for Masters and three years for PhD projects, plus negotiable levels of operating expenditure for each. Students may also be invited for vocational or internship opportunities.
Expressions of Interest (EOI) for this round will close on 31 October 2018. The next available funding round will close 30 April 2019, ready for projects to start in semester 2, 2019.
Successful EOIs will be asked to submit a full project proposal as well as attending an interview with the assessment panel.
Applications will be assessed on their alignment to SIBI project priorities and research areas, linkage to Katanning Research Facility, project design and methodology, student academic performance, value of funding requested and other funding sourced, and the value of the project outcomes to the WA sheep industry.
For further information including the SIBI Scholarships funding guidelines and to access the SmartyGrants online application system, please visit the SIBI Scholarships webpage.