Improving the drug delivery to tumour tissue

Cancer is a leading cause of death in both Australia and the world. The use of nanomedicines to efficiently deliver therapeutic agents to tumour tissue represents a promising treatment approach to improving the lives of people diagnosed with cancer.

Although significant progress has been made in recent decades to develop various types of nanomedicines for cancer therapy, very few of these have been approved for clinical use. This is largely due to the very low delivery efficiency of current nanomedicines to tumour tissue, resulting in limited and unsatisfactory therapeutic outcomes.

The PhD research program will target this key roadblock for the clinical translation of nanomedicines, with the aim to develop a new type of nanomedicines that can overcome the biological barriers responsible for non-specific uptake and increase targeting capability to cancer cells, greatly increasing the chances of the nanomedicine reaching the target tumour tissue.

This is an Earmarked scholarship project that aligns with a recently awarded Australian Government grant.

The scholarship includes:

• living stipend of $32,192 per annum tax free (2023 rate), indexed annually
• your tuition fees covered
• single overseas student health cover (OSHC).

Learn more about the Earmarked scholarship.

Your application will be assessed on a competitive basis taking into account your:

• academic record
• publication record
• honours and awards
• employment history.

Working knowledge of pharmaceutical science, chemistry, biology, nanotechnology, or other related scientific disciplines would be beneficial.

You'll demonstrate academic achievement in nanomedicine and the potential for scholastic success.

A background or knowledge of chemistry and biology is highly desirable.

This project requires candidates to commence no later than Research Quarter 1, 2024. To allow time for your application to be processed, we recommend applying no later than 30 September, 2023 30 June, 2023.

You can start in an earlier research quarter. See application dates.

Before you apply

1. Check your eligibility for the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD).
2. Prepare your documentation.
3. Contact Dr Changkui Fu (changkui.fu@uq.edu.au) to discuss your interest and suitability.

When you apply

You apply for this scholarship when you submit an application for a PhD. You don’t need to submit a separate scholarship application.

In your application ensure that under the ‘Scholarships and collaborative study’ section you select:

• My higher degree is not collaborative
• I am applying for, or have been awarded a scholarship or sponsorship
• UQ Earmarked Scholarship type.

Apply now