Research scholarships provide funding to help students with general living costs while they focus on research studies, and the QUT Faculty of Law’s scholarship round is now open.
Dr Eliana Close, Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Faculty of Law, received scholarships from the QUT Faculty of Law to fund her recently completed PhD.
“I was attracted to the QUT Law Faculty because it houses the Australian Centre for Health Law Research (ACHLR), the largest group of health law academics in Australia,” Dr Close said. “With links to QUT’s Institute of Biomedical Innovation, and the NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence in End of Life Care, I was well-positioned to pursue transdisciplinary research with plenty of opportunities for outside engagement.”
Dr Close completed her PhD in a series of six publications, and also published peer-reviewed articles outside of this work.
“Receiving a PhD scholarship from the Faculty was incredibly helpful in supporting my studies,” she indicated. “Throughout my PhD I also had opportunities to do paid research assistance in the Faculty, which not only supplemented my income but helped build collaborative relationships at QUT and other institutions.”
During her PhD, Dr Close also took advantage of many opportunities for formal training, including QUT’s award-winning Teaching Advantage program (designed specifically for doctoral students), and professional development sessions on research methods and tools. She also found a supportive community within the Law Faculty.
“A PhD inevitably has its ups and downs and can be stressful and isolating. It requires discipline, self-belief, and ingenuity. Like most, if not all, of my fellow PhD students I experienced professional and personal challenges along the way.” Dr Close described how a number of initiatives from the Faculty of Law provided support. “I found an excellent community of PhD students, was part of two writing groups, and attended a variety of lunchbox seminars and events. The Faculty also runs an annual HDR Writing Retreat, convened by HDR Coordinator Associate Professor Shih-Ning Then which provided workshops on topics ranging from personal development to advice for career progression.”
The Faculty has compiled a list of current HDR topics and supervisors for prospective students. Dr Close is currently part of a supervisory team on the Optimal Regulation of Voluntary Assisted Dying research project, which has two dedicated scholarships. She welcomes applications and inquiries from prospective students.
About Eliana Close
Dr Eliana Close is a Lecturer in the Australian Centre for Health Law Research at the QUT Faculty of Law. Eliana has been appointed as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow for the Optimal Regulation of Voluntary Assisted Dying research project. In March 2020 she completed her PhD entitled, ‘Navigating conflicts about life-sustaining treatment in a health system with limited resources: Reconciling law, policy and practice’. It was funded by an Australian Government Research Training Program (RTP) Stipend Scholarship and a top-up scholarship from the NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence in End of Life Care, hosted by QUT.
You can read more about Eliana in her staff profile.
