StudyDesk Scholarships
About the scholarship
The Research Training Program is the Australian Government’s scheme for funding research-degree students, and each university administers its own share. At CQUniversity the RTP Stipend Scholarship is a living allowance: it is meant to cover your day-to-day costs while you research, so that you are not forced to work full-time alongside a thesis. It is not, on its own, a tuition scholarship for international students — that distinction is the single most important fact in this article, and it is where many aggregator headlines mislead.
For domestic students, the picture is simpler: a student awarded an RTP Stipend is also offered an RTP Fees Offset, which covers tuition for the scholarship period. For international students, the fee offset goes through its own competitive selection process. An international student can therefore hold the stipend and still owe tuition unless the offset is also awarded. Do not budget on the assumption that the stipend alone makes the degree free.
Benefits
- A living stipend of AUD $38,000 per annum. Some older listings quote AUD $32,000 or AUD $36,000; the current figure repeated across 2026 guides and the university’s own scholarship listing is AUD $38,000, and that is the figure used here.
- Payment fortnightly through the university’s payroll system, for up to 3 years.
- For domestic recipients, an RTP Fees Offset Scholarship covering tuition for the scholarship period.
- For international recipients, a separate competitive chance at the same fee offset — not automatic with the stipend.
- Research support is described by guides as part of the wider RTP package, but no separate research-fund amount is published in the sources checked, so none is stated here.
Who can apply
- You are a domestic or overseas candidate enrolled in an accredited Research Higher Degree course at CQUniversity — a Master by Research or a PhD. Coursework master’s degrees do not qualify.
- You must not receive income from another source for your general living costs that is greater than 75% of your RTP stipend rate while you hold the scholarship.
- You must have a supervisory team willing to recommend you. There are no direct applications for RTP scholarships at CQUniversity: prospective applicants are invited by the School of Graduate Research to complete an application, on the recommendation of their supervisory team.
- Assessment rounds are typically scheduled to close at the end of April and the end of September, though the university says the timing and number of rounds cannot be guaranteed and may vary. Applications themselves remain open through the calendar year, closing on 31 December 2026 — but if you are reading this in late October, the September round has already passed, so your realistic target is the next round, not a fresh September decision.
Documents required
Because there is no direct application, there is no published RTP document checklist to reproduce. What you will actually need is a research proposal strong enough to win a supervisor, plus the academic record and references that support a Research Higher Degree admission. The university’s Research Training Program and Research Higher Degree Scholarships policy and procedure — searchable on CQUniversity’s policy page — is the authoritative source for the current rules; check it before you approach a supervisor, and do not trust an aggregator’s document list.
How to apply
- Develop a genuine, well-formed research question and identify a CQUniversity supervisory team working in that area.
- Discuss your interest in an RHD scholarship with that supervisory team. This is the application in practice: without their recommendation, there is no form to fill in.
- If recommended, you will be invited by the School of Graduate Research to complete an application.
- Confirm, before accepting, whether you also hold a fee offset (automatic for domestic recipients, separately competitive for international recipients) or whether tuition remains payable.
- Keep the 31 December 2026 calendar close in mind, and ask the School of Graduate Research which assessment round your application will actually fall into.
FAQs
No. The university states there are no direct applications. Discuss your interest with a supervisory team first; the School of Graduate Research invites recommended applicants to apply.
Not automatically. The AUD $38,000 stipend covers living costs. Domestic recipients also get a full tuition fee offset automatically, but international recipients win the offset only through a separate competitive process.
AUD $38,000 a year, paid fortnightly, for up to 3 years. Older figures of AUD $32,000 and AUD $36,000 in some listings are superseded.
Applications remain open through the year and close on 31 December 2026, but assessment rounds typically close at the end of April and the end of September. The September 2026 round has passed, so ask which round you would enter.
Only up to a limit: other income for general living costs must not exceed 75% of your RTP stipend rate.
Verified 30 Oct 2026 against CQUniversity’s own RTP Stipend Scholarship listing as reproduced by YouthExpat and other guides (AUD $38,000 a year, up to 3 years, fortnightly payment, domestic fee offset automatic, international fee offset separately competitive, no direct applications, supervisor recommendation, April/September round pattern, 31 December 2026 close) and corroborating 2026 guides (Scholarships.af, Fellowshipsguide, After School Africa, ScholarPositions). Older stipend figures (AUD $32,000/$36,000) are superseded by the AUD $38,000 figure used here.
