PhD Student

PhD Scholarship – Precision Medicine for Low Back Pain

Fully funded UNSW Medicine & Health Scientia PhD | Commencing 2027

Are you a health graduate interested in using data to improve how healthcare decisions are made?

An exciting opportunity is available to undertake a fully funded PhD exploring precision medicine for low back pain, using causal inference and machine learning across nationwide health databases and clinical trial data to investigate which treatments work best, and for whom.

The research will be conducted at Neuroscience Research Australia (NeuRA), an affiliated Medical Research Institute of UNSW, as part of the Centre for Pain IMPACT. You’ll join a collaborative team of clinicians, researchers and people with lived experience while developing your research skills alongside experts in the field.

What’s on offer:

• 💰 $39,991 per annum tax-free stipend for 3.5 years
• ✈️ $25,000 Global Mobility Grant for international research and travel
• 🧠 Supervision from Prof James H McAuley and Dr. Harrison Hansford from the Centre for Pain IMPACT
• 🎓 Co-supervision from A/Prof Issa Dahabreh at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health’s CAUSALab
• 🌎 The opportunity to spend time working with the CAUSALab team in Boston
• 🔬 Support to learn the necessary research methods through collaboration with global experts

We’re looking for a health graduate who is curious about data and wants their research to have a meaningful impact on healthcare decisions.

Eligibility:

Applicants must be domestic applicants and meet at least one of the following requirements:

• An appropriate Bachelor degree with First or Upper Second Class Honours; or
• A completed Master by Research; or
• A qualification from a tertiary institution at a level considered equivalent to the above by the UNSW Faculty Higher Degree Committee (HDC).

How to Apply:

Eligible applicants should contact the Primary Supervisor, James McAuley, at james.mcauley@unsw.edu.au.

Your email must include:

• Your CV
• Official academic transcripts
• A brief introduction about yourself
• An explanation of what interests you about the project

If James McAuley agrees to supervise you, you will then be invited to submit a formal application to UNSW.

Applications close: 11:59PM on 20 November 2026

For further information about the project and application requirements, visit the UNSW Personalised Spine Surgical Care project page: https://www.unsw.edu.au/research/hdr/our-projects/personalised-spine-surgical-care.

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion

NeuRA is committed to equity, diversity and inclusion, and to providing a welcoming and respectful environment for all applicants.

This scholarship is open to domestic applicants only, in accordance with the eligibility requirements of the UNSW Scientia PhD Scholarship Scheme.

Acknowledgement of Country

NeuRA acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of the lands on which we work and pays respect to Elders past and present.