1. The Jerusalem-Melbourne Joint PhD

The Jerusalem-Melbourne Joint PhD

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The Jerusalem-Melbourne Joint PhD (JM-JPhD) is an international research training group between The University of Melbourne, Australia, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel.

The University of Melbourne (UoM) and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI) signed a Memorandum of Understanding in 2008, renewed in 2018, to foster exchange and research collaborations. Both Universities affirmed this partnership in November 2012 with an agreement to establish the Joint Research Workshop Grants Program.

The partnership was further expanded with the development of a joint PhD agreement and the launch of the Jerusalem-Melbourne Joint PhD program (JMJPhD) in 2019. The first cohort, with a thematic focus on biomedical research, successfully recruited 4 Joint PhD candidates across two research teams. The second group of 4 projects being recruited in late 2020 includes research in veterinary parasitology and Natural Language Processing (NLP) in computational linguistics and cognitive science. All successful candidates will spend at least a year at each institution over the course of their candidature and be eligible to graduate with a jointly awarded PhD recognised with a testamur from each University.

Upcoming Jerusalem-Melbourne Joint PhD (JM-JPhD) research projects are advertised below. Please read the application guidelines before contacting the project supervisors.

  • How to Apply

    REGISTER YOUR INTEREST Applicants for Jerusalem-Melbourne Joint PhD (JM-JPhD) projects should: Identify a project of interest Register their interest with the project supervisor based at the University of Melbourne, including the following information: Name, contact details Joint PhD project of interest Cover Letter, CV and Transcript Any supporting documentation Note: All applicants are required to meet the entry requirements for a PhD at …

    September 10, 2021 Joint PhD Proje...
  • Motivational strength in emotion regulation in healthy and depressed individuals.

    Please note that applications for these two projects will no longer be accepted until further notice. Two Jerusalem-Melbourne Joint PhD positions: one with The Hebrew University of Jerusalem as home institution and another with The University of Melbourne as home institution.  Candidates will spend a minimum of 12 months at the host institution. Project Description: Being able to successfully influence our emotions …

    September 10, 2021 Joint PhD Proje...
  • Cognitive training combined with non-invasive brain stimulation for the treatment of late life depression (LLD)

    This project is no longer accepting applications   Two Jerusalem-Melbourne Joint PhD positions are available: one with The Hebrew University of Jerusalem as home institution and another with The University of Melbourne as home institution.  Candidates are required to spend a minimum of 12 months at the host institution. Project Description: The two distinct, yet related, PhD projects will be devoted to …

    September 10, 2021 Joint PhD Proje...
  • Shape shifting molecules: using light to control and explore molecular structure and function

    Two Jerusalem-Melbourne Joint PhD positions are available: one with The Hebrew University of Jerusalem as home institution and another with The University of Melbourne as home institution.  Candidates are required to spend a minimum of 12 months at the host institution. Project Description: Melbourne PhD Project The Melbourne project is concerned with experimentally exploring the structural and optical properties of charged carbon …

    September 10, 2021 Joint PhD Proje...
  • Cell-scale MRI

    Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is an indispensable characterization technique, extensively used in chemical analysis, as well as in other fields (biology, physics). The imaging modality of this scheme, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), has unparalleled capabilities in varied fields, and notably in biological and medical diagnostics. In essence, MRI uses pickup coils to measure magnetic signals generated by nuclear spins within …

    January 21, 2021 Joint PhD Proje...
  • Canine and feline leishmaniasis in Israel, its relationship to human leishmaniasis, co-infections, risk factors and drug resistance.

    This joint PhD project will be based at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, with a 12 month stay at the University of Melbourne. Supervision Team: Professor Gad Baneth (Hebrew University of Jerusalem); Professor Rebecca Traub and Dr Vito Colella (University of Melbourne) Project description: The leishmaniases are a group of diseases caused by Leishmania species which inflict three disease forms in humans; …

    September 22, 2020 Joint PhD Proje...
  • Novel metabarcoding diagnostics to safeguard against the incursion of emerging and novel canine and feline vector-borne zoonoses in Australia and Israel.

    This joint PhD project will be based at the University of Melbourne, with a 12 month stay at Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Supervision Team: Professor Rebecca Traub and Dr Vito Colella (University of Melbourne); Professor Gad Baneth (Hebrew University of Jerusalem) Project description: Canine and feline vector-borne diseases (CVBDs) transmitted by ticks, fleas and biting-flies, are a significant cause of morbidity and mortality …

    September 22, 2020 Joint PhD Proje...
  • Decoding the rhythms of cognition

    This project investigates the representational content of brain rhythms: the actual information contained in each of the cycles of cortical excitability that the brain produces during perception. Better understanding the content of rhythmic fluctuations in physiology and behavior will allow us to elucidate the underlying neural architecture. To address this aim we will apply multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA) techniques to …

    April 30, 2020 Joint PhD Proje...

Current Jerusalem-Melbourne Joint PhD (JM-JPhD) research projects, from our first cohort with candidates scheduled to commence in 2020 are listed below.

  • Cross-linguistic Semantic and Syntactic Representation

    This joint PhD project is based at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, with a 12 month stay at the University of Melbourne. Supervision Team: Dr Omri Abend, Hebrew University of Jersualem; Dr Lea Frermann, University of Melbourne Project Description: The technological and theoretical importance of cross-linguistic applicability in semantic and syntactic representation has long been recognized, but achieving this goal has proved extremely …

    September 22, 2020 Current Projects
  • Scalable Computational Cognitive Models of the Bilingual Lexicon

    This joint PhD project is based at the University of Melbourne, with a 12 month stay at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Supervision Team: Dr Lea Frermann, University of Melbourne; Dr Omri Abend, Hebrew University of Jersualem Project Description: Learning a second language (L2) is a major cognitive effort, yet humans are able to reliably acquire languages in addition to their native language (L1) …

    September 22, 2020 Current Projects
  • Diamond sensor for Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS)

    Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS), and radicals in general, play a fundamental role in a broad range of chemical and biological processes, usually as catalysts and mediators of various reactions. For example, ROS are crucial as catalysts in clean energy production, such as batteries and light-harvesting complexes, and are instrumental in cellular and inter-cellular disease processes, such as inflammation. Detecting and …

    April 30, 2020 Current Projects
  • The rhythm of predictive coding 

    This project investigates the role of brain oscillations in the mechanisms involved in predictive coding. Predictive coding is an influential framework of cortical organisation. However, the canonical predictive coding model treats cortical processing as a stationary process: input remains constant and the sensory hierarchy converges on a minimum-error computational solution. Of course, the real world is dynamic and ever-changing, and …

    April 29, 2020 Current Projects

Professor Steven Prawer
Steven Prawer is the academic lead of the Jerusalem-Melbourne joint PhD program.  He is a Professor of Physics in the School of Physics and Director of the Melbourne Materials Institute in the Faculty of Science. He has a world wide reputation in advanced diamond science and technology with over 30 years of experience and over 390 scientific publications. A particular focus of his research has been the merging of the areas of nanoscience and neuroscience to push the boundaries of bionic devices.

Prof Prawer co-supervises joint PhD projects with A/Prof Nir Bar-Gill from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Dr Alex Bahar-Fuchs
Dr Alex Bahar-Fuchs is a Senior Research Fellow – Psychiatry of Old Age in the School of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences. His primary research interests focus on understanding of olfactory cognitive processes and their relevance to the early detection of Alzheimer’s disease. It also include the development, evaluation and synthesis of non-pharmacological interventions aimed at primary and secondary prevention of cognitive decline and dementia, often using emerging technologies. Dr Alex Bahar-Fuchs co-supervises joint PhD projects with Dr Mor Nahum from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Professor Evan Bieske
Professor Evan Bieske is a Professor in the School of Chemistry, Faculty of Science. His research interests lie in the application of laser spectroscopy to the characterization of molecular ions, clusters and nanoparticles in the gas phase, and also in the properties of nanomechanical devices such as AFM cantilevers.  His research has led to the development of new techniques to investigate the properties of molecules that change shape in response to light. Professor Bieske co-supervises joint PhD projects with Prof Dr Igor Schapiro from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Dr Lea Frermann
Lea Frermann is a Lecturer in the School of Computing and Information Systems in the Faculty of Engineering and IT, in the field of natural language processing (NLP). Her research interests focus on improving automatic understanding of long and complex texts (books, movie scripts), with help of access to common sense knowledge. She is also interested in using machine learning for a deeper understanding of human language processing, and in using such insights to improve automatic language understanding.  Dr Frermann co-supervises joint PhD projects with Dr Omri Abend from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Dr Hinze Hogendoorn
Hinze Hogendoorn is a Senior Research Fellow at the Melbourne School of Psychological Science, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences.  His primary research interests lie in visual time perception. Using psychophysical, behavioral, and neuroimaging techniques, he tries to answer questions such as how time is encoded in the brain, and how the brain keeps track of time. Dr Hogendoorn co-supervises joint PhD projects with A/Prof Ayelet Landau from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Dr Elise Kalokerinos
Dr Elise Kalokerinos is a Senior Lecturer in Psychology in the Melbourne School of Psychological Science, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences. Her primary research interests centre on emotion, motivation, and self-regulation. She uses multiple methods to investigate these topics, including traditional lab experiments, large-scale field surveys, and experience sampling studies conducted in daily life. Dr Kalokerinos co-supervises joint PhD projects with Prof Maya Tamir from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Professor Rebecca Traub
Rebecca Traub is a Professor in Veterinary Parasitology in Veterinary BioSciences at the University of Melbourne. Her main research interest is in the development and application of molecular epidemiological and diagnostic tools to unravel public health risks posed by a range of direct, food-borne and vector-borne parasitic zoonoses. Prof Traub co-supervises joint PhD projects with Dr Vito Colella from the University of Melbourne and Prof Gad Baneth from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

The IRTG Coordinator team consists of:

  • Petra Van Nieuwenhoven
  • Clare Flynn

The team works with the Joint PhD program Academic Lead on operational activities, including recruitment and the end to end graduate research lifecycle processes for joint PhD candidates. Please direct all your enquiries to jointphd-admin@unimelb.edu.au.

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