Mathematics and Statistics
Vacation Scholarships Program

Providing selected students with a supervised introduction to research in mathematics or statistics.

About the program

Our Vacation Scholarship program provides selected students with a supervised introduction to research in mathematics or statistics. Successful candidates will be supervised by a member of staff according to their general strengths and interests, whether it be on the pure or applied side, and within mathematics or statistics.

As well as exploring new and familiar mathematical concepts and techniques in unprecedented depth for the purpose of achieving the individual project’s research goals, the vacation scholars gain workforce experience and have the chance to meet, socialise and make friends with students of similar interests. This will be facilitated by various social activities such as lunches, talks, workshops and discussion rounds as well as the final poster presentation in mid February in which all Vacation Scholars present their work. There is even the chance to win a $200 prize for the best poster presentation.

The program is particularly aimed at students, either advanced second years or current third years, who are seriously considering one of the masters programs offered by the School of Mathematics and Statistics.

Students will receive one payment of AUD$2000 (equivalent of $500/week for 4 weeks) after 20 days of research at the University of Melbourne. Detailed information on the scholarship payment will be part of your induction pack.

If you are interested in participating in this program, please familiarise yourself with the eligibility criteria below and attend the Information Session on 27 July 2023.

Eligibility

Undergraduate students at the University of Melbourne or other universities in Australia or New Zealand are eligible and encouraged to apply.

Vacation Scholarships are available to students who:

  1. Are enrolled in any single or combined degree program in which they have been able to study a significant amount of Mathematics or Statistics
  2. Have completed at least one and have completed or be enrolled in at least three genuine level 2 or 3 Mathematics and Statistics subjects (see below for list) as of the due date for applications
  3. Have not completed one of the School’s Vacation Scholarships before (AMSI Vacation Scholarships are not counted here)
  4. Have contacted at least one potential supervisor and received written approval (by email) that this supervisor would be willing to supervise the student in case of a successful application
  5. Can commit to four weeks of full-time engagement with the project
  6. Are seriously considering the University of Melbourne Mathematics and Statistics postgraduate research programs (e.g. Master of Science, graduate research degree).
  7. Have a Weighted Average Mark (WAM) of 70 or above (This is also the minimum requirement to be eligible for any special consideration).

The University of Melbourne students will generally be required to be enrolled in the Bachelor of Science or the concurrent Diploma in Mathematical Sciences. Students in the Graduate Diploma in Science (Advanced) are eligible if they are in the Mathematics and Statistics stream and have not enrolled in any level-9 subjects at the time of application. Students enrolled in other degrees have to consult the program Coordinator about their eligibility through an email to ms-vacation-scholarships@unimelb.edu.au.

  • Approved Mathematics and Statistics subjects

    A genuine level 2 or 3 Mathematics and Statistics subject is any subject in the following list (or equivalent at your institution):

    • MAST10009 Accelerated Mathematics 2
    • MAST20004 Probability
    • MAST20005 Statistics
    • MAST20006 Probability for Statistics
    • MAST20009 Vector Calculus
    • MAST20018 Discrete Maths And Operations Research
    • MAST20022 Group Theory And Linear Algebra
    • MAST20026 Real Analysis
    • MAST20030 Differential Equations
    • MAST20031 Analysis of Biological Data
    • COMP20008 Elements Of Data Processing (in combination with MAST20004 and MAST20005/MAST2006 in the Data Science or Computer Science Major)
    • MAST20033 Real Analysis: Advanced
      MAST20032 Vector Calculus: Advanced

Projects and supervisors

Available supervisors Current projects Past projects

Note: 

  • Only academics from the School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Melbourne, are eligible to be supervisors in this program. Some academics that are not listed here may also be available. We recommend that you contact potential supervisors in research areas of interest from the school website (Research groups) to find out about available projects that are not posted here or to discuss personal preferences.
  • Some postings are for a specific project while others are more general and have facets that could run each year, even if the posting is from a previous year.

Posters from previous years

You may also be interested in posters from previous years to obtain an impression of the range of topics covered and figure out what kind of mathematics appeals to you.

Applying

How to apply

Applications for the Vacation Scholarship Program will open on 27 July 2023 and close on 28 September 2023 at 5 pm. When applications open, please follow these steps to apply.

  1. If possible, please attend the Vacation Scholarship Program Information Session.
  2. Complete the online application form and attach the relevant documents. Before you apply, you must:
    • Have spoken to at least one potential supervisor and received written approval (by email) that this supervisor is willing to supervise you if your application is successful. Print this email as a PDF for upload. We strongly encourage students to contact and nominate three supervisors.
    • Have your academic transcript or statement of results ready to upload.
    • Have your CV ready to upload. The CV will be shared with potential supervisors. Please make sure not to include sensitive information such as address details, telephone numbers or private email addresses.
    • Have written a brief statement detailing why you would like to be part of the Vacation Scholarship program and your career aspirations/future plans. Save the statement as a PDF for uploading to the application form. Word limit: 350 words.
    • If not a student at the University of Melbourne, provide the contact details of an academic referee.

Selection procedure

  • Applicants are ranked according to their total Weighted Average Mark (WAM) and then distributed according to their supervisor preferences.
  • Each supervisor can supervise no more than two vacation scholars. Therefore, we recommend contacting and nominating more than one supervisor before you apply.

Special consideration

If your WAM has been adversely affected by individual circumstances beyond your control, you can apply for special consideration by explaining these in an email to ms-vacation-scholarships@unimelb.edu.au.

If granted, your WAM will be replaced by an appropriately adjusted WAM for the purpose of the ranking. Please note that general reference to online learning in the context of COVID-19 will not be sufficient to receive special consideration since this is an experience shared by all applicants.

Special consideration may also apply if you fail to satisfy the subject eligibility criteria, for example, due to having been granted prerequisite waivers, as long as you can provide evidence that you are on track for a major in Computational Biology, Data Science, Mathematical Physics or Mathematics and Statistics.

If in doubt, please discuss your situation with the coordinators of the Vacation Scholarship program.

Diversity

The School of Mathematics and Statistics values the unique backgrounds, experiences and contributions each person brings to our community and encourages and celebrates diversity. First Nations people, those identifying as LGBTQIA+, women, students of all ages with disabilities or caregiving responsibilities, and culturally and linguistically diverse students are encouraged to apply. Our aim is to run a Vacation Scholarships Program whose participants reflect the community at our University, and we created a number of designated Diversity Scholarships to achieve that goal. Students who wish to be considered for the Diversity Scholarships are kindly requested to fill in the Special Consideration part of the application form.

Travel scholarship

Students from other Australian or New Zealand universities are most welcome and strongly encouraged to apply.

Successful applicants will need to organise their own accommodation and travel.

Two travel scholarships will be available each year, up to a total of AUD$2000 per scholar. Students must apply for the travel scholarship at the time of applying for the Vacation Scholarship. To be eligible, students must live either:

  • interstate
  • in New Zealand
  • in Victoria, but more than 2 hours' commute from the University (e.g. Bendigo).

Only very strong interstate students (e.g. top 10 ranking using the Vacation Scholarship metric) will be considered. Students awarded travel scholarships can use the money for flights and basic accommodation but will need to justify their expenses.

Other than the above-mentioned travel scholarships, The University of Melbourne will not cover accommodation or travel expenses. The costs of accommodation and travel are the responsibility of the Vacation Scholar.

Information Session

The information session for the 2023/2024 program will take place on 27 July 2023, 2 pm - 3 pm,  in-person at Russell Love Theatre of Peter Hall Building or over Zoom(ID: 813 7602 1660; Password: 633437).

The 2023/2024 information session slides are available below: download the slides. The recording of the 2023/2024 information session is available here: 2023/2024Recording. Note that the range of projects presented in the information session may be limited due to speaker availability. However, supervisors are available across all research areas within our school.

Contacts

If you have read all of the information on this page and still have further questions, please contact ms-vacation-scholarships@unimelb.edu.au.

Address your email to Wei Huang and Brian Krummel for academic matters and Roy Ridgway for all other matters.

Other Scholarship Programs

-- It is impossible to do any two or more of the programs simultaneously

  • AMSI Vacation scholarships
    • In the case of applying for both the AMSI and our school vacation scholarships programs, students are required to nominate the same supervisor for both applications.
    • The projects listed on this webpage can be submitted to the AMSI program if the supervisor approves. You should contact the supervisor and discuss this.
    • To understand the differences between the AMSI and our school vacation scholarship programs, please refer to the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) about projects and programs section below.
    • For comprehensive details about the AMSI program, please explore further by clicking on the program link: https://vrs.amsi.org.au/.
  • Amgen Scholars Program

    Program link: https://amgenscholars.research.unimelb.edu.au/

Frequently asked questions

Questions about projects and programs

  • What research projects are available?

    Research projects are at the discretion of supervisors. There are projects listed on this website; however, this list is not exhaustive. Supervisors may develop other projects in consultation with scholars. You may wish to contact potential supervisors in the School’s research areas to discuss potential projects before submitting your application.

  • When do research projects take place?

    Research projects take place from early January to mid-February.  Each student spends 4 weeks at the School and is expected to prepare a poster for the poster session in mid-February. The precise dates are agreed with the supervisor.

  • Can the program be undertaken on a part-time basis?

    Unfortunately there is no part-time option for the program.

  • Are we expected to create our own project or are there potential projects waiting?

    In the case of applying for both AMSI and our school vacation scholarships programs, students are required to nominate the same supervisor for both applications.The projects listed on this webpage can be submitted to the AMSI program if the supervisor approves. You should contact the supervisor and discuss.

  • Is the Department of Mathematics and Statistics Vacation Scholarship Program the same as the AMSI Vacation Research Scholarships?

    No. AMSI offers vacation research scholarships to eligible students at AMSI member universities to work closely with a supervisor at their home university. AMSI scholars become part of the School's Vacation Scholarship program.

    The AMSI Vacation Research Scholarships:

    • are 6 weeks in total (School of Mathematics and Statistics Vacation Scholarships are 4 weeks)
    • have different eligibility requirements
    • have a different application process – visit the website for further information
    • require students to write up their research and present it to their peers and supervisors at the end of the summer
    • offer travel and accommodation to attend AMSIConnect.

Questions about applicants and applying

  • Is my WAM competitive?

    The distribution of Vacation Scholarships will be based on a ranking by WAM. Looking at the data from previous years we expect successful applicants to have a WAM of 75 or higher.

    While there is no specific value of the WAM above which success is guaranteed, only those with a WAM of 70 or higher are eligible for the program, including any special considerations.

  • Which WAM should I submit if I am enrolled in a double degree?

    Please submit all transcripts or statements of results related to science-related degrees such as the Bachelor of Science or a concurrent Diploma in Mathematical Sciences. For the WAM in the form please use the WAM shown on the transcript for the degree that is most closely related to Mathematics or Statistics.

  • Can I apply for the program without a potential supervisor?

    No, it is mandatory to contact potential supervisors before submitting your application. You will need to provide written confirmation (email is sufficient) that a supervisor is willing to supervise you in case your application is successful.

    Finding out about your scientific interests and initiating contact with potential supervisors is also an important part of the process of going into masters and PhD programs.

  • Can second-year students apply?

    Yes, and the program is now primarily aimed at advanced second year students. Third-year students remain eligible if they haven’t participated in the program before. To have sufficiently strong mathematical foundations to undertake a research project, you are expected to have completed at least three genuine level 2 or 3 Mathematics and Statistics subjects at the time of the project.

  • Why do I need to have completed so many genuine level 2 or 3 Mathematics and Statistics subjects?

    The Vacation Scholarship program is meant to be an appetiser for the graduate research programs at the School of Mathematics and Statistics. With the completion of genuine level 2 or 3 Mathematics and Statistics subjects students demonstrate that they are on track to be eligible for these programs at the end of their undergraduate studies.