There’s never been a better time to start a graduate research degree at UTS, with an extra 70 scholarships on offer to Australian students next semester.
One of Howe Zhu's experiments studying how stress impacts human-machine interactions. Photo Andy Roberts.
A scholarship is helping Howe Zhu complete his Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in artificial intelligence – and he's getting paid to do his research into how people and machines work together.
“Like many people at the end of their first degree, I faced the big decision: should I go and work in industry or continue my study?” he says.
“The scholarship has meant I can do my research full-time and feel like I’m employed. There are also other benefits like being compensating for going to conferences and other expenses. Not having to pay tuition fees makes a big difference financially.”
“Together these make doing a PhD feel like a full-time professional research job.”
UTS Research Training Program (RTP) stipends provide graduate research students with tax-free income of more than $28,500 for up to three years (full-time equivalent) to help with living costs.
We’re providing an extra 70 stipends for graduate research students this semester to blaze their own trail
Professor Kate McGrath
One of them has helped Howe explore in depth how stress affects human performance, and that can influence brain-computer interfaces – for better or worse.
“Doing a PhD is like working in a really diverse job. I’ve been learning about human sciences, neuroscience, robotics, machine learning, and now bringing it all together,” he says.
“I do experiments into stress and drones. I’ve worked on an exciting collaboration on Parkinson’s disease. We’ve done showcases and presentations to companies, and attended international conferences. I’ve also been teaching undergraduate mechatronics students on the side.”
Howe Zhu
“There’s much more variety in my job than if I worked in a company, where I’d probably stay put on one project and not get to fully explore all these different areas.”
Howe has been supervised by leading artificial intelligence academics Distinguished Professor CT Lin and Dr Tim Chen, who have provided mentoring and opened doors to other research opportunities, collaborations and infrastructure.
Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research), Professor Kate McGrath, said UTS is investing in the next generation of Australian researchers by offering a total of 234 RTP stipends for local students starting a graduate research degree this year.
“With borders still closed, it’s critical we maintain a pipeline of talent and skills that Australia’s post-pandemic research agenda will rely on,” she says.
“We’re providing an extra 70 stipends for graduate research students this semester to blaze their own trail with their own research direction, or work on a range of research projects being offered by UTS supervisors.”
Howe Zhu encourages anyone thinking about doing a PhD or research degree to follow their dreams.
“Doing a PhD is very much like running a marathon. If you have the passion and drive, it can be really rewarding. You can explore opportunities and go in whatever direction the research takes you, even to the most unexpected places,” he said.