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Great information technology scholarships for postgrads

James Davis

Careers Commentator
The modern world runs on IT, but it can be costly to get a high quality postgraduate education in these fields. Fortunately, we’ve got some solutions.

To help offset some of the postgraduate study costs, we’ve come up with a list of excellent scholarships you can apply for in information technology, including but not limited to:

  • Computer graphics
  • Computer science
  • Cyber security
  • Data science
  • Networks & communications
  • Systems analysis and design

This makes them quite flexible.

If you’re intimidated by the prospect of scholarship applications, fear not! We’ve written a free, comprehensive guide to postgraduate scholarships and getting selected that you can reference throughout this article. If you’d rather not go elsewhere for now, here are just a couple tidbits from it that’ll help you understand some of the common terminology in relation to scholarship applications:

  • There are three main types of scholarships.
    • Merit-based scholarships rely on some combination of grades, professional or extra-curricular achievements to succeed.
    • Need-based scholarships adopt their namesake in only being given to those of greatest need. This is commonly in the form of financial hardship, but can be in reference to coming from a disadvantaged background or having a disability.
    • Research-based scholarships are often discipline-specific endeavours that requires applicants to undergo research in a very particular area. For instance, it may require a student of cyber security to investigate the RAN servers’ susceptibility to spectre attacks.
  • Written statements require a short blurb about yourself, with your achievements as supporting evidence rather than being centre stage.
  • CVs or resumes put your achievements first in fairly terse language.
  • Professional references are former bosses or professors.
  • Personal references are family members, friends or community leaders, the latter being preferable.
  • Academic transcripts are official or unofficial documents provided by your university. When an application asks for these if you haven’t yet finished undergrad, an unofficial transcript will normally do just fine.

Without further adieu, here are some great funding opportunities in information technology.

IEEE Computer Society Computer Science Scholarship - 20% off tuition fees

This scholarship is exclusively for prospective Edith Cowan University international students of computer science who’ve completed an IEEE certification. Domestic students aren’t eligible.

To apply, simply email your IEEE certification to studyecu@ecu.edu.au. You’ll be alerted to your success or failure several days later, the consequence of which will be the automatic adjustment of your course fees. The fact this is so easy to apply for if you’ve completed an IEEE certification makes it quite appealing.

So what if you haven’t got one of these things and don’t know what they are? Well, they’re paid online exams, which grant the certification upon achieving a passing grade. The Associate Software Developer certification, for instance, features a 100 minute exam for about $300 per try. Therefore, if you haven’t already got one, you may not consider this a worthwhile investment given the cost, but they can aid your understanding of software development if money’s no object.

Assorted RMIT IT scholarships - $28,849 pa for each

The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology offers a variety of merit-based PhD scholarships in various IT disciplines, including:

  • Cell tracking
  • Visual analytics
  • Computer vision

All of these require students to have a prior bachelor degree in computer science with a 3.2/4 GPA or equivalent. This basically means a solid distinction grade average, or 6/7 on the scale more commonly used in Australia.

Another important prerequisite is strong proficiency in mathematics and/or statistics as determined by previous academic performance. Although a 3.2/4 GPA is the minimum, it is expected that applicants have exceptional performance in these subjects, otherwise they won’t be considered. Knowledge in any of the aforementioned three scholarship fields is nice to have, but not necessary for success. The same applies to holding a master’s degree in a cognate discipline.

Spring Data Science Fellowship Opportunity - 8-week funded networking opportunity

This is a fairly curious opportunity because there isn’t any money directly changing hands. Applicants are instead provided with a funded trip to Cornell University, where they attend a fellowship/ conference to learn more about the data science field and network with potential future employers. It’s an invaluable experience.

It’s remarkably flexible, in that those who’ve already completed their PhD or master’s degrees by research are eligible to apply in addition to those whose programs are still in progress. It’s merely a matter of signing up for either a physical or online session at the link provided. This is merely a matter of providing your email address to be notified when they’re available, making it a minimal time commitment. We therefore recommend it.

School of Information Technologies Master of Data Science Entry - $6,000

As the name would suggest, students embarking upon the Master of Data Science at the University of Sydney are eligible for this merit-based scholarship. They need to previously have taken a quantitative degree program in topics like:

  • Computer science
  • Data science
  • Economics
  • Engineering
  • Finance
  • Physics
  • Statistics

A distinction GPA is also required (6/7 or 75%) at a minimum. To apply, simply fill out your contact information using their online form and attach your academic transcript from prior study.

The School of Information Technologies Postgraduate Coursework Diversity Scholarship - $6,000

This is a merit-based scholarship for international applicants from the following regions:

  • The Middle-East
  • Latin America
  • Asia Pacific

Its requirements are similar to that of the previous scholarship. Students must hold a degree in a quantitative discipline and have achieved a distinction GPA while doing so.

An application isn’t necessary. If you apply for the School of Information Technologies Master of Data Entry scholarship, you’ll automatically be considered for this one too. How’s that for value?

The PostgradAustralia Scholarship - $2,750

Of course, we’d be remiss if we didn’t toot our own horn a little bit! Our scholarship is open to students across all disciplines, nationalities and socio-economic backgrounds. We don’t care about GPA, but we do care about passion. All we want is a roughly 500 word written statement explaining why you’re passionate about your field of postgraduate study and a creative social media post expressing this. As engineers, computer and data scientists, you’re used to thinking outside the box, so we don’t think you’ll have any trouble!

This is a great initial scholarship if you haven’t secured any funding, but also works in conjunction with other opportunities. Just be careful to check that the scholarship(s) you’re currently on allow for you to take others.

Deakin STEM Scholarship - 20% off tuition fees

Deakin University IT students who are citizens of the following countries are eligible for this merit-based scholarship:

  • China
  • Indonesia
  • Kenya
  • Malaysia
  • Nigeria
  • Pakistan
  • Sri Lanka
  • Vietnam

Having obtained at least a credit GPA in prior study (5/7, or 65%) is necessary as well. To apply, simply send an inquiry to deakin-int-scholarships@deakin.edu.au.

Hopefully this has given you a better understanding about what funding opportunities are available in IT and what it takes to get them. However, this is by no means the end of your opportunities. If you don’t think any of these quite suit you well enough, we’ve got loads of general scholarships you ought to browse. You can take a look at these here. Make sure to have our guide to postgraduate scholarships on hand to help you during the application process. Good luck!