Deakin University HDR Scholarship - AI-driven Mineral Process Optimisation 2025

Project Supervisor: Dr Tao Zhou

Institute: Institute for Intelligent Systems Research and Innovation

Faculty: Faculty of Science, Engineering and Built Environment

Location: Geelong Waurn Ponds Campus (Australia)

Research topic

The project supports the research towards clean energy and battery storage technology.

The Australian mining industry, a pillar to the national economy, is striving for sustainable development amid rising resource demands.The current mineral process control strategies are limited by the system complexity, real-time adaptability, and sustainability integration, hindering energy efficiency and emission reductions. Collaborating with one of the largest suppliers of mining consumables and services in Australia, Molycop, this project seeks to create an intelligent system capable of accurately simulating and predicting the dynamics systems of mineral processing, and adaptively productive control and optimisation strategies to maximize the productivity and resource recovery, while minimizing the waste.

This PhD project is in collaboration with Molycop Australia.

Table of Content

• Summary
• Benefits
• Requirments
• Application Deadline
• How To Apply

Summary

• Application DeadlineNot Specified
• Value$45,550 per annum
• Study LevelPhD
• SponsorDeakin University
• City to studyVictoria
• School to studyDeakin University
• Eligible CountryAll Countries

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Benefits

This scholarship is available over 3 year with possibility of up to 6 months extension:

• Stipend of $45,550 per annum tax exempt (2025 rate)
• Relocation allowance of $500-1500 (for single to family) for students moving from interstate.
• Contribution to research purposes including travel: $1,500 per annum for three years
• International students only:  Tuition fees offset for the duration of 4 years. Single Overseas Student Health Cover policy for the duration of the student visa.

Requirements

To be eligible you must:

• be a domestic or international candidate. Domestic includes candidates with Australian Citizenship, Australian Permanent Residency or New Zealand Citizenship.
• meet Deakin's PhD entry requirements
• be enrolling full time and hold an honours degree (first class) or an equivalent standard master's degree with a substantial research component.

Additional desirable criteria:

• • a master’s degree in a field related but not limited to mining engineering, mechatronic engineering, electrical and electronics engineering
  • experience in exposure to mineral processes, in particular milling.
  • programming (Python) skills, familiar with optimal control or reinforcement learning.

Please refer to the research degree entry pathways page for further information.

Application Deadline

How To Apply

• Please first contact Dr Tao Zhou to discuss the project and prepare the relevant documentation.
• If you are successful, you will then be invited to submit a formal application.

Contact us

For more information about this scholarship, please contact:

• Dr Tao Zhou
• Email Dr Tao Zhou
• +61 3 522 73569

View Tao's research profile

For more information, kindly visit Deakin University scholarship webpage.