Macquarie University Development of new molecular therapies to treat MND 2025

The goal of these projects is to examine and refine our existing molecular and gene therapies for use in in vitro and in vivo for treatment testing.

This scholarship supports PhD research that aims to develop innovative molecular and gene therapies to treat motor neuron disease (MND). This research will contribute towards our vision to cure MND.

We have our first generation therapies that have shown to reduce the levels of pathogenic proteins in cell and animal models, as a potential treatment for motor neuron disease (MND). Whilst these therapies have shown to work, their mechanism of action as a therapy is still unclear in which this project aims to address.

This project also involves refining our current therapies for the next generation for testing in various other MND models.

• Project 1 – This project will be suitable for a potential PhD student with a synthetic chemistry or molecular biology background. We currently have molecular therapies that work. The goal of this project will refine our gene therapy and/or small molecules that enable the next generation of therapies to be more efficacious. The therapies will be tested in cell culture models to determine mechanism-of-action, off-target effects, efficiency in reducing pathological proteins, and cell penetrability.
• Project 2 – This project will be suitable for a potential PhD student with a cell biology and animal work experience. The goal in this project will add value by testing our first generation therapies in cell line and animal models and assessing mechanism of delivery and action and measuring motor and cognitive deficits/improvements in rodent MND models.

Table of Content

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

Summary

• Application DeadlineOctober 31, 2025
• Value$38,500 per annum
• Study LevelPhD
• SponsorMacquarie University
• City to studyNew South Wales
• School to studyMacquarie University
• Eligible CountryAll Countries

Benefits

Each scholarship comprises:

• a tuition fee offset/scholarship
• a living allowance stipend.

The value of each stipend scholarship is $38,500 per annum (full time, indexed) for three years.

Requirements

Applicants for graduate research scholarships at Macquarie University must meet the minimum entry criteria to the relevant course of study and should review the available courses listed for each scholarship on the scholarship search tool when considering their application.

Macquarie University assesses and ranks applicants based primarily on academic merit and research experience. Alignment of the proposed research topic with the University’s research priorities and the strength of the supervisory team may also be considered.

Learn more about the scholarship rating criteria.

Specific eligibility criteria apply to research pathway scholarships, which support Macquarie University students as they progress through the research pathway.

Application Deadline

How To Apply

New applicants to Macquarie University should follow the steps on our How to Apply page.

Applicants who are already enrolled, commenced the Macquarie PhD program, or have received a valid Macquarie University letter of offer for a graduate research program within the last six months, must:

• download our guidelines on how to submit a Scholarship Only application
• submit an online Graduate Research Scholarship Only application form with supporting documents
• indicate the scholarship reference number under the scholarship details question.

Learn more about submitting an application.

Contact us

• Albert Lee
  • E: [email protected]
  • T: +61 (2) 9850 2777
• Marco Morsch
  • E: [email protected]

For more information, kindly visit Macquarie University scholarship webpage.