International Visiting Scholar Program

International Visiting Scholar Program

The MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour and Development, Western Sydney University is inviting international PhD students and post PhD researchers to apply for a MARCS International Visiting Scholarship. These scholarships will give international visiting scholars the opportunity to develop and conduct collaborative projects with researchers from the Institute for a period of 1-3 months.

The MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour and Development is an interdisciplinary research institute of Western Sydney University. The vision for the Institute is to optimise human interaction and wellbeing across the lifespan. To strive to solve the problems that matter most through the themes: sensing and perceiving, interacting with each other, and technologies for humans. Researchers in the Institute come from many disciplines including cognitive science, neuroscience, developmental psychology, language science, music science, and biomedical, electrical, electronic, software and neuromorphic engineering.

Scholarships

The scholarships will support a 1-3 month stay for international researchers intending to develop a new or existing collaboration with researchers from the Institute. The visiting scholar will be based for the duration of the visit at our research labs at Westmead Innovation Quarter (WIQ) - a visionary research, health, education and business hub located in the Westmead Health Precinct, or in the International Centre for Neuromorphic Systems (ICNS) at Western Sydney University's Werrington South Campus.

The scholarship covers expenses up to a maximum of AUD$3,000 for visiting PhD students (MARCS Visiting Scholarship Level 1) and up to AUD$4,000 for postdoctoral and more senior researchers (MARCS Visiting Scholarship Level 2). The scholarship can be used to support:

• accommodation
• economy airfare
• visa

Depending on the applicant's visit duration and country of origin, the awarded scholarship might be insufficient to cover all expenses involved. The applicant will need to confirm that complementary funds are available to ensure that all expenses can be covered.

Application Process

Scholarships will be awarded through a competitive selection process based on the applicant's expertise and track record, and on the project alignment with the Institute's research strengths and priorities across its different programmes. Five (5) Level 1 and four (4) Level 2 scholarships will be offered this round. All applications must be supported by at least one researcher from the MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour and Development and submitted (along with a CV and letters of support from the applicant's home institution and proposed MARCS host) with the online Application Form by 1st November 2026.

For More Information

Please contact the MARCS Executive Officer at marcs@westernsydney.edu.au