Honours Research Support Scholarships

Honours students undertake important research that contributes to the environmental, social and economic resilience of landscapes, agriculture and communities. Successful completion of Honours is a key pathway into Higher Degree programs. Experience shows that financial support during the Honours year can improve the quality of a student’s final research thesis.

About the program

Southern NSW Innovation Hub’s Honours Research Support Scholarships program for 2026 provides financial support to help First Nations and non-First Nations students complete their studies to a high standard and extend their research beyond the university.

Eligibility criteria:

  • Applicants must be, at the time of award, enrolled or accepted in a Charles Sturt University honours course, or in the final year of a course with integrated honours and enrolled in the dissertation subject.
  • Applications may be submitted prior to formal acceptance; however, scholarships will not be awarded until acceptance and commencement can be demonstrated.
  • The proposed project must align with the Hub’s Key Impact Areas (i.e. investment planning priorities).

2026 Honours Research Support scholarship recipients

Southern NSW Innovation Hub is pleased to have awarded three scholarships to Charles Sturt University honours students whose research projects are building resilience to drought and climate variability in southern NSW.

  • Rachael Lee has a project examining the relationship between the prevalence and impact of beneficial insects in certain orchard crops;
  • Kristian Shipard’s research is on spatial ecology of a varanid population in southern NSW; and
  • Matthew Parisi is investigating AI dataset optimisation for resilient farming systems and decision-making.

Project lead

Southern NSW Innovation Hub

Project funding

The Honours Research Support Scholarships program received funding from the Australian Government's Future Drought Fund through Southern NSW Innovation Hub.