VU Doctoral Internship Program

Victoria University supports a range of industry experiences for graduate researchers, including industry placements.

Benefits of the program

Doctoral Internship Program: An overview from Professor Camilla Brockett - transcript

Doctoral students and supervisors

Our Doctoral Internship Program allows you to engage with industry, apply transferable skills gained as part of your research studies and develop professional competencies. This program is an opportunity to develop professional networks and strengthen future career opportunities.

Planned as part of your doctoral degree, placements are generally 60 days in duration with industry, government or non-government organisations.

Read our key information guide for doctoral students and supervisors (PDF, 364.21 KB)

Doctoral Internship Program: The benefits for Doctoral Students - transcript

Doctoral Internship Program: The benefits for Doctoral Students (Lyndon Krause) - transcript

Doctoral Internship Program: The benefits for Doctoral Students (Bich Tien Ma) - transcript

: To participate in the Doctoral Internship program, you must:

be enrolled in a Doctor of Philosophy or Doctor of Philosophy (Integrated) on a full-time or part-time basis

have the internship organised within your first 18 months of enrolment*

complete confirmation of candidature before the internship begins

have the permission of your supervisors to undertake an internship

be making satisfactory progress in your PhD

have approval before commencing from the University and placement provider

be able to accommodate the placement within the normal candidature time limit, as it is part of your candidature.

*For doctoral students past 18 months who wish to do an internship please contact [email protected]
: Online information workshops will be run throughout the academic year please keep an eye out for upcoming dates. We run workshops for students and supervisors:

Students can find out more about the changes to the Doctoral Internship Program and how to register your interest in undertaking an internship. Please note this session is relevant to doctoral students who are within the limits of timely completion.

Register online

Supervisors can learn about how doctoral internships can support your students and help you to build connections with your external research partners.

Register online
: Please make sure you're eligible for an internship before applying.

Submit your EOI form.

Attend an information workshop.

Start planning for your internship with your supervisors and develop an internship plan.

Fill out an internship plan form.

Work with your supervisor and internships team to finalise the agreement with the external partner.
: Discuss the internship with your student.

Ask your student to submit an expression of interest (EOI).

The Researcher Professional Development team will contact you to discuss details.

Engage with external partner.

Finalise internship plan.

External partners

Are you a business, not-for-profit or community organisation external to academia that might benefit from hosting a doctoral research student? Do you have a project requiring creative problem solving or higher order thinking skills?

Our program can provide your organization with a focused research expert to collaborate with on your particular project.

Submit your expression of interest

Doctoral Internship Program: The benefits for industry (Ruwangi Fernando) - transcript

Benefits for our industry partners

As a non-profit organization, STEM Sisters faced challenges hiring the right talent for their projects. They partnered with VU to tap into the expertise and creativity of a VU researcher.

Access diverse talent

Higher degree research students possess high-order thinking skills and technical capabilities with a researcher mindset to solve complex problems and help generate new knowledge.

Hosting a VU doctoral intern is an excellent way to implement a three-month research and development project. Our students cover a wide range of academic disciplines including: