Sydney Quantum Academy (SQA) is pleased to award multiple new PhD Scholarships, with a total of 107 PhD students receiving support over the last 2 years.  

Recognised for their outstanding potential, students work alongside some of the world’s leading quantum researchers at Sydney’s top universities and develop their industry-ready skills.  

Since the organisation formed in 2020, SQA has funded nearly 150 PhD and undergraduate students, to the value of $7.2 million. The scholarship program has provided opportunities for students who are passionate about a career in quantum with support to pursue their studies at SQA's four partner universities - UNSW Sydney, University of Sydney, Macquarie University and University of Technology, Sydney (UTS). 

46 students were awarded scholarships within the latest scholarship rounds three and four, in 2021, ranging from full scholarships of up to AU$35,000 pa, to top-up, extension or PhD Experience Program entry scholarships.  

All students gain entry to career development funding and the SQA PhD Experience program, accessing a variety of courses, seminars, and workshops to assist their research and career development.  

steve and andrea in quantum lab with cryogenic housing, and quantum fridge in background
PhD student Steve Yu, and Professor Andrea Morello, in the lab at UNSW.

PhD student Steve Yu, a PhD Scholarship recipient studying at UNSW Sydney, is excited to be a part of the SQA community as it gives him opportunities to connect and collaborate with peers and researchers from different universities across Sydney.  

“It makes me feel like you are part of a community, all working together for the prosperity of quantum technology,” he said. 

“My research is primarily focused on the realization of error-corrected logical qubits using high spins in silicon. The scope of the project is ranging from nano-fabrication, to quantum operation, and quantum error correction. SQA plays a key role during my PhD as it builds a better bridge for collaboration between different fields across different groups.” 

Throughout the year, the SQA PhD Experience Program provides training and networking opportunities. It also draws in prominent speakers to discuss the latest quantum research and technology, as well as insights on quantum careers across industry and academia.  

Speakers have included world-leaders in the emerging technology, including Prof John M. Martinis — (the physicist behind Google’s famous ‘Quantum Supremacy’ achievement), Prof David Reilly (Microsoft Quantum-Sydney), Prof Ping Koy Lam (ANU), and Dr Nicola Pastorello (BlueScope). 

The program is "essential to guarantee that our students learn and work in a world-class environment,” says PhD supervisor and Professor of Physics at UNSW, Andrea Morello.  

“Quantum technologies are, by nature, highly multi-disciplinary and require intense levels of collaboration and ideas exchange.” However, Professor Morello says it can be very difficult for a single research group to host the totality of the skills and know-how in the discipline.  

With opportunities for collaborations, networking and cross-institutional studies organised regularly during the PhD Experience Program, Professor Morello says it allows students “to be exposed to the widest range of ideas, methods and techniques”.  

PhD students during a conference organised by SQA.

SQA Education Manager, Dr Eser Zerenturk is proud to welcome the new students. “It’s a huge achievement for us to now support the studies and future careers of 107 quantum PhD students working across so many diverse fields in Sydney,” says Dr Zerenturk. 

“We’re excited to see the SQA community grow and support these passionate students to take advantage of the cross-disciplinary environment here in Sydney.” 

Offers are now out for round 5. Round 6 will open April 2022. To stay updated on scholarships and other opportunities sign up to our mailing list

Congratulations to the successful recipients:   

Round 3 

Name University  Supervisor 
Daniel GEORGE  MQ  Professor Gavin Brennen  
Riddhi GHOSH  MQ  Dr Daniel Burgarth  
Peyman NAJAFI  MQ  Associate Professor Dominic Berry  
Zsolt SZABO  MQ  Dr Daniel Burgarth  
Louis TESSLER  MQ  Associate Professor Dominic Berry  
Paul STEINACKER  UNSW  Dr Arne Laucht  
Samuel SUTHERLAND  UNSW  Professor Michelle Simmons  
Xi (Steve) YU  UNSW  Professor Andrea Morello  
Arjun RAO  USYD  Professor Michael Biercuk  
Alan ROBERTSON  USYD  Dr Shuaiwen Song  
Jingtong GE  UTS  Professor Yuan Feng  
Yupan LIU  UTS  Professor Zhengfeng Ji  
Darcy MORGAN  UTS  Dr Simon Devitt  
Srikara SHANKARA  UTS  Professor Sanjiang Li 


Round 4 

Name University Supervisor 
Djibril (Ahmed) DASSEBE* MQ A/Prof Thomas Volz 
Eyuel ELALA* MQ A/Prof Dominic Berry 
Omprakash (Chandra) CHANDRA MQ Prof Gavin Brennen 
Rakesh SAINI MQ A/Prof Alexei Gilchrist  
Saksham MAHAJAN MQ A/Prof Thomas Volz 
Aaquib SHAMIM UNSW Prof Alexander Hamilton  
Ajit DASH UNSW Dr Tuomo Tanttu 
Arjen VAARTJES UNSW Prof Andrea Morello 
Gozde USTUN UNSW Prof Andrea Morello 
Marcus GOFFAGE UNSW Prof Susan Coppersmith 
Nathan LONG UNSW Prof Robert Malaney 
Ronakraj GOSALIA UNSW Prof Robert Malaney 
William (Billy) PAPPAS UNSW Prof Dane McCamey 
Zachary MILGATE UNSW Prof Robert Malaney 
Mark WEBSTER* USYD Prof Stephen Bartlett 
Adesh KUSHWAHA USYD A/Prof Ivan Kasaal  
Maverick MILLICAN USYD Dr Ting Rei Tan 
Nouédyn BASPIN USYD Prof Stephen Bartlett 
Vanessa OLAYA USYD A/Prof Ivan Kasaal  
Timothy (Tim) NEWMAN USYD Dr John Bartholomew 
Afham AFHAM UTS A/Prof Christopher Ferrie  
Afrad BASHEER UTS Prof Yuan Feng 
Arinta AUZA * UTS A/Prof Troy Lee 
Gang TANG* UTS A/Prof Youming Qiao  
Hudson LEONE* UTS Dr Peter Rohde 
Milan JOSHI* UTS Prof Jian Guo Zhu 
Olonade IDREES* UTS Dr Simon Devitt 
Peng YAN* UTS Dr Nengkun Yu  
Rajith HATHTHOTUWEGAMA* UTS Prof Sanjiang Li 
Ritika RITIKA* UTS Prof Igor Aharonovich 
Treerat SRIVIPAT UTS A/Prof Nathan Langford  
Zhicheng ZHANG UTS Prof Mingsheng Ying 

*SQA PhD Experience Scholarship recipient