Blog icon

The Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness (ACDP), formerly known as the Australian Animal Health Laboratory (AAHL), helps protect Australia’s multi-billion dollar livestock and aquaculture industries, and the general public, from emerging infectious disease threats. It is a high-containment facility designed to allow scientific research into the most dangerous infectious agents in the world. With expertise in virology, molecular biology, immunology, vaccinology, microscopy and diagnostics, we are working to increase resilience to infectious diseases outbreaks through improved preparedness and responsiveness.

Julie completed her PhD research on mosquito behaviour and neurological changes following arbovirus infection.

Postgraduate students

We are keen to attract outstanding and highly motivated postgraduate students to work with us at our bio-containment facility. There are opportunities each year for Masters and PhD students already enrolled at Australian tertiary institutes.

We advise you to review ACDP's research section of CSIROs website to gain an understanding of the scope of our research.

If you are an international student, please check the requirements and criteria for the individual opportunities listed. It is recommended that international applicants view the Australian Government website, Study in Australia.

Postgraduate scholarships: Postgraduate students who partner with CSIRO to complete their Masters or PhD studies, will gain access to world-class facilities and have a unique opportunity to work alongside our leading research scientists.

Register your interest for postgraduate opportunities with CSIRO's Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness.

Current students projects

  • Novel cell lines for vaccine production
  • Therapeutic interventions for COVID-19
  • Identifying the role of senescent cells in severe SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) infections
  • Characterising the response of chicken eggs to influenza during vaccine production, using bioinformatic and omics approaches
  • Quantifying electrophysiological changes inside infected mosquitos’ brains through spike sorting algorithms and analysing physical changes through machine learning algorithms.

Other opportunities

The majority of our student opportunities will be listed on CSIRO's careers portal when available. The types of opportunities include:

PhD candidate, Sarah, is investigating molecular determinants of Henipavirus neurovirulence.

  • Undergraduate vacation scholarships: Offering undergraduate students the opportunity to collaborate with our scientists.
  • Industrial traineeships: Tertiary students may complete their compulsory work placement with CSIRO, working alongside leading scientists to further their learning and build long-lasting professional networks.
  • Work experience: We offer high school science students the chance to gain first-hand experience of our core research in a scientific environment.
  • Opportunities for Indigenous Australians: We're committed to encouraging more Indigenous people to work with us, in both our science and support areas.

Register your interest for student opportunities

Contact us

Find out how we can help you and your business. Get in touch using the form below and our experts will get in contact soon!

CSIRO will handle your personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and our Privacy Policy.


First name must be filled in

Surname must be filled in

I am representing *

Please choose an option

Please provide a subject for the enquriy

0 / 100

We'll need to know what you want to contact us about so we can give you an answer

0 / 1900

You shouldn't be able to see this field. Please try again and leave the field blank.