In the School of Cybernetics, we develop researchers who navigate and influence the complex systems shaping our world. Our PhD candidates engage in analysing complex open systems, envisioning possible futures, identifying the conditions to bring them to life, and – quite often – partnering with stakeholders to realise change in the world.
Our PhD candidates bring a broad range of earlier academic and professional experience into PhD study; law, robotics, management consulting, theatre, software engineering, social sciences, computational sciences, literary studies, physics, economics, and architecture and more. We support them to develop research topics and methodologies that build on core concepts related to systems and complexity in cybernetics and allied fields. Through their PhD study, our PhD candidates produce theses that make significant contributions of knowledge to renew cybernetics for the present century.
Our Approach: we are better when we work together#
Supervision: PhD candidates in Cybernetics have a primary supervisor and at least one additional associate supervisor in the School of Cybernetics in their (minimum 3 member) supervisory panel. Additional panellists may work across the college, the university and other organisations (not limited to academic institutions). All panellists actively participate in supervision.
PhD Student Cohort: PhD Candidates participate in a calendar of seminars, skills sessions, student research seminars, guest speakers, Cybernetic Snacks discussions, and a yearly offsite. Additionally, candidates self-organise writing sessions, readings groups and more.
Professional Experience Requirement: A key feature of our PhD program is the Professional Experience Requirement (PER), in which they design, execute, and reflect on a collaboration with a non-academic partner organization. To date, our PhD candidates have worked with organizations including Mozilla, Omexom, AuraOS, Google Research Australia, Thinkrs, and CSIRO. These collaborations result in research-informed responses to urgent global questions and may involve strategy or policy development, early-stage R&D, prototyping, and more.
Applying for the PhD program#
Please contact us at hdradmin.cybernetics@anu.edu.au for inquiries about PhD study, and for a list of available PhD supervisors in the School.
Please note: ANU PhD students are required to study on ANU’s Canberra campus, unless granted an exception to study for limited periods of time elsewhere in Australia, or conducting field-based research activities.
