About the QMS PhD Program

Welcome to the Joint CSIRO-UTAS PhD Program in Quantitative Marine Science (QMS) . The program was initiated by the University of Tasmania (UTAS) in partnership with CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research (CMAR) in 2004. The purpose of the program is to graduate PhD students with expertise to work in areas of marine science that require highly developed quantitative skills. The emphasis of the program is on multidisciplinary research with a focus on four main research areas: marine environment prediction, climate variability and resource management, climate and ecosystems, and environmental conservation and management.

The program offers the combined research and teaching skills of people within CMAR and UTAS providing the strongest and most diverse academic training ground for temperate and Southern Ocean marine science in Australia . As a member of the QMS PhD program you will play an integral role in a major research project through your thesis research. You will also have access not only to the faculty and staff of both UTAS and CMAR, but also to the facilities including laboratories, libraries and research vessels.

Quantitative research skills and the ability to work across inter-disciplinary boundaries are core principles of the QMS program and are supported by a compulsory coursework component consisting of a series of cross-disciplinary units. The QMS PhD program is the first program within Australia to offer specialised graduate level coursework in quantitative marine science. These units have been designed to expand your knowledge base and provide you with skills to enhance quantitative and inter-disciplinary research and your research experience. The diverse range of units provide you with an introduction to an array of ideas, approaches, tools and methods that you can then apply as appropriate to your research project. Your active participation in the coursework program should also provide you with a greater understanding of the parameters of and inter-relationships between disciplines within the biological, chemical and physical sciences.

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