Eligibility criteria

To be eligible for the Entrepreneurial PhD, here are the criteria (copied from the official page, here):

1. A UTS-recognised master’s by research or bachelor’s degree with first or second class honours (division 1)
   • OR an equivalent or higher qualification
   • OR other evidence of experience or qualifications that demonstrate your ability to successfully pursue graduate research
2. Evidence of relevant English language proficiency
3. If you are applying to Engineering, IT, Health, or Science, you may also be required to have a previous degree in a related area.
4. If you are applying to Health, you may also be required to have the relevant professional authorisation to practise in your area.
5. If you are an international applicant and require confirmation that your home institution is one of UTS’s international partner universities, please contact [email protected] for guidance.

Let’s unpack that a little more

1. Minimum experience: Even if you never finished high-school, if you can demonstrate your capacity to conceive, plan and execute an independent longer-term project, that lends a lot of credibility to your ability to pursue a PhD. Examples we’ve seen include independent film production and building ventures that take a longer term commitment (and often a greater amount of resources!)
2. English: Self-explanatory
3. Whether you need a prior degree in those areas can depend on the topic you’re interested in, and whether it’s really about engineering per se, or say about project management or procurement in engineering, and therefore whether professional experience can be a substitute for a formal degree. Once you find a supervisor to support your application, they should be able to speak to this as their letter of support for the PhD application evaluation committees. See also finding a supervisor (page to be added).
4. Health, professional experience: Somewhat self-explanatory and topic dependent. It’s a highly regulated environment.
5. Unlikely for the Entreprenuerial PhD. If so, contact the graduate research school (GRS).

While not listed as an eligibility criteria, you must also have a complete application, which also requires having an academic supervisor to support your application. See Supervision in the next page

Costs? What costs?

Here’s the official guide (link). While there are costs associated with a PhD, students have those costs covered, either by scholarship or fee-waiver. Sometimes, those are also called a stiped. Either way, there is no direct cost to the candidate.