Understanding Sleep, Brain Ageing and Dementia Risk

This scholarship aims to support a PhD candidate to investigate how sleep influences brain ageing, cognitive decline and dementia risk using longitudinal clinical cohorts, sleep assessments and blood-based biomarkers.

This project will investigate the biological mechanisms linking sleep disturbance to cognitive decline and dementia risk. The successful candidate will work with detailed measures of sleep, cognition and blood-based biomarkers collected through established longitudinal studies of ageing and sleep disorders. The project will examine how sleep contributes to brain vulnerability and whether sleep-related biomarkers can help identify individuals at greatest risk of cognitive decline.

Key details

20257456

Applications close on 31 October 2026

Domestic

Medicine and health

$39,700 p.a.

About the scholarship

Growing evidence indicates that sleep is critical for maintaining brain health and may help protect against cognitive decline and dementia through the clearance of neurotoxic proteins such as β-amyloid and tau. While sleep disturbance is increasingly recognised as a modifiable risk factor for cognitive decline and dementia, the biological pathways linking poor sleep to brain ageing remain incompletely understood.

This PhD project will investigate how sleep influences cognitive health and dementia risk using data from unique longitudinal research studies involving older adults and individuals with sleep disorders. The successful candidate will contribute to follow-up assessments examining sleep, cognition and blood-based biomarkers of neurodegeneration.

The project is embedded within the NHMRC-funded SIESTA (Synergise, Integrate and Enhance Sleep Research to Transform Brain Ageing) research program and provides opportunities to work with multidisciplinary experts in sleep medicine, neuroscience, ageing and biomarker science. Research opportunities may include:

Longitudinal analysis of sleep and cognitive outcomes
Blood-based biomarkers of neurodegeneration and dementia risk
Sleep physiology and sleep disorders
Cognitive assessment and digital sleep technologies
Clinical research in ageing populations
National and international research collaboration

We are seeking a highly motivated candidate with a background in psychology, neuroscience, biomedical science, health science, medicine, neuropsychology or a related discipline.

Experience in clinical research, sleep research, cognitive assessment, biomarker science, data analysis or laboratory methods would be advantageous but is not essential.

Availability

This scholarship is available to eligible candidates to undertake a direct entry three-year PhD program.

Applicants should have the following:

A Master's degree (or equivalent) in psychology, neuroscience, biomedical science, health science, medicine, or a related discipline;
A strong interest in sleep, brain ageing, cognitive health and dementia prevention;
Experience in either clinical research (e.g., participant assessments, cognitive testing, sleep studies, EEG) and/or laboratory-based research (e.g., biomarker analysis, neuroscience methods);
The ability to work independently while contributing to a multidisciplinary research team;
Desirable: experience with statistical analysis and/or programming using R, Python, Matlab or similar software.

For further information about eligibility into the PhD program at Macquarie University, Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Science see here: https://www.mq.edu.au/research/phd-and-research-degrees/explore-research-degrees/doctor-of-philosophy

Components

The scholarship comprises:

a tuition fee offset/scholarship
a living allowance stipend.

The value of each stipend scholarship is $39,700 per annum (full time, indexed) for three years.

How to apply

Please submit a CV, academic transcript and a brief cover letter outlining your research interests and suitability for the project to angela.drozario@mq.edu.au.

Research scholarships