While I am very appreciative that, every year, there are a considerable number of qualified people who are interested in doing PhD studies with our HPC group at SoCS, there is a considerable amount of time and emotional investment (on both sides) in going about the process of applying. If you are about to contact me for the first time on this, please read below. If you go ahead with contacting me, please state clearly whether you need financial support from the ANU.
Note that the costs include fees of approximately AUS$ 27K p.a.; living expenses are about AUS$ 18K p.a. Note also that in order to get a visa, you need to be able to show that you have already secured funding covering both of these before entering Australia.
In SoCS, there are no (official) Teaching or Research Assistantships. Part-time tutoring and sometimes research programming work is available, but this can serve only as a supplement to other sources of income.
One possibility for applicants from participating countries is the Endeavour Postgraduate Awards which provides full funding for up to 4 years. These close around the end of July for commencing study in the following year. There may be a second round closing in January (to commence in July of the following year). There is also the China Scholarship Council scholarships for Chinese applicants. If the proposed PhD topic is of potential benefit to the applicant's countery (e.g. can be related to building infrastructure), the Australian Leadership Awards. Note that to apply for these scholarships, you need to have a letter of offer (from ANU) beforehand; also the CSC and ALA require you to return to your home country afterwards.
ANU and our College have limited scholarships available for international PhDs applicants (and even less for Masters by Research). The main scholarship round (for the start of next year) closes at the end of August. There may be scholarships available at other times (e.g. will be a mid-year round in 2012; closing in Jan?), but these are dependent on the monies being available (e.g. left-over scholarships from the main round). In my experience over the last 5 years, to have a reasonable chance, an applicant needs to be: in the top 5% of graduates, preferably from one of the best institutions in their country, or from the top 200 or so universities in the world) (its not sufficient just to have the equivalent of First-Class Honours).
The `equivalent of First-Class Honours' also includes a research thesis (half a year's full-time study, normally taken in the last year). Many overseas 4-year degrees with a Honours distinction do not have this component; applicants with such a degree might not be competitive for scholarships, unless they can otherwise demonstrate their potential for research (e.g. in research publications). Note that ANU does provide a 1-year Masters (Honours) degree specifically for the purpose of PhD pathways, and it includes a research thesis.
Other factors which will help include having a number of refereed papers in the area of proposed research (preferably in major international conferences or journals), and having referees which are either known to people within the ANU or have a known international standing.
It is also necessary to submit a research proposal with your application which proposes to explore an area of interesting research, is tractable, is well aligned with our current interests, and clearly demonstrates your understanding of the area of study. Note that neither the proposal nor its topic is binding; it can be changed by mutual negotiation at a later stage.
If you have the opportunity to gain your own scholarship (e.g. from a scheme in your home country), that may well be a more likely prospect. While I have sometimes have scholarships for specific projects, these are normally only available to Australian citizens or residents. In any case, they will not cover tuition fees. One possibility would be to apply for Australian residency, if you meet the required conditions (this takes about 6 months). Note that once residency is gained, it is much easier to get general ANU scholarships as well.
Some useful links: