Global Safety Innovation PhD Scholarship: Improving the measurement and reporting of safety information within organisations

The School of Humanities, Languages and Social Science proudly hosts world-class researchers in a diverse range of specialist fields. We are home to the Griffith Centre for Social and Cultural Research (GCSCR), which is dedicated to increasing our understanding of current challenges facing the modern world. Through the application of innovative humanities and social science research, incorporating the knowledge of academics from a broad range of interrelated disciplines, we are at the cutting edge of humanities and social science discourse.

We are also home to the Safety Science Innovation Lab which was founded to capitalise on the opportunities for collaboration between science, health, business and the humanities and social sciences. Our approach recognises that critical innovations in safety science won't necessarily come from new technologies, but from a better understanding of complexity and social construction.

The successful applicant will be based at either Griffith University Brisbane South (Nathan) or the Gold Coast.  Remote study may be available, subject to approval. The project will require regular collaboration with Global Safety Innovation Summit (GSI), including focused blocks of time throughout the PhD embedded within GSI or participating companies.

The supervisors for this project will be Dr Clarissa Carden, Associate Professor Drew Rae, and Zoe Nation, Director of Global Safety Innovation.

This PhD is grounded in real world practice. Global Safety Innovation (GSI) is a network of organisations across high-risk industries working toward safer workplaces. Rather than researching safety measurement from the outside, you will work directly with GSI's partner organisations throughout the PhD, spending focused blocks of time embedded within their operations to see firsthand how safety data and reporting systems are built, used, and contested.

Success will mean working across two worlds: rigorous methodology with academic supervisors, and genuine collaboration with practitioners inside partner organisations. The project aims to improve understanding of the conditions under which innovation in safety measurement is possible, exploring questions such as: What factors increase or decrease the social acceptability of alternative measures within and beyond organisations? What makes a new measure practically useful for improving safety? And how is consensus around new measures established, maintained, and translated into practice?

Your supervision team for this project brings together expertise in organisational safety, community-engaged research, and human factors. You will be supervised by Dr Clarissa Carden, an interdisciplinary researcher specialising in community safety, wellbeing, and social justice; Associate Professor Drew Rae, a leading safety researcher whose work examines how organisations manage risk and safety performance; and Zoë Nation, a human factors and safety specialist focused on improving the systems, practices, and behaviours that shape safety outcomes.

This position is primarily based at Griffith University Brisbane South (Nathan) or Gold Coast. As Griffith is a multi-campus University you may be required to work across other campus locations. Griffith University’s sites are located on the lands of the Yugarabul, Yuggera, Jagera, Turrbal, Yugambeh and Kombumerri peoples.

The selection of applicants for the award of higher degree research scholarships at Griffith University involves consideration of your academic merit and research background. To be successful within this role, a background in sociology or safety science is desirable. You will have evidence of a passion for social research, with a strong desire to undertake practical, applied scholarship to respond to industry challenges. Ideally you will have had some experience in heavy industry or applying safety in a working context.

• Expressions of interest are welcome from domestic and onshore international applicants.
• Applicants must have completed, or expect to complete, a bachelors degree with honours equivalent to second class honours or a Masters degree (AQF Level 9) incorporating a significant research component of a standard comparable to a bachelor honours degree or be regarded by Griffith University as having an equivalent level of attainment in accordance with the Equivalent qualifications for HDR program admission. For further information on the eligibility requirements for the program refer here.

International applicants to research programs must demonstrate they meet the program’s English Language Proficiency requirements, as outlined below:

• A minimum overall band score of 6.5 on the IELTS (Academic) with no band score less than 6.0
• OR an overall score of 79 on the internet-based (iBT) TOEFL with no sub-score less than 19 (applies to tests taken prior to 21 January 2026)
• OR an overall score of 4 on the internet-based (iBT) TOEFL with a minimum score of 4 in each of the listening, reading, and writing skills, and a minimum score of 3.5 in speaking skills (applies to tests taken on or after 21 January 2026)
• OR a score of no less than 3+ in each skill of the ISLPR (conducted by ISLPR Language Services only)
• OR a minimum overall score of 176 (no score less than 169) on C1 Advanced or C2 Proficiency
• OR an overall score of 58 in the Pearson Test of English (Academic) with no score less than 50 (applies to tests taken prior to 7 August 2025)
• OR an overall score of 55 in the Pearson Test of English (Academic) with no score less than 47 (applies to tests taken on or after 7 August 2025)
• OR an overall score of 70 in the LanguageCert Academic
• OR an overall score of 59 in the Michigan English Test (MET).

English test results must have been obtained within two years of the program commencement date, and only in-person test results will be accepted.

About the scholarship
This scholarship will be jointly funded by Global Safety Innovation and Griffith University. The total scholarship value is $50,000 per annum for three years, with the possibility of a six-month extension.

What Griffith offers
As a scholarship holder, you will study at a university that ranks among the top 2% worldwide and spans across campuses in Southeast Queensland. At Griffith University, we’ve worked hard to create a culture that will challenge you to be curious, creative and courageous. We also support the professional and personal development of all our HDR candidates and invest in the skills of our people. Griffith University values diversity, inclusion and flexibility, and we encourage Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, and people of all backgrounds to apply. Griffith's strategic goals are to also increase the proportion of women in senior academic and administrative roles and in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Medicine (STEMM).

EOI Process
Please do not select the “APPLY” button. All expressions of interest must be submitted to '[email protected]', containing:

• Statement addressing your suitability for the project/scholarship
• Evidence that you have completed a program with the required grades as detailed in the ‘About you’ section
• A curriculum vitae (CV)
• Names and contact details of two referees

Closing date for expressions of interest is: Friday 11th of September 2026, at 11:59PM AEST.

The preferred applicant will then be invited to apply for the program and scholarship on-line

For project related enquiries please contact:
Dr Clarissa Carden
Email: [email protected]

For administration enquiries please contact: 
Griffith Graduate Research School 
Email: [email protected]