Welcome! Wominjeka! Mingalabar!
The Myanmar Research Network (MRN) was created in 2019 by a small group of researchers from the University of Melbourne, who saw a need to connect researchers and students working on and/or interested in Myanmar. MRN now includes staff across several faculties, along with post grad and undergraduate students and other academics and experts within and beyond University of Melbourne.
မြန်မာ့ရေးရာ သုတေသနကွန်ရက် (MRN) သည် မဲလ်ဘုန်းတက္ကသိုလ်ရှိ သုတေသီအဖွဲ့ငယ်လေးမှ ၂၀၁၉ နှစ်တွင် စတင်တည်ထောင်ခဲ့ပါသည်။ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံရှိ သုတေသီများ နှင့်အတူ ကျောင်းသားများ သာမက မြန်မာနိုင်ငံအကြောင်း စိတ်၀င်စားကြသူများ အချင်းချင်း ချိတ်ဆက်လုပ်ဆောင်ရန် လိုအပ်နေကြောင်း လေ့လာခဲ့ရသဖြင့် ဖွဲ့စည်းခဲ့ခြင်းဖြစ်သည်။လက်ရှိ တွင် ကွန်ရက်သည် မဲလ်ဘုန်းတက္ကသိုလ်မှ ဘွဲ့လွန်နှင့် ဘွဲ့ကြို ကျောင်းသားများအပြင် အခြားသော ပြင်ပရှိ ပညာရပ်နယ်ပယ်ပေါင်းစုံမှ ပညာရှင်များ၊ ကျွမ်းကျင်သူများလည်း ပါ၀င်လျက်ရှိသည်။
Our Aims
Consolidate, catalyse and resource new and existing collaborative research projects.
Foster a research community of practice with Myanmar scholars and students.
Strengthen research impact with key stakeholders in Myanmar and Australia, including internal stakeholders across the University.
Work with us! Download our flyer for details
PK Forum
The PK Forum began in 2012 as a place to discuss and debate issues of development, civil society and aid in Myanmar. The Forum is now supported and edited by the Myanmar Research Network at the University of Melbourne.
PK stands for Paung Ku which in Burmese means bridging or connection – and this Forum aims to connect academics, aid workers, local organisations, government, and students around key questions of Myanmar’s future.
This means we are interested in your ideas. Please send us your ideas for articles or blogs or for uploading new stuff to our resource section. Articles can be in English, Burmese or ethnic languages, but need to be less than 500 words. These can be emailed to Tamas Wells at the University of Melbourne (Forum Editor).
While supported and edited by the Myanmar Research Network at the University of Melbourne, and originating from the ‘Paung Ku’ initiative, the Forum does not represent the views of the Myanmar Research Network or Myanmar NGO Paung Ku. The views expressed in this Forum are those of the individuals involved.
Get connected
If you would like to stay in touch with the Myanmar Research Network and receive updates about events, publications and projects, or
if you would like to collaborate with us or request specific information about the network, please contact MRN coordinator Tamas Wells.
The Myanmar Research Network regularly engages in cutting edge research, seminars and events focusing on socio-political, historical, economic, development and other issues in Myanmar or affecting Myanmar communities.
-
Humanitarian Aid
Explores humanitarian aid and politics in Myanmar and key challenges, especially for civil society organisations.
-
Federalism, Democracy and Civil Society
Addresses key political questions that Myanmar is facing including analysis of both institutional and policy environments and conceptual contests.
-
China-Myanmar Borderlands
Examines the intersection between conflict, crime and civil society action in the borderlands.
-
Rakhine State and Rohingya
Explores the post-coup context of Rakhine state and the ongoing crisis for Rohingya in Myanmar.
-
Research Ethics
Explores power and practice in research ethics in Myanmar in the context of conflict and an authoritarian military regime.
The Myanmar Research Network has for many years held a place for fellowships.
Myanmar-Australia Visiting Fellowship Program 2026
Call for expressions of interest for a fully funded short term research fellowship in Australia for a Myanmar academic or researcher.
Closing date November 22nd, 2025
The goal of the fellowship program is to build deeper connections between University of Melbourne/ANU and Myanmar academics and researchers in region and catalyze new high quality collaborative research.
The Myanmar Research Network at University of Melbourne in collaboration with the Myanmar Research Centre at Australian National University (ANU) - and with support of the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade - invite expressions of interest for a Myanmar scholar/researcher for a fully funded short term (1-2 month) fellowship in Australia. The fellowship will be in July 2026.
The fellowship includes time at both University of Melbourne and the ANU in Canberra and participation in the ANU Myanmar Update conference in July.
The fellowship offers
- Fully funded accommodation and travel from anywhere in the Asia-Pacific, and within Australia, visa cost reimbursement, and a living allowance for food and essentials
- Facilities to do research at both universities with a view to contributing to work on an academic publication by the fellow, and possible collaborative work on later publications
- One-year remote access to library facilities
Fellows are expected to
- Give one or more seminars or public lectures in Melbourne and Canberra
- Make one or more contributions, in Burmese or English, to working papers or blogs at either or both universities
- Meet with researchers to discuss and develop potential new partnerships, and with researchers and policymakers off campus as appropriate, such as NGOs and Australian Government
In 2026 we seek fellows with expertise and interest in
- Violence against women
- Justice provision
Applicants should have research or work experience or both, related to Myanmar, on one or more of these themes. We especially encourage applicants who have been doing research in these areas in the post-2021 context.
Eligibility
To apply you must
- Be a researcher or academic of Myanmar nationality based in the Asia-Pacific (this includes those who are active in research but may not have formal institutional affiliation)
- Have a postgraduate research qualification (e.g., Masters’ degree with research thesis component, or a coursework Masters’ degree with other experience comparable to a research thesis). Applicants could also have completed a PhD or be a current PhD candidate
- Demonstrate research interests and experience in one or more of the above identified thematic areas. Expressions of interest in other fields or areas such as medicine, law, agriculture etc will not be considered for this round
- Have high-level spoken and written English (indicate examinations and qualifications in curriculum vitae).
- Hold a current passport that can be used to obtain an Australia visa, and be able to travel to Australia in 2026
Members of minority groups are encouraged to apply.
Shortlisted applicants will be interviewed.
Any questions can be directed to Tamas Wells at University of Melbourne.
Steering committee
The Steering Committee members provide overall strategic guidance to the Myanmar Research Network, as well as managing day-to-day activities of the network such as collaborative research endeavours, engagement, events, and so on.
Dr Michael G Breen
Michael’s research focuses on federalism in Asia, and the management of ethnic diversity. He is the author of ‘The Road to Federalism in Nepal, Myanmar and Sri Lanka: Finding the Middle Ground’ (2018, Routledge) and has contributed to Nepal’s constitution-making process that established it as a federal democratic republic. Michael’s research also explores the role of deliberative democracy and the use of deliberative polling in constitution-making and conflict management. Prior to academia, Michael was a policy maker, negotiator and project manager in various government departments in Australia and international organisations including the United Nations Development Programme. His professional background is in Indigenous rights and native title, political inclusion and environmental conservation.
School of Social and Political Sciences | McKenzie Research Fellow
Federalism and Ethnic Politics in Asia – Deliberative Democracy – Comparative Politics – Constitutional Design
Dr Anne Décobert
Anne is a development studies scholar and anthropologist whose research focuses broadly on the intersections between conflict, development, aid systems, processes of state formation, and the rights of and struggles for self-determination of Indigenous and marginalised peoples. Strongly committed to ethically engaged research, Anne is particularly interested in approaches to addressing inequities and injustices faced by Indigenous and marginalised communities whose lives are shaped by structural violence and conflict. Myanmar is her main country specialisation, but Anne has also worked elsewhere in Asia and with Indigenous communities in Australia. In addition to her academic research, Anne previously worked as a development practitioner and consultant with local and international aid agencies in Myanmar, Thailand and elsewhere in Southeast Asia. Anne’s publications include The Politics of Aid to Burma: A Humanitarian Struggle on the Thai-Burmese Border (Routledge, 2016).
School of Social and Political Sciences | Anthropology and Development Studies | Lecturer
Development – International Humanitarian Law
Dr Tamas Wells, Research Coordinator and Editor of PK Forum
Tamas Wells is a Research Fellow in the School of Social and Political Sciences. His research focuses on meanings of democracy, governance and accountability in Southeast Asia and the role of international aid agencies and “civil society. His doctoral dissertation examined the Burmese opposition movement in the lead up to the historic 2015 elections in Myanmar and diverging narratives of democracy within the movement, and amongst its international supporters. Before beginning his doctoral studies in 2012, he worked as an aid and development adviser and consultant with various NGOs including Save the Children and Oxfam, including seven years living and working in Myanmar. Tamas has been active in developing stronger connections between academics and practitioners and policymakers in the field of aid and development and is the editor of the PK Forum, an online discussion forum on aid and development in Myanmar.
School of Social and Political Sciences | Research Fellow
Democracy in Myanmar – Civil Society – Politics of International Aid
Dr Matt Schissler
Matt Schissler is an anthropologist and historian studying religion, technology, and violence. As lecturer in Buddhist Studies at the University of Melbourne, Matt teaches subjects on Buddhism and is conducting research on Buddhism and the Rohingya genocide in Myanmar. Matt has worked in and the country for nearly two decades, including eight years as a member of local human rights and other civil society organisations from both central and eastern Myanmar.
Pyae Phyo Maung
Pyae Phyo Maung is a PhD candidate at the University of Melbourne’s School of Social and Political Sciences. His research focuses on community resilience in relation to Myanmar’s complex humanitarian crisis. He has over 14 years of experience as a medical doctor and program evaluation practitioner across Myanmar’s humanitarian, community development, and civil society strengthening sectors.
Soe Htet
Soe Htet is a PhD candidate in the School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Melbourne. His research focuses on nation-building, federalism, and the political history of Myanmar. He has over nine years of professional experience as a civic educator. He has taught in the online Social Research Skills Programs offered by Myanmar Research Network (MRN) at the University of Melbourne and the Regional Centre for Social Science and Sustainable Development (RCSD) at Chiang Mai University. His recent work on the genealogy of federal discourse in Myanmar was published in the edited volume Federal Design in Myanmar: A Pathway for Unity, Stability, and Inclusivity (2026).
Chit Sandi Kyaw
Chit Sandi Kyaw is a development practitioner with a background in medicine, public health, and development studies. She holds a Master of Development Studies from the University of Melbourne and currently works as a Research Assistant with the Myanmar Research Network. Her research interests include migration and development, diaspora engagement, social remittances, humanitarianism, public health, and health equity. As a member of the MRN Steering Committee, she contributes to communication, student engagement, research dissemination, events, bilingual knowledge translation, and engagement with researchers and community partners.
Fellows
The Myanmar Research Network has for many years held a place for fellowships.