Advice on choosing university for PhD [D]

Hey guys,

I got really into research a year ago during my final year of undergrad and maneged to get a first author paper accepted at Neurips 2026. It is a pretty impressive achievement obviously but my background is pretty shit lol. Before my final year I got slightly above average grades but no internships or work exp. I was just chilling mostly didn’t even bother applying to internships. Also I want to a tier 2 uni in Australia (mind you that difference in tier 1 and 2 unis isn’t that big tho compared to America or China). I was going to start a PhD at my current uni with a scholarship and stipend from an industry partner (government) - I’d have no restrictions in terms of publications btw. My supervisor is good and we were going to get another external supervisor from a top uni here in Australia. I was pretty keen on continuing with this opportunity, however, with my neurips paper acceptance I feel like I’d have a good shot at getting into a top 15-25 uni in the states or the uk (most other European unis want master students and I don’t prefer Asian unis bcz I’ve heard a lot of horror stories). The problem is I’d have to wait for a year if I was to go abroad for PhD because starting dates are mid to late 2027. I’m in such a dilemma idk what to do. My eventual goal is to work as a researcher at deepmind or meta or some really cool tech company. I’ve just heard so many people talk about the importance of university you go to etc in landing those jobs. Would I still have a good shot at those companies if I did the PhD at my 2nd tier Aussie uni (top 100-125 global rank) but published well? I got a neurips paper as an undergraduate so I have the potential to publish at top conferences 😆😆. But yeah, I’d love to get some advice.

Thanks