Uni of Adelaide supports New Colombo Plan

Tuesday, 10 December 2013

The University of Adelaide today announced its strong support for the Federal Government's New Colombo Plan, saying it that it would add significant weight to the University's ambitious internationalisation plans.

The University of Adelaide's Pro Vice-Chancellor (International), Professor Kent Anderson, has been appointed to the New Colombo Plan Reference Group that will assist the ongoing development and implementation of the initiative. The pilot program of the New Colombo Plan is being launched today in the Great Hall at Parliament House.

"Global engagement of our students is one of the key tenets of the 'Adelaide experience' under the University's new Strategic Plan 2013-2023 Beacon of Enlightenment," says Professor Anderson. "We want to give as many students as we can an international experience. It adds a breadth of skill and knowledge and a sense of global citizenship that we want to foster in all our graduates.

"To this end, we have set ambitious targets for study abroad - by 2023 we aim for 30% of our students to have had an international experience. This will be strengthened considerably with the New Colombo Plan."

The University's high priority on internationalisation was reflected in its success in the Endeavour Scholarships and Fellowships program, also announced this week.

Eight University of Adelaide students have won highly competitive Prime Minister's Australia Asia Scholarships for research and study in Asia next year - the equal highest number of these scholarships for any University this year.

The Prime Minister's Australia Asia Scholarships are awarded to high achieving undergraduate and postgraduate students in any field of study to enrich their academic experience at leading universities in Asia. They are worth up to $53,500 for an undergraduate and up to $63,500 for a postgraduate student.

Three postgraduate scholarships have been awarded to: Alexander Burchmore (history at Beijing Foreign Studies University), James Oswald (sociology at Chinese Academy of Social Sciences) and Anna Roesler (health promotion at Chiang Mai University).

Five undergraduate scholarships have been awarded to: Mark Brooke (physics at the University of Hong Kong), Jack Gillespie (geology at Chinese Academy of Sciences), Jake Guscott (physics at National University of Singapore), Anders Magnusson (economics at Mahidol University in Thailand) and Michael Norris (care for the aged at Tsinghua University in China).

"These are very prestigious, highly sought-after scholarships and to get eight in one year is an outstanding result for the University of Adelaide," says Professor Anderson. "These students will now have a wonderful opportunity to build their global experience and broaden their skills and knowledge in an international arena. They will establish life-long connections that will be of significant benefit in their future careers."

"From 2012 to 2013 our numbers of outbound study abroad students grew by 150%," says Professor Anderson. "And next year, under our Strategic Plan, we are providing $1000 travel grants to all students going overseas on exchange so we expect significant increases again."

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