Study grants take students to Indo-Pacific

1 SEPTEMBER 2016: North Queensland students from CQ University and James Cook University will have the opportunity to put their studies into context through Liberal National Government study grants of more than $1 million.  New Colombo Plan study grants include $467,000 to support 141 students at CQU and $874,060 to support 259 students at JCQ.CQ University midwifery students will spend a month or more undertaking a clinical placement in Nepal to undertake work-based learning in the Indo-Pacific. In another project, 15 students will undertake an immersive educational program in Vietnam to provide them with first-hand knowledge of sustainable development in an emerging economy context.At JCU, dental, medical, pharmacy and physician assistant students will undertake clinical placements in Fiji, as well as undertaking language and cultural studies. In another project, biology students will travel to Borneo in Malaysia for language, cultural and biology training alongside local students and biodiversity professionals.These are exciting projects that demonstrate the capacity and drive of our local students. Our students will return home with new insights and understanding of Indo-Pacific that will help them to contribute to the economic and cultural life of their university and Australia.The New Colombo Plan is a signature initiative of the Australian Government to lift knowledge of the Indo-Pacific by supporting Australian undergraduate students to study and undertake internships in the region. More than 7,400 Australian students will study and undertake work-based learning in the Indo-Pacific region in 2017 under the New Colombo Plan mobility program, taking the total number of students supported by the program in its first four years to more than 17,000.Mobility projects take place across all academic disciplines, and range from short-term study programs to semester-length study and internships. The New Colombo Plan also includes a scholarship program, which will support around 100 students in 2017. I encourage students to talk to their universities about opportunities to study and undertake work placements in the region under the New Colombo Plan.For more information on the New Colombo Plan, visit www.dfat.gov.au/new-colombo-plan.