Applications open online for Australian Development Scholarships

The Australian Agency for International Development and Vietnam’s Ministry of Education and Training are pleased to announce that applications are open for Australian Development Scholarships under the Australia Awards scheme.

For the first time applicants can apply online for Australian Development Scholarships (including Australian Leadership Awards Scholarships) at www.asdiv.edu.vn until 31 May 2011. Results will be announced by October 2011 and post-graduate courses will start from early 2012.

Exceptional applicants with leadership potential will be offered a prestigious Australian Leadership Award Scholarship which provides additional leadership training.

Up to 245 scholarships are available this year to help Vietnam’s human resource development – a critical issue in Vietnam’s efforts to become an industrialised country – and to strengthen links between Australia and Vietnam.

Given the development focus, and in line with the Vietnamese Government’s priorities, the scholarships target academics, government officials and people working on rural development issues all over Vietnam.

“Australia is proud to invite applications from dynamic Vietnamese men and women, from every province of Vietnam, especially those from disadvantaged areas, ethnic minorities and people with disabilities” Australian Ambassador, Mr Allaster Cox, remarked in opening this year’s round.

The scholarship covers travel, study and living expenses for study at any of Australia’s world-class universities and is valued at up to A$300,000. A special feature of the scholarship is the provision of up to ten months full-time English training before the course commences, if required.

Awardees will also join a 4000-strong network of Vietnamese alumni that studied in Australia on Australian Government scholarships, including many prominent academics, business leaders and government officials. These alumni continue to pass on the skills and knowledge gained in Australia to their Vietnamese colleagues everyday.

“I returned to Vietnam with many beautiful memories of Australia and I applied the knowledge I learned about Australia’s public finance management system to my work. This scholarship has allowed me to become one of the first managers from ethnic minority groups working in state finance” said Minh Ksor, a 29-year old ethnic Jarai Vietnamese, who returned to the Gia Lai Department of Finance after completing his Masters in Australia.

Queries can be made by email to [email protected] or by calling the hotline (04) 3938 7375 from 8:30am to 4:30pm on weekdays.