Australia supports APEC scholarships portal

JOINT MEDIA RELEASE

with

THE HON ANDREW ROBB AO MP

Minister for Trade and Investment

Minister for Trade and Investment Andrew Robb and Minister for Education and Training Christopher Pyne have welcomed the launch of a new APEC scholarships and internships online portal.

The portal provides information on scholarships, internships and job training in the Asia-Pacific region and will improve access to these opportunities for students and professionals.

“Greater student mobility promotes economic growth and improved productivity through knowledge and skills transfer; and supports professional networking and potential business partnerships. Student mobility also strengthens cultural understanding and people-to-people connections of enduring value,” said Mr Robb.

The portal will help increase the mobility of students in the Asia-Pacific, and reach the APEC goal of one million university-level student exchanges annually by 2020.

In support of the scholarships portal, the Australian Government has established the Australia APEC Women in Research Fellowships.

High-achieving female researchers from APEC economies will be supported to pursue research opportunities in partnership with Australian education and research institutions for a period of one to four months. Up to ten fellowships of up to $18,500 each will be awarded each year to female researchers at the forefront of their research discipline.

“These new fellowships will support women’s economic empowerment in the region and will also address an important priority of APEC to raise the profile of female role models in science, technology, engineering and mathematics,” said Mr Pyne.

“We are also better preparing Australian students to engage internationally. Australia has also boosted its outward student mobility through the New Colombo Plan which supports Australian undergraduates to study and undertake internships in the Indo-Pacific,” he said.

“With the New Colombo Plan and Endeavour Scholarships and Fellowships and Mobility Grants, there are now more opportunities than ever before to study and work abroad. We have also announced a comprehensive strategy to rejuvenate language study in schools and universities, which will equip the next generation with skills that will help make them more employable,” Mr Pyne said.

“Improved student mobility will help young Australians to become more conversant in the issues facing our region, which is critical given the importance of the Indo-Pacific to Australia’s future economic prospects,” said Mr Robb.

“Since coming into office, we have made significant progress. We have encouraged a return to growth. The number of overseas students studying in Australia has begun to climb after several years of decline. Export income from international education has also increased by over $1 billion to $16.3 billion in 2013-14,” Mr Pyne said.

More information on the scholarships portal and the Australia APEC Women in Research Fellowships is available at http://education.apec.org/.