CHILE-AUSTRALIA: Postgraduate scholarship opportunities

A US$200 million scholarship scheme will enable up to 500 PhD and masters students from Chile each year to study in Australia over the next five to 10 years. Cooperation between the two countries will involve scholarships and exchanges for PhD and masters students, graduate internships and fellowships, joint research programmes, postdoctoral programmes and English language teacher training.

A US$6 billion Bicentennial Fund for the Development of Human Capital was recently announced by Chilean President Dr Michelle Bachelet. Some US$250 million in annual earnings from the fund is expected to be used to finance overseas scholarships to enable students to study in a range of other countries.

Chilean Foreign Minister Alejandro Foxley and a representative of Universities Australia - a group representing most vice-chancellors - signed a memorandum of understanding in Sydney last Tuesday, the day before Chile and Australia signed a Free Trade Agreement.

Each year, in collaboration with the Chilean fund, Universities Australia will determine the number of university places in Australia available under the programme for selected students. The group will help scholarship holders with access to information on student visas to enable study in Australia and help scholarship holders make their applications to Australian universities.

"Universities Australia is pleased to have played a key role in bringing this agreement into effect, and the benefits for our two countries are wide-ranging," said Professor Richard Larkins, chair of Universities Australia and Vice-chancellor of Monash University in Melbourne.

The scholarship fund allows the Chilean government, and other competitive funding sources, to support scholars by covering living expenses for scholarship holders while enrolled in Australia, funding tuition and fees for scholarship holders not granted monetary awards from Australian universities, and providing return economy air travel from Chile to Australia.

In 2005, fewer than 200 Chilean students went to study overseas on state scholarships. The Chilean government now expects 2,500 will go abroad next year to countries including Australia, Canada and New Zealand.