We are pleased to bring you this quarterly update of the Endeavour Awards
November and December is a busy time for the Endeavour team, with the holiday season just around the corner, many of the 2007 round of Award Holders are still undertaking their award or preparing to commence, and offers are being finalised for the 2008 round.
In this edition, we update you on the 2007 Endeavour Awardees – where they are, what they’re doing and where they are from. We have two inspiring stories from our Endeavour Alumni - Nilantha Hulugalle and Yiyan Wang.
The 2008 round of Awards have been announced, and we will share with you some of the details of the successful candidates.
We are always looking for contributions and stories for our newsletter, so please write to us at endeavour.alumni@deewr.gov.au.
Enjoy!
The Endeavour Team
The Endeavour Awards were established in 2003.
Through international, merit-based competition, the Endeavour Awards bring leading researchers, professionals and students to Australia to undertake short or long term study, research and professional development in a broad range of disciplines and enables Australians to do the same abroad.
The Endeavour Awards are part of Australian Scholarships
a $1.4 billion initiative that brings under the one umbrella the scholarship programmes managed by DEEWR and AusAID.
Under Australian Scholarships, the Endeavour Awards have been greatly expanded to provide approximately 9,000 scholarships over five years, of which nearly half will be for outgoing Australians. The scholarships will be a mix of postgraduate, undergraduate, vocational and technical education courses, and research and professional development awards. They are open to all fields of study.
The focus of the Endeavour Awards is to strengthen education linkages between Australia and the region and to showcase Australia’s excellence in education, science and training.
The Endeavour Awards comprises four categories:
- Endeavour Vocational Education and Training Awards
- Endeavour Postgraduate and Postdoctoral Awards
- Endeavour Executive Awards
- Endeavour Student Exchange Programs
For more information visit the Endeavour website
2007 has been a fantastic year for the Endeavour Awards. In total, there were 385 Award holders from 47 countries.
At present, we have 227 Endeavour Award Holders undertaking research or professional development in Australia, and 20 Australians offshore, undertaking research or professional development in countries including India, China, Korea, New Zealand and Turkey. Some areas of study include:
- Alternative approaches to bleaching wood pulp for paper manufacturing
- The use of native plants to remove and store heavy metals from contaminated soils
- The impact of corporate governance reforms in Philippine institutions and firms after the East Asian crisis of 1997
- The impact of implementing Marine Protected Areas in Vietnam on local coastal communities
- Historical research into the impact of missionary activities on Maori society during the nineteenth century
117 award holders have completed their Award and hold Endeavour Alumnus status.
Further details of the 2007 Award Holders can be found in the
award holder section of the Endeavour website.
The 2008 round of applications for Endeavour Awards exceeded all expectations, with over 2,400 applications from all over the world.
Applications for the 2008 round closed on 31 July 2007 with selection panels convened in September and early October to consider the applications on a competitive, merit basis.
468 people, from 46 countries, have been selected to receive an Endeavour Award for the 2008 round. This includes 65 Australians who will travel to countries including Turkey, Malaysia, China, Indonesia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Vietnam, India and the United Arab Emirates.
The breadth and depth of topics to be explored is indicative of the scope of the Endeavour program and fascinating and important work will no doubt result from these opportunities. Fields of research to be pursued include:
- Water conservation
- Infant nutrition
- Molecular genetics
- HIV/AIDS and community perceptions
- Islamic gender studies
- Soil contamination in coal mining
We look forward to sharing stories of our 2008 award holders with you in future editions.
For further details on the 2008 Endeavour Award holders, visit the
award holder section of the Endeavour website.
The tsunami of December 2004 caused great damage to property and resulted in major losses of life in Indonesia, primarily in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam province.
It affected nearly 40,000 ha of agricultural land, damaging or destroying up to 92,000 farms.
I received an Endeavour Executive Award during 2007 to study these changes and the on-farm research methodology of the Asian Vegetable Research and Development Centre (AVRDC), an international agricultural research centre based in Taiwan, during the implementation of a vegetable cropping development project.
I found the Endeavour Award very rewarding. My academic program in Aceh was excellent and included literature surveys, attendance at workshops and seminars, and field an laboratory experimental activities. The literature surveys were a useful tool in updating my knowledge on the consequences of the tsunami on agricultural systems and separating fact from fiction (of which there is a great deal in the popular press).
Due to the very basic laboratory facilities which were at my disposal, alternative analytical methods such as pedotransfer functions were used to estimate hydrological parameters from more easily obtained soil physical indices. This was a new experience for me, as previously I had restricted myself to purely experimental determination. This knowledge will be of immediate benefit to my research program in Australia.
At a personal level, living and working in Aceh for an extended period with local staff enabled me to gain an understanding of the problems faced by most researches in developing countries (i.e. lack of resources, poor infrastructure etc.).
At the same time, the kindness and generosity of local colleagues and Acehnese in general, was overwhelming. I was invited to weddings and other functions by local colleagues as well as by people in my ‘neighbourhood’. The hotel in which I lived was about a 12 minute walk from the offices, and I would walk to work and back through a very quiet, tree lined street.
The local people got to know me and I received invitations to their homes and even the wedding of the daughter of one resident.
I received good support from my employers NSW DPI, AVRDC, BPTP and Austraining (the Department of Education, Science and Training's post-selection support contractor).
The support provided to me by Mr. Rachman Jaya, local project coordinator for the vegetable project and BPTP was outstanding in terms of organising accommodation, security authorisations, visas and permits for research; introducing me to life in Banda Aceh; advice on farming systems and agronomy of vegetable production systems in Aceh; transport to meetings, airport and field sites and organising accommodation for me during field visits; laboratory facilities and some technical support in the laboratory.
Given the limited resources which BPTP have at their disposal, this was a major investment of their time and facilities, and I am extremely grateful for their support in all areas.
Excellent support was also provided by Austraining in the form of administrative support during my visit, by maintaining regular contact through email and assisting in re-booking my return ticket to Australia, which I was unable to do from Banda Aceh.
Finally, I greatly appreciate the opportunity given to me by the Australian Government, through DEST and Austraining which enabled me to spend time in Aceh and gain such a priceless academic and personal experience.
My thanks also to BPTP in Aceh and AVRDC in Taiwan for facilitating my visit and to NSW DPI for nominating me for the Endeavour award and giving me extended leave to take up the award.
Contributed by Nilantha Hulugalle, October 2007.
Information about Endeavour Executive Awards for Australians
- To find out more about the Endeavour Awards, visit our website.
- The 2009 round of applications will commence in early April 2008. Check the Endeavour website for updates.
