Australian Geoscience Council Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Scholarship

Click here to Apply for the AGC Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Scholarship.

Scholarship closes 30th September each year

The Australian Geoscience Council (AGC) Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Scholarship is intended to assist first nations undergraduate students with costs associated with their study at university. Applications are sought from Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people who have successfully completed the first year of a Geoscience degree. The scholarship comprises a one-off payment of $5,000 per year, direct to the Scholarship holder, until the completion of the degree and to a maximum of three years.

Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible for this scholarship you must:

• Be of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent, identify as an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander and be accepted as such by the community in which you live or have lived
• Have completed at least the first year of an undergraduate geoscience degree program with satisfactory[1] performance.
• Be a student member at least one of the Member Organisations of Australian Geoscience Council (AAG, ANZGG, AIG, ASEG, AUSIMM, IAH Australia, GSA, PESA).
• Agree to maintain regular contact with the AGC’s scholarship liaison on the progress of your study.
• Agree that on completion of the degree you will submit a short report on your university and geoscience experiences for use by the AGC.

[1] For the purposes of this scholarship, “satisfactory performance” is defined as passing at least 75% of subjects/courses while engaged in full time study.

Further Information

Selection Criteria

• Applicant is of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent
• Satisfactory completion of at least the first year of an undergraduate course at an Australian university
• Student member of at least one of the AGC’s eight member organisations
• Provision of all required information in the application.

Applications will be ranked on a combination of the quality of the application (the personal statement) and academic merit.

How to Apply

Applications for this scholarship are not available on this Portal. You will be redirected to an external site.

An applicant must provide a set of documents including:

• A completed application form
• A personal statement outlining:

• Motivation to undertake a geoscience degree program
• How the applicant identifies with the Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander community in which they live or have lived and past contributions they have made within their community and Australia’s geoscience community
• A curriculum vitae setting out academic (school and university level), sporting, cultural, community services and other relevant activities.
• Certified academic transcript(s)
• The names of three potential referees who will be asked to provide references highlighting the personal qualities of the candidate, and including the names and contact details for:

 at least one academic referee, and
at least one referee who is an Elder in your community which should highlight your connection to the community;

• A high resolution digital photograph

Click here to Apply for the AGC Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Scholarship