Arts Students Awarded New Colombo Scholarships

Minister for Foreign Affairs, Julie Bishop, has announced the successful scholars for the 2016 round of the New Colombo Plan Scholarships, three of whom are Faculty of Arts students.

Arts Students Awarded New Colombo Scholarships

Photo L-R: Nicholas Modrzewski (VCA - Singapore); Emily-Rose Guarnuccio (Arts - China);
Laura Porter-Jacobs (Arts - Indonesia) and Xavier Ekkel (Commerce - Korea)


This high-profile Federal government initiative sees 100 top Australian undergraduates selected annually for highly prestigious scholarships, designed to increase knowledge of the Indo-Pacific in Australia by supporting Australian undergraduates to study and undertake internships in the region.

On the basis of their academic performance, community leadership and a proven commitment to forging long-term relationships with the Indo-Pacific, Bachelor of Arts students Sayle Johnston, Emily-Rose Guarnuccio and Laura Porter-Jacobs were awarded the scholarships which will enable them to undertake study of up to one year, which can include internships or mentorships, as well as a flexible mobility grants program for short and longer-term study, practicums and research.

Sayle, who is bound for Indonesia’s Parahyangan Catholic University, plans to undertake an internship in conjunction with ACICIS with an NGO in the fields of international relations or development. Laura, who majors in Geography, is planning to undertake an internship with The Nature Conservancy, focusing on studying the haze in Kalimantan for her honours thesis. Her host institution is the University of Indonesia. Emily-Rose is hosted by Tsinghua University and plans to undertake an internship with either Geoff Raby & Associates or the Australian Studies Centre of Peking University.

The Faculty congratulates our three New Colombo Plan Scholars and wishes them the best for their 2016 endeavours under the program.