Alma Hansen Scholarship

About

The Alma Hansen Scholarship supports Faculty of Arts graduate students experiencing financial hardship to pursue study and research overseas.

Applications open

13 January 2025

Applications close

10 March 2025

Benefits

Up to $20,000 is available and several awards may be offered from this total amount. Award payments will be made as a single lump-sum.

Eligibility

To be eligible for this scholarship, you must:

• be currently enrolled in a graduate program in the Faculty of Arts;
• demonstrate financial disadvantage; and,
• wish to pursue relevant study and research overseas.

Selection criteria

Preference is given to graduate students in the Faculty of Arts and due consideration is given to financial disadvantage.

The value of the scholarship and recipients will be determined after considering the applicants' statement outlining the positive impact of the scholarship, proposed program of study, and access to other financial resources.

Conditions

Recipients are required to:

• accept the award online within 21 days;
• submit the relevant travel documents; and,
• submit a report within two months of returning from travel.

Outcome

Applicants are advised of the outcome via email. Applicants typically receive alerts around 8-10 weeks after the closing date. However, for University of Melbourne Student Financial Assessment awards, delays are common due to the timing of data processing.

Application process

Eligible applicants must complete the online application form, including:

• details of your proposed program of study overseas;
• a 300-500 word statement outlining how the scholarship would positively impact your life and assist with your studies, and how pursuing study and research overseas is important to your academic work;
• an indicative budget;
• evidence of a complete and submitted University of Melbourne Student Financial Assessment form;
• at least one academic reference;
• a current statement of results; and,
• any other information to support the application that may assist the committee in making its decision.

Apply

Enquiries

artsawards-info@unimelb.edu.au

About the donors

Alma Philippina Hansen, also known as Alma Hands, undertook a Bachelor of Arts at the University of Melbourne in the early 1910s where she received a number of scholarships and prizes including the Shakespeare Scholarship. In 1914, Mrs Hands received a government research scholarship in literature and an Orient Steamship Company Scholarship. Deeply interested in Shakespeare, sources he used to create his plays and the life and times of Shakespeare’s London, Mrs Hands utilized her awards to travel to England. Living at Somerville College, Oxford, she gained her Master of Arts in 1917. Still in the UK at the time of her death, Mrs Hands left a gift in her will to the University to support a travelling scholarship for graduate students of the Faculty of Arts.

Recipient feedback

Caroline Chong

The opportunity to study in North America, aided by The Alma Hansen Scholarship, has widened my professional network, and consequently may enhance the chances of receiving a job or postdoctoral fellowship outside of Australia.