Another 14 prestigious university scholarships have been awarded by the Playford Trust – this time to STEM students headed for careers in South Australia’s vital resources industry.
Key industry players, the State Government and the Trust are backing a five-year program to help ease a shortage of key skills in the sector, which contributes 50% of the State’s export income and is described as key to the nation’s technological future.
The latest group of 46 Playford Trust university scholarship recipients was announced on April 21.
They are sharing more than $600,000 in support from the Trust and its partners across industry, the education sector and the community.
2020 Playford Trust PhD scholar Alison Gill has been awarded a prestigious Fulbright Scholarship to study at the University of California Berkeley next year.
She’ll be a visiting research student from March to December, continuing her work on water use and drought tolerance of industrial hemp.
South Australia has taken another important step in its mission to launch more space careers.
The Playford Trust and the Andy Thomas Space Foundation will partner to provide four $5000 scholarships for high-achieving school leavers hoping to study aerospace engineering at the University of Adelaide next year.
“Our role is to help advance a range of new areas of growth for South Australia – and space is right near the top of the list,” said Playford Trust Chair, former Premier Dean Brown.
Fifteen University of Adelaide undergraduates have each received a $20,000 Playford Trust scholarship, thanks to a joint Government and industry program aimed at easing a shortage of engineering skills in the mining and petroleum sectors.
The SA Chamber of Mines and Energy hosted a presentation ceremony on May 13.