Guide for completing the Playford Trust scholarship online application form

Application template

To assist with preparing your detailed answers

Preparation

Carefully read the selection criteria for the scholarship you intend to apply for and make sure you are eligible to apply. You may use the same form to apply for more than one scholarship, provided you meet the selection criteria for each one. The Playford Trust will only award a single scholarship to any one applicant.

The application form must be completed in one sitting, so you need to be prepared before you begin. You do not have the option to save and return to the form.

You will need to include your:

1. personal details
2. academic details, including transcript or for first-year scholarship applicants, your Record of Achievement and your Tertiary Entrance Statement
3. academic referee details and reference (to copy and paste into the application, and to attach)

Questions requiring detailed answers

The online application form has a series of selection boxes and some long-text boxes for questions requiring detailed answers. We strongly recommend you prepare your detailed answers by using the application template above and also available here. When you are happy with your responses to each question, copy and paste the text into the relevant box.

Detailed Instructions

Q1: What financial support have you secured for your proposed studies and what other scholarships have you applied for? Up to 300 words.  Note for PhD applicants: The Trust’s PhD scholarships are intended to supplement an existing Australian Government Research Training Program Stipend Scholarship (RTPS), or similar institutional PhD stipend scholarship. Also list any other scholarships you have applied for. If you are successful in being offered a Playford Trust PhD scholarship, you will need to provide a copy of the letter of confirmation of a full PhD scholarship before accepting.

Q2: Provide a brief statement about your study and career aspirations.  Up to 300 words

Q3: Describe your academic achievements and any awards, prizes, commendations or other forms of recognition for your achievements. Up to 300 words  Note: We are not seeking a list of your grades (you will be required to provide that elsewhere). We are interested in, for example: any research that you have undertaken, any projects you have been involved in, relevant vacation employment, internships and how you have taken your particular interest to the next level. In short, what makes you academically competitive for this scholarship?

If applying for a regional scholarship, provide information about any difficulties you may have experienced, or expect to encounter, due to your remote location.

Q4: Describe how have you have demonstrated leadership. This could include your involvement in community, charity, sporting or special interest organisations, or any other relevant personal achievements. Up to 300 words

Q5 and Q6: PhD and Honours students only. What is the title of your proposed research project? If details of your project have not been finalised, describe the field in which you intend to pursue your studies. You will need to send the Trust details of your project once they become available. Provide an outline of your proposed research. Include information about the key objectives of your project and your proposed approach to this work. Up to 500 words

Q7: Provide an academic reference, including comments about your achievements, character and leadership abilities. The original statement signed and dated by your academic referee must be attached as a PDF (see list of attachments below). You must also enter the text of your referee’s statement in this field.

Your academic referee must be your supervisor or an other academic referee, (e.g. dean of school/faculty, or lecturer). If applying for a first-year scholarship, a suitable referee would be your school principal, an assistant principal, or a relevant senior member of staff.

We recommend that you send the Academic Reference section of the application template to your academic referee so they can fill in all the details required. Please make sure the referee returns this part of the template to you both in PDF and Word (or similar) format.

Attachments:

You will need to attach two documents:

1. Your academic reference as a PDF
2. Your current academic transcript or, for first year scholarship applicants, your Record of Achievement together with your Tertiary Entrance Statement detailing your ATAR.