Cricket coaching clinics for developing Indian students is one of 18 projects Flinders University students will travel to Indo-Asia next year under the Australian Government’s $20 million New Colombo Plan Mobility Program.

Flinders University has more than tripled funding under the expanded program, giving 192 undergraduate students access to more than $770,000 in funding for special projects in Indonesia, China, Fiji, Singapore, India, Malaysia, Nepal, Brunei Darussalam and the Philippines.

Professor Nancy Cromar, Flinders’ Pro Vice-Chancellor (International), says the travel grants offer “life-changing experiences for students”.

“I urge our students to get involved and gain invaluable experiences which are critically important in today’s increasingly globalised world,” says Professor Cromar.

“I am delighted to be able to confirm that Flinders has been extremely successful in its application for the 2016 funding round.

“This is a fantastic achievement for the University in a year when $20 million will be available to Australian undergraduate students to engage with the Indo-Pacific region.”

China was the top-funded destination (with placements for 46 students) followed by Indonesia (49 students), Singapore (15 students) and Fiji (30 students).

The latest round more than doubled the 2015 funding, with a total with 18 of 29 applications successful in 2016, or a 62% success rate. In 2015, 65 Flinders students were able to support seven projects with $255,750 in funding.

The Federal Government’s New Colombo Plan funding is designed to offset some costs to students participating in a short-term mobility or semester-length study program in 2016-17.

Subsidies of between $1,000 and $3,000 are awarded for short-term projects, while between $5,000 and $7,000 is available for semester-length activities. Nationally, more than 5,450 Australian students will live, study and undertake work placements from India to the Pacific region under the New Colombo Plan 2016 mobility round.

Flinders International Centre is working with various faculties and project leaders to promote the scholarships for students to take up in 2016-17.

See the full Flinders list on the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade New Colombo Plan webpage.

Flinders New Colombo Plan opportunities 2016 – projects in brief:

CHINA

• Complementary therapies and the roles of nurses in China – understanding the Chinese culture in a health context (short-term study with practicum)
• Introduction to China’s law and legal system (short-term study)
• Blue environment sensing, output and processing in Shandong Province (semester study with internship and research

INDONESIA

• Indonesian education, culture and language immersion program (short-term study with practicum)
• Understanding Islam in Indonesia (short-term study)
• Indonesian law and legal system: an introduction (short-term study)
• Indonesia: Intercultural and international workplace competencies (short-term study)

SINGAPORE

• Singapore field education (semester placement)
• Using plasma technology to produce next generation silicon solar cells (short-term study with internship and research)
• Engineering internships with Nanyang Polytechnic (semester study with practicum)
• Semester exchange plus internship (Nanyang Technological University)

FIJI

• Biodiversity and ecosystem health across the Pacific (short-term with internship and research)

INDIA

• Development of Indian students in sports activities – a collaboration with the Indian Sports Authority to deliver training in coaching and events management using cricket as the tool for engagement (short-term practicum)
• IRU Scholars in Asia – AIC Internship

NEPAL

• Nepal Development Program (short-term study) 

BRUNEI DARUSSALAM

• Short-term disability focused practicum placements in Brunei Darussalam

PHILIPPINES

• Tayo na at Mag-aral sa Pilipinas (TaMaPi) – Let’s go and study in the Philippines (semester placement)

MALAYSIA

• Neural Networks as applied to social behaviour (short-term study with internship and research